Making Life More Memorable

The Vegan Challenge You've heard of Ian Somerhalder right? A cute actor that starred in Lost, Rules of Attraction and The Vampire Diaries. Well, he's not just a pretty face, he has a foundation aiming to make the world a better place for us all. The IS Foundation to be exact. Last year, he promoted the idea of #meatlessmay a month in which people give up eating meat which would save animals and in turn help reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. With Vegan/semi-veganism becoming so popular and substantial products being on the market. I have decided that I would try being a full Vegan for the whole month of May. This means, no meat, no dairy, no products containing anything that can be traced back to animals and even no honey! This also includes my skincare products and my hair care. As an avid lover of Lush, this is pretty easy for me, I own Vegan toothpaste, body cream and shower gel but for the first time in a longtime, I will have to use a Lush shampoo ba...

The Last Supper Waking up late this week has been a blessing rather than a curse. It has meant that I can combine breakfast and lunch to make a sort of edible brunch style thing, especially for the last two mornings. Me, my crutches and my housemate went for a drive to the local Carefour for her shopping. The heat and having only had a cup of tea before this inspired venture made me super hungry. I had a bit of a celebration and ate the last 4 fish fingers, my last egg and the remaining third of my can of tomatoes as a brunch breakfast. Then to follow the last of my yogurt. Even when I was cooking I thought, maybe I should only eat two fish fingers and save the other two… but then there was my hunger. I was eating after 2pm, I was famished. Ready to eat a scabby-donkey. Excited by the egg (whoop protein!), I savoured every bite of the least carb heavy meal I had eaten this week. My housemates friend came over and we drank more tea. They ate ricotta tarts and I...

Saturday I rejoiced at eating my cereal this morning, I'm finding it difficult to wake up before 11am because the food is so dire and my absence from society leaves me with the same boring day. I'm not depressed but today I know that I have the possibility of not being able to work for a further 3 weeks and I haven't addressed this mentally yet. Luckily, I get to eat the rest of the cereal, a huge portion in my eyes with milk and yogurt, plus a good cup of tea. I have a small amount of dough left for lunch 😖 I know that lunch is not going to be the most pleasant and put it off, even thinking about not eating lunch and waiting for dinner, but my friend informs me that they will be arriving at 8pm. I can't wait that long, so I shuffle to the kitchen and add water to the crispy dried out dough. I give it a quick knead and decide to make the worlds smallest calzone. I added one canned plum tomato and 2 teaspoons of cheese and put it in the oven. Out it came, all...

Day 5 I got excited by thinking it was Friday yesterday, but then it came to a crash when I realised I had 3 more days of this challenge left. This morning was the smallest portion of cereal ever and a cup of tea.  I baked the bread and it didn’t rise and now I have rocks for lunch and no bread for the rest of the week because I have to use the other batch for pizza because I ate more than my quota of eggs to quickly. I cook tinned tomatoes and three fish fingers and look carefully to change my meals for the rest of the week ☹ I'm hungry and emotional, I just want to go back to work and be apart of the real world again. It's easy to imagine that I have nothing else but this because I can't go out to buy things at the moment and had been using Esselunga delivery at 8 Euros a pop. This bread failed, I was relying on using this for three days and four meals. I can't throw it away and have to salvage it and make it work. Being so focused on this cha...

Day 4 Today I slept in until late and decided to eat my meals later. I’m averaging, 1200 calories (and less) a day the amount of calories to keep a stationary body ticking over. Although it is probably what overweight me needs to eat but the food is low quality and not satisfying. I ate my breakfast a small amount of plain yogurt with my lunch and had the remaining bread with tomatoes and two eggs as I craved much needed protein. I usually have a varied diet and this is becoming difficult to stomach. I drank one cup of tea which I have to admit, I am enjoying the taste of. Usually, I'm a food snob and I often find my self spending a fare bit on a flavoursome Earl Grey.  Then it was time to make the second batch of bread. This time I tried a different recipe but this one seems not quite right so I add more water but I think I didn’t knead enough. My energy levels depleted. Dinner was gnocchi and with pesto and cheese. Luckily this pesto makes everything beara...

Day 3 I went to bed hungry and woke up hungry, but as I was in a rush for the physio, I took one spoon of my plain yogurt and left the house. My stomach was churning the whole time and I felt very sleepy. The yogurt tasted good though so hopefully my only problem is the gnocchi. Finally, I had a correct diagnosis that my ligaments are torn in my foot and ankle, told I need ten days intensive physio and rehabilitation, then got lumbered with a bill. As I am not receiving full pay, when I got home and worked out my finances, whilst cramming a second spoon of yogurt and cooking pasta and bread at the same time, it dawned on me actually I am currently poor. Like really poor, because I know that April’s wage will be the same. I made a cup of tea and then preceded to make pasta bianco (for non-Italians pasta with cheese and oil). This meal is a favourite amongst schools and it actually tasted OK with good oil and cheese. Maybe it looks plain but it tasted better than the ...

Day 2 I actually woke up hungry, which makes a change at the moment. Not moving much has really affected my eating habits and I’m so hopeful that I will be joining the real world again soon, this challenge gets me motivated to eat three times a day. Breakfast was the same as yesterday, cereal and I enjoyed it. It is actually delicious and I am tempted to go and buy more after the challenge has ended. However, I have noticed that I'll probably only get 4-5 servings out of it. And as you saw from yesterday I am not eating a huge bowl. I am using a mug to eat out of. At lunch, I had a cup of tea and my homemade bread lightly toasted with pesto. It was quick and filling and rather tasty. I’m finding it quite nice eating such simple foods. It hit 18:00 and I was already famished, I was hoping I could hold out for my housemate having a slice of bread with a drizzle of olive oil earlier and another cup of tea. But no, I held out until 18:45 and then cooked the gnocchi ...

