Hi everyone,

*Just a trigger warning before we begin, in this post I talk about when I was suffering badly from my eating disorder and the relationship I had with food during this time. So if that sound a little icky to you, you might be best to sit this one out.*

So, I know I am way behind the ball with this, but hear me out.

I had never tasted a Sumo Salad until a few weeks ago.

I know, I know - it's not exactly new but I don't eat out and on the run much and if I do, it's almost never a salad. Why would I get a salad when I could get a delicious burger and/or chips! Anybody that knows me will know of my love for hot chips and because of such, why would I pass up the opportunity to have chips for something like a salad! I can have salads at home.

Anyway, the point is that I have had one (and many others since) and I loved it.

Source

After having this lovely salad, I did think that honestly, I probably could make something like this at home - thereby saving me money and giving me the option to customise my salads as I wished (and have them more often). Which also sounded like great idea because while I like salads, I never know how to make them more substantial than the basics (lettuce, tomato, cucumber and stuff). So I jumped onto the internet to see what I could find.

To be honest - I was quite surprised at what I found. First off, there were no recipes for 'My Take On X Salad by Sumo Salad' (which definitely was surprisingly), but more to the point, I was surprised about what else I found. I came across so many blog posts on how bad Sumo Salad was and how everyone thinks they are eating healthy by choosing that option but really it's a terrible choice and everyone should be much more conscientious and discerning when it comes to food choices and never eat fast food of any kind.

Posts like that really annoy me. There was a time in which I would have been their biggest advocate but thankfully, those times are behind me and now they just make me really angry. First and foremost, I feel they come across very judgy and patronising to those who choose to eat these foods. I get the feeling that the authors of these articles believe that people only eat food like this because they don't know all the facts and how bad they really are. I don't like that. I don't they give the general public enough credit in food knowledge. No, the average person probably does not know the optimum grams of fat, carbohydrates, sugars and protein they should be eating everyday and no, they probably don't know how much of those are in an average Sumo Salad, or burger, or medium fries from MacDonalds. But also, who cares? It's just a salad. Or a burger. Or icecream.

Don't get me wrong, I do agree that we probably should be thinking a little about where our food is coming from and how long it's been sitting there, and making sure we are getting the proper nutrients, but again, it's just a salad. It's probably not something we have everyday and it's delicious.

I feel like that word right there is pretty important. Delicious. Tasty. Yummy. We eat this food because we want to. This is food that calls to us as we walk by it. This is food that we might buy on a whim, just because we're a bit peckish. This is food we might plan to buy for lunch, either by ourselves or with a friend. It's nice food. And it nourishes us. It gives us energy, happiness and joy.

Exercise Can Be Really Unhealthy. True Fact. | Exercise Part 2

Hi lovelies,

Today we are moving onto Part 2 of my exercise series. If you missed the first part, you can find it here.

This post covers my experiences with exercise during my eating disorder and talks a lot about what I was feeling and my reasons and rationale behind my decisions at that time. If you are triggered by discussions of disordered thoughts about exercise, maybe this post isn't for you. xxx

Last time I pretty much gave a run down of my early experiences with exercise and I finished up with me being happy and jolly while doing Tae Kwon Do. However, unfortunately, that wasn't going to last.

After I had been doing it for about 2-2.5years, things started to head downhill. At this point, I was heading into my eating disorder and was a very stressed person. At first, Tae Kwon Do was a lifesaver for me. I was somewhere I went, twice a week and escaped every other bit of my life. The people that I met there were amazing, amazing people and were completely different from anyone else in my life. There were very few, if any people my age (16-17 years) and so I spent my time with a couple of girls and a boy about 13-14 and a few older men and women (probably in their late 30s or early 40s). This was so extremely valuable to me because these were people with whom I had very little in common with in regards to everyday life. I don't really care what other people say, there is a world of difference between the everyday life of a 13 year old and that of a 16 year old. The fact that they both go to high school is fairly negligible.

