The New.

The start of the year for me is the time to reboot and refresh.

I tried to stick to some of my 2014 goals before Christmas to ease me in gently and so that when 1st January hit, everything didn't feel like a real uphill struggle.

For the most part though, I relaxed my exercise and healthy eating over the holiday and indulged in more than my fair share of all of the cheeses and more red wine than I care to remember (it tasted damn good at the time though).

I've made a list of not so much resolutions, but just goals for this year which I can work towards over X amounts of weeks or months depending on what they are.

I think some people fall at the first hurdle with 'resolutions' because they go full pelt in January and then their enthusiasm wanes and motivation goes out the window.  For some of my goals, I'm keeping these to six-weekly targets - this keeps things a little bit more achievable.

Here are some of my targets/goals/stuff I want to do in 2014:

- Money detox
I think this is usually the top of everyone's lists but this month particularly, I'm having a total budget overhaul. I already keep a monthly budgeting spreadsheet (sad I know, but canny interesting to see what all of your dollar goes on - £20 here and there in Space NK all adds up...) and need to try ad keep on track with this.

For January at least, I'm curbing unnecessary spending and focussing on planning my budget and how I can make this work in my favour in 2014.

Another thing is credit cards. If you overindulged a bit in 2013 (for me, our big American bonanza holiday really broke the bank, and I wouldn't change it for a second, but still have a bit of debt to pay off on in!) then January is the ideal time to take advantage of balance transfer offers.

The best thing I ever did was to consolidate all of my spendings on a 0% interest balance transfer credit card, which I'm paying off monthly. I'm also making a cull on credit card purchases in general unless I pay it off straight away. Difficult, but definitely needed to help me feel in control of my money again.


- Buy less, buy smarter
A girl I follow on Instagram put this lovely little resolution on from her resolutions last year, as this really resonated, I want to adopt this gem of a resolution this year.

For me it's buying less of things I don't need and buying things I know will last a long time, even if they are a bit more expensive immediately but will benefit me in the long run. For example, really great skincare (I'm obsessed with all things Origins at the moment), a new designer handbag - things with longevity.


- Keep active and healthy
I'm pretty good at doing the above in any case, what with healthy eating, running and personal training, but this year is all about improving my running (stamina and pace), continuing to eat clean and concentrating on strength and toning. I never really let these up in 2013, but I did have a bit more of a relaxed December (which was MUCH needed) so now's the time to get back on track.


What are your plans for 2014?

*beautiful diary above by Marjolein Delhaas (image from byaprilandmay) / Flip clock image by AMB

Run, run, run

For those of you who follow me on Twitter and Instagram, you'll have probably seen various tweets/photos about my running antics and training for some long distance events.

I took up running a couple of years ago and entered the Great North Run for the first time in 2011, but unfortunately, injury kept rearing it's ugly head - I've always had incredibly weak ankles and at one point pulled my Achilles tendon. The actual worst.

So, after deferring 2011's run, I got back into the training.

Last year, I ran the GNR for the first time in 2 hours 12 mins - a time I'm pretty damn pleased with considering I don't think of my myself as a super fast runner.

The past year has seen me completely up the training, change diet and lifestyle, and as well as running, I've been focussing on strength training and overall stamina. This has been massively helpful in improving my running times and hopefully will help me get the holy grail of a sub-2 hour half marathon this year.

So, next month, I'll be lacing up my Asics Gel 3030s to run the GNR for the brilliant charity Help for Heroes - check out my Just Giving site here.

And the day after the run? I jet off to LA - can you think of a better recovery than In-N-Out Burgers, Coronaritas and sunbathing on Venice Beach?!

Are you doing the Great North Run this year? I love a running nerd - share your tips.

Slacker

Like the title of this post, that's what I've been lately.

Life has been a blur of work, running, holiday planning...the last 2 months have literally flown by.

Here's a sneak peak into AMB's world over the past few weeks.

1. Getting my fill of all things cultural with Monocle / 2. Naughty purchases from Space NK (well, not naughty, but some very vital Institut Esthederm for my upcoming holiday to California / 3. RUNNING. I'm training for the Great North Run (4 weeks today!), so training has been taking up most of my free time. / 4. Getting my foody fill at The Grazer's Ouseburn Festival Feast. / 5. The gorgeous airstream caravan down at The Cycle Hub / 6. The Miller's Daughter's yummy sweet treats; she does a mean bake. / 7. New pooch addition to J's family, Poppy / 8. Brightening up some neutral postcard prints with acid green Washi tape / 9. Big Bro.

1. Street art in Heaton / 2. Riley's Fish Shack goodies down at King Eddie's Bay / 3. Going green for Newcastle Racecourse's Ladies Day / 4. Studying the race card / 5. Smarty pants / 6. Recovery food at Lola's (MUCH needed after one too many Pimm's / 7. Taking Somerby for a ride; in love with my new basket / 8. Joe's vintage Mini, perfect for coastal drives on sunny days / 9. Pretty flowers on the bar in Barca

1. Posh beers on a recent Friday night / 2. Sa'll about the hipster / 3. Beautiful sunset after a heavy thunderstorm in the Toon / 4. Flat White at Sugarloaf  / 5. Anchor nails for Kate's hen do / 6. Vibrant flags down at Tynemouth Sailing Club for Riley's Fish Shack pop-up curry night / 7. Our hen donning some fancy dress finery / 8. The classiest club in Penrith / 9. Finally, GNR pack game. Hoping to smash 1.55 this year! I'm raising vital funds for Help For Heroes.