Running Towards the Cake

I love the running community. I have read so many blogs singing the praises of fellow runners and saying how supportive they are however nothing beats experiencing this first hand.

I went on my third Park Run this morning which I found ridiculously hard (slightly worrying when I have a 10K in a month) however the wonderful volunteers who cheer everyone on each week genuinely make my day. Having a complete stranger complimenting your running, even if it's stretching the truth and they say it to everyone, is a great ego boost when you're out sans make up on a Saturday morning.

The only problem is, a 5K run at 9am seems to trick my body into thinking it's entitled to chocolate biscuits galore. Luckily I'm not really running to lose weight (and here's why you shouldn't either!) and so can cross the finish line safe in the knowledge that I'll be indulging in the calories when I get home. Of course there's a happy medium and no one can exercise at their full potential having lived off takeaways for a month however it's all about the bigger picture. Life's no fun without your favourite things and there's certainly room for both running and cake in mine!

If you're a runner (or want to be) and are looking for motivation then I would thoroughly recommend Spikes and Heels (where the above linked peice is from), an amazing website by Muireann Carey-Campbell. Living by the motto "be pretty on rest days", her site is a must read for anyone wanting to break out of their comfort zone.

Have a treat filled weekend x

Day Five (almost time for treats)

I quickly decided against blogging each day about what I was eating for Live Below The Line, purely because no one wants to read about cheese sandwiches and biscuits for five days straight.

I am approaching tomorrow with the same excitement as I would my birthday as I can reintroduce my usual treats into my diet. I wouldn't say I've gone hungry over the last five days (in fact, I've probably still eaten more than a lot of people who weren't living below the line) however it's the lack of variety and spontaneity which have been the hardest. I'm so used to grabbing food at every opportunity, whether it's chocolate to break up the working day or biscuits (which aren't Asda smart price) in front of the TV. I've also missed being able to pay for the convenience of having food whenever I want it. Eating dry toast on the train to London yesterday was probably a low point of the week!

Of course five days is absolutely nothing and, as numerous other participants have been saying on Twitter, there's so many more people who are permanently living below the line (and don't have the luxury of constantly tweeting at others for support). I've gone through this week counting down the days until I can go back to my old (bad) habits however I'd like to think I've taken more from the experience than a new level of appreciation for Nutella.

Having to think so carefully about what you're eating is exhausting (I'm still worrying about the possibility of going over budget and I never want to weigh out pasta again). It also impacts your social life considering I couldn't have afforded one cocktail with my weekly budget (and no one wants you watching them eat whilst you're sipping a glass of tap water).

As I said on Monday, I'm not asking for sponsorship as I don't think skipping after work drinks is enough to inspire people to give generously. I would, however, urge you to have a look at the amazing charities Live Below the Line are working with and let them speak for themselves. I've decided to donate money to Positive Women however they're all incredibly worthwhile causes and so please, swap that Friday night glass of wine for some good karma and donate if you can.

Day 2- Like a diet but with no beach holiday to look forward to

Okay that's a slight exaggeration as I'm hardly depriving myself of calories. I lied yesterday. I ended up indulging in some evening snacks of biscuits and dry toast. I also managed a second breakfast and pre dinner snack today (see how I'm making this work for me?).

I think the main issue is knowing I'm not allowed certain foods. There's nothing wrong with pasta for dinner (again...) however when I know it's my only option it's suddenly a lot less appetising. And working out the cost of every single thing I eat is giving me a headache (or that could just be the diet coke withdrawal symptoms).

Today's menu was poached egg on (dry) toast for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch (which I would probably be having anyway due to my lack of imagination) and pasta, sauce and sweetcorn for dinner. I also had a banana and some biscuits for snack time. Reading that back it looks like loads but there would usually be more chocolate/crisps present in my diet which are definitely the main things I'm missing! On the bright side, I'll be keeping my dentist happy.

Day one: Let's go shopping!

I started the Living Below the Line challenge badly by not having bought my week's worth of food the night before (unfortunately a hangover and Sunday trading laws got in the way). Instead I went shopping this morning which, considering I was already hungry (ie. irritable), wasn't the best way to spend a bank holiday.

So here's what I bought:

Eggs (splashed out on free range), cheese, sweetcorn, one potato, pasta, five bananas, pasta sauce, bread, biscuits (unfortunately my budget didn't quite stretch to oreos). All for the grand total of £4.89

I am usually a bit of a brand snob however today I obviously didn't have the option of shunning the supermarket's cheapest versions. Although I will say that I'm pleasantly surprised by Aldi's pasta sauce and Asda's smart price biscuits. Clearly the name on the packet doesn't mean everything (probably would have done me some good to have learnt that as a student...).

Anyway, day one over (eating wise anyway, no room in the budget for my usual array of post dinner snacks) four more to go!

Living below the line

I heard about Live Below the Line last year however let the week pass me by, making a vague mental note that it was something I should get involved in next time. Fast forward one year and here I am- about to attempt to live off £1 a day for five days. Considering my second breakfast sometimes costs twice as much as that, this isn't going to be easy. My days are punctuated with snacks, pretty much most of my socialising revolves around food/drink and I get ridiculously irritable if I think I've waited too long for my next meal.

Anyone who knows me is aware of the role food plays in my life. This used to be something I didn't like drawing attention to ("omg I can't believe that guy just saw me eating something- he now knows that I EAT!!") however I no longer have any qualms about vocalising my constant need for chocolate and hatred of low carb diets. I think food blogging and Twitter have also made it more acceptable to tell the world whenever you're stuffing your face and I now like to see my obsession with cake as an endearing character quirk as opposed to a lack of self control.

