::The Myrabev Life::

::The Myrabev Life::: April 2015

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Health & Exercise Monthly Update ~ TWO


I would like to start this post and say that for the last FOUR weeks I have been hard at work on my health and exercise goals but that will be telling fibs. Ever since my last 2x 5k runs I did last month I have not attempted to do another because the pain my poor old legs felt it was like no other. I was sore for a week at least before I started to feel like me again, I am sure those of you who do exercise are saying I should have continued and persevered through and continue as it would get better but after my first then my second heart attack (self-diagnosis) I do not think I will be taking 5k's easily any more. My biggest mistake was pushing myself too soon without doing the basics, I have not run for over 3 years now and then I got and do 5k without stopping let me just say big mistake huge. I should have paced myself and taken time to realise that my fitness levels from 3 years ago are not the same today especially since I do not really do any exercises.

So let us just say lesson learned and running on hold (if not permanently).


In the first healthy & exercise monthly update I shared with you my plans for getting back to my normal size of 65kilos. Though I have not done much of any of the ideas I shared I have been implementing more of meal planning and healthy eating. It is not easy to do healthy eating 24/7 with my 9-5 with managing two blogs, I am not saying impossible just saying not easy for me.
For the last two weeks I have been preparing overnight oats for my breakfast and honestly its the best decision ever, I have saved up so much time with overnight oats and since they are so easy to make it's awesome.

I have not yet started the shakeology nor the T-25 but my DVDs and shake have arrived and can not wait to begin. I am on holiday for a week and then busy with my brother's wedding plus moving so I am hoping to start the two programs at the end of May instead.

I have not really been drinking enough water or keeping myself hydrated enough unless tea counts as hydration then I am good. I am not really a water drinker unless flavoured water so I struggle a lot, my infuser bottle I shared in my first monthly post has been helpful but only when I have fruits left over from my overnight oats to use for water do I have it done.



As I have mentioned above, meal planning is going great. I cook once a week for the entire week and I switch up the sides to the dish I have prepared to give me variety and I love it.
If I do not cook in advance I have simple and easy to make meals but definitely staying away from the ready meals and takeaway.

Health Stats
75Kg (was 78 kg last month)
170m height
12-14 size.

I can see the change in myself with my healthy eating and I know once I start adding exercise I will be able to reach my goal before my next major holiday.

How are you doing with your health & exercise this month?

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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Week 18: Personal Confessions ~ Debt is no small matter 7


Twelve months ago I made a decision that would later change my outlook on debt and my fears of being judged for being in debt. Yes some of the reasons I got into debt may not have been via personal choice (student loans+tuition) but some of it is (irresponsible use of credit cards) but regardless I was scared of being judged. 

There are two types of people who know me personally and both have different views, some think money grows on trees in my yard and some think I like to put myself into debt. It is not easy having either of these two groups of people in my life. The ones who think money grows on trees are always mad at me when I say I do not have money to help them and those who think I like being in debt are always mad at me when I decide to spend money on something that I love and want to treat myself. 

How in the world am I meant to deal with this behaviour  from people in my circle?

I was going through all the posts I have shared with you all in the last twelve months on  my debt free journey and I just realized how much has changed. Granted I still owe just over £2000 but I realized the most significant change of all has been how much money I am spending paying off my debt on a monthly basis. Granted if I really wanted to I could pay off this £2000 in one go but then I will have to sleep at the office for the entire month as I won't be able to have anything else except a place to order dominoes. I chose not to pay it off at once because well life is too damn short, I want to go on holiday now instead of  in a couple months time. I might get hit by a bus in a months time so I might not go on holiday but now when I know what's happening this minute I am going.

I know I sound crazy for someone who wants to be debt free but I want to be debt free not dead. I still want to enjoy the small pleasures in my life. I am not saying I will ignore paying off the £2000 but rather pay it off with the current repayment plan I have in place.

