Ahhh August. A transitional month for sunlight, weather, fashion and mood. As I sit here and type this blog post, I see the sun slowly dropping down…but it’s only 7pm! No, come back! Summer is my favorite season of the entire year and August marks it’s end, so I can’t help but feel a little sad.
But this time, I’m going to cherish the warmth and the glittering sunshine for the next 31 days. Time really is relative to our age and how busy we are. Remember how when you were 7, counting down the days to Christmas felt like forever? And you know how now you’re like “OMG how is it already August!?” That’s what I am talking about. We all have so much going on now, that life is passing us by!
So if we can all re-learn how to “think like a kid” when it comes to enjoying our rest, our vacations, and the weekends, we can really make life go by as slowly as want.
Anyway, here’s your new August 2017 Workout Calendar! We’re back to 1 new workout video a week beginning on August 7th…my sister’s bday!
You are going to LOVE the new series on the 7th. It’s all time-interval POP Pilates. Plus! I challenged myself extra to see if I could do a motivational a “life hacks” talk WHILE coaching you how to exercise. Let’s see how it turns out…hahaha.
If for ANY reason you are feeling like you don’t have the motivation to get through a workout calendar, then you MUST watch this video!
Ok guys, good luck! Let me know in the comments how you feel about August. Love it? Hate it? Meh?
Meanwhile, I’m going to try to soak up the rest of the day and goooo slooooow.
This month, I’ve broken the habit of a (five-year blogging) lifetime and reread the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman ahead of the publication of ‘La Belle Sauvage’, the first volume of the Book of Dust trilogy later this … Continue reading →
The Man Booker Prize 2017 longlist was announced today. The 13 books are: 4321 by Paul Auster Days Without End by Sebastian Barry History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Solar Bones by Mike McCormack Reservoir … Continue reading →
I only started blogging about my predictions for literary award longlists relatively recently. Three of my Man Booker Prize predictions last year made it on to the longlist of 13 titles, and two of them also made the final six, … Continue reading →
An army of volunteers keep the horticulture industry afloat. Let’s recognise their contribution, argues Robbie Blackhall-Miles
I am a volunteer. For the past three and a half years I have had the pleasure and privilege to write this blog and it has given me so many wonderful things. I have had the opportunity to be a voice for all kinds of horticultural issues, I have asked questions that where difficult to answer and I have had the tremendous opportunity to put my thoughts and feelings about the garden industry and plant conservation into the public realm. I have done it voluntarily; from the very outset, that was my decision. I had been desperate to reach a much larger audience with my horticultural musings and Jane Perrone, my editor, said OK.
People’s reactions to finding out that I volunteer have been varied from “What? I can’t believe they aren’t paying you!” to “Wow, what a commitment”. The reality is though that I am not alone. I am one of very, very many within horticulture that give up their time, energy and, sometimes, money for the love of what we do.
If you want to get rid of a really stubborn weed you could use that dark magic known as glyphosate. But should Tom Smart feel so guilty about pulling out the spray bottle?
Recently, I’ve enjoyed reading Alys Fowler’s solutions on how to beat weeds. Like all gardeners, I love to see my garden storm into life in spring: you can almost hear the garden growing. Alliums, lupins, and columbines are all smiling into flower.
However, watching dandelions and couch grass jump through my borders can be frustrating. Weeds are the ninjas of the gardening world; they seem to appear overnight and without warning. Suddenly, they pull back their masks and they’re flowering and spreading seed everywhere. If you’re not careful, you’ll soon be surrounded.
Many people’s response to the thought of growing fruit in their garden is “I haven’t got room”, “the birds will eat it before I do”, “I’d rather grow flowers because they’re prettier”, or “it’s a bit too tricky”. Well, they’re wrong. And they’re missing out. Here’s why.
It’s perfectly possible for a beginner to successfully grow a good crop of apples, pears, plums, cherries, figs, apricots, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, grapes, kiwi berries, blackberries, blueberries, currants, gooseberries, and strawberries in a small space.
Political events across the world continue to move at a whirlwind pace, particularly here in the UK. Here are my recommendations for three recent non-fiction books about British politics. ‘The Women Who Shaped Politics’ by Sophy Ridge offers a broad overview … Continue reading →
I cannot believe we are on the 6th episode of The Sheroic Podcast! It’s been really fun being able to get deeper and share more stories with you guys. This week’s episode is on Plastic Surgery and Lisa and I have quite a bit to say. To start us off, here’s a picture of me back in 2012 backstage at my bikini competition with some of my fellow bikini competitors – all really sweet girls!
But, my own personal body image issues started after this photo was taken.
Never had I ever thought of altering my body until I saw the stark difference between the girls who won and the girls who lost. Every girl that I met that day was uniquely beautiful, but what I noticed was that the girls who placed Top 5 in my contest all had breast implants. I on the other hand, placed near the bottom 5.
Whether or not this was the case, it led me to believe that if I wanted to be a winner, I’d need to get breast implants too. But I see now that I set myself up for my own mental state of weakness. When you WILLINGLY put yourself up against other women in a physical bodybuilding competition, you better be ready to have your entire worth be based on how you LOOK. Not who you are. Not your GPA. Not your talent. Not how nice you are. It’s literally how low your body fat % is and whether or not the ratio of your waist to your boobs and your butt is better or worse than the girl next to you. And guess what? Your literal value that day is dependent on a panel of judges who spend a few seconds looking at you like a piece of meat.
