30 Chic Days: days 1 and 2

I read about 30 Chic Days on the How to be Chic website. If you are interested, click on this link to find out more. I'll warn you in advance that I may not be posting every day and that I won't be going into as much detail as Fiona is. I'll be giving you my excuses as we go along!

It's a while since I've done any challenges, and this one sounds a bit more complicated than previous ones as it's not just clothes-related. The idea is to log the following over the 30 days that you participate:

• what you wear
• what you eat
• how you move
• what you read
• your focus of the day

I'm hoping that some of you may be tempted to join me in this challenge, which I think is a particularly good one for this time of the year. Many of us will be planning our summer holidays and wanting to be in our best possible shape for enjoying our break. Or maybe we have a wedding that we want to look good for - Mother of the Groom anyone? Please note that I'm not talking about going on a diet: what I'm suggesting you do is think about what you eat and how you move so you make healthier choices. Once you're over 60 (and even if you're a bit younger) your priority should be a healthy body and not a skinny one.

Day One (Saturday)

Outfit day 1

It was a hot day (I live in Spain and it's June, therefore hardly surprising!) so I'm wearing a lightweight outfit to keep cool. We were doing a fair bit of walking, including walking to the far end of town, which takes roughly half an hour, to look round the Mercado Medieval. The brown shoes I'm wearing are from the sports company Decathlon and I can wear them without socks so they're ideal for walking in summer. I wear a fitbit to log my steps and my daily target is 10,000 steps: on day one I reached 12,948 steps, which was a good start.

My breakfast during the warmer months (it's usually porridge in winter) is a mixture of greek yoghurt, oats, honey and nuts, plus a small orange juice and a cup of English breakfast tea. My lunch was hummus and a pitta bread, followed by a kiwi fruit. I drink camomile tea at lunch-time to cut down on caffeine. Dinner was a couple of crackers with cheese, then a large helping of salade niçoise, accompanied by a glass of red wine. Did I mention that I usually treat myself to a piece of chocolate after dinner? If I was dieting I'd have to exclude the crackers and cheese, red wine and chocolate, so it's lucky I'm not on a diet! I should also add that I drink water regularly over the course of the day, though I admit that I don't specifically count how many glasses.

The focus of the day was relaxation and recovery, after a busy day on Friday going to see our tax adviser in Alicante, which involved two buses there and back. Plus the stress of finding out that over 1,000€ in tax will be leaving my account at the end of this month. Part of my relaxation was reading the July edition of the UK magazine Good Housekeeping, which I had bought in Alicante.

Day Two (Sunday)

Outfit - day 2

Today's outfit was also chosen to be cool as well as comfortable. I'd tucked in the top slightly, but as you can see I should have looked in the mirror before the photo was taken as the line wasn't quite straight. I don't have a waist, so I never fully tuck my tops in for that reason. The navy trousers are wider than my usual slim or straight styles, but it was good to be wearing a loose pair in the heat. When we took our dog out for a walk I changed into trainers, though these navy brogues are actually comfortable even without socks. Footwear is a huge problem for me as my feet rub so easily. I always walk around the shop when buying new shoes, but occasionally I make bad decisions and my shoes end up in the clothes bank.

My breakfast on day two was the same as for day one. We went out for a coffee just after mid-day (I usually drink decaffeinated, which here in Spain tastes like the real stuff i.e. a decent coffee flavour) and ended up having a drink and some tapas as well. Note to self: check your weight half way through the month, see how many "extras" you've had and, if necessary, cut them out! Lunch was a slice of wholewheat toast with some sardines and a banana to finish. Dinner was using up some salad ingredients from yesterday's meal, with the addition of feta cheese and olives. You can take it as read that I'll have a glass of wine with my dinner and a small piece of chocolate afterwards - for health reasons, of course! - unless I say otherwise.

My number of steps was down today (just over 9,500), partly because it was so hot. Although I'd put trainers on before we took our dog Lisa out, we decided that we should walk around our local neighbourhood instead of walking into the countryside, so that we could keep her (and me) in the shade, so the walk ended up being shorter than usual.  Also, being Sunday, there were no trips to the shops. However with yesterday's high total, the average for two days was still well over my target of 10,000 steps.

The focus again was on relaxation - well it is the weekend after all.  I read some Spanish magazines that come free with the Sunday paper. I guess if I'm being really honest, I looked at the pictures and then read those features that interested me. We've improved our Spanish a lot in the eight years that we've lived here, but we're still far from being fluent, so I like to read interesting articles in magazines to help me improve. Finally, some light reading of my favourite blogs to finish the day!