What's In A Piece Of Pie?

Sunday afternoon already?..

Hee hee... I love these cartoons.

I feel like I've posted a lot this week whilst avoiding talking much about what's been happening in my everyday life. You didn't miss much. I've been thinking a lot about what constitutes a 'balanced lifestyle'. When I did my life coaching certification course a few years ago, there was an entire module on what a balanced lifestyle is- my coursework was filled with pretty pie-charts that would compose a well-rounded life. I think that no two pie charts would ever be the same- some people need more of one aspect in their life and someone else has slightly different priorities.

The key 'pieces' of the pie were:

• productivity (work, school, etc)
• personal/health
• social
• leisure
• relationships

Simple in theory, harder in practice. (Don't worry- not going to get all 'life coach-y on you guys...okay, maybe just for this post :P )

MY PIE

Productivity: I am working part-time right now, as well as various ongoing projects (ie, the article I wrote and follow-up)

Personal/Health: a work in progress- I am definitely making this a more significant part of my 'pie' right now and focusing on gaining both emotional and physical health because I think that without that as a solid foundation, none of the others can really grow.

Leisure: again, a work in progress. Blogging is fun for me, writing is fun and I LOVE taking my camera out around the city and taking random pictures. I am hoping that as the rest of my 'pie' balances out more evenly, I'll discover new things I enjoy doing and a new appreciation for leisure time.

Social/Relationships: I've clumped these together because right now, they are virtually non-existent and by far, the smallest piece in my pie. (I find it kind of amusing the I am talking about what my eating disorder has taken away from me by using a 'pie' as an example!)

I am definitely a sociable person. I LOVE spending time with people, hanging out with friends. Nothing makes me happier than just relaxing in Starbucks with a friend, laughing at random things, reminiscing about bizarre/funny memories we have. Since I came back to Scotland last year, I have been really isolated. Not intentionally, but it's not easy to meet people when you aren't in school and don't work (my job is pretty new). I think that the loneliness aspect of my day-to-day life is the biggest obstacle for me right now and definitely the next thing I really want to focus on changing. I talk a lot about missing New York- what I miss the most is my friends and who I am when I am around that. I live HERE now and I need to make more of an effort to bring the aspects of NY life into the life I currently have.

"Life Only Happens When You Show Up For It"

2 questions for today!

How have you guys met people when you've moved to a new area?

Any piece of your 'pie' that you would want to change?

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Breakfast was nothing special but fabulous nonetheless. Bran flakes, Fage cherry twin pot and sliced banana. A.K.A. cheesecake!

Snack was the last remnants of my muesli (hence the dust!) mixed with Fage. Still undecided about ordering more muesli so going to check out what the health store sells tomorrow.

For lunch I wanted to see if I could have a meal without using any condiments (my pictures don't show it, but everything I eat has ketchup added after the photoshoot!). I made a sandwich with a chopped quorn fillet, laughing cow cheese and some chopped yellow pepper. Side dishes were also condiment free.

The verdict? DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. Condiments should be a part of the food pyramid. Lesson learned.

What are your favourite condiments? Top of my list would be ketchup, closely followed by honey mustard and tzaztzki (not really a 'condiment' but I use it as one).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and if you like granola, CLICK HERE!

Keeping Balance

So many things I want to say today. First of all, THANK YOU for your comments on yesterday's posts- as I wrote it, it felt like a sort of 'confessional' and I was thrilled beyond words to find so many people who share the same thoughts/feelings.

Second of all, I did get feedback on my article. Verdict? It is going to be up on the organisations website later this week!!! I am SO excited about this. The positive response I got was such a surprise to me- I really was expecting a, "thanks but no thanks" email from them (*must have more faith in self*). I don't want to go into too many details at this point, but I will say that it is an eating disorders recovery/advocacy network that I am thrilled to be involved with and I am really excited about the work I'll be doing with them.

Which brings me onto today's topic.

Writing my article and submitting it has been both a source of huge enjoyment and stress for me. I LOVE writing, especially when it is something I am passionate about so this was a great thing for me to do, but the stress comes from the perfectionist side of me which kind of kills the 'fun factor'. I get so anxious in situations where I am putting myself 'out there' and open to feedback/criticism, that nothing else seems as important- partly why my sleep has gotten so funky the past week. It doesn't feel AS important as making sure my work is the best it can be, that targets/deadlines are met, that everything is up to scratch. The problem lies in finding a balance between being busy and taking time to look after myself. From reading other people's blogs, I know this is not an uncommon difficulty. My schedule right now is NOT overly crammed full on purpose- I find it almost impossible to draw the line between working and relaxation/self-care so am working on gradually building up my level of commitments whilst simultaneously building up the skills to balance them. For now, I'm doing okay, but the past week has been a 'test' and highlighted the fact that whilst on a day-to-day basis, I'm doing well, there are still a lot of things I need to work on:

• let go of the idea that I have to be 'perfect': do my best and just leave it at that
• put my health as a priority: without decent amounts of food/sleep/exercise, I'm not going to be in a state to do anything properly
• keep it all balanced: I qualified as a life coach a few years ago with a particular focus on developing/maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle...easier said than done, but it's NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

Question for you all: how do you find time to fit in commitments alongside taking care of your emotional/physical health? I read your blogs and am amazed at the amount of things you manage to squeeze into your days (runs, work, cooking, blogging, etc). Do you all have an extra few hours in the day that I don't know about? :P

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Munchables...(I think there should be a 'blogger' dictionary- so many terms are used around blogs that people in the 'real world' have no idea what they mean! My family are getting used to me saying, "I'm HANGRY" now!)

Breakfast this morning featured one of my favourite cereals:

For people in the UK, this company now does their own version of MixMyGranola which has been mentioned a lot on blogs- you can check it out HERE.

With cooked apple and Fage...

I had a few hours to kill before leaving for work so I roasted up some vegetables...

(eggplant, zuchinni and onions)

...so that when I came home from work, I could quickly throw together a fabulous lunch:

Okay, it doesn't look so fabulous- you're going to have to trust me when I say it tasted great! Roasted vegetables, spinach and red pepper hummus in flax lavash wrap. I told you I'd do *something* with hummus!

I LOVE roasted vegetables and am so glad I tried hummus again- I think this has the potential to become another regular rotation on my lunch menus. What are your favourite things to put in hummus sandwiches?