oxymord

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“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”

— Robin Hobb, Fool’s Fate (via books-n-quotes)

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This is my new favourite pic. The Swedish Giant promised me that there would be coffee and toilets on top of the hill but there were none ...

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Anybody in New York?

I have not posted in sooooo long becaus I am trying to just keep it together being so busy at work (positive busy).

And work has rewarded me grandly. It looks like I am going to be in New York for ten days from mid-September.

Do you know any friendly face that would be kind enough to show another friendly face ( me ) around ans share coffee and drinks?

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I want and I am also pretty scared to start this tonight after Chris' comment.... Might revise the list a bit

Tah-dah! Behold my 30 Day Ab Challenge!

I added Russian twists to a Lauren Conrad template I found on Pinterest and then decided to do three rounds of the exercises each day instead of only one.

It’s probably pretty ambitious to expect myself to do three rounds for those last few days, but I’ll split exercises up into smaller sets if I need to and beastmode my way through it.

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Sharing the info two days later but yeah I did it. 10,000 steps. @bssah I saw that you did well too!

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Thanks for all the love @fatmaninalittlesuit You are one of the person I look up to. You are so strong and determined in your journey. And also very real.

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Me me!

Friday challenge: 10k steps

I decided to do this for myself. But join me?

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Frenchie in the UK

European fitblrs

I’ve done this before but I want more europeans on my dash.

If you post regularly about your own fitness journey Are supportive to the others in the fitblr community Reblog cute animal and beautiful nature pictures And are not interested in seeing anymore commercial posts of skinny girls in nike clothes And ofc lives in Europe or in our timezone Plz reblog this

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@livingbetterformyself​ Alisa, finally answering this one. Only 3 months late.

Questions:

♡ What is your age? 30

♡ What is your current job? Programme Assistant. In a team of 4, we remotely manage donor-funded programmes focusing on health system strengthening, in Kenya and Bangladesh

♡ What are you talented at? Hmm, that is a good question. Moaning? Baking cakes and learning languages (recently started learning Swedish, prononciation is tough)

♡ What is a big goal you are working toward, or have already achieved? I am happy and I am working everyday to keep it that way no matter what happens. I would also like to keep doing a job that sparks up my interest every day. I am working hard to keep it that way.

♡ What is your aesthetic? It is a kind of question where I feel out of date. I am not sure what is an aesthetic. Let me have a try. Aesthetic is green plants, books, coffee and wool jumpers

♡ Do you collect anything? Random words in my head, books to read and already read, fine-point pens (left-handed struggle)

♡ What topic are you always talking about? Food security and development. How a country can only develop successfully if the population basic needs (food, health, eduction) are fulfilled. Yes it is closely related to my job, it is actually what I study and a real passion.

♡ What are your pet peeves? Native English speakers, correcting trivial mistakes from non-native, while hardly having any English grammar knowledge. E.g. what is an auxiliary verb or the difference between its and it’s 

♡ Good advice?

This next job is not going to bring you happiness, nor will the next date, next dress or next phone. Happiness comes from your mindset on life.

If doable, always save some money from your paycheck. £20 can go a long way. And even further, if timed several times.

♡ Three songs you recommend?

Only three? Why so few? Here from my most recent discoveries

Ibrahim Maalouf - True Sorry

The Name feat. Christine and the Queens - Distance

Matmatah - Lésine Pas

I am not tagging anybody but I would love to hear from some of you. Do you feel like answering the questions? Please do and tag me. 

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I am indeed from Stanford le hope 😊 I spent many nights up bazvegas 👍🏼

Hahaha the ever-so-famous BazVegas :D I haven’t had the chance to experience the BazVegas (have to admit I am not into night clubs, but I did hear a lot about it)

I am so happy to see another Essex fitblr. It makes things more real.

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Day 35 and all the ones before

Monthly accounts at work kept me away from Tumblr a few days. Ok my laziness too. And also I needed some time for reflection.

I have hit the 31-day mark, which to me is a big motivational milestone. I have been at it for more than 31 days and I am still there. Go me! While off Tumblr, I spent some time figuring out what works, what doesn’t work and what I would like to do differently healthiness-wise (In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I love making up expressions). Results of the healthiness-wise thinking:

I am good on water intake, eating wisely until 4 I am getting better at saying no to unplanned/office food (most of the time it is food that I don’t actually enjoy), staying motivated days in days out I am still struggling with over-snacking after 5pm and stress-eating

As from now and until some unknown date,  I will:

walk a minimum of 10,000 steps five days a week (ideally outside of the weekend)

do sports at least twice  a week (running, extra walking, yoga, ...)

stand up and walk away from my desk anytime I feel like eating out of boredom or stress

be more mindful of my portions, especially for dinner

To hold myself accountable, I am going to do fitcharts like @fitchris25 with daily goals.  My current goals are:

10,000 daily steps

Go for a walk between 10am and 3pm

No unplanned candies,cookies, biscuits

No second helping at dinner

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I don't think there is any another Stanford-le-Hope in the UK, so I have to ask. Stanford-le-Hope in Essex?

