Running for Ages (feat. Age UK)

Let's get this out of the way quickly: I hate running. OK, hate is a strong work. I seriously, really, emphatically dislike running. I'd rather be at a pilates class, in the gym, cycling, or pretty much any other fitness activity. But it's good for me, I have a good little four-legged buddy - who only trips me up sometimes - and, whether I like it or not, it's good for clearing your head after a long day. Friends, I know some of you feel me on this one - running sucks, but we do it because it's good for us.

However...

30 Things Before 30...

It's looming, the big 3-0. Seriously, where the f*ck has 30 years gone?! If I start contemplating it too much then I get incredibly emotional so let's breeze past that part and get straight to The List. 

Everyone has one, stored away somewhere, of things they want to do before X. Mine is a list of 30 things before 30, and with less than 5 months until my birthday I thought it was a good opportunity to review that list and see if I can tick off anything else. Some are quite generic, and others are more personal. I should say that this is my list, and not a list I think others should use as their own because everyone is different (although if you feel particularly inspired, feel free!).

1. Get a tattoo - 3 so far, and 2 more planned (sorry mum and dad).
2. Buy a house - Last year we bought our second house in a sweet little village in Yorkshire and I'm so in love with it. 
3. Ride a hot air balloon - Egypt at sunrise...it was pretty spectacular. 
4. Set foot on all continents - nope, not yet. Made good headway though.  
5. Volunteer - I loved working at Cats Protection, and even took home a furry friend from there after I lost my own cat. 

Summer Reading List

I'm counting down the days until our holiday to Sardinia (only 26 sleeps left!), and no plane journey and holiday by the beach is complete without a good selection of holiday reading. I'm doing a 2016 book challenge - 50 books in a year - and I'm doing pretty well, so 7 days in the sun will certainly help towards that.

I already have most of these either on my Kindle or hard copies, so don't really have to worry about spending a lot on books the way I normally do in the last few days before catching a plane/in the airport shops.

Foodie Finds: Gluten-Free Flapjack Recipe

I love baking, but rarely seem to get the chance these days between work, working on the house, working out and, erm, Pokemon GO...

Anyway, this flapjack was so quick and easy to whip up that any excuses I may have had went straight out the window. I wanted a recipe which was gluten free, no dairy, but bonded together nicely and had the perfect texture for flapjack. If you fancy giving it a go yourself, here's what you'll need:

200g gluten-free oats

75g dried cranberries

75g sultana/raisin mix

50g crushed almonds

Handful of mixed nuts/pumpkin seeds

Coconut oil

Raw honey

I always find it quite difficult to measure out how much coconut oil/honey I'll need, so it's a bit of a trial-and-error experience until you find the perfect amount. 

Mix well in a metal mixing bowl, and spoon into a baking tray lined with parchment, and into the oven at 150 for about 45 minutes. 

Et voila!

Instagram Round-Up

If you follow me on Instagram, this will be a dull post for you because you've already seen these photos. If not, here's what I've been up to this month!

Yoga progress! Nailing the headstand. I've been happy with my tripod headstand for a while now, but finally mastered the bound headstand, and forearm headstand, so I was pretty chuffed with myself, not going to lie. Also lifting a leg in wheel pose has been on my list for a while, and I finally felt grounded enough in the pose to give it a go - with success! I generally feel a lot stronger and in control of my body throughout the whole class or practice, and it's a wonderful feeling.

Who doesn't love a wedding? I've been lucky enough to go to two beautiful weddings in the last few weeks, and it was wonderful seeing my friends so happy.

Party and wedding planning! Wedding wise, the band and the registrar got booked in the last week, so it's all feeling SO real now. And a close friend and I booked a venue for our joint 30th birthday party. 30 already? Really?!

Food and friendship. Because who doesn't love toasted marshmallows and a good old catch-up?

What Yoga Means to Me

Two years ago, I couldn't hold a wheel pose for five seconds without falling out of it. I could touch my toes and stand on one leg, but awkwardly and with no finesse. I was OK at yoga, but lacked any basic concept of what it meant to be a yogi. And when I started a regular yoga class at Go Yoga in Harrogate, I was convinced being a yogi meant you were able to do the most complicated pose with ease, and standing on your head came as easily as drawing breath. It didn't take me long to figure out how wrong I was.

Cut forward six months, and I'm the girl at the back of the class with every muscle wound tight as a watch spring, angrily reciting to myself 'inner peace, inner peace...' whilst wondering to myself why on earth I didn't feel peaceful. Where was this 'zen' that other yogis talked about? Why was it avoiding me, what was I doing wrong? I still felt tense and wound-up, and after a class I sometimes came away more frustrated with myself than before. I could now do a pretty bloody good chakrasana (wheel pose), my warrior was always on point, and navasana (boat pose) felt like a breeze. Surely that was enough?

5 Tips for Working Out When You Just Don't Feel Like It

The weather at the moment just sucks, right Britain? We have a day or two of brilliant sunshine, and we're all in our shorts and sundresses buying food for the BBQ. Then the temperature plummets along with our moods, and the rainclouds appear. It does nothing for our motivation, and if you're feeling the drag of the gloomy days, you're not the only one. 

Working out on dreary, cold days is so much harder than when the sun is warming our skin. It's harder to pick up your trainers, harder to find the excitement for a long bike ride, and generally harder to get out of the house. This is a short list of things that have helped me get off my butt and work out, even on the most dismal of days.

1. Get it out of the way. Someone who is into their fitness isn't supposed to say this, right? I should be sickeningly positive at all times. However, sometimes I just can't be bothered, the same as you, and the thought of coming home after work and going for a run or hopping on my bike just isn't an enjoyable one. So the mornings are where it's at. Sure it's hard to get out of bed, but the plus sides are that you've already ticked off your day's exercise, and the streets/gym are likely to be quiet if you go early enough.