March Healthy Eats & Detox

I'm back! Not just back here, back in the UK! Okay, so I've been back for a week now, but surely everyone knows you need at least a week to adjust back to this miserable cold weather? Especially when I've been in sunny France, right? Whilst a ski tour update will have to wait until I finally sort through and put the photos up, here is a little update featuring... drumroll!... FOOD.

Really couldn't beat this view... even if the gorgeous sunny weather meant that (a) I got a super attractive goggle tan (b) the snow was slushy as something you would find in cone with little fruit bits in it.

 I skied to Switzerland! Which is pretty cool, especially as I can't really ski. I didn't quite go down the Swiss Wall but went around some way. (I'm not sure what way. I may have spent 5 days skiing the resort but I could barely find my way back to the hotel using the one run that gets us back there.)

Now that I am stranded on a remote island in the middle of nowhere, (I'm not even kidding... my boyfriend happens to live on a private island in the Lake District, and you need a boat to get to the rest of the town...!) I've decided to use this time to revise, apply for jobs, and cook and eat healthy meals! I generally eat quite well but a week out on the alps with twenty-ish of my good friends, pretty expensive supermarkets and a tightly-packed schedule has left me feeling not my best. PLUS, a whole week of NOT RUNNING? You can bet I was terrified I would be five minutes in huffing and panting and giving up - I get pretty bad "IF I DON'T RUN AT LEAST X TIMES A WEEK I WILL BE AWFUL," I guess my last few start-running-agains have left me with bad experiences.

Anyway, accusations against my body were unfounded as I managed 6k with Joe when we arrived up in the Lake District... even if it was slightly painful, it was more due to me coughing my lungs out. As I tell everyone - because all I do is talk about running - I can't really run in the cold weather. As someone used to running in hot humidity, the cold air hits my chest pretty badly. A few quick google searches (bloody millenial habits,) suggest that cold air is just generally a problem for those who don't run in it (i.e. stubborn girls who run like maniacs on the treadmill then fall apart of frostbite the minute they break into a jog outside.) However, as something with not-great lungs anyway, I'll be wrapping a scarf around my face and nose for an ultra-sleek, on-trend winter look an extra layer of face protection, as that's what many websites suggest. And STAY TUNED for more super exciting news!

Anyway, here is one of the first documented 'super easy BUT I still scarfed in down in about 3 seconds flat' meals we made this week! A very simple lemon-roasted veggies and sea bass plate. Me and Joe only had sea bass for the first time a few weeks ago and as it so happened, on that day, sea bass was EXACTLY WHAT WE WANTED, even though we had never had it before. It was just so perfectly catered to what we'd been craving for dinner, so we went for it again at the supermarket.

Anyway, this was pretty simple: chuck the oven on, cover everything with freshly squeezed lemon juice, and roast until cooked! (MAN, roasted broccoli is good! I only got the recommendation on ski tour and I may not ever go back.) 

You don't need lemon slices on the plate, I actually just put them there to make the photograph a bit 'fancier.' 

Asides from our first day's run, the weather's been a bit rubbish so I've been doing my workouts indoors - we set up the treadmill downstairs so I kind of have a little home gym! Except it's COLD down there as it's the garden room.

We're also looking after Joe's puppies who are sixteen weeks old now. They may be cute, but they are SO mischievous! I've already had my wellies kidnapped and I've been fighting with them over the 3kg DUMBELLS of all things. 

This is a deceptive outfit. I've been bundling up in about three thousand layers here. I've also managed to lose one of my favourite mittens today, and I'm still a bit in shock.

The next two pictures are the delicacy from two nights ago! I'm kind of obsessed with vegetables so we usually have a salad with every meal (minus breakfast...) and it usually ends up being the same things in it. This time, based on the success of my recommended pesto chicken on ski tour, we decided to go for a pasta salad! Whilst I could happily eat veggies for every meal without so much as a carb, boys generally won't agree with that so I cooked up a portion of pasta to stick in the salad and it made it a whole lot more filling/more of an acceptable meal for the boyfriend.

This had: roasted peppers, aubergine and tomatoes with a little oil, salt and pepper, garden salad leaves (pre-bagged,) mixed salad leaves, pasta, quinoa (accidentally made loads so just put it all in because health benefits,) lentils, an avocado and various beans. We also put chicken cooked with pesto in! (PROOOTEIN) Dressing was extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice - only a splash of all, and hummus!

All mixed together in my plate/bowl! Plate/bowls are the superior combination of both their pre-evolved forms. Especially if you're an unfortunately messy eater like me and usually end up with food everywhere. They do not, unfortunately, stop food getting in your hair. 

Keswick is full of these quaint and lovely little cake shops. Didn't take any pictures of actual cakes, but a few days ago I had a gluten free almond and peanut cake - I don't eat gluten free but will occasionally substitute when there is a yummy looking alternative - and today I had a carrot! Still going strong into lent, although there is NO chance that I am NOT going to devour a horrid amount of malteaser bunnies when it's over.

The rest of the time has been slowly ambling through starting to revise, (I won't quite dignify it with the word 'revision' yet,) applying for jobs in the big scary world, and we're not just playing Pokemon now, but watching it. I'll post the Pokemon update in a separate post though, to try and keep things a bit tidier and so I look a bit cooler than I actually am. 

