This is a question I get asked quite a lot, even if I prefer not to be asked!

However, I’ve been thinking about it more recently. I mean my future is happening now; I’m not a kid anymore.

At the moment I’m living in Kingston which is half an hour from central London. As long as I can remember I have always wanted to live in London but for now I’m happy enough in Kingston. I would definitely want to live in or near Kingston in 5 years time.

I would also love to reach my goal weight (this will obviously happen( but also to maintain it. People will lose weight but will often gain more than they lost. So I want to be able to find the right balance to maintain my weight at a healthy level so I am not stuck in this position again.

This blog has become so important to me over the past couple of months (sorry, not sorry, that I keep going on about it). So, saying this, as it becomes more popular on a daily basis, it would be fantastic if I could make it something reasonably big. I’m already looking to invest more time into it and looking into getting a logo and better blog format. Are there any computer geniuses out there that could help a girl out? I’m really hoping to get it noticed a bit more, if you could share it with your family and friends I would really owe you one!

One other thing I’ve wanted to do for about 6 years now, but never had enough knowledge, ideas or a topic for it, is a recipe book. Now that I have managed to find my creative side, it seems like the right time to do it, or make a start at least.

The last thing of where I would like to be in 5 years time is having a flat or small house. Renting or buying isn’t really an issue. It is more the point of having my own space and being able to have it how I want it. I’ve mentioned before that I am crazy organised so I would really love to have an office space where I can have inspiration and motivation boards, shelves all neatly arranged with everything in folders and somewhere for all my stationary (I have a lot, it is practically everywhere).

Ok, so I know what you’re thinking, she hasn’t mentioned having a boyfriend, settling down and getting married. Sure it would be great if that happened but that will happen on its own and there is no need to rush that right now.

As for my career, I’m still weighing up options and I will have to keep you posted about that one.

Fisherton Mill

I started the day by taking my Nan to Wilton Garden Centre, because I’m just a good granddaughter! I normally just like looking at all the pretty pink flowers.

We then went to Wilton Shopping Village to meet my mum and sister for a spot of lunch. I had a lovely pot of tea while the others had homemade lemonade.

I obviously didn’t have any but I just had to share with you all these homemade cakes.

For lunch we each had different things (lucky for me taking pictures). My mum had the Moroccan hummus, chickpeas and olives open sandwich. My sister had the smoked chicken and avocado salad with new potatoes, green beans, crispy bacon and Parmesan croutes. While I had a Greek salad with roast aubergine pate.

We all completely cleared our plates; it is so yummy there! My mum and sister got cake while I took a walk. I mean look at how pretty it is.

I then went into a cute little vintage shop which I will definitely go back to when I get paid! I got some little presents in there though.

Fisherton Mill also has a shop and gallery but we didn’t go in there today. The café is always popular though and they have them in Salisbury and Wilton. I definitely recommend going there if you’ve never been.

It is clear that the food is all homemade and they change their menu relatively often so if you only go there occasionally then you will always get to choose from a different menu!

Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

As you probably saw from my previous blog post, I served these with the lemon and garlic chicken I made.

These were beautiful if I may say so myself! It made a change from your standard oil, salt and pepper.

So I’ll get to the point and give you the recipe, which is for one person.

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato

a glug or two of olive oil

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

a sprinkle of salt

and maybe a tsp of basil or oregano for good measure

Method:

Chop up the sweet potato into wedges, the thinner the better as they will cook quicker. So if you prefer yours chunky then it would be best to keep them in a bit longer than I did.

Chuck all the ingredients together, evenly coating the sweet potato and put in a baking dish.

Pop them in the oven at 200C for roughly 30 minutes (or a bit longer).

Then eat with lemon and garlic chicken!

Don’t forget your veggies!

The Sad Reality

I’m not sure if many of you know but over the summer I’ve been working in a local convenience shop (which I cant name or I’ll be in trouble!). So while I’ve been working there, I’ve really noticed the eating habits of some of our customers.

Now I will just add in here that I know it is quite hypocritical what I am saying and that I shouldn’t be so judgemental when I know that I have also been out and spent £5 or even more at a time on junk food. However, saying that the whole point of my blog is that I am on a journey to a better life, and by the time I have children I will have figured out a good balanced diet for them! I certainly don’t want them having sweets every night…

I mostly work evenings, which obviously doesn’t always paint a very good picture as the customers are normally there for the chocolate or alcohol.

But this is honestly not the most shocking part. The amount of sweets that parents buy for their children is incredible, incredibly awful that is. We often have our regular customers come in on a daily basis and since I work 4 or 5 days a week I do pick up on what they buy quite a lot.

Cringey I know but with obesity in the news headlines more and more frequently, it’s interesting to observe families to see what they’re like! And who doesn’t love a good bit of people watching.

Anyway there’s one particular family that comes to mind as I’m writing this. As far as I’m aware I have only met the two sisters and their mum.

The sisters argue like crazy, even in the shop, I even get embarrassed serving them – it’s that bad!

Every day that I work, they come in a buy so much junk food, it makes me feel sick even thinking about it. Obviously the shop has a small chilled section and we have steak slices or chicken and bacon or chicken tikka, you name it! The girls also buy these because they are normally on offer…they have got to be the most awful looking things ever!  Plus the thought of all the calories, fat, carbs and processed meat that goes in them makes me feel quite nauseous!

I’m going a little bit off topic here. So out of the two sisters, one must be about 14 who is a pretty average size (surprisingly because of what she eats) and the other is about 15 but she is without a doubt overweight, obviously at no surprise to any of us. I think its really sad that this has happened to her but whenever they come in with their mum, it’s not like she does anything about it and still lets them buy it.

No their mum is a different case, the complete opposite to myself, where she doesn’t eat enough…and it’s pretty obvious.

I think its pretty bad that we live in a society where eating disorders are so common nowadays. Yes, the NHS say that they are addressing it but they clearly aren’t or obesity cases wouldn’t be rising so rapidly and unfortunately it’s something I see everyday. I’m only one person out of thousands who are obese but I am slowly getting there and one day I hope to be able to influence and help people on their own journey to a better life.

Also, if you actually read this, please let me know! I have no idea who really reads it so it would be nice to actually thank whoever you are. (sorry family, you don’t count because I give you no choice but to read it!)