It’s a Wednesday evening, I finished work at 4pm, was home by 4:30 and have been in bed ever since. This was not the plan.
I’m letting myself have sad girl hour(s).
My original plans for this afternoon were to clean my room, catch up on my readings, head to boxing and then have a group assignment catch up on zoom. I’m going to achieve at least two of these so I can’t be too hard on myself and lets be honest I’m not going to be hard on myself at all because sometimes we just need to lay down and feel our feelings.
The feelings you feel each day may seem silly but you’re probably feeling them for a reason. Ask yourself why you’re feeling something, then ask yourself why again and again until you can find a solution or at the very least a basic understanding. I do this brain exercise daily and todays conclusion is that my body is delighted that I’m not pregnant so its doing the incredible and natural thing called a period. It is wearing me out.
I am basically just wanting to say that it’s okay to not do everything you plan to do. But you should try and figure out the root of your feelings so you can address it and move on swiftly. But not too swiftly! I suggest you let yourself feel the feelings for a while, don’t just shrug them off.
Also be kinder to yourself with your to do lists. Sometimes (everyday) waking up is enough. If you’re feeling extra spicy then each day try to wake up AND make your bed! This helps me feel accomplished. Even on my sad girl days.
I’m not going to lie and say lockdown has been fun, overly insightful, or something I care to repeat but there have definitely been fun moments and I have learnt an few things that I thought I’d share with you. Some of the below are small and silly and some are more important but either way, here are the 6 things I’ve learnt from lockdown:
Walking isn’t that bad. I kinda hated walking before lockdown which was a real hassle considering Katie loves a long walk and is great at dragging me along (especially first thing in the morning when I’m hungover from a night of G&T’s). But I have to admit I’ve actually started to enjoy our daily walks. I’ve learnt to appreciate the time outside in the fresh air, and I’m actually enjoying this new found form of exercise. Who knew power walking could work up such a sweat!
Childhood crafts are fun and you should re-explore them. About a month ago, I purchased an overpriced beading kit from Ruby (I will not be accepting any judgement on this decision) and it has provided me with countless hours of fun. I have identical flower bracelets coming out my ears because I only know how to make one style of bracelet, but I don’t care. I’m going to start crocheting next as I’ve already got an order for a bucket hat! (Also if anyone wants a poorly made flower bracelet please let me know as I’m not ready to give this hobby up yet!)
Don’t feel bad for not being productive. I ended my first lockdown with 6kg less fat on my body, a rekindled love for reading and a great new job. Unfortunately, lockdown 2.0 has not been quite as successful for me. I’ve gained back most of the 6kg, have done almost no reading and am definitely struggling to focus for an 8 hour work day. And that is okay! I am now enjoying lockdown focusing on the fact that I will probably never get the chance to be lazy as fu*k for weeks with no consequences ever again. Just chill out team!
Always try to budget an extra $20 to buy some flowers. I was never someone who cared for flowers but being stuck inside has really made me love having a fresh set of flowers on the kitchen counter! They liven up the house and surprisingly really lift my mood. You know that feeling when you clean a room and then top it off by lighting a candle, really satisfied and content, that’s how flowers make me feel now!
Take “me time”. I have always been a huge ambassador of “Tegan Time”. Anyone who has lived with me before knows that I love to lock myself away in my room and indulge for 30 minutes. Although this is an old love of mine, lockdown (especially a lockdown where I am stuck in a small townhouse with two others) has really made me realize how important that practice is. I find I get really moody, emotional, and stressed if I don’t take that time to chill with myself everyday – it’s true what they say – you can’t pour from an empty cup!
Check in on your friends – all of them. Lockdown has been hard on everyone, not just the people who openly talk about it. Reach out to your friends and see how they are doing (not just during lockdown but always). I know I have appreciated the check-in messages from friends I may not have spoken to recently. It has also been a good reminder to me that friendship won’t always be a perfectly 50/50. Sometimes friends will need a bit more of your love than they can give in return and that’s okay – everyone handles things differently!
Anyway, that’s what I’ve learnt. I’m excited to move to L3 on Sunday so I can stock up on crochet supplies and gin before we go back into another lockdown!
Apollo 15 just landed on the moon, Elvis Presley is found dead, the mobile phone is invented. The 70’s were a crazy time and the diets matched this energy.
More crazy energy is the fact that COVID-19 shut down Auckland for Lockdown 2.0. What better way to kill some time at home than to follow the crazy wine and egg diet for 3 days, am I right?
I shopped confidently for my 3 bottles of wine, a large carton of eggs and a couple of rump steaks on Tuesday night – blissfully unaware of what this diet will do to me. I had read a few articles of people trying the diet and they seemed to be overly dramatic story tellers that knew how to please their boss at Cosmopolitan Magazine in the USA. I was stronger – mentally and physically. I knew I could do this.
Wednesday morning came along and I was excited. Excited and hungry. I weighed myself and thought yea lets get this. I cooked my eggs to perfection, made the perfect americano and poured a generous serving of wine*. My first bite of eggs was nice, its just egg right? The swig of wine changed that though. Wine and eggs do not go together. Wine and coffee do not go together. But don’t worry, I didn’t make this mistake again.
