I worked from home on Monday and Harvey amused himself.  He was then able to choose what we did for the rest of the day and he asked to take his BMX down to the coast.  So we set off, with the BMX and Milton for an evening stroll.  I chose to park at the Western end of St.Leonard’s and walk towards Bexhill.  It was a delightful walk and one we will definitely be repeating.

I wasn’t expecting to see a white picket fence and astro turf next to the beach huts !The path runs on from the end of the promenade at St.Leonard’s and there is a car park which is very convenient.I confess, I do have beach hut envy.  I would love one and one day I will treat myself but I think I need to wait until I know which town I will be living in as the beach hut needs to be easy to get to to make it more useable.Everything about this walk was lovely.  Obviously the company was great (boy and dog), the weather was perfect as it was sunny and warm but not too hot and there were so many interesting things to look at.  There were people also walking/cycling/running along the track but mainly it was peaceful and quiet so you could really enjoy the sounds of the sea.Harvey loved the route and cycled many miles as he went backwards and forwards, up and down the gentle hills and along the flat.  This is looking towards Bexhill.If I close my eyes and breathe deep I can imagine I am back there, with my boy, with the sun and the sound of the waves.I definitely did not expect the profusion of wildflowers so they were an added bonus.  This is the view looking towards St.Leonard’s.After the walk we picked up some fish and chips (no fish for me obviously) and headed to Rebecca’s.  She had just made a fabulous dal which she gave me a bowlful of and which I must try and recreate.  We then sat in her pretty garden with its views over Hastings (and the ‘haunted house’ next door) and chatted away while the sun went down.  A lovely ending to a wonderful evening.

I have done well with the walking over the last week and actually walked 79,000 steps which exceeds the target 10,000 a day so I was happy with that.  I ate reasonably well too (apart from the chips) yesterday  and today I fasted.  I had water with the juice of 3 limes and 45ml of maple syrup.  I mix the lime juice and maple syrup together and take it to work.  I have a large glass in the office and I add 1 tbsp of the lime and syrup mixture to every 500ml of water.  I drank between 3 and 4 litres of water today.  I actually find it easier to eat nothing rather than a little so that is what I am going to try and do twice a week.  If I can do 3 days in a row (which I have done twice now), then I can do 1 day twice a week.

On the 5:2 diet you can have 500 calories on your fast days.  The juice of 3 limes and 45 ml maple syrup is 60 + 156 = 216 so I am well within the allowance.  I took Milton for a walk in the woods over the road when I came home as I had no time to go for a walk at lunch time so I have walked 10,682 steps so far today.  So all is going rather well at the moment with exercise and eating.  Room for improvement on the eating but a huge improvement on recent weeks.