Eat, Dance and Be Merry

Last week was a really great week with a good balance between eating well, getting active, having a social life, being productive with work and fitting in a bit of self care.

Aside from my usual classes and PT clients I also went along to a local Eat4Health session, to see how the scheme runs and how it helps people. It's a free course of 10, 90 minutes, combining nutrition guidance and physical activity to assist with weight loss goals. Mel, the instructor, underwent significant weight loss herself and happens to be a member of RunMummyRun!

I got a lot of session planning done and even a bit of work-related reading. I'm pretty good at being productive at home but it was nice to get out to my local Starbucks for a change of scenery, not least for a soy latte. I also got to try their new hot mulled fruits drink, both of which were delicious!

A rare free Thursday evening was the perfect opportunity to catch up with my friend Debbie over dinner at my favourite pub. In the course of conversation I realised I'd been self-employed for three months. Time has flown, I still love my new lifestyle and I'm still managing to pay the mortgage so it's a relative success so far, but still many more plans in the pipeline!

I managed to fit in a nice range of classes this week but my favourite workouts were the metafit workout I did with Anna at the gym between classes and Wednesday night yoga. I was convinced I'd fall asleep before we got anywhere near relaxation but it was uplifting, calming and exactly what I needed. I did go straight to bed afterwards though!

Self care in the form of yoga

Get Berkshire Active hosted a Danceathon at the weekend which was a lovely excuse for my mum to visit. She loves a zumba class and I'm keen on salsa so not only could we try these but also a whole host of other dance classes in 20 minute bite-sized sessions. I was on hand as a This Girl Can ambassador but was able to take part too. We had a pretty good turn out and most ladies stayed the whole course which was just wonderful. Caribbean Crush was one of our favourite sessions and I'll look out some new classes to try now and again.

Over the course of the weekend we also went to a farm shop for lunch and pumpkin picking, foraged for sloes and had an autumnal BBQ complete with baked bananas - delish!

The week's training in summary:
Monday: Speedwork
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: Strength & yoga
Thursday: Turbo box & metafit
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: parkrun & danceathon
Sunday: Rest day

Have you done any seasonal foraging recently? Know of a good dance class? Tempted to do a bit of outdoor cooking? Bonfire night's coming up - what better excuse for baking potatoes in the embers.