Most of us are fortunate enough not to know what real hunger is (apart from during the run up to a beach holiday) however excess food and too much choice can lead to problems of their own. Food may be plentiful in the UK but so are eating disorders, obesity and other dietary related conditions. Yes we have the luxury of enjoying what we eat however, when food starts to develop other associations, we can abuse this privilege and the enjoyment turns into a private pain. Of course the above issues are complex and shouldn't be oversimplified, however my point is that food can be problematic even when we do have enough of it. I fully expect the next few days to force me to look at my own relationship with food (and why I feel a constant supply of oreos is key to my overall wellbeing!).

In their own words: "Live Below the Line is challenging individuals and communities to see how much change you can make out of £1. By living off just £1 per day for food for 5 days, you will be bringing to life the direct experiences of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty and helping to make real change. "

I will donate the money I'm saving on food to one of the campaign's chosen charities however I'm not asking for sponsorship as I'm quite picky about what I deem a legitimate reason to make a plea for people's hard earned money. Considering I probably eat twice as much as the average person anyway, I'm considering this more of a personal challenge (and if this does prompt anyone else to donate then that's just fabulous). I am likely to use my blog to rant document my progress so keep reading if you care to hear about the joys of dry toast and my diet coke withdrawal symptoms. All I ask is that no one comes near me with cake during the next five days. It could get ugly.

Glamour Magazine- The New Mental Health Guru?

The Vagenda Team have been giving me all kinds of blogspiration lately (if I haven't already made it obvious, I am currently a little obsessed with this amazing team of writers). A couple of their tweets in particular caught my eye recently:

"The editor's letter of this month's Glamour seems to imply that having a support network which includes staff will help you beat depression"
"I'm sure having a nanny, a PA, and your girly friends may help. But don't doctors say that a combo of therapy and medication works best?"

Magazines often embark on awareness raising campaigns about all kinds of issues, from safety to sexual health, in a bid to educate and support their readers. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this in itself. In fact, I love when my favourite monthly reads provide me with more than a shopping wish list I cannot afford.

I think the problem arises when magazines begin to stray outside of their remit and oversimplify issues they're not really qualified to advise on. As the Vagenda Team point out, they can often skim over (or completely leave out) important parts of the story (ie. that Depression is an illness which usually requires more than the ability to delegate in order to be beaten). Whilst it's important to encourage sufferers to get support it's equally important not to undermine the seriousness of mental health problems.

This doesn't mean, however, that the glossies should shy away from the topic. There are so many amazing organizations working hard to destigmatise mental health problems and it's great that the magazine industry wants to join them. They don't need any criticism for this- if Jo Elvin's (Glamour editor) letter prompts just a handful of women to seek support (whether it's from their best friend or their GP) then I'd say it's a job well done. We just need to ensure the right information is out there so that those who need to access support are not put off when they realise a laugh with the girls won't necessarily be the miracle cure they hoped for.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the path to mental wellbeing doesn't always require a prescription of Prozac. Being free from a diagnosed condition is only the beginning and it's also important to look after our mental health on a day to day basis. In a society where our waistline is sometimes prioritised over our own true happiness, perhaps such campaigns can remind women to place the same emphasis on their mind as they do on their bodies? If we are encouraged to ask for support as we go about our day to day business perhaps we will find it easier to reach out for help if we come up against bigger challenges.

We need to get to the point where society can encourage those suffering with depression that things will get better without implying that they should just 'snap out of it'. Is Glamour  in a position to do this? Magazines may not have the specialist knowledge to recommend treatment plans however they are in an excellent position to shape the way thousands of young women view mental health issues which has pretty amazing potential.

Since starting this post (yeah I have issues with concentration!) I saw on twitter that Time to Change were putting on an event about the representation of mental health in women's magazines (which Jo Elvin spoke at). I think the timing is perfect and, despite my adoration for magazines, we need to hold these big names accountable when it comes to the way in which they influence their readers. Mental health problems don't just happen to other people (one in four is a pretty big statistic) and so it's in everyone's best interests to keep this issue high on their agenda.

Too damn fabulous

Like many people, I had a scroll through the Daily Mail website during yesterday's lunch hour in order to see what people were wearing to this year's Ladies' Day at Aintree. I won't post a link to the article as it's pretty predictable, ending with readers (anonymously) insulting people's chosen attire. Luckily, I also came across this article by Stephanie Heneghan which sums up my feelings on the matter perfectly.

A day later, however, and I just can't shake off my feelings of anger. Since when was publishing deliberately bad photos of women (as one commenter observed) in order to spark a string of hurtful insults a valid career choice? And as for the comments themselves, I appreciate we're all entitled to an opinion but where do we draw the line? You wouldn't shout at a woman in the street because you didn't like her fake tan (well not if you're a decent human being) so why does the Daily Mail make it okay for us to do so online?

Women really cannot win. If we don't make an effort we're seen as lazy and committing a crime against femininity however if we dare to show a bit of personality through our style then, as Stephanie points out, we're publicly ridiculed. But there's a happy medium you say? I'm sure there is however when society continuously changes its idea of  what's desirable in a woman, this 'happy medium' gets increasingly difficult to achieve.

Considering beauty is so very subjective, how about people just shut the hell up and stop criticizing the ladies of Liverpool for being too damn fabulous.