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Hi Everyone! Hope your having a great Saturday!

This morning I was up and out again for my Saturday run. I wasn’t that hungry when I woke up so I went out on an empty stomach. I did 6.5 miles in 60 minutes and was really happy with my time. It was a beautiful autumn morning, but my hands were freezing again. I made sure to pick up some gloves today! When I got home I made myself this lovely smoothie:

Butternut Squash Smoothie (based on Gena’s recipe)

• 1/2 cup of roast butternut squash
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

Blend all ingredients and serve. I topped mine with a tablespoon of muesli and a good drizzle of maple syrup.

When Gena said this smoothie was to die for she wasn’t kidding. This was delicious! The cinnamon and ginger flavours with the sweet butternut tasted wonderful.

I spent the rest of the morning in Newcastle. I few days ago I bought a mug and loose leaf tea infuser on sale in Sainsbury’s for just £3, so I went to my favourite Deli and picked up some Amaretto loose leaf tea. This smells amazing! While I was there I got the most yummy almond chai mocha skinny latte. Officially my new favourite hot drink! I also went to a couple of shops in the market. I got more loose leaf tea, this time some Japanese Cherry Sencha Green tea. I also got some olives and a chipotle Chile Ketchup which should taste great with bean burgers.

After town I popped to my best friends for a cuppa. She had made me a jar of green tomato chutney, I can’t wait to try it!

While I was in Newcastle I also hit TK Maxx and H&M and had a bit of a naughty spending spree! I’ll post what I got tomorrow as I found loads of things, although I probably shouldn’t have spent so much I’m really chuffed with what I got!

September Review and October Plans

What I achieved in September:

• Completed the Great North Run!
• Ditched the scales
• Did my first spinning class
• Signed up for my first yoga class
• Lost 5lbs (more on this in a mo)
• Lost 1.5 inches from my waist and bust

Wow, this has been one hell of an eventful month!

A month ago I blogged about how I would be ditching the scales and not weighing myself every week. I did say I would weigh in once a month until I was confident I was balancing things out. I was shocked when I got weighed to see that I had dropped that much weight without even trying. Before I jumped on the scales I had said to myself that it didn’t really matter what number came up as I was feeling ok about myself and my body, my clothes have been fitting well etc. I was certainly not expecting a 5lb loss. On one hand this is ok as it gives me room for any eating out / over eating related weight gain that may come up, but at the same time I really don’t want to get any smaller. I think I need to see how I go next month, as due to the half marathon training, this month was always going to be a bit of an odd one.

I’m also really happy that I’ve continued running. I was a bit worried that after completing the GNR I wouldn’t have the motivation to continue to run but I’m glad to say that I still really enjoy it!

Now that the GNR is all done and dusted (for this year at least) I have a new set of goals and a new training plan:

Goals:

• Continue running – at least 15k (cause 15k sounds more than 9 miles ;-) a week either outdoors or on the treadmill
• Improve my strength and flexibility with my new yoga class
• Continue to attend spinning class once a week
• Think about other measures of ‘healthy’ rather than just weight / size

Current Stats:

• Weight – 9st 9lbs
• Hips –35 inches
• Waist – 27 inches
• Bust – 35.5 inches

My outline weekly plan will be:

• Monday – Gym – 30 mins high intensity intervals, 30 mins spin class, abs and core exercises
• Tuesday – DVD including strength work – for this month the 30 Day Shred Levels 1 and 2 back to back
• Wednesday – 3k run on the treadmill at gym followed by abs and core exercises
• Thursday – DVD including strength work – 30 Day Shred Level 3, Yoga Class
• Friday – Gym – 45 mins high intensity intervals, 15 minutes of strength and core exercises
• Sat / Sun – 10k outdoor or treadmill run / Rest Day

I also want to think about other ways I can measure health rather than just by weight or size. Here’s my first thoughts:

• How am I feeling in myself? Am I feeling tired / rundown / depressed or my usual cheerful self? :-)
• What’s my skin, hair and nails like? Is my skin blemish free? Are my nails strong and is my hair shiny?
• What’s my energy levels like?
• Do I have any aches and pains?

As I am looking to move away from focusing on weight and size as an indication of health I think I will find looking at these other things useful. What other indicators of health could I add to my list?