August has been the month of food for me, but not the junk food I usually eat. It's been a month of eating lean meals. A friend of mine sent me her diet plan, and I've been using that to plan my meals. It's been bloody hard work, more so the preparation of foods and working it alongside my daily routine. Some days have been tough going and I've felt like throwing in the towel on more than one occasion, not because I've craved sweet things, but just because the prepping, and the thinking ahead has been too much for me. But I did it, I got through cycle one! Either way, this food plan has taken over pretty much the whole of August, and at times I have felt like it has ruled my life. However its definitely made me think more about food and healthier ways of cooking. When I complete the 3 cycles, I'll definitely be investing in the Lean in 15 books to maintain this lifestyle.
August has also been a busy month for family birthdays. I treat my dad to a nice meal out of town, at a restaurant I'd never been to before. For Mike's birthday we had a fairly quiet one. With our holiday payment looming, we kept it low-key. I bought him a fancy coffee machine (something that he's been wanting for a long time now), so we had a play with that and went to the cinema to watch a film that he wanted to see (David Brent: Life on The Road). He also wanted me to bake him his favorite Ferrero Rocher cheesecake, which was no fun when I couldn't eat any! (Didn't want to spoil the diet now, did I?!).
We also took our niece and nephew out for their annual day trip that we do every summer with them.
We took a fairly last-minute trip to Meadowhall in the hope of stocking up on some summer clothes which were in the sales, however the sales didn't appear to have kicked in properly! Still, it was a nice change of scenery and a day out.
At the end of the month I took a trip to York with my mum and her partner. Her partner was there for a work medical, so they thought they'd make a day of it, and invited me along to be navigator, basically.
In between all of this and work, I've been decorating my dressing room. We've been in our house 5 years now and I haven't painted the room since we moved in. It was originally a pastel lilac colour, and although it went with my shabby chic pastel theme at the time, the last few months I was wanting to give it a fresh, more mature feel. I've gone with white walls and it already makes it look so much brighter. Although its taking a lot longer than anticipated... 3 coats of paint later and the lilac is still showing through in places!
I can't believe we're almost into Autumn! What did you get up to in August?
Until next month...
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