And those that did go to school were at schools that were very different from mine. One girl went to the local public high school and was in a constant battle to pass her subjects so that she would be allowed to stay on the triathlon team. For me, this was world's away from my struggles, although equally challenging, and it was a relief to be around these people. People that didn't care about school in the way I did and people that were just lovely, lovely people.

To all those out there...

Hello.

Hello to all you beautiful souls that are out there.

Hello to all those that are reading what I have to say, here in my little corner of the internet.

To those that have joined me recently, welcome, and while I know you guys came because of the nails, I’m hoping you’ll stick around for the rest of it as well.

While this blog has been rather nail heavy recently, it won’t be becoming a nail blog any time soon. This blog is a bit of an extension of my life, if all I’m showing is nails, it’s probably because I don’t have a lot else going on in my life at the moment. When that happens, my nail polish is my lifeline, it’s something to cling to while the rest of my life falls down in pieces around me. I delve a little more into that in this post.

But, for 3 days this past week, my nails were bare.

And that really showed how fall I’ve been falling.

Caramel Slice

Hello there lovelies,

Guess what? Today I took a challenge and really challenged myself. (I think there was too many ‘challenge’s in that sentence…)

Today, I made caramel slice.

Best Pancakes Ever

I was talking to my friend the other day and I found out that she had never had pancakes made from scratch. Never ever… How is that even possible?! Pancakes are pretty much the food of my childhood. I have so many memories of my uncle standing in my kitchen making pancakes for us, getting half the batter all over the floor and bench top and me and my sisters wolfing them down at a much faster rate than he could produce them. I remember him teaching me how to flip pancakes properly – no spatula required. I remember making pancakes for family friends and one of them running around the dining table with a pancake on his head. I remember having competitions with my sisters over who could eat the most. I remember the first time I tasted a pancake with real maple syrup, not the maple-flavoured stuff. I also know that is just me, not everyone knows people that would wear a pancake as a hat but the point remains – everyone should make pancakes from scratch as least once. They are the easiest things to make, I promise. This recipe is for the novice of all novices – I have not assumed you know anything. Leggy – this recipe goes to you. :)

Dear Society Part 3

Hi everyone,

Okay, I swear this one is the last one. I fully intended this to be just one post, but it sort of spread out and out and out and suddenly, it was three! If you missed Part One and Two and you would like to read them, you can find them here and here. Oh, and remember, I’m not an expert in the field of eating disorders, nor do I claim any scientific backing behind my words. These are my words and my feelings on my personal experience.

***

Three Ingredient Chocolate

Ciao lovelies!

Today, I have a fabulous recipe for you. It tastes great, it’s super quick, it only has three ingredients and it is easily customised to anybody’s tastes! Have I got you hooked yet? I hope so. If you were someone like me, who thought chocolate making was a long, difficult, complex process, think again! This recipe will have you impressing yourself, your family, your friends and pretty much anyway you give one of these chocolates too.

Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins

In case you hadn’t noticed, I love pumpkin. I love it in soup, pies, scones, smoothies and muffins. I especially like it in muffins when it is combined with chocolate. And so, I am proud to present my favourite muffins ever – my mum’s famous pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins. These muffins are so good that they will even be eaten by Freckles, who is notorious in our family for not touching anything with anything ‘odd’ in it (and pumpkin in muffins is definitely odd, according to her anyway). These muffins are the best muffins ever, I’m not even exaggerating. Chocolately, moist, dense, filling, pumpkin-y – they are sooooo good. So good that I have to share them with you and you have to make them!

Oat Cups!

Hi hi hi!

I thought it’s high time that I got another post up – it’s been about a week, I think? Although it seems so much longer……

This week has not been one of my better ones… The pressure from school is driving me to breaking point, as is my hunger.

Today, not so good...

Today, and yesterday I wasn’t doing so good. I’d felt so empowered earlier this week, and I was so ready to do something about my life. I was ready to take action to rid myself of my ED for once and for all.