I live in Basilson and I have never met anybody outside of Esssx that has heard of Stanford.

The local church were I grew up is so pretty inside and out.

St. Margaret of Antioch is the parish church of Stanford-le-Hope. The church was first built in 1180. A north aisle was added in 1240, this was enlarged in 1340. The chancel and south aisle were added at the same time.

Ten years before it was built four knights murdered Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The church is named after Saint Margaret of Antioch who is the patron saint of childbirth. She was killed because of her trust in Jesus.

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Day 21-22-23 I am getting there, I am getting into mindful eating. I have overall been eating well for the last 3 days if not for the Swedish candies. I have finished the pack on Tuesday, so no more temptation. Candies are one of the few items where I am unsure if I would ever be able to have some at home and not eat them. I went running on Monday. It was hard, not running for over 10 days the lungs can feel the difference. I went to yoga on Tuesday and it was nice. The teacher is amazing, she is 55 and honestly look 40. She can do all these amazing postures. It motivates me so much. If one can keep practicing and being excellent at 55, no reason that I at 30 shouldn't be able to improve. Photo of the days starring the tube from the train. It is one of my daily view.

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Day 18 to 20

These last days are a bit of a blur. Some important and positive things are happening at home and it keeps the Swedish Giant and me pretty busy. On top of that, work is insanely same as usual. I am struggling with keeping within the working hours. I get easily distracted during the day, spend long minutes staring at the nothingness and/or discussing with my colleagues. Then that I woke up about my tasks at 3:30pm. And I can’t really catch up a day long in an hour and half. Anyway…

These last days have not been very good. I haven’t been mindful in my eating and ate too much. I certainly did not feel great at the end of the day. It is quite impressive how quickly the body/stomach gets used to non-fat meals and reacts badly to 2 days of fatty meals. I am back to mindful eating today. I am going to try something new this week. Going away from my desk when I want to eat. Atm I am eating absent-mindlessly when at my desk and it is my helping. I want my body and brain to understand that if I am hungry I need to go away from the desk, walk a few steps, and then eat.

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It does, doesn't it? Swedish cakes and breads blow my mind and my belly every single time. And I used to think -proud French inside - that the good cakes and breads could only be found in France.

Day 14 & 15

And they were good, good as sticking to 80/20. Above my 20% of Monday day 14: Semlor, the Swedish Easter cake. It is a bomb, cardamon- flavoured bun with whipped cream and almond-something filling. Only available at Easter season. Clearly you will only have one in a go, at least if you are a beginner like me. On Monday I also went to see a play, first one in years: Rosencratz and Guildenstern are dead, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua Mc Guire and a few other amazing stage actors. Theatre blows my mind. For 2 hours I was transported by Elsinor (Hamlet) and it was fabulous. Insert big fan and happy eyes.

Day 15 was good. Long walk at lunch and proactively saying no to Digestives. Yes!

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Day 16 & 17 And they were good food wise. I am getting the hang of it and it really pleases me. Usually after 10 days or so, I start feeling ravenous for candies/sugaries and really struggle to control the urge. This time I am doing ok, I am still having one or two candies, but I am able to say stop and to control it. I don't want to go any further atm as it is a long-standing issue and I don't want to backfire at me for trying too hard. Already been there, it ain't working. Over the next few days, I am going to look more at my portions to make sure that I don't overeat. One step at a time. Anyway yesterday I again & consciously said no to Digestives biscuits (best chocolate biscuit in the UK together with Chocolate Hobnobs) because I knew we were to the pasta restaurant for dinner. Go me! And the picture is the view to the Docks from our table :)

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Day 14 & 15 And they were good, good as sticking to 80/20. Above my 20% of Monday day 14: Semlor, the Swedish Easter cake. It is a bomb, cardamon- flavoured bun with whipped cream and almond-something filling. Only available at Easter season. Clearly you will only have one in a go, at least if you are a beginner like me. On Monday I also went to see a play, first one in years: Rosencratz and Guildenstern are dead, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua Mc Guire and a few other amazing stage actors. Theatre blows my mind. For 2 hours I was transported by Elsinor (Hamlet) and it was fabulous. Insert big fan and happy eyes. Day 15 was good. Long walk at lunch and proactively saying no to Digestives. Yes!