Sober Wednesday - seven months sober

Happy Sober Wednesday!

I find that, as time goes on, I'm not really counting how long I've been off alcohol for. But it is in fact well over seven months now.

Sounds like ages doesn't it? 

It's funny, the more time goes by, the more I realise that not drinking really doesn't affect my life all that much. The first few months can be up and down, but living alcohol free is part of who I am now and I no longer really miss it. I'm happy to sit in a pub and have an alcohol-free drink, more than happy to have sparkling elderflower instead of fizz at a wedding and happy to have a glass of water with dinner (it's healthier anyway).

My 30th birthday in a few months will be interesting. So far my plans are quite vague but include spending time with my mum and sisters at a spa hotel, before going on a little mini-break with Mr. SSV. Sounds civilised and I don't think I'll be drinking. My health is more important to me now.

Apparently I've saved almost £700 - I mean I don't know where that money is, as I work for myself my income is up and down anyway - so all the more reason why I should be careful with money and not pour it down my throat. I just treated myself to a new car (that I definitely need for work) and who knows if I would have been in that position if I'd still been drinking? It's impossible to say isn't it, but it feels good to know where my money is going.

Where are you on your journey to sober? Leave me a comment and say hello. And, if there's ever anything you want me to chat about on here, do let me know. Let's build the sexysobervegan community!

Chat soon,

SSV x

Vegan Friday - when things aren't perfect

I guess you could say that I've been putting off writing this particular post as I'm not sure what the reaction will be and to be honest, I'm a little nervous.

As you may know already, I have moved house recently. I am now living with my future in-laws in the Cheshire countryside. It's really lovely here and I'm slowly getting used to all the spiders and moths that come as part of living rurally.

Here's the thing, all four of us have dinner together most evenings, and lunch together most days. I am no longer in charge of what I eat, I eat what I'm given for the most part.

The food is lovely but it isn't vegan. It's vegetarian. So here I am blogging and instagramming my heart out about the moral and ethical reasons for going vegan, and yet in my life I am actually eating dairy. 

I have to stay honest with you guys.

At the end of the day, when Mr SSV and I have our own house and our own kitchen, I do plan on keeping it plant-based and vegan, but for now I'm going to have to compromise in order to keep the peace.

I made a rather delicious vegan chocolate cake the other night from this recipe:

I plan to keep dairy as limited as possible while I'm here - I make my own breakfast so that's not an issue. Lunch is usually a case of putting loads of salad and bread (and cheese) on the table and you kind of make what you like. So I can cut out cheese from there.

That just leaves dinner. Family is important to me and I want to build a good relationship with my future in-laws, so I'm not about to start refusing the food that they have kindly cooked for me. I'd rather try to inspire with things like the chocolate cake above and maybe offering to cook once in a while. But if you have any suggestions, do let me know in the comments because I do feel conflicted about it all.

On the plus side, they grow so many different vegetables here, so my veg intake has gone through the roof, and it's all home-grown, organic, no packaging and I have lost a few kg since moving in.

In the meantime, I'll see you soon, don't forget to give me a follow on instagram. I've joined a new gym near my new home so I've been posting what I'm been doing for my workouts in my insta-stories. Do pop over and say hi.

Let's chat soon,

SSV x

Sobriety is a form of Self-Love

Hey babes,

You are warmly welcomed to another Sober Wednesday. Sit yourself down, grab a coffee, and let's chat.

There's so much talk at the moment about Self-Love. About how we need to love ourselves first before we can love others or before they can love us (a troublesome concept but let's sail past that).

Sometimes this can be mistaken as a ticket to 'treat' ourselves. So we lie in until 10am, eat take-aways whenever we want, maybe even call in sick to work to have a chill day, have a gin and tonic to celebrate whatever.

But are these behaviours really an example of loving ourselves? 

When thinking about self-love I find it helpful to imagine how I show love to my best friend, my (as yet imaginary) daughter or my younger self. Would I berate, criticise, bully or mock them? Of course not! And yet we do this to ourselves way too much.

Would I encourage my best friend, daughter or my younger self to engage in unhealthy habits and activities? 

Nope.

I want to take care of them. I want them to be well. I want them to thrive. How about we treat ourselves like that?

So when it comes to drinking, it's an unhealthy habit, it makes you feel like sh*t, it wastes money, it makes you gain weight and look bloated. So think about what it means when you say to yourself with a glass of wine in your hand 'I deserve this!'

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you don't deserve that. You deserve way, way better. You deserve to look fabulous, to sleep well, to have glowing skin and to have enough money to save for actual treats.

Sobriety isn't a punishment. Being stuck in the grip of alcohol is. Every time you say no to a drink you are treating yourself, every time you have a glass of water instead of a G&T, you are treating yourself. Every night you get to bed early and wake up fresh, you are treating yourself.

It's time to start looking after ourselves, it's time to start loving ourselves.

Do you agree?

Sexy Monday - I'm back!

Hello my lovelies.

After what seems like ages, I'm ready to come back to posting on here. Thanks to those of you who got in touch on instagram asking if I'm ok - you are such sweeties!

Truth is, I'm fine, great actually, but I've been moving house and that kind of takes over doesn't it?

I'm now living with Mr. SSV and his parents in beautiful Cheshire, UK. It's really rural and a total change from Manchester. I'm loving the sunshine and the quiet. Not loving the moths and spiders so much but I'm coping.

I may have chatted on this blog before about the idea of generally using less. This is true of my cleansing and beauty routine especially.

I've been noticing that I don't need to take all that many products with me when I go away for a few nights. I'm wearing make-up for special occasions, but I haven't worn foundation in months now, and my skin loves it.

My goal is to transfer to all vegan and plastic free beauty products, but in a minimal way and not by rushing out and buying a whole bunch of stuff. Rather, I'm using what I have until it runs out, then trying to buy a vegan and ideally plastic-free alternative next time I need to stock up.

I received some beautiful products from Pai for Christmas from one of my sisters - these really are amazing - and looking them up now I see that they're quite pricey and definitely premium products. However, it's now August and neither show any signs of running out so I figure they're worth a recommendation:

The oil makes my skin super glowy and that's probably why I've not felt the need to cover my skin in make-up. Mr. SSV isn't that keen on the smell - it's quite a woody smell if you know what I mean, so I'm using the oil in the morning and my regular Nivea night cream in the evening.

Do you have a favourite vegan beauty product? Please recommend in the comments and I'll give some of them a try. The beauty of buying really good products is that they often last a lot longer, meaning you buy less overall, and a simple skincare regimen really doesn't need that many products. I'm really starting to see cheap beauty products as a false economy, and keeping my skin in good condition is a top priority as I get older.

Of course, drinking enough water and having a healthy diet and lifestyle does wonders for your skin anyway, meaning you won't need as many pills and potions to stay youthful.

Well, that's what I'm hoping anyway.

SSV x