*Now I will confess that I didn’t follow the diet precisely due to the fact that I HATE boiled eggs and there is a tasty rosé that happens to be 3 for $30 whenever I go to buy wine…
The morning went pretty slowly, I was sat in front of my laptop “working”, swiping tinder and sipping slowly through my 2 lovely drinks. My second lesson of the morning was that the americano isn’t great when its room temp or slightly cold. The wine went down easy enough though.
Before I knew it, it was time to eat lunch. 2 eggs felt like a treat! I drank the coffee while it was hot and struggled through the wine. By time 4 o’clock came along I no longer had to stare at my computer and this is when it got a bit harder. I began thinking of all the food I’d normally be eating. To stop this I decided to go on a 10km walk. I knew my 150 grams of steak would be waiting for me at the end.
The steak was good, the wine was getting harder but I did it and I skipped the coffee… I just couldn’t think about sculling another poo poo juice. Sleep was just what I needed after a big day of undergoing a science experiment.
Day 2. Thursday, the day that used to be my favourite day ever. I started the day on the scales. I had lost 2.5 kgs! I stood there thinking “wow, this diet is wicked. I could keep this up and be the skinny legend I want to be” ……
Each bite and sip was much harder. It didn’t want to go down and I kept the coffee intake to 1 cup. By 5 o’clock I was knackered. Let’s just say it was a long day but it got worse. I didn’t sleep. I was up all night thinking about food, life and every conversation I had ever had. YIKES.
Friday morning finally came along and this was supposed to be the last day. I weighed myself and had lost another kg, 3.5 kgs in total. I had exceeded the diet plan and thought right thats it, I’ve had enough.
I quit then and there and ate some muesli and yoghurt and had coconut milk in my coffee. I’ve never felt so free.
In conclusion, the diet works but it sucks. I started to dread drinking my favourite wine and eggs just don’t cut it for someone that eats chocolate every day.
Try it, or don’t but please be prepared for the weight to come straight back. I’ve eaten relatively healthy since I stopped this crash diet and I am right back to where I started.
So today is International Friendship Day as you can probably tell by the title… I personally don’t think you need to have a special day each year to acknowledge and apprecaite your friends but it is a great reminder for those busy people to do so.
I have been very lucky in my life when it comes to friendship and I hope you have been too. The key (in my opinion) to finding good friends is being open minded towards everyone you meet. Do not let the surface level or that first interaction put you off. First impressions can be hard and I don’t think I would have many friends if people judged me on their first impression – I am annoying.
Anyway, now that you know my secret to making new friends I’m going to tell you how to keep them around for a long time. Firstly, find the friends that you resonate the most with, create the environment of people that will help you be a better you. Now you need to nurture those relationships. Each one will be different. Some of my good friends are busy, they don’t need me to message them daily to know that I will be there no matter what. Other friends however require different levels of contact and love. I push my friends to achieve greatness by reminding them of their worth and also their goals. Others, I send daily updates of my life just so they can feel included on this wild ride. Basically, you need to understand your friends and their love languages.
Now please for the love of chocolate, listen carefully. It won’t always be 50/50, everyone has different things going on in life at different times. Just do what you can and sometimes a little more. In my case I focus on others quite a bit and try and solve all the problems, except my own. I am working on this and it’s not going great but thats a story for another time.
Anyway, Happy International Friendship day. Special mention to my twin flame Tegan and my life long friends that spent 5 wholesome years at the high school from hell. Plus all the people that have gotten me to where I am today. You really created one hell of a chick!
We thought that before we start bombarding you with our unwanted opinions, it might be nice to give you the opportunity to get to know us a little bit better! Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
On a scale of 0-10 how funny would you say you are?
Tegan
I think regular me is a solid 5, however, hungover me is an easy 9. My brain works in a great way when I’m hungover and it makes for a stellar time.
Katie
About a solid 4 but I find myself hilarious. It’s just that I know I’m mostly laughing at myself…
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
Tegan
It would probably be Pad Thai. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a bad Pad Thai!
Katie
Pie and chips. Has to be a nice pie with nice pastry. High end pie and chips. Not sure if I’d stick with this choice to be fair. This choice might be skewed because I had it for lunch today and it went pretty hard. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
What job do you think you’d be really good at?
Tegan
I think I’d be a really good Cat Cafe owner. Not only because I’d give those cats so much love (like so much) but I also think I’d have a really strange menu that would make for an interesting all round cafe experience!
Katie
Firing people. I know that HR people are not particularly liked in the office and I’m already ostracised at work so why not get paid a nice sum for being a bitch. I think I’d be so good at this in fact that I am going back to uni to study HR.
What do you think is your most annoying habit?
Tegan
I have a tendency to talk over people when I’m excited. I’m working on doing it less/catching myself before I do it but I’ve also been saying I’ll change for years so, take that as you will.
Katie
I click pens a lot and it even frustrates me. I can’t sit still and can’t focus on one thing at a time so clicking a pen is my go to. I used to do the leg fidget but I stopped because I didn’t like the way my thigh would jiggle.
What is one thing you wish people would talk less about?
Tegan
Can everyone quit talking badly about their friends? If you feel the need to talk badly about the people you’ve chosen to surround yourself with, you need to surround yourself with different people. Friends lift each other up so let’s do better please team!
Katie
I wish people would talk less about other people. Everyone spends so much time worrying about others and not focusing on levelling themselves up or listening deeply to others. The world would be a far better place if people stayed in their own lanes.
