Staying 'healthy' at Christmas


 
 
One of the biggest challenges at this time of year is keeping a healthy routine and not pigging out on all the food! But that is a challenge I'm hoping to face head on this year.

How you ask? Well (I don't know if I've mentioned this... maybe once or twice) because I'm going on holiday (not excited at all, honest) in January I'm going to try really hard to look and feel in shape before I go. These are my top tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle at this time of year:

Pre-Christmas 'Detoxing'



Have you been telling yourself for the last week/month/year that you are going to get yourself in shape before Christmas? Or do you want to kick start your New Year resolutions before the clock strikes midnight on the 31st?

Work friendly lunches: Healthy noodle pots




It's always a struggle to find lunches that can be prepared and packed the night before with minimal effort, maximum flavour and be healthy and filling. This healthy noodle pot recipe is the trifecta of all work lunches and should be able to be prepared in almost any work place as all you need on the day is a kettle.

3 favourite things

 
Its been a lovely week this week spent catching up with friends, starting my Christmas shopping and beginning to make the house feel all cosy and Christmassy. This means that I have so many favourite things right now that its been difficult to narrow them all down.
 
I know some people think November is too early to get in to the Christmas spirit but these next 5 weeks will go so quickly and I like to make the most of it!

Quality time


 
I was in the process of writing about how suddenly it had started to feel like winter i.e. I’d had to put the heating on a handful of times and wear an extra layer etc. when I realised that actually it’s still not THAT cold out there.

Remember, remember the 5th November - Healthy Bonfire night tacos




This time of year is perfect for spending time outdoors wrapped up against the cold and the events of the next few months give us plenty of reasons to get together and enjoy quality time with our friends and family.
Tonight (the 5th November), is Bonfire night in the UK, an old tradition which celebrates the capture of Guy Fawkes preventing him from performing an act of treason on the King at the time – it’s actually quite an interesting story if you aren’t based in the UK where we tend to learn about it in school. 

I know what you did this weekend...



 
This weekend was a fabulous weekend of spooky celebrations with friends. We dug out our costumes, painted our faces and ate lots of Halloween themed goodies.

3 favourite things



So as October is drawing to a close and making way for the winter months and, more importantly, the build up to Christmas I thought I’d do a little round up of 3 of the things I am loving at the moment.

The best way to drink coffee



I’m going to say it… I like coffee. I really do.
It’s amazing how easy it is to attach guilt to certain foods or drinks, but as with anything – it’s all about balance - moderation people!

Last year in a nutshell


So, a couple of years ago I started writing, and then it sort of just trailed off. The last year and a half have been busy, eventful and well, I just haven’t felt the need to put pen to paper, or hand to keyboard or whatever you want to say.
2014 was mostly eventful because, well, we got married!

Let me introduce myself...




I’m Mel, proud to be blonde, equally proud to be from the North West of England with a passion for food, family, fashion and fitness.
I try my best to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle – emphasis on the word try, double emphasis on the word balanced – because there’s nothing at all wrong with allowing ourselves a treat, a slip up or even a week off every now and again.
And that right there is the reason for this blog – to highlight the fact that a balanced life is a healthy life, and here I’ll write about anything I see that will help to make healthy choices that feed the body, the mind and more importantly the soul!
Hope you enjoy and feel free to drop me a message, ask me a question, whatever!