Saturday Girl SA: by saturday girl sa

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It's a new month so for me it's about setting new intentions and goals. I have decided to set goals each month as apposed to a whole year - that way I can carry incomplete goals over to a new months and smash them! (Hopefully).

I have been thinking a lot about the pace of life and how its generally pretty busy with just the basics and if you throw into the mix friends, family, relationships, hobbies, celebrations, etc, etc time is really limited.... and then, you add your phone. That mobile piece of connectivity heaven that is always there for you and provides endless info, support and entertainment. But the thing is, how much time does your phone really take up and how attached have we become to having them in our lives?

Don't get me wrong to live in an era where we have so much interaction and the ability to be connected and be informed instantly is pretty epic! What is not epic is the amount of pointless and unproductive hours clocked up spending too much time scrolling through Instagram of mindlessly clicking on twitter links. Sure, there is a time and a place and for a lot of people its pretty essential to their jobs as well. But the mindless part is something I have started to notice.

If you went out for dinner with your partner and spent 3min taking several photo's of your meal, another 4min choosing a filter and then an additional 2min uploading it and then checking the "like" notification - you have essentially wasted almost 10min of meaningful eye contact with your loved one on your phone.

A big goal for me in 2016 is to be more "present". I like this word because I think it is an accurate reflection of how over saturated and stimulated we are by our phones and the endless information that we almost become addicted to consuming.

Worse than that - the obsession with reply to email and whatsapp instantaneously. Why? Why do we do it? If its not a life threatening emergency do we have to reply just because we saw two little blue ticks notifying us that someone read a message or replying straight away regardless of where you are and what situation you are in?

I have started thinking of it like this. If you went to a family gather, friends braai, a dinner date, a coffee catch up, a walk with a friend, anything really social - can you imagine if you whipped open a book and started reading it? It would be the rudest thing ever and you would look like a royal idiot doing it. But yet here we are - buried in our phones and heightened by every notification and beep with the urge to check a message followed by checking every single social media platform and possibly losing hours of life.

Worse is the fact that a lot of it is drivel, it lacks informative, positive and powerful wording and it breeds very little intellect. Yup I am guilty of it 100 percent. While I am waiting for something to boil on the stove I am suddenly scrolling through Kayla's feed and 20mins have gone by when I could have spent 20min doing a HITT work out or washing the dishes. Lost my iPod - great with use my phone, and take pictures with it while I walk through a beautiful park and upload and edit pictures of my walk and oh - reply to messages because "must do it now" and probably check my emails at the same time because "hey - why not!" and get home and not actually remember anything beautiful about the walk.....because of my phone. I did a little calculation of how much I am spending on data ....oh my word. I am beyond embarrassed!

By far the worst phone moment - I walked into my yoga class and put my bag down rolled out my mat and instead of lying down and meditating before we start the class, what am I doing? Oh you know - just quickly informing the world that I am at yoga and won't be contactable for awhile.... WHY!!!!!!!!!!

Time is really of an essence and when we start becoming less present it becomes evident to the people in our lives. Friendships and relationships become harder to connect to and empathy, support, joy and actual engagement with others become harder because we are constantly plagued by the urge to pick up the damn phone. It is in essence, a modern day affliction and addiction that needs to be managed.

I am not saying lets all burn our phones and communicate via smoke signals or not have a Instagram binge scroll session of quotes or dream holiday destinations. I am just saying be present - more present than you think you are.

Be there and listen and engage with the moment, the person, the place and the experience your phone can wait - and trust me if it is an emergency you will know about it.

You don't need to be a best friend to your phone you need to be a best friend to yourself and the other kind humans who engage with you and care about being a part of your life.

I decided to create a 7 day Mindful Digital Detox to assist with the modern day affliction of having a phone! I think even if we think we are not addicted to our phones - in some small way we are and sometime it's nice to take a step back! If you are keen to join in or can relate in any way and have some tips to add - please comment below :)

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Clearing my head.

It is winter, even though there are a few great days (like this weekend) it is mainly, and overwhelmingly winter.

