• Vegetable ratatouille with crusty garlic bread
• Chickpea tofu salad with sweet potato
• Quinoa, carrot & blueberry salad with spicy baked tofu & mixed seeds
• Homemade soy yoghurt with fresh fig & chocolate coconut granola
• Ryoma, once again thinking that everything is about him. Correctly.

Hey there, cutie. Did you know that September is National Take-Care-Of-Yourself Month? If you didn't, that's cause it totally isn't and I just made it up right now. Humour me.

The world falls on one of two sides on this front. Pinterest would have you believe that unless you're 110 pounds, working out three times a day, sleeping 28 hours a night and eating nothing but kale salads, you ain't taking care of yourself. TV would have you believe that unless you're 110 pounds, drinking red wine  and taking regular bubblebaths with your longterm soulmate and partner, you ain't taking care of yourself. As someone who's spent the last however many years putting way too much pressure on herself to be and do all of these things, for the record, you can spend every day looking like you walked out of a TV ad, and still be freaking nuts on the inside. Actually, if you really are hitting ten out of ten on all of the above, there's almost definitely some damage going on. Also, I don't know how you're getting any work done?

So when I say 'take care of yourself', I mean this: 

Stop trying to look like you've got it all figured out, and start figuring it out. 

Stop competing. 

Stop being hyper-aware of how your life looks from the outside, and start being aware of how you feel about it.  

Stop trying to be your reputation.

This is my plan.

1. Feed myself properly. I cook for other people. I deserve it too. And you know what, this isn't about looking "right" on the outside, cause at the moment my medication is screwing with my body and there's not much I can do to affect it. This is about considering myself worthy of health, independently of whether it's visible or not.

2. Don't be pretty. I cut my hair shorter the other week, and on the days I'm wearing tshirts from the guys' section of Uniqlo and haven't bothered with makeup, I can pretty much pass for a boy. You don't even know how refreshing it is. If I don't have to look like a girl, I don't have to look like the perfect girl. It's a hell of a lot of pressure off right there.

3. If in doubt, take your trousers off.

4. Try to keep the above for when you're in your own home. Feel like I should clarify that. Like, if you're in your office, and you're in doubt over where to file some stuff, I don't know if taking your trousers off is a good idea in that situation. Or maybe it is? Try it and get back to me?

5. Seeking validation from others? Not always a good thing. The concept of self-validation? Not always something you can take seriously if you're as cynical as I am and find it hard to be nice to yourself. But hey, you know what? I can damn well make my cat purr. Scale is irrelevant. You're not on this earth for nothing.

 Chickpea Tofu Salad

1 (400g / 14oz) tin chickpeas, drained

200g ( 7oz) tofu

2 Tbsp capers

1 carrot, grated

1 T chopped spring onion

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp agave syrup

80g (3 oz) mixed seeds

salt & pepper

1. With a fork, mix the tofu until smooth and creamy. Add everything else and stir thoroughly, until coated. Eat on a bed of steamed broccoli & spinach, or use to top a sweet potato.

Chocolate Coconut Granola

240g (8.5oz) rolled oats

70g (2.5oz) walnuts

100g (1c.) ground almonds

70g (2.5oz) coconut

70g (2.5oz) light brown sugar

40g (1.5oz) unsweetened cocoa powder

70ml (scant 1/3c.) maple syrup

4 Tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp salt

1. Oven to 120C. In a large bowl, mix the oats, nuts, coconut and sugar. Separately, mix the cocoa, syrup, oil and salt. Combine the two and pour onto two large baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour 15 mins, stirring halfway through to colour evenly. Allow to cool thoroughly, and keep in an airtight tin. Serve with non/dairy milk or yoghurt, and fruit!