❤️ SPRING! ❤️ (Or "Look how easily a seemingly normal blog post turns to Pokemon")

 Just to get back into it, here is a little recap of my last few days, and some photos off my instagram/phone. It's finally warming up again! I now say that with DELIGHT, and no longer the hatred of my old sun-hating vampiric self. It's amazing what living in the World's gloomiest country does to you.

P.S. Listen to this! It's wonderful!

 Yesterday/Today General Life Stuff etc. etc.  

Yesterday me and Sophie went to the Solihull shopping center as it's the only place with an Apple store in a bazillion mile radius. It turned out to be a lovely day so we spent quite a while wandering around outside in the sun dotting from shop to shop.

Sitting in Starbucks waiting for our Apple shop appointment. Got the best people watching seats! Not that there was anything interesting going on because it was a Friday afternoon PRE gaggle-of-school-kids arriving time. (YES, for Fridays off!) (And the gaggles of school kids arrived as we were leaving thank god.)

I got the exact same thing from TGI's as I did the first (which was also the most recent) time I went because I have a tendency of clinging obsessively to my favourite foods in any place I go and being afraid of change. WHAT IF I MISS OUT ON A CHANCE TO EAT MY VERY FAVOURITE THING BECAUSE I'VE CHOSEN A SUBPAR THING?! Nope. 

TGI's also got a +1 because they have an allergy menu meaning Sophie can eat there! Always an exciting revelation. There was only one starter on the menu but there was a load of hummus on it and I love hummus so much that I can't see how that could potentially be a bad thing. 

In between all the food we managed to eat - we had to have a lot of powerbreaks - we also managed to do a bit of shopping. I'm actually really good when it comes to spontaneous shopping... I don't have the money to go out and buy stuff-that's-not-necessary for myself a lot - and when I do, I prioritise stupid stuff rather than things like clothes and accessories. HOWEVER, I haven't had to pay a stupid amount of money to silly things this month so it means I'm able to get stuff!!! I didn't actually buy a lot as I'm still in a stingy mindset and trying to only get ~ what I really really need want ~

Main things were more cute lil' socks to wear, some ribbon-y hair ties and a new pair of sunglasses as there's a chance I might get to use them soon! I also got a pair of shoes which I'm in love with but it's really more for the fact that my old boots are falling apart and now when I wear them when the ground's wet my feet get wet and there are really very few things worse than that. 

Today, meanwhile, was the first day I did not have to wear a coat!!! I got to wear a jacket instead which is kind of annoying as I need to dig out a lot of my jackets now and I don't know where half of them are. Today feeling like Spring gave us an excuse to walk to Subway for lunch and then it meant I could go pick up my bosu ball which finally arrived!

I'm a bully who makes my boyfriend take photos of me when I'm super pleased about the little bow thing I've got in my hair.

Apart from that, all I've really been doing is researching for my Psychopathology essay "Explore representations of Mental Illness in popular contemporary films and potential ethical implications" or something like that, haven't actually figured out the title, and playing Pokemon!!

This was the real point of making this post.

Pokemon!!!

Last time I played it was on my DS BUT me and Joe, after binge-watching Kanto season 1 on netflix the last week, decided to actually start playing it. Last time we played it together ended in a series of horrific fights over each other's playing techniques, who we wanted on our teams, and how to do everything basically. This time, we decided to play the same game, at the same time, separately, which actually makes a whole lot more sense.

In playing Soul Silver now, my team is currently Quilava, Wooper, Hoot Hoot & Flaafy. I've always been a grass starter type, mainly due to my eternal love for Bulbsaur. But frequent disappointments in the latest games mean I generally end up using the fire or water starters. I've played with all starters in Gen II (although It's technically Gen IV as it's the remake OF a Gen II game..) and went with Cyndaquil this time - maybe mostly to do with FLAME WHEEL - ! (Joe went with Totodile.) I also end up getting Hoot Hoot and Mareep purely because I love their evolved forms and I'm one of those people who likes having a full team early on, so you can have a nice balanced team.

I'd forgotten how much I loved these games. The perfect combination of adventure exploring and battle action! Plus the graphics are looking so good - the games were great even when they weren't - and I just love the strategising that comes with rpgs. I'm pretty sure my childhood love for the games led to my later obsessions with other RPGS (read: Final Fantasy & Zelda in particular) and I can remember as a child, playing on my first gameboy with barely any clue what was actually going on but still LOVING IT.

Next gym up is Goldenrod (oh no) so that means Whitney (oh no) and Miltank (oh no.) Normal gyms are always so hard. It's like they have to compensate for the fact that in general, normal pokemon just aren't...very good. (Except now they've turned half of them fairy ugh grumble.) I mean, everyone hates rollout and upon looking at Pokemon stats... SLAKING IS RIGHT UP THERE WITH LEG/PSUEDO-LEG what is up with that. (I'm looking at YOU, Norman-from-Petalberg) 

This post has been a bit of a crazy mess BUT I kind of know where I'm going. I'll probably post a little Pokemon update at the end of each entry depending on where I am, but will also try and post more actual content as well. I seem to just make lists all the time now, but not of anything really interesting!

Enjoy the sunshine everyone, IT WON'T LAST.