Intro Many people live in poverty… Did you know over 3 billion people live on under $2.50 per day? Therefore, this week’s challenge is to do my weekly grocery shop for under 10 Euros. Yes, that’s right 10 Euros to spend on food and drink for 7 days. The rules: Apart from four stock cupboard ingredients; salt, pepper, sugar and oil . I am not allowed to add or include in my meals/drinks, anything else that's not on the receipt. I must eat three meals a day, for 7 days using only the items purchased on the list including drinks. Everything must be purchased from one supermarket (as many people living in poverty do not have the availability of time or transport). The ‘Big’ Shop If I hadn’t been taught the life skill of saving the next two months of my life would be horrendous, my ‘accident’ allowance covers my rent and bills and leaves me with exactly 38 Euro’s a month for food and any pleasure in my life.  I have seen...

Believe me when I say this was supposed to be a post on yoga... Well readers this happened… Well, let me say I would have been perfectly happy never to have added ‘rode in an ambulance’ to my bucket list. Yes, after the actual embarrassment of actually distorting my ankle and foot in ways that really shouldn’t be possible, I had to be picked up off the floor, put into a wheelchair and carted off into an ambulance. But imagine this happening in Italy… where you have the language level of incoherent 2-year-old. After being told I had most probably broken my ankle and been given VIP treatment, I was put in oxide open plaster and then bandaged up further. However, apparently, it’s not broken but was left not 100% sure or convinced. Let me explain at this point…the pain is excruciating and I cannot physically place my foot on the floor. I have to use crutches to move to the bathroom and every hop makes my eyes water. By the time I maneuvered myself to sit on the toilet, I...

Are you making the most out of my blog? Writing for me is cathartic and I'm constantly inspired by many other sources and mediums. Also before I take any challenge or write about something I research, which is quintessential for making sure I provide you with zero fake facts.  I hope that for some of my willing readers, these sources inspire you and provide you with much needed further information. Where can you find the source material? The source material will be attached to a word through a link. For example, I recently watched a Ted Talk that has changed the way I tie my shoelaces by Terry Moore, 'How to tie your shoes' . If you click on 'How to tie your shoes' above, you will be directed to the video. 😊 What else can I find? Sometimes I will include links to other blogs that might cover more in-depth insights to a topic that I am touching on. Also you might find music video's, articles and anything that is supported or covered in my blog. ...

Commercializing  Calm I never aim to offend anyone with my comments so please accept my view’s as mine. I am awkward, I dislike anything that feels forced. I have my beliefs but I don’t go to church as I see it as a type of organized way of doing prayer when I prefer to give thanks in my own way. I hate when everyone starts reading a book because it’s the bestseller, I dislike mass popularity, I didn’t care to read The Da Vinci Code because of such mainstream attention. If I choose to read something, I like to think it’s my decision. This is what I feel about Headspace. It was on day 6 when I saw something that angered me, I scrolled to the bottom of the page and there it was. A counter telling me at this moment in time 17,284 people were using the app to meditate. F**k. Suddenly, I felt anger. It’s not meditation, it’s just another money-making plot to make a free and precious individual moment, into a mainstream commercial project. Just because I wante...

Halfway Point The main point of this exercise, is to see whether this app can help me sleep and give me better focus. I love my job, but I’m often rushing around like a headless chicken and not quite in the moment, therefore I'm stuck with that feeling like I’m missing out on life. Trust me, when you are in the moment you know. You can smell the flowers, see the detail and feel this amazing rush of happiness overcome you. Your mind is empty and wondrous. This happens to me mainly when I am travelling or visiting a new place. I get excited and it brings out the best in me. I understand many people are sceptical and think meditation is some hippy sat crossed leg on the floor chanting, but it really isn’t and there are so many forms of meditation that people undertake. Think about it, how do you meditate? What makes you feel most alive? What clears that foggy feeling in your brain? I have a friend who writes down all her thoughts before she sleeps and it gives her a...

Intro Throwback to Yogi days I’m not new to meditation. In fact, I often dabble in and out of my meditative phases, but I had read so much about the ‘new’ craze that is mindfulness and in particular the Headspace app that I thought I would give it a go. Meditation is said to reduce stress and anxiety, whilst not being a chronic sufferer I have had bouts of anxiety. Usually, it’s when I have put myself in extremely stressful situations and during winter I have often faced SAD (seasonal affective disorder or for people strongly affected seasonal aided depression). When I first encountered SAD I was around 15 years old and thought I was just lazy, but winter for me was painful. I wanted to stay in bed, I hated the dark mornings so much I use to fantasize about the excuses I could make for not leaving my bed. Apart from the mornings, I was ok for many years, but the symptoms got worse as I got older and I started taking herbal medication to relax myself ( I have sleep...

Week 4 and beyond: How challenging is it to give up alcohol? I am proud to announce… I abstained from alcohol for a total of 33 days! Yes 2 extra days after the initial time frame. I could have easily gone on longer, having chosen to take part in more adventurous activities like visiting the Caravaggio exhibition at Palazzo Reale and taking a day trip out of the city to Vigevano. Sure both of these outings included going for lunch or dinner ( I am in Italy! ), but they weren't the main event. This made abstaining from alcohol easier and to be honest I preferred seeing/experiencing new things rather than eating and drinking with my friends. And when day 34 arrived, my plan for one alcoholic drink with my aperitivo was initially going to plan. Until, we arrived at a bar with live music and I introduced my fellow Anglo-Saxon's to the red devilish liquid that is Negroni!  I was out with my friend and someone new, one of those social situations where normally I would drin...