Once upon a plate...
“SHUT UP”.
“Just please S-H-U-T. U-P”.
On my more insecure days, I swear that’s what he’s thinking. I’m paranoid that’s the real reason he’s asked me to write this. He figures that if he gives me some air time, in the form of a blog, to just talk, talk, talk, talk and talk…maybe I’ll focus a little more in my training sessions with him?? Maybe…
But then on my more confident days, I think perhaps he’s asked me to write a blog because he sees someone on a journey that might just be of interest to others….
I have a husband, 3 boys, and a dog.
I want to look after them all. If I’m honest, I want to look after everyone, all the time (terribly time consuming habit, not sure I’d recommend). But after child number 3 (that’s not actually his name), I decided I also wanted to look after myself a bit. Rather than just obsess over their health and happiness, I started to think a little bit more about my own.
Slowly (very, very slowly, PAINFULLY so) I started to exercise a little, to lose some of the 3.5 stone I’d put on over the course of 3 pregnancies. I got over my hang-ups about having a personal trainer (“too Tunbridge Wells mum”) and realized that by having a trainer, I could exercise with the kids here at home. I didn’t need childcare. I didn’t need to go anywhere and pack 45,000 bags for a 1-hour trip. Nothing. I just needed to book a session with my PT, remember that’s what I’d done (the hardest bit), and ensure I was here for it.
It worked. From the get go. And the formula still works now: I work out, the kids watch / play / join in ( / fight / argue / cry…ie all the usual). The chastising taunts of “Come on Mum, my Granny’s Granny can do better than that” don’t hurt, because privately they tell me that they like the fact that their ‘old Mum’ is getting fit and strong. And frankly, so do I.
So the training is good. No, the training is great. I always do it as part of a group, and above all else it’s a brilliant laugh (mostly at each other). But the bit I struggle with is the food…
FOOOOOOOD. LOVE IT. Not a bit. A lot. Really a lot. Get the picture?! I exercise 3 or 4 times a week (promise). But that’s only 4 hours in 168. I’m not going to tell you how many of the remaining164 hours I spend with my head in the fridge, and my mouth full of fodder. It’s disproportionate though, let’s just leave it at that. So, if I am going to spend so many waking hours eating, then what I eat really should be good.
With this in mind, I’ve started doing a bit of research around the huge subject of nutrition. And here we come back to the journey again, a journey from ignorance to enlightenment (or, on those aforementioned slightly less confident days, from ignorance to ever so slightly less ignorant).
Did you ever buy those books when you were at school, those cheat books that summarized massive great novels in 3 paragraphs? Well, maybe that’s sort of what I’m offering…little nuggets of information plucked from a vast pool, that might be of interest to anyone who’s sensible enough to be looking after themselves and those around them.
So, for your weekly serving of ‘nutritional nous’, book a table here every Sunday evening…
Bon appetit mes petits choux fleurs.
Disclaimer:
I am not a dietician or a nutritionist, and make no claims to the contrary. What is written on this site should not be taken as fact or advice. It is merely an opinion blog.
