Hello, Blendfriends, and welcome to the weekend!

It’s also the first day of the school holidays here in Melbourne - that is, holidays for my children, definitely not for me. Anyway, it was pretty low key; I just pottered about the house and did the meal planning and grocery shopping for the week.

I’m not much of a YouTube watcher - in my spare time I work out and read books. But lately I’ve been watching videos by a registered dietician, whose channel includes reviews of celebrity and fitness influencer “What I eat in a day” videos. (Much more fun than just watching the “What I eat in a day” video, for me.)

Watching these videos via the reviews, it occurs to me that I would never make a good celebrity or fitness influencer. I just do too many things “wrong”. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I could be considered healthy at all, I make so many “mistakes”. For example…

I don’t start my day with a glass of water, with or without lemon. (How does my digestive system even work?!) I drink my coffee with cow’s milk. (What are you thinking, Jacqueline?! There are so many other options out there, how did you even discover this cow’s milk stuff?) I don’t use protein powder… at all. (How could I possibly get enough protein?!) I don’t eat kale. (Actually, I don’t mind kale, I just like spinach and silverbeet and all types of lettuce and pretty much every other veggie more.) And worst of all: I use RECIPES. For just about everything. Seems like it’s not really “healthy” or “clean” eating if you don’t do it off the top of your head. (Clearly I also eat too much variety.)

How about you? Do you think your meals for the day would make a YouTube-worthy “What I eat in a day”, celebrity/fitness influencer style? Or do you also commit dreadful “wellness-culture” offences? (No need to watch any of those videos if you’re unfamiliar with them - tell me about your eating habits that aren’t stereotypically “healthy”. Or skip the question! It’s always optional.)

Now that I’ve made you feel terrible about the food choices you’ve made today, let me assure you that you don’t need to drink celery juice and eat avo toast to be healthy. It’s much more important to ***do what works for you***, and to eat food that tastes great and makes you feel good.

So what’s on the menu for today? Does it taste great and make you feel good? Would it be right at home in a fitness influencer’s video, or is it something that you and/or your family enjoy regardless of the opinion of some random person on the internet? Here, it was a lazy cooking day. My family had not-so-homemade lasagne, and I had frozen leftovers of a silverbeet and three-cheese lasagne I made a while back.

And what’s the plan for your workout today? Are you currently doing a program/challenge, or scheduling your own workouts? Do you rest over the weekend, or are you more active? It could well be summer where you are - I’d love you to make me jealous by telling me about some fabulous outdoor activities in the sun!

I have one of Kelli’s walking workouts on my calendar, and I’m curious to see how I enjoy it. After that, I’ll reward myself with a HIIT routine and a lovely lower body stretch. And I’d better go and get it done before it’s too late.

Thanks for checking in with me, Blendfriends. Your reward for putting up with me nattering about food is… tomorrow you get to check in with Anne! Enjoy your weekend.

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***Note: These Daily Check-in posts are open to anyone and everyone who wishes to participate! All are welcome here! These check-ins are a way to stay motivated, accountable, and be supported as we all try to be our healthiest selves. Feel free to pop in and say 'hi' anytime, and post as much or as little as you wish! No prerequisites here! Feel free to add photos if you want as well! Whether you need advice about working out/eating well/life in general, just want to comment, or maybe need support during a hardship--we're here for you! So: Welcome to the FB Family, and to the Daily Check-ins! We appreciate you being here!***