Twelve months ago I used to spend £950 a month paying off debt alone, this did not include my monthly bills like rent and food. Do you know how debilitating this is, getting paid and spending over half of your pay on debt and not even have a penny to just once buy a nice shirt or nice shoes for work? I could not even go on holiday in the same county, country later alone abroad, sometimes I couldn't even visit my own parents for months on end. This is so not a life (for me personally), especially since it is just me no husband or kids yet.

My monthly debt repayments have reduced from £950 to £250 and this includes my mobile phone bill. You can not imagine how liberated I feel being able to have that £700 for other things including saving and visiting my parents whenever I want (which is almost every weekend), meeting up with a friend for a movie and drinks and being able to book a holiday abroad because I can.
I know I am blessed and never forget it.

I can honestly say in the last few months I have been living the life I have been working my back side off for the last Twelve months.

My motto still stands: DO NOT LIVE ABOVE YOUR MEANS

I pay my debt off, then my necessities and what is left I save or do something spontaneous.I won't be on planet Earth for long though I am not saying I will be reckless I am saying I will enjoy when ever I feel like it but still within my means.


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Friday, April 24, 2015

Personal Confession ~ The 200th Post


 
For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to think of a creative way to write this post, trying to think of what to write and how to share this huge milestone with you all and I honestly came up blank so bear with me as I am going with the flow. Where and how do you share the excitement of reaching 200 posts? When I made the decision to start this blog (my 2nd blog mind you) I honestly did not know what I was doing and how much work I was going to put into this blog. Managing two blogs have never been a problem for me but it has not been easy either, because when I am having motivational issues to blog it's not only one blog being affected it is two and that sometimes gets to me even though I know I am only human and this is bound to happen.

Most of my readers on this blog will know lately my posts have been far and in between ever since 2015 started. I did contemplate deleting this blog and I think that was my lowest point this year because I enjoy blogging and I treasure both my blogs. Part of the reason for wanting to delete this blog was because I found myself comparing my blogs to other people's blog which I think is not fair on myself nor on other bloggers. It is never fair to compare my beginning to someone else's middle as that is cause for internal turmoil especially if your blog is not as successful as another person's blog. Yes we started at the same time for some and they are doing so much better than me, which is fine because how much work I put into this blog cannot compare to another person's blog and vice versa is true. For me blogging is done on a part-time basis and definitely a hobby but someone else that might not be the case. I am human and this I am sure will continue to happen long before I find a solution to accepting it all come what may. One piece of advice I have for myself and fellow bloggers in the same situation (or any life situation) as me on comparing your beginning to someone else's middle is that "Check yourself before you wreck yourself". What I want to focus on is appreciating that another person has done better than me, congratulating them (even if it's just in my head) and then acknowledging that I am not there yet. I want to use their success as motivation for me to achieve what I want to achieve but I also need to learn when to accept the situation and leave as is because honestly how I define success is not the same as the next person.



If I was to be honest to myself and the world is that I am pretty successful as I am right now, I am at the best that I can be so far in life. Yes there are things that I do not yet have and which I had but I also know that I have so much already both which I can see and that which I cannot see yet. My definition of success blogwise is being able to manage my blogs the way I have been doing it for almost two years now and not giving up that is success. What is my next goal, well it's no secret that I would like to one day earn something resembling a salary from my blogs but that is a 'life time goal' than my next to achieve goal. So many things have to happen before I can reach that life time goal but in the mean time I can do small actions that will move me towards that goal. Success to me is being able to manage the blogger support group The Lovely Bloggers on Facebook with my blogger friend Jemma of celery and cupcakes and in a short span of time having such active members. Being successful is being alive and healthy to enjoy all the goodness and even the bad that this world has to offer and remembering to be thankful to the powers that be for all of it. Being successful for me is not living without regrets but living with the knowledge that you did not give up, you gave it your all and maybe your all is not enough but that knowledge of having attempted is for me is success.

I will not claim to have figured success out be it blogwise or life in general but I am sharing what it means to me and how I look at it all. Being true to myself is a number one priority, keeping it real is my motto and never giving up is my motivation. Life will always throw us curve balls, but it is how we deal with them that define our success.