In my moments of weakness, I did not see the situation clearly. I saw myself as less-than and I wanted to do whatever it took to win. I wanted boobs. Boobs were gonna make me win, I thought. The problem was…the reason for changing my body wasn’t for myself. I wanted to change my body for a panel of judges I didn’t even know.
And that’s where I stand on plastic surgery. 100% do it if it’s for you. I’m never gonna judge you for it! But if you’re doing it because someone else wants you to? Stay far FAR away from plastic surgery! Changing your body to make someone else happy is a NO-NO.
If you want to hear the entire story, listen to the podcast (free) or watch the YouTube video above! I think you will learn a lot about yourself and what makes you TRULY beautiful. This is definitely one of those episodes that you should share with another girl in your life :)
Also guys! Could I ask you for a favor? Could you please please please rate and review the podcast? I know it’s super hard (like why tho) and kind of a hassle, but with each review, you will help more women be able to find The Sheroic Podcast. I would be SO GRATEFUL for any review you leave. I just want you to be honest!
I actually couldn’t even figure out how to leave a review until today (had to read a tutorial)…so no worries if you haven’t done it yet! In case you’re having a hard time, here’s how to do it on mobile and on desktop FYI ;P
HOW TO REVIEW A PODCAST ON YOUR PHONE:
#1. Go to your iTunes app and click search. Type in “sheroic” and you will find us! Click on the cape shoe!
#2. Then click “SUBSCRIBE” and tap “Reviews”.
#3. Down in the center of the page, click “Write a Review”.
#4. Tap however many stars you think we deserve (umm 5 ok?), write a lil message for me, and then hit send!
Soooo…let’s talk about Hip Dips a.k.a. Violin Hips. To be 100% honest, the only hip dip I’ve previously been familiar with is the workout one where you’re in side plank dipping your hip down to work your obliques. 🤔 But I suppose there’s a new hip dip in town that describes the indent that occurs after your hip and before your thigh begins.
For anyone asking “how do I fill in my hips?”, let me tell you that this was never a “problem” until people started making it a problem. A simple search on Pinterest gave me NUMEROUS results.
You see, the weird thing about hip dips, unlike “bat wings”, “thunder thighs”, “muffintops” and “saddlebags” is that having hip dips doesn’t have anything to do with having excessive fat in that area. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite. Women who have hourglass figures sans the hip dip, usually have a HIGHER fat deposit in that concave area, helping to fill it out. So, this isn’t even a weight loss thing. It’s a very strange nit-picky thing that has everything to do with your NATURAL ANATOMY!
With pics of models on IG in string bikinis and body con dresses showing off their tiny waists, wide hips and getting tons of likes, you start thinking that that’s the body you need to have in order to be desirable! It makes you start to believe that THAT is THE BEST body type, the MOST IDEAL body type, the body type that GUYS LIKE. And you start to tell yourself that if you don’t look like that, you’re not good enough.
I mean, move over magazine covers…Instagram pics are the new beauty standard.
Listen up. Hip dips are NORMAL! If your hip bone sits a tad higher than your femur, fat and muscle in that area are likely to cave inward. Literally THAT IS ALL.
So if you want to spend all day and night fighting the natural anatomy of your body trying to “fill in” your hips, let me tell you right now that you are better off spending your energy elsewhere. Yes there are exercises that can help you work the muscles in the hip dip area (gluteus minimums and gluteus medius) but if your only goal is aesthetics, I urge you to find another reason to exercise. Your overall results with your entire body’s strength, mood and energy is so much more meaningful.
Hip dips do not make you a good person, a bad person, a skinny person or a fat person. Please remember that they just ARE.
‘Days Without End’ by Sebastian Barry tells the story of Thomas McNulty, a young Irishman who emigrates to Canada and later the United States in the mid-19th century after his family perished in the Great Famine. He befriends and falls … Continue reading →
It may be cheap and cheerful, but a picnic bench can give people a personal stake in an outdoor space, argues Emily Mangles
A park bench is for reading a book, resting halfway up a hill, or contemplating the view. A picnic table, meanwhile, can be the place for a meeting, a spot to host a party, or even just somewhere to eat your lunch with relative ease and comfort. More than this, they can involve a community in their space and give them a personal stake in it. If this sounds like fanciful, highfalutin stuff, then let me tell you about one picnic bench in particular.
One day a picnic table appeared outside Pembroke House, a community space in Walworth, south London. It had been left over from a nearby party which had spilled onto the grass outside. Mike Wilson, Pembroke House’s manager, tells me that shortly after the table arrived, things began to happen: “Dog walkers who had passed each other every day without speaking started to sit down at the table for a chat. People waiting for events in Pembroke House to start would sit down to wait together.” After seeing what a difference it made, the bench’s original owner decided to leave it there for everyone to use.
I’ve had a copy of ‘On Beauty’ by Zadie Smith on my shelf for ages but as it is based on ‘Howards End’ by E. M. Forster, I decided to read the latter first about six years ago as I … Continue reading →
Hips. To be 100% honest, the only hip dip I’ve previously been familiar with is the workout one where you’re in side plank dipping your hip down to work your obliques. 🤔 But I suppose there’s a new hip dip in town that describes the indent that occurs after your hip and before your thigh begins.
