Body positivity is now talked about a lot. However, if you're struggling with it, you're not alone & you're definitely not failing. Despite wanting to be positive, pressure to look a certain way is everywhere. It's no surprise that niggles are likely to keep in. Body positivity, self-praise and self-value is something we should always check in on. 

        You may be familiar with the phrase ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’ on the face of it, it appears to be saying ‘be kind to others’. But if you look more deeply at this phrase it assumes that we are already being kind to ourselves!
When alone in front of our mirrors, many of us say things to ourselves that we’d never dream of saying to our worst enemies. If you were saying the things you say to yourself to a friend, can you imagine how much that would chip away at them?

           Learning to be kind to ourselves can be surprisingly difficult, so to start with this week, I just want you to notice when you are putting yourself down, try to catch yourself, try to stop yourself. Write how frequently you are doing this down in a notebook. After a few days revisit it and reply as you would if it were a friend saying those things about themselves. If you feel brave enough get a friend to reply to your self-critique. They often are quicker to see how fabulous you are! xxx

Walking with my family is so important to me, it's when we chat the most. When you are away from the distractions of technology, work, school and general responsibilities, It becomes very easy to chat about how we are feeling, what we are excited about, what we are worried about and things that are most important to us.

When looking for places to explore, it is so easy to forget what is on your own doorstep, despite living in Wales all my life (apart from a 4 year jaunt in Plymouth) I've never climbed the Garth. So we me, the husband and the 7 year old thought we'd give it a bash.

We started at the walk at Gwaelod y Garth Inn (CF15 9HH) There isn’t a car park (As far as we could see) but there is un-restrictricted parking just before and just after the Gwaelod y Garth Inn. To start the walk turn left just before the Gwaelod y Garth Inn and walk up the steep tarmac road.

When you get to the hairpin bend in the road, keep left and head upwards, for about half-a-mile. You will know that you are on the right route when you pass over a cattle grid.
As the road levels, you'll pass above an old barn on your left.

Follow the route marker sign on your right and head up a steep hillside track towards the mountain. The mountain track can be slightly tricky for small children as they may need help crossing a small stream and lifting their legs upto large steps.

You then go up a very steep (somehow the 7 year old was able to run up, while I struggled) grassy track towards a false summit (the actual summit is a mound with a concrete trig atop of it, a little further on)
The views from the false summit are ridiculously amazing. With not only Taffs Well, the river Taff and Cardiff,  but also Somerset in the distance. You can see Aberthaw Power Station to the west and the Brecon Beacons to the north.

Veer left and take a straight route of around 730 metres to the summit (apparently it's 1007 feet) and trig point. On the signs it says it's a circular route but we simply headed back down the way we came.

As you can see according to the old Fitbit, this took us just over 2.5 hrs, this time also included us sitting near the top to have some snacks. I think next time we will have to stop in at the Gwaelod y Garth Inn as it looked loved and on nosing at their website I discovered they have vegan options. But being a Sunday we did need to get home and prep for the week.

Anyway, it's well worth a visit, changing scenery and beautiful views xxx

 Yay, It's pancake day tomorrow! (P.s these are not American style pancakes, but the style served to me as a kid, I am from Wales, they are more like crepes if you're American)

Okay, so I know I'm not exactly selling these in the title but bear with me. I've had so many 'Protein Pancake' recipes recommended to me and they all taste like shit. It's made me lose my trust in human-kind almost because loads have people have sworn they have a recipe that "tastes amaaaazing" LIARS!!!

This was my last try at 'Vegan Protein Pancakes' theres a damn vegan food revolution going on right now, I can buy a vegan sausage roll at Greggs, GREGGS!

Anyway, the long and the short of it is, these were my last attempt and they didn't taste like shit, saying that, I don't enjoy non protein pancakes all that much so you may even find them tasty, but I am not making any promises xxx

What you need to do:

• Mix dry ingredients together (I find it easier to use a large jug so you can poor the mix directly into the pan later)
  
• Add syrup and gradually add the milk as you beat it all together with a whisk.
  
• Pour into a hot non stick frying pan, when bubble appear and the pancake looks kind of firm, flip over and cook for a few minutes on the other side.
  

Serves 2 people, you get 2 pancakes each yippeeeeee.
Per Serving:
375 KCAL
19.4g Protein