With winter comes delicious, hearty food and lots of overindulging ( I am talking jeans not fitting) and hiding in a million layers of clothing, it is no excuse, there is NO excuse, I am responsible for my body, what I put into it, how I choose to nourish it and feed it, give it strength and agility. That is all up to me. No one is forcing me to eat more, or skip gym or be too frantic and busy to prepare myself a proper meal or take a moment to do some light stretching even! I have to be the one who is prepared, organised and ready to get stuff done. No amount of inspirational quote pinning on Pinterest is going to get me a summer body or feeling strong. And yes, I want a summer body, I want to feel strong, confident, comfortable and relaxed. I want new energy, new vibrance, time out and time to grow myself!

Most of all, I actually want to take advantage of what has been given to me. A healthy body. One that works and can do things. I don't want to feel ill or over tired, or eat just for the sake of eating or because its there. I want to feel energetic, not regretful and not squished into jeans. I don't want to deprive myself of anything but I do want to exercise some moderation and mindfulness.

I noticed the last few months I have had a poor routine. I adore routine!! The last year and a half has actually been a bit of a joke. I don't think I have actually really and truly put into practice a lot of the things I have wanted to or things I have spoken about in this blog. I am still busy processing the non stop roller coaster and getting an actual grip on many elements in my life but its up to me to take control of the things I actually want to change. I guess grieving plays a part. A part that makes you sad or confused, maybe a bit of emotional eating and carelessness towards ones self….. but its no excuse.

I actually need to put ME first. Myself and my needs, what I want to achieve in all areas in my life and actually follow through with it and not get too easily side tracked, or give up, or get too immersed in one thing and forget about the others.

So instead of spending too much time online, or on social media, twitter, instagram. I have decided to put limitations on these things and not feel the need to post/share every single thing about my life. I actually need to stop and achieve some personal goals. By personal I actually mean personal. Yes, I have shared it here because I hope others will be able to read this an relate to it, but also I realise I don't need everyone to know every part of my life.

Yesterday boyf and I have the most amazing day! The weather was gorgeous and we sat on the beach watching the waves with the sun pouring over our winter skin. I realised its time to shed the winter skin, even though it is winter and will be for awhile, this is the time for rejuvenation, to wake up the mind, body and soul, to really dig deep so that by summer I am ready to tackle each day and enjoy each and every moment even more, with a new sense of self and energy. Also, I didn't need to take a million photos and post them yesterday, why? Because I actually purposefully left my phone in the car, walked onto the sand and listened, laughed and kissed the person I love the most and I didn't have to photo document it. I actually LIVED the moment and it was glorious.

I will share things on my blog because it an open journal and when I write I feel better, when I hear someones comments or stories that may relate to this I feel inspired and hopeful and sometimes putting it out there forces us to actually DO and follow through, not just 'say'.

So no more complaining to friends, family or boyf. I am responsible for the things I want and need in life so I better make them happen. Thats in all areas of my life. No better feeling than achieving :)

On Saturday I went back to yoga and it felt incredible! This morning I got out of bed and went to gym and it felt even better! I didn't stuff my fast last night at dinner so I didn't feel bloated and lethargic and I had a lovely long luxurious shower this morning and scrubbed, brushed, moisturised myself silly and that too felt amazing. Why? Because, I am doing the things I want to do. Not for anyone else, not for a cheer, not for recognition, but because I am going to do it for me. Start focusing on me and looking after myself.

I am shedding my 'winter skin' and clearing out the hibernation style cobwebs - for me.

NOTE: In order to assist me with my goal setting and organising I downloaded a fantastic App called Any.Do It actually helps to be able to tick things of and have a friendly reminder of what needs to get done. I am for ever losing note pads and scraps of paper and my memo can often go unread. Any.do is actually a great motivator and personal goal setter!

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The business of being competitive. By nature we are all driven to be competitive and to do well. But in some cases, and more often I have noticed how incredibly nasty competition has become. I notice it all the time, its not always driven by the need to do well, its driven by peoples insecurities and jealousy issues. There is no trophy in life for everything you do. It is about personal accomplishment and really excelling to the best of your own ability.

It should not be about 'crushing' someone or beating them at something, or even finding victory in their failures, competition should be healthy and relative to you. Not the point where you become ugly to others or feel threatened by their success. It is time for people to be driven and motivated through inner growth and expanding our own abilities.

I notice this a lot at varsity. Its down right bitchy actually. People make assumptions and put others into boxes, this persons is good at this, that person is better at doing that. Actually no, everyone can learn from each other and break out of their comfort zones when they truly let go and actually dive in head first, absorbing and learning with a healthy drive to succeed. As it is we are competing on every other level in our lives, surely its not necessary? Surely we should learn to support each other and be happy for each other?