But then, my momentum ran out. I crashed. I didn’t do so good yesterday and today. At first I didn’t notice. But then, I caught myself restricting again. I noticed that I began making excuses for why I shouldn’t be eating that much, or that I shouldn’t be eating again as I only ate 3 hours ago. And I was like, no. I am not going to let my depressed mood and my ED break this progress I’ve made. And that’s when I saw this picture (from here).

And it resonated with me. I cannot be making excuses. Or, more precisely, I cannot be letting my anorexia make excuses for me. No way. So, I’m back on track. Or at least much more back or track than I was this morning (seriously, I expected one small bowl of granola and yoghurt at 8:00 to sustain me until 12:30?). No way. Tonight, I had pizza – just to give my ED a kick up the backside as pizza was something I have feared for so long (that much carbs and fat (from the cheese)). Okay, sure, it was a wholemeal pizza with a ginormous amount of vegies, but it was still pizza.

And for that, I’m proud.

xxLissa

Some Gratitude and Peanut Butter

Hello lovelies!

 Did you know that today, something struck me? Something that I know, and that I try to tell myself everyday, and yet don’t really know. This morning, I was standing in the kitchen scarfing down my breakfast and it suddenly occurred to me how lucky I really am. My breakfast this morning consisted of banana and homemade peanut butter on homemade sourdough toast. For me, that’s everyday stuff and I take it for granted that my house will always be stocked with homemade bread and homemade peanut butter. For lunch, I had homemade marmalade and homemade yoghurt (obviously not together) and I know that if I want one, there is a homemade chocolate biscuit that Freckles (my second youngest sister) has made. For me, these occurrences are natural – it’s just a given of living in my house that you will never be short of things like this. And yet, for so many, homemade basics and indulgences are things of imagination, found in somebody else’s house – not theirs.

Apple Pie Slice

Tasty, warm, crumbly, sweet, delicious apple pie… But… In a handy, portable  slice form! Can you get any better? Well, maybe… But the point is, it’s pretty damn delicious. And, it’s waaaaaaay easier than actually making an apple pie – no making the stupid pastry, no waiting for the stupid pastry. As you can probably tell, pastry is not my favourite thing. Luckily, I’m not a particular fan of pies and pastry things in general, except for apple pie. Man… I love apple pie. Also, we had it hot with custard for dessert, which is delicious – but it is equally delicious cold with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Also, please excuse my slightly dodgy photography - it wasn't my best day, but I can't really be bothered to try again. Also, I mean, it gets the message across - it looks tasty, right?

Wholemeal Pumpkin Pancakes

Good morning my lovelies! How are you this morning? It is a dull, grey, drizzle-y day outside in Perth and I so naturally thought ‘Hmmmm… I think that today is a lovely morning to have pancakes.’ Even better, there was a ginormous bowl of pureed pumpkin in the fridge and so I went ‘Woohoo! Pumpkin pancakes for me!!!’. So, after a brief scour of the internet, I found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes that I tweaked, and they are delicious (if I do say so myself). This recipe makes enough for two, so looks like my sisters will be getting a treat when they come home from school today! :)

Chocolate-Chip Muesli Bars

So, this was a recipe for my sisters, not me. I’m not a big fan of the sweetness found in many muesli bars and as I general rule I try not to use butter – especially in things like muesli bars, as they have the connotations of being healthy, and for me, butter doesn’t really come under that heading. However, I was looking for something that struck a balance – something decent enough to satisfy my inner health Nazi and something treat-y enough to satisfy my little sisters. I came across this recipe and thought ‘yep, that’ll do it’. Chocolate, tick. Oats, tick. A little butter, tick. Rice bubbles to make it light and crispy, tick. And these didn’t disappoint. Well, except that they kind of fell apart… But, so far, every muesli bar recipe I’ve tried has fallen apart, so I think it’s just me. But aside from that, these didn’t disappoint (me). To be honest, I don’t even know whether they’ll last long enough for my sisters to see them – they turned out way more tasty than I expected… Also, feel free to substitute the chocolate chips for seeds, nuts and/or dried fruit if you want.