The Fave Files #4
After a short break, The Fave Files return! The last few weeks have been (once again) rather stressful. I sat my penultimate nutrition exam, waded through lots of new projects at work and juggled (and continue to juggle) more than a couple of personal projects.
When I think about it, stress has actually been a rather consistent theme to my 2018. But when I look over the list I created at the beginning of the year entitled “2018 goals”, I can’t say I’m at all surprised. Good job that I love to stay busy, eh?!
Without further ado, let’s have a gander at a few things I’ve been enjoying lately!
Links I’m Loving
How to Tackle Imposter Syndrome
Ever landed yourself in an incredible position and felt like you don’t deserve it or aren’t good enough - despite the evidence showing that you do and you are? That’s imposter syndrome, and it is so real. I think knowing how many other women (and men!) experience this too is extraordinarily helpful.
Vegan Chocolate Custard Cake
ERM, yes please?! These look so delicious. I’ve been wanting to try making a dessert with tofu for a while now, so this might just be my entry point.
The Female Price of Male Pleasure
Someone I went to sixth form with recently shared this on Facebook. I was hesitant to read it, fearing that it would be a badly written, bolshy, entitled and whiny piece. It wasn’t. Until recently, I’ve also been hesitant to call myself a feminist. Why? Because of the way that “being a feminist” is portrayed. Bolshy, entitled and whiny.
Then it hit me: that is EXACTLY why being a feminist is so important!! Because standing up for yourself isn’t any of those things when a male does it. Because as a woman, you shouldn’t have to feel like you need to censor your thoughts, feelings and opinions where the opposite sex wouldn’t think twice. And *cue eye roll*, no, I don’t hate men.
10 Reasons Slovenia Should Be Your Next Big Europtrip
I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Slovenia! All my friends who have been there state it as one of their favourite destinations. It looks like my perfect city and I can’t wait to visit!
5 Ways to Maximise Your Cognitive Potential
Sometimes I feel like my brain has reached max capacity and that nothing else can possibly go in. A bit worrying, considering that I have a good few decades left on this planet. Naturally, I decided to hit up the world wide web for some research on the matter.
To sum up this article, you need to: seek novelty, challenge yourself, think creatively, do things the hard way and network. I’m very interested to read more about this.
Whole Grain Buckwheat Chia Bread
Sign me up! #makingthis
An eco-friendly cuppa? Now teabags are set to go plastic-free
Yay! This is great. In case you didn’t know, most teabags are lined with plastic. Crazy, right? I mean, WHY? It’s just another needless use of plastic.
Making sure to buy plastic free teabags is an easy and effective step towards a lower-plastic, more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Other things you can do: Buy a re-useable coffee cup, say no to plastic straws and cutlery, take a re-useable shopping bag and buy as many of your groceries loose (ie. not packaged in plastic) as you can.
What We’re Really Going to Eat in 2018
Absolutely love this! It’s a really fun read. Check it out!
20 Reminders You Need When You Feel Like Giving Up
I think we’ve probably all been here at one time or another. If you’re going through a rough time, read this. It won’t magically make everything better, but I do think it contains a few helpful words of wisdom.
The Urban Woman’s Guide to Going Green in 2018
How many of these are you doing? I’m going to switch to Ecosia this week!
Eating/Drinking
Chocolate Peanut Butter protein Oats
There’s nothing better than chocolate for breakfast. Check out my chocolate peanut butter protein oats here - it’s a consistent breakfast fave and one that I eat all the time, so I couldn’t not post the recipe here on the blog!
Sainsbury’s Pure Almond Butter
Oh my god. This stuff. It has made my life at least 20% better, I’m telling you. If it’s wrong to be this excited about a nut butter, then I don’t want to be right.
Tagliatelle with Lentil Mushroom Bolognese Sauce
We made a big portion of this last week and it was the bomb. Super super easy, too. A new favourite!
Bran flakes
Rediscovered these recently and was reminded of how absolutely, devilishly fabulous cereal is.
Watching
Somebody Feed Phil
Okay, so I actually didn’t really expect to enjoy this, but it was hilarious! In a nutshell, the show is about Phil Rosenthal’s (the producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, fyi) exploration of the cultural food specialities in six of today’s best cities for “foodies”. He visits Bangkok, Saigon, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, New Orleans and Mexico City.
Rather than presenting a bland and un-engaging account of a country’s food traditions as is somewhat the norm with such shows, Phil shows insight into a wide range of foods and cultural traditions while managing to be consistently amusing and endearing.
At the end of every episode, Phil has a Skype call with his parents. Each time, he shows them some of the ingredients or meals he has been eating from whichever country he is currently touring. Let’s just say that it’s clear how he turned out to be such a hoot; his parents are hilarious.
Master of None
Again - I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as I did! Andrew and I have already stormed through the first two seasons. Written by comedian Aziz Ansari, the show follows Dev, an actor living in New York and struggling to navigate both his personal and professional life.
I really love the realistic approach with which it explores the big issues (first world, but issues nonetheless) experienced by millennials.
Homeland Season 6
SO GOOD. Homeland is probably my no.1 all time favourite tv show. After the heartbreaking finale of the fifth season, I couldn’t wait to start watching this! So far it’s just as brilliant as always.
Listening to
Ocean Eyes - Billie Eilish.
Beautiful. But maybe don’t listen when you’re in a sad mood.
The Chase - Future Islands.
Hooked in the first 10 seconds.
Freedom - BERNOISE.
This feels majorly sassy and I love it. It’s one of those songs that feel quite uplifting despite actually having pretty sad lyrics.
Drake - Passionfruit.
Even my boyfriend loves this, and he doesn’t even like Drake.
Jason Derulo Ft. French Montana - Tip Toe.
Obsessed with this. My current gym fave!
Reading
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
I picked this up at the airport on an impulsive-book-lovers whim, but am so glad I did! I learned SO much. It was quite the game changer. And a timely one, too. I’ve been noncommittally talking about prioritising sleep with little follow through for longer than I care to admit, but this book has really got me bucking up my ideas.
I’ve implemented some of the few tips and noticed a positive difference in my energy levels already. It also contains lots of really interesting comments on current societal norms relating to sleep, like early school start times and the implications for developmental cognition. The science is broken down in an easy to understand manner, too. Overall, highly recommend.
Playing Big - Tara Mohr
I’m only about 10 pages into this so far, so not much to report yet. I’ve heard great things though, so looking forward to delving in further!
Thanks for reading this weeks fave files!
