30 Chic Days - days 11 and 12

I'm finding the 30 Chic Days challenge very helpful in making me aware of what I'm doing each day and reminding me what I want to achieve. Fiona was the inspiration for me deciding to take part and I'm delighted that Juhli is also joining in.

Day 11 (Tuesday)

Outfit - day 11

I suspect that when I weigh myself on day 15 I will discover that I need to cut back and eat sensibly for the rest of the month. The reason I say this is that on Tuesday we went out for a friend's birthday meal, where a lot of good food was eaten and several glasses of wine were drunk. This has been a common theme since I started doing the 30 Chic Days challenge! We are certainly enjoying the good life here in Spain, but it's not so good for my waistline.

The skirt I was wearing didn't have an elasticated waist, so it helped me make fairly sensible choices from the menú del día. I had fried goats cheese with wine jam for my starter (a local favourite), plus we had a salad to share. My main course was grilled swordfish with vegetables, which left a teeny space for my dessert of pan de calatrava (another local dish, which is like a caramel flan with a base of bread). Yummy!

Lunch lasted a couple of hours as we were all chatting away to each other and having a good time. That is my excuse for not reaching my daily target of steps: I only managed 8,984 steps, though I did go up 5 flights of stairs over the course of the day. Our apartment is on the second floor, so I have started walking up the stairs instead of using the lift, unless we have been shopping.

The focus of the day was on trying to make sensible choices when it comes to eating out.  It doesn't help that I don't like tomatoes so I didn't choose Gazpacho for my starter. My reading was mainly news and views on the upcoming UK referendum on the EU. I'd already cast my postal vote, but wanted to see what others were thinking and any new arguments for Remain or Leave.

Day 12 (Wednesday)

Outfit - day 12

First of all, my total number of steps on Wednesday was 12,142, which helped to make up for Tuesday's deficit. Bearing in mind the blog I read on Monday about how to be as chic as a Frenchwoman, I wore neutrals today: a navy top and shoes, with white cropped trousers. My pop of colour was the turquoise necklace, however I probably lost marks for not wearing a scarf!  I don't know whether the gold I wore on Tuesday counts as a neutral, as I could claim that my only pop of colour was my blue top, however I suspect that it doesn't. A birthday lunch though is a celebration, so I think bright colours are called for.

Lunch was a pitta bread with hummus and tzatziki dips, followed by delicious local apricots. For dinner we had some fresh pasta with vegetables followed by a chocolate truffle. I'm eating up the chocolates that we bought for our guests and that I (conveniently!) forgot to offer them. If my eating mindfully doesn't do the trick with my waistline, I may have to cut out the chocolates for a while.

Wednesday is when the Spanish magazine Mia is published, so I read my latest copy. As an aside, it's amazing how many English expressions appear in Spanish magazines, particularly in the fashion pages. This week's issue talked about El Look "Total White". As you can see in the photo above, I only got it half right!

The focus again was on trying to make healthy eating choices, which means when dining at home, as well as when eating out. We are fortunate to live in an area where we can buy fresh vegetables and fruit that are grown locally. I eat fish (though not meat) which comes direct from Santa Pola, about an hour or so from where we live. It's good to be supporting Slow Food too.