Weekword: November

Carola chose this week's word, and very appropriate it is too seeing as we're smack bang in the middle of the month!

So far, November has looked like this most of the time:



And of course, one of the major events in November is Remembrance Day - in the UK we mark what used to be known as Armistice Day (the end of WWI) on November 11th, and Remembrance Sunday on the nearest Sunday to the 11th (this year it's the 14th). The Poppy Appeal is the Royal British Legion's Remembrance Day fundraising initiative and for the first two weeks of November you'll see a lot of people wearing poppies.



But as we get further into November, these are the sights that start springing up. I think all the London Christmas lights are now on, so the countdown to the big day is definitely beginning!

This is what I love about London...

You go out for a drink and find yourself walking past a major landmark!

Oh it's getting wintry out there!

So the clocks went back just over a week ago, and it's now decidedly dark when I leave work, let alone when I get home! It doesn't seem like five minutes ago I was posting those '5.15pm and it's not quite dark!' updates and now here we are, going into winter again. Luckily I like autumn and winter, because my birthday, Bonfire Night and Christmas all come in autumn and winter, but even so, the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees in the last couple of days and it's getting really quite chilly!

Weekword: Abundance

Christine chose this week's Weekword and it's a great one!

'Abundance' immediately makes me think of food - it's quite apt for this time of year, because it makes me think of harvests and apple trees groaning with fruit. But abundance isn't something that often features in my own kitchen, as I'm cooking for one most of the time! This weekend, though, I'll be cooking for six or seven people and there is currently an abundance of fruit in my house - I'm planning to make Jamie Oliver's baked fruit so it's plums and nectarines a-go-go round here at the moment!

Before and after...

This is a bit of a smug self-indulgent post, so please forgive me!

Three and a half months ago, I weighed 11 stone 3 (that's 157lbs or 71kg) and I looked like this:



Yes, that photo was taken from a really unflattering angle, and that's mainly my dress sticking out, not my stomach, but it's safe to say I was mildly horrified when it popped up on Facebook! So I decided something had to be done. And as of this morning, I now weigh 9 stone 12 (which is 138lbs or 63kg)! Here's a photo of me taken last night - I'd just got back from a run, so excuse the red face! Pete and I also managed to set a new personal best for our 7.5-mile route - it's all good in the realms of health and fitness at the moment!

Risotto = yum

I haven't had risotto for ages, because I'd assumed it would never fit with my healthy eating regime. But then someone mentioned smoked salmon and cream cheese risotto, and when I logged it all on Food Focus it came out as about 480 calories per portion, which is perfectly acceptable! Smoked salmon is one of my favourite things to eat - it's delicious, it's good for you and because it's quite a strong flavour, you don't need to use too much of it. It's brilliant 'value for money' as far as calorie content goes! I used extra-light Philadelphia which made the risotto lovely and rich and creamy.

This week's Weekword...

Christine has chosen this week's Weekword, which is...ABUNDANCE.

If you fancy participating (you just need to post something relating to the word on Friday) then head over to Christine's blog and leave her a comment! And come back here on Friday to see what I come up with...