eat-exercise-explore

Tag: life

  • The Consumption of what is delicious and important…

    I write this post with a box of Ritz Crackers by my side…It lasted 2 days, Halleluyahhhh.

    Compliments of the season as well! It was important for me to write this before the new year, as a reflection of what this wind-down holiday season is about…Love.

    From the celebration of the life of Christ, to the chance to take stock of the past 12 months and make plans for the future, it is the love for life, and the hope of things to come that makes being around family and consuming all the wonderful yummy treats worthwhile.

    Tell me, what does food mean to you?

    For me, it means friendship; sitting in one my favorite restaurants in Leeds and eating my favorite rice noodles and talking sincerely to my friend about work and all the changes I want to make. It means family; going over to my sister’s house and knowing there will be breakfast in the morning lol. It is comfort; staying home alone with my popcorn and netflix. It is the consumption of not just the tangible, but the emotions tied to the people I share it with.

    Food is never only about what goes into our mouths, even if you never realised, there is always a ‘why’, and so for the past year, I have included healthy ‘whys’ to my consumption. More fruits, more writing, less anxiety. The love I feel for my body means appreciating both.

    So, I hope you enjoyed the break, I hope you consumed the deliciousness of the season, I hope the tangible wasn’t mangled with fear, or anxiety of what is next…the holidays have a bad habit of sneaking that in sometimes.

    Going into 2026, take time to realise that for every consumption of what is delicious, there will equally be that of what is important and intangible. However, when we are aware, we can choose better.

    Love, peace, Joy, family, Ritz crackers, strawberries, unity, diversity, climate action, popcorn…Consume it all.

    See you in 2026.

    All my love,

    Queenet.

  • The Tale of the Move Rings…

    Recently, i’ve been getting the urge to run.

    Whenever I get really excited or extremely overwhelmed, my body starts to react, almost like its shouting at me; “MOVE!”

    Last time I ran, like ‘exercise, nobody is chasing you’ type of run, I almost took off all my clothes on the road lol, because what is this feeling of ‘breathlessness, plus pain, plus I can feel the calories actually burningggg’ happening. After this episode, I said to running, “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

    However, I still needed to move. See i’m a homebody. That’s a fact about me. I’ve always enjoyed walking and its not a new concept to me, but I loveee staying at home. It’s warm and comfortable and I can order stuff. hehehehe. There are times I need and want to be outside of course, but I loveeee being inside. One of the draw backs of this is you can be inside for two days and only take 200 steps, and when you feel guilty, just jump 10 times lol.

    Another is I am a nature over. I love all things green and growing and I love taking photos of it and walking around it. Bingley has that. Thus the birth of the move rings.

    I noticed how all the thoughts collide into one huge knot inside my head when I stayed in one place. Moving helped, and moving further helped even more, so in April of 2024, I made a game out of the move rings on the fitness app on my phone and decided that “everyday, i’m going to walk long enough to close these rings”. Something about seeing that red circle going all the way round made me happy…a sense of completion. I combined my love for walking and the joy of closing the ring and began!

    I started with 60kcal, which I could achieve with a 10 minute walk, and lots of photos. Now i’ve doubled that, and most times exceed what I double, counting steps and how long and how far, but all in all making sure i am moving.

    From brisk walking while listening to music to a stroll processing the thoughts in my mind, it’s therapy to me. Moving changes the density of the thoughts, making them airy enough to flow away, so that what remains is me, and the core of me is the light of God.

    I don’t just move because exercise helps the body, I move because I need to find me. There are so many factual health benefits to moving. I present a different angle. Move until the answer is clear, and I promise it will be, Move until you feel joy, it burns the calories as well so you may feel that pain, but keep moving until its gone.

    I havent stopped moving since April of 2024. I’m still a home body, but my move rings are scheduled into my day now. Walking 20-30 minutes a day, reflecting and watching, taking pictures and making plans, coming back to myself when it’s been a hard day, praying and listening to music…it’s time well spent for my mind and my body.

    I have found it’s easy to tie a sense of accomplishment to if the ring closes or not, so i’ve made sure that on days when I just need to rest, I rest. It’s finding the balance between pushing yourself to do what heals you and taking a step back because your essence is not tied to always doing.

    The urge to run, I believe, is my body’s way of saying it’s ready for more…I guess it’s really time to call back.

    Wish me the best! Also…let me know how your own tale goes. hehehe.

    All my love,

    Queenet.

  • Let’s Start with Paris…

    I have been thinking of the perfect place to start…haven’t found it yet, so i’m starting with the story that’s foremost in my mind, and luckily it carries the essence of the blog. So let’s dive in shall we?

    I’ve always wanted to go to Rome. It’s one of the oldest cities in the world, and immersing myself in that history is something i’ve dreamt of doing…still is. So, that’s what I was going to do this year; take a trip to a place i’ve dreamt of for a long time. Howeverrr, the process to get a visa there was going to take a while, and I didn’t want to wait that long. This is how Paris became a topic. It was supposed to be a means to an end, pass through the city on my way to my final destination.

    I booked my train for the end of July. When i got to Gare du Nord (The North Station), i felt it instantly. It took me a while to name the feeling, but after the 15 minutes walk to my Airbnb, and the stumble up the 4-flights of stairs to my room, and after seeing my room and the bay windows overlooking the grounds, and the stroll around the area looking for an adapter and a supermarket open at that time of night, and the shop keeper saying ‘bonsoir’ i could finally name it. In this place that I had arrived by myself, i felt like a part of it; the feeling of Home.

    My Beautiful Airbnb

    The next 2 days were some of my best times so far. I visited the Arc d’triumphe, the eiffel tower, the sacre coeur, took a boat ride on the siene, and walked around so much, i felt like a local. It also meant so much to me that I took the public transport, it made me feel unafraid, like i was evolving into a me i really needed.

    The Siene
    Arc de Triomphe
    The Louvre
    My ‘explore’ reminder
    Outside Sacre Coeur
    Inside Sacre Coeur

    There is magic in that city, the exact kind i needed. I didn’t know what a solo trip without an agenda would look like for me and I worried it’d be a waste. I’m not a stranger to doing things by myself and I enjoy it, but I had packed my bags, and travelled to another Country for the sole purpose of…nothing, lol. I was nervous. I wanted to explore places and pastries, but I kept thinking of what it’d feel like. Turns out Paris was waiting with open arms and being a tourist is fun.

    There is magic in that city, the kind you can feel. On my last day, a few hours before my train left, my entire experience was crowned with a reminder of what ‘much more than enough’ means. I sent the gist to one of my closest friends, Elsa, and I have a screenshot of the message:

    The Storyyy
    Part of the market!
    The market I stumbled upon!

    There is a level of surrender that exploring requires for it to produce the wonder we all want from discovering new things. It’s the surrender to admit you don’t know, and ask for help, the surrender to not be afraid of missing your turn and starting again because the destination is that important, the surrender to assume the best in people, having faith that when you ask a stranger for help, it will surely be given. Exploring parts of Paris reminded me of that. The release of inhibitions if you want to get to the destination, because you cannot do it alone.

    Oh but the magic in that city, and the grace of God, and the July Sun, and all the pastries, and all the walking, they loved on me exactly how I needed, and i will forever be grateful.

    I’m still going to get to Rome and immerse myself in it, but Paris, for welcoming me with the most unexpected ‘much more than enough’ wonder, thank you.

    For anyone thinking of going anywhere, Go, and if there are detours, lol, even better.

    See you soon.

    All my Love,

    Queenet.