Happy 200th post to me.

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Sunday, April 19, 2015

{Book Review} Waves of Romance



When I read and reviewed the first book Waves of love, I was really taken in by how the author introduced the book and how much love and chemistry you got from the main characters Sage and Derek. Sage, a 32 year old book bookstore owner who had never left her hometown and Derek, a 22 year old hot off the cover self-taught surfer boy who had never been in love. Waves of love was definitely my kind of book so I was very excited when I was contacted to review the second book Waves of Romance.
Most happy ending love/romance books never really taken you into the ever after period, it just leaves you in the 'all is well' place. When I started reading Waves of Romance I must say I was a little bit disappointed because it felt like the author was trying to explain waves of love first just in case the reader had not read it before starting to read waves of romance. I love books with romance, trials and tribulations, make-out sections and all but I felt this book really had too much make-out sections for a romance book at least thats the genre I am putting it in. I am never one to complain about make-out sessions in books so if I am then it was too much for my taste. 
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I started to love the book when a new character was introduced who started to stir up trouble between Sage and Derek, which led Sage to break it off with Derek before she got hurt. I found myself hurt because call me crazy or not but I was hoping that when Sage and Derek broke up he would hold out a little longer and not jump straight into bed with the new character Colby but he did and I know sage had already broken up with him but it took Derek less than a week to jump into the sack with another girl. I was actually really hoping they would realise that breaking up was a mistake and would get back together without either doing something silly but that was not the case.

When Sage found out she did what only a mature in mind woman would do, pretend it didn't affect her and carry on. Then forgave him after he came back apologising and begging, though not instantly she did forgive him and forgave Colby who had been working for Sage prior to her sleeping with Derek. Sage showed so much more maturity than I carry I guess but I did love how the author explained the emotions and Sage's decision.

Author's Description:

Can love survive a third wheel?

A contemporary romance unlike any other!

Sage Drake is living the good life in sunny Seaside Heights, Florida. Once an avowed workaholic, her sexy new lover ”" surfer, world traveler and author Derek Chambers ”" has awakened in her not just a love for the ocean, and surfing, but for life in general.
But when her trusted assistant manager departs for college a few months early, Sage is forced to choose between managing her bookstore, Sequels, or enjoying the good life with Derek. A solution comes in the form of Colby Weathers, a worthy replacement for her old assistant manager”... if only she wasn’t so beautiful.
Sage isn’t the only one to notice”...
Would Derek succumb to this younger girl?
Would Sage’s worst fears become real?

It is definitely a worthwhile read kind of book and I definitely would recommend reading it.
What would you do if you were in Sage's position?
would you forgive easily and move on?

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Saturday, April 18, 2015

{Healthy Eating} Breakfast an important meal of the day


They say breakfast is an important meal of the day but in this day and age most of us do not even have 5 minutes to sit down in the morning and eat breakfast (whether healthy or not) later on prepare the meal. I have a 9-5 job so you could say I really should have time to sit and eat my breakfast but in reality I do not. By the time I wake up, shower and dress it's time to run out of the house and walk to the station to catch my bus to work. When I do get to work I am pumped up on adrenaline that I just get stuck right into my work until 10ish when my stomach starts to remind me how hungry I am sometimes to the point of collapsing. Would you believe me if I told you that I forget to eat more times than I eat a week? I am just that bad when it comes to eating and because I am a social butterfly I kinda need people around to eat with me otherwise I only eat when I see others eating hence why I watch too much TV (story for another day).

Over the course of the week I stumbled upon a post on overnight oats, I am bummed that I didn't save the link so I could share it but then I didn't think I was actually going to do it myself. But Tuesday night I started to write in my diary things to do for the rest of the week when I remembered that I had run out of my porridge sachets and desperately needed to pack something for Thursday as I had a lot of meetings from 9-6 with a few 10-15 minute breaks. Then I remembered the overnight oats and I consulted doctor Google who brought about so many ideas. I looked at what I had in my cupboards and went to work on it. Thursday morning I topped my overnight oats with Nutella and went to work. I enjoyed it so much that I have been making my overnight oats since then and just mixing it up to my liking.

