What a chaotic week it has been so far and it is only Tuesday! I've got just 3 more days until I'm moving back out of my gorgeous apartment in Wollongong, and heading back to Sydney - ready to start a new adventure just before heading off to Europe!
My life this year really has not stopped surprising me. Every day I seem to wake up and have the completely unexpected occur! One minute I'm a full-time student, the next a full-time employee, the next I'm moving back to Sydney to no real set location...who knows what is around the corner! Remembering to stay calm and enjoy every moment as it passes is something I'm really trying to focus on, and being present so that I don't miss any of these awesome experiences I get to have in my life. If you're one to forget to pause every now and then, then try it out - you'll be surprised at what you notice around you and what you learn about yourself. Much love, S xo Recipe (serves 3-4) Ingredients
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From the moment we are born, we are subject to expectations. We’re expected to cry, sleep, feed and poop. These expectations are basic human instincts, and they are indicators of healthy development – but as we mature, these expectations become more complex and we also learn to expect things from ourselves.
Growing up, we learn to “expect” to finish a university degree, attain a job, own a car, purchase a house, earn enough money to live a life that exceeds that of those around us – so we flog ourselves at work – telling ourselves that “it’s worth it for the money”. What would happen if we decided to expect happiness? If we expected to live a life of health – one that didn’t require medications for the smallest of deficiencies? How would our lives change if we expected to wake up with a smile on our faces, and do in life exactly what it is that we have a true passion for every day, rather than waking up and cringing at the idea an 8hr work day? Perhaps a better question would be – how would your mindset change if happiness and health became one of the main focuses in your life? Now some of you may be sitting there thinking ‘well I do expect to be happy and free of illness – why would I expect to be sick and mopey?’ – but do the actions in your life reflect this? When you think of going to work, do you expect you’ll be smiling all day? When you wake up at 5am in the middle of winter, do you expect to be excited to rip into your day? Or are you just wishing for the weekend when you can relax because you don’t have to see that annoying co-worker who sits across from you? Personally, I’m someone who struggles to stick with something that I don’t find enjoyable, and I’ll admit, I’ve dropped out of a lot of things that I have tried, and jobs that I’ve started purely because I absolutely hated them. However, I have stuck to many things as well – and when I was thinking about this topic, I realised that those things were the things in life that I had a real passion for and was completely enthused with. These include dance, my degree (despite my Major selection being slightly rocky in the beginning), my first real job in the health industry, and recipe development/photography. Moving forward I’m taking note of what I really enjoy about these things:
If you’re feeling stuck in what you’re doing, unfulfilled, and as though you’re just going through the motions of life – take a moment to jot down the few activities that you REALLY enjoy. Then take a look back at them and draw out a couple of common themes amongst them (as I have above). These themes should truly reflect with you and what you enjoy most. From here, don’t just dismiss what you have done. Create a new expectation for yourself. Expect to implement more of what you love in your life, and most of all – EXPECT A CHANGE. Much love, S xo 'Date Me' Peanut Butter Slice Recipe Ingredients
I think that everyone along the east coast of NSW would agree with me when I say that winter has arrived, and it has taken no prisoners! Man! It is COLD! But hey, my lack of motivation to go the gym lead me to think up a new recipe for an old classic that I have loved my entire life - BANANA BREAD!
We all seem to have those dishes that we grew up with that bring back such fond memories when we eat or think about them, for me, banana bread is definitely one of those dishes. I remember mum driving me home from school one day and chatting about what I wanted to do when I was older - my response - "I want to do what you do, because you get to eat banana bread every day". Legit! That was my reason for wanting the job that mum had! (Mum used to be in HR and each day someone would go out to grab coffees and pastries etc, and mum would order banana bread). Now my current self would never dream of being in HR, but my love of banana bread still remains. For that reason, here is my healthy variation on this old gem. I hope you enjoy! S xo PS. There's a big ass fork mark right in the centre of my pic and I didn't realise until I'd taken all my shots and cut into/eaten half of it - so I'm just going with it! I'm only human! Hahaha :D Recipe Ingredients
Friday nights spent in bed, typing up recipes from meals I have cooked throughout the week honestly makes me the happiest lil foodie around. To top it off I'm spending the weekend at home, meaning I don't need to travel back to Sydney for ANYTHING - so I am getting the opportunity to plan out some new recipes I'm going to trial over the next couple of days! Yay!
Stay tuned! So much more to come! S xo Recipe (serves 4) Ingredients
.What a crazy, and eventful week it has been! Lol not really, but there's been a few big things that I have realised this week which I would like to share with you:
1) I need new goals. In the last few weeks I have noticed that my personality has been slightly different. I haven't been entirely feeling like me, and I have lost sight of some really important goals I have had in place this year. This might seem strange, but I just haven't felt as bubbly, energetic and driven as I normally do, nor have I been wanting to socialise as much. I have attributed this to my new job, which, as of Monday, is now my old job because I resigned (more on this in a little bit). SO! Now I have started to focus back on my routine and the goals I set at the start of this year. Falling back into a routine that aids my health both physically and mentally, with some clear cut goals in place is step one to getting back to feeling like ME! 2) I never want to change myself to fit the shape that someone else sees as perfect. There is so much talk about "perfection" within society - I have written about it previously - but I think as a result of my recent mental state, I have believed that I'm not good enough. I've noticed myself nitpicking little things about my body that I'm unhappy with. Things that I never would have even thought about, given the mindset I have been in in the last 8 or so months. Having realised this I'm making a conscious effort to stop myself when I do start to have negative comments pop into my mind, and change them to positive thoughts. Doing this is one of the simplest, yet also the hardest actions when in a body shaming mind-frame, but it makes the biggest difference in the end. Realising what your body is capable of, and appreciating that, rather than shaming it for what it isn't, can determine the path you take - that being whether you spiral down further, or whether you grow. I pick the latter. 3) I'm going to spend my life doing what makes me happy. There is no chance I'm wasting a minute of this life that I am blessed with, doing the things that bring me down, or stress me out. In the 3rd hour on day 1 of my most recent job, I knew that it was not for me, and here I am 6 weeks later, feeling the exact same. I took the job because all I was focused on was money, and I didn't really mind what I had to do to get it. At the start of this week I came across a speech which honestly changed my life the moment I heard it. It is a speech my Alan Watts, and if you haven't read/heard it, then I highly recommend you look it up - it is called "What if money was no object?". One section in particular resonates with me, and I will leave it with you to really think about, and I hope you may be able to apply to your own life: "When we finally got down to something, which the individual says he really wants to do, I will say to him, 'You do that, and forget the money', because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You will be doing things you don't like doing, in order to go on living - that is to go on doing things you don't like doing - which is stupid! Better to have a short life that is full of the things you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way". - Alan Watts Much love, S xo PS. I make some kickass cookies the other day - so here is the recipe! Recipe Ingredients
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AuthorI'm Steph - a Health Sciences graduate, qualified Personal Trainer and Health Blogger. Here you will not find any quick fix, or diet tips. I'm here to share my love of life, fitness, mindset, and the lessons I learn as a journey through life. Archives
March 2020
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