It worries me that boys are very threatened by smart girls. Last year our group did very well in a yearly event that functions over six weeks. We worked hard, we worked long hours, we dealt with group dynamics, limited time, budgets, presentations, breaking through things, getting stuck on things, moving forward and learning to pick ourselves up and aim for the best, not to beat everyone else, but to reach our full potentially. Shockingly, we received little congratulations and support from fellow students, boys labeled us the three mean girls, we even got called bitches?? When did this become appropriate? When did girls start competing with each other and boys start competition with us too? The other girls in my group are incredibly talented on several different levels and each do incredibly well in their courses as well as having a multitude of other talents. Not once did I feel jealousy, I felt driven and inspired by them to unlock some of my true potentially, and they helped me a long the way!

Obviously not everyone is 'mean competitive', but an alarming number of young people seem to be driven by the wrong things and wrong attitudes towards competitiveness Winning at anything in life is a personal achievement. If you are smart, outspoken and driven you should not be oppressed in anyway, male or female. Most jobs require you to work in a team, varsity teaches us to break out of our moulds and dig deeper, learn more, learn from others, grow your mind and grow yourself personally. The more and more I think about it I notice peoples hostility and ugliness to others who do well. It has to change, we can't all function at a level of jealousy and insecurity. It has to stop been about everyone else and what they are doing and start focusing on ourselves, as individuals.

Be happy and inspired by other peoples success in life. Don't take it away from them. Most of all learn to be driven by a greater force, not s superficial one that actually makes you more distant and less approachable in life. Not just in your job or at varsity, but in every other area of your life. If life is a celebration then why are we so busy raining on everyones parade?

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I don't believe in eliminating things from your diet. I do however try to exercise moderation when it comes to carbs and I do my best to avoid refined/white carbs but I do enjoy a pizza or burger from time to time. I try and cook good base meals and make sure I have the correct nutrients in my body. I do enjoy food, I have a Mediterranean background and food is everything. EVERYTHING.

Often been a student can override better options and sometimes I over indulge on the chocolate or dessert, but over the years I have started learning to listen to my body and what it wants and needs. Your body is a machine that needs to be fuelled properly, it isn't about weight loss it is about feeling better, more awake, more nourished. I adore chocolate! But over the years if I eat too much sugar (including fructose, alcohol, refined carbs) I develop incredibly itchy skin and a weird rash. This is not good and this is my body saying stop!

Although I don't eat a lot of refined sugar because I am aware of what it really does to you, I do eat a lot of fruit, fruit isn't always the best because some fruit is packed with fructose and that can aggravate my body. I read a lot of stuff on health and nutrition because I have a long term plan to really nurture and appreciate my body. I will never be fully vegan or be able to not eat sushi or carbs, or just eat salad if I go out for dinner, but I have learnt moderation is key and what MY body wants.

I recently noticed that my immune system is rather weak and I keep feeling incredibly tired and sluggish during the day. In the heat I am not always keen to cook oats so I grab fruit and often it is not filling enough to start my day with and I end up eating very sugary fruit throughout the day or grabbing snacks with little nutritional value. I decided to start making smoothies and managing my fruit in take. I am gearing up to be able to make smoothies with more veg ratio to fruit ratio, but this is just a starting point. I made a delicious green smoothie with spinach, blueberries, strawberries, banana, flaxseed, a bit of almond milk and ice! Delicious! I measure out my fruit in cups so I can control my intake. I started a smoothie Pinterest board to help keep motivated and it is a great way to find new recipes. Some say you should ad fruit juice or ice-cream, personally I would not recommend this if your trying to cut back on sugar. almond milk, (full cream plain yoghurt if you want to bulk it up and make it more creamy) water and coconut water all help to add a bit extra to the smoothie base.

Another major win, it costs a lot less to do it yourself than to buy smoothies in restaurants that often have added syrups and sugars in them! The very healthy Caterina Toffoli suggested I prepare smoothie packs and freeze them, this prolongs the produce without you ending up wasting and it's also great to have them all prepped and ready to blend. Each week I plan on introducing a new veggie to my mix and to experiment a bit more. I already feel a lot more awake in the morning after a smoothie and I feel less inclined to eat sweet stuff during the day now.

If you have any smoothie recipes or suggestions please let me know!

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