I have been using a few ingredients which I have in the house always and had to purchase some cute bowls to be making sizeable portions.


Ingredients: Granola oats (from my March Degustabox), unsweetened Almond milk, natural yoghurt (the first time I used strawberry yoghurt) and mixed fruits. For my topping I am using Nutella but you can use anything or nothing at all.



Directions: Mix all together and keep in fridge overnight, in the morning either eat as is or top up with your choice of topping as I mentioned above I am using Nutella





What do you think of my overnight oats? Do you make overnight oats? Do you ever have time for breakfast?

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Friday, April 17, 2015

Top FIVE (5) FRIDAY


Hi there and welcome to my almost ghost town of a blog, I can not believe how much I have missed posting on this blog; but running two blogs (A July Dreamer) and this blog has certainly started to take it's toll on me. I am so tired every day and when I have enough energy to blog I am doing more for A July Dreamer than on here. I can not wait to take a few days to another country to explore and mostly to relax and take a sit back on life. Today's Top 5 Friday is just things that have happened in the last few months as well as this ending week, so without further adieu.

myrabev.blogspot.com

1. I finally got my passport on Tuesday, my father text me to say my passport had arrived and I couldn't be more happy. In January I made a decision that would later change my life, I did not know if I would be successful with it or not and this week I know it was the right decision.

2. Since my passport is here now I managed to book my ticket to Seoul, Korea and I flight now in 10 days. I am so excited so very happy, life has been getting in the way of me enjoying things and this holiday is to change that. I will try to document as much as I can but mostly follow my instagram to see on the day updates.

3. Another one of the decisions I made in January was to find my own place to live either to rent or buy but the current financial woe didn't permit me to buy so I am renting instead but nonetheless this will be my very own place and first apartment. I am beyond excited and I can't stop pinching myself thinking I am dreaming.

4. I managed to get the dates I want to visit Zambia reserved, I am happy about this because I get to see my extended family again this year. I have decided (God willing) to make my visits to my motherland yearly so fingers crossed I find a reasonably priced ticket.

5. In 5 short weeks my brother is getting married, I am so happy and so excited about this. Normally my culture dictates that as the eldest I do everything first including getting married but I am far from it and I am happy my brother (head of our family) is getting married first. This is the first wedding in my family so we are over the moon. Now I just have to find a dress that says she is the sister of the groom..hahaha.. just kidding a beautiful dress is all I need.

So that's my Top 5 Friday.
How has your week or even last 3 months been?

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Personal Confession ~ To know or not to know


Lately I have been pondering to myself about life and how things as you grow and develop start to either make sense or get more complicated. I have been questioning whether it is better to know something is wrong or not.

........Let me give you an example......


Is it better to know you have a disease that will eventually kill you or is it better not to know so you can go on and enjoy your life? Because I am one of those people who once I know it brings me down a 100 fold and getting back to my joyous self becomes tough and tortuous.

  I have always said that for me ignorance is bliss but lately I have found myself questioning if that is still true. One might argue that once you know then you can do something about it, take precaution or start treatment but there is another side to knowing it depresses people and for most the depression is stronger than the need to take precautions or start treatment.

**
One might say it is best not to know as not to tip the equilibrium and continue on living as if you will live forever. Though one might think this is ill advised sometimes I feel like this is an approach I want to undertake for my sanity's sake. 

A couple days ago I stumbled across something I am wishing I didn't know and would give my right arm to forget but that won't be happening I know it already and now I am wondering if I should get involved or stay out of it and pretend I know nothing. The internal conflict is so strong that I have resorted to documenting it here as most times when I share things on here I get clarity that I don't usually see when alone in my thoughts. 

What would be your approach, to ignore or to disturb? 

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