Friendship.

This post is a little unlike my usual 'health and fitness' related posts, but sometimes I feel that our relationships play a huge role in our overall health.  While most people understand that romantic relationships can take their toll on you physically and emotionally, often people don't realise the impact that friendships can have on your health.  

In this day and age, friendship has become, in some cases, a fragile and disposable thing.  Saying 'oh I have a friend who...' is so widely used, but generally we're just talking about one of the hundreds of Facebook friends we have, who, apart from social media updates, we don't actually know that well.  When popularity has become measured by how many followers you have on Instagram, or how many Facebook likes you get on a post, it's no wonder the word 'friendship' has seemed to lose all meaning.  

According to the dictionary, the word FRIEND means 

'a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations' 

It's funny really. 

Now, I'm not trying to say that I have LOADS of friends, or that I don't have any.  Being quite an independent person, I am more than happy to have time on my own. However, I've been lucky in life to make some really great friends, and those people know who they are.  I have friends that I don't speak to for months on end, and when we finally do it's like nothing has changed.  I have friends who are completely different to me, but still understand me better than most people. I have friends I talk to basically every day.  I have people who were close friends and we barely speak now, but the friendship we had was significant.  And I have friends who have stood by me in some of the hardest times of my life.  And that's bloody awesome.

But then there are always those 'friends', who, despite how nice they are to you in person, or how smiley and positive they are with you, you cannot trust a word that comes out of their mouths.  These are the sorts of people who you've heard talk smack about their so-called best friends. 

This is what I don't understand...

If you don't really like someone, then why pretend you're friends with them? Has social media and our need to be liked completely blinded us from the fact that, straight up, some people just aren't our friends? Is that such a bad thing? I don't think we were put here to like EVERYONE.  I'm not saying that you have to be savage towards the people who aren't your friends, we don't have to have anything to do with them.  But why do people still insist on being friendly and nice to someone if you know that they aren't nice about you? We don't walk around with bubbles over our heads indicating how many followers we have, so why do we care so much?  Surely this social anxiety is having a detrimental effect on our health?

I guess it all comes back to our need to be accepted into society. And don't get me wrong, I've let this issue upset me many a time.  But I think sometimes we have to remember our true friends. The ones who will stand by us no matter what, and stick up for us when others aren't.  And maybe we should all practice being true friends to those we care about. 

It's so fab when I hear people boasting about their friends. Gloating about how great they are. It's true that when you see the positives in people, they will send those feel good vibes straight back to you. And guess what? It makes you feel awesome! 

Any way, enough of my rant. Just think about it...

V x 

Individual Shakshouka Eggs

When it comes to breakfast foods, eggs are one of the power houses of the protein world. However, if you're anything like me, one dodgy egg can put you off the things for weeks.  I've been struggling with what to have for breakie for a while now, until I saw my brother constructing a monster shakshouka over Snapchat.  

I was inspired to put my own spin on it (and reduce the portion size), and let me tell you, the result was awesome. Plus, it only took about 15 minutes to throw together! 

TIME: 15 minutes 

SERVES: 1

INGREDIENTS: 

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 red onion diced 

1 clove of garlic crushed

1/3 red capsicum diced 

1 stem of kale finely chopped 

1/2 cup tomato passata sauce

1 egg

1/4 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste 

rye bread for toasting

METHOD: 

Pre-heat the oven and grill to 180*C

On a medium heat, sauté the olive oil, onion, garlic, capsicum and kale to soften

Stir through the passata sauce and season with salt and pepper

Transfer into an oven proof dish, making a small well in the middle to crack the egg in to, season the egg with salt and pepper, and paprika

Bake/grill for roughly 10 minutes (or until the egg white has cooked but the yolk is still a little runny)

Serve with toasted rye and enjoy! 

Feel free to add cheese on top, I sprinkled mine with a little feta.

I guarantee this will satisfy you and fuel you for the whole morning! 

V x 

Goals.

Lately the word 'goals' has been circling social media. Whether it's 'relationship goals' or 'squad goals', it seems the internet is giving us all something to strive for.  

As you may have noticed, I've been a little slack on my posts lately. This last month has been a busy one; between work, visitors, my birthday and getting ill, I haven't been great to my body.  So I've decided that each week from now on, I'm going to set myself some small, simple goals, in order to get my body back to health and feeling fab! 

Setting (realistic) goals is essential to a healthy lifestyle.  Simple things, like drinking plenty of water, or getting to bed by 10pm are not only achievable, they will make you feel energised, healthy and happy.  

My advise would be keep it simple.  Try not to overload yourself with a long list of things to achieve during the week, after all we already lead busy lifestyles. Perhaps 2 or 3 goals per week, to keep you motivated.  

For example, my goals for the coming week include: 

1) Do two sessions of hot yoga this week 

2) Eat plenty of colourful, fresh food

3) Drink at least 3 litres of water a day

The aim of my goals are to get my body feeling flexible again, and to try and improve my skin (it's been playing up lately). 

It always helps to write your goals down, and put them somewhere that you will see them every day.  Perhaps on a sticky note on your bathroom mirror, or at your desk at work.  Once you've achieved your goals, not only do you feel accomplished, but your body will reap the benefits too. 

So lets be Goal Diggers together! 

Have a fab week. 

V x