Lifestyle

October 2024 Wrap Up 

Welcome to my October 2024 wrap up! 

October was one of those months where I always seemed to be busy but at the same time didn't feel like I'd done much at the end of the month. 

Even Halloween felt like a non-event this year as my kids are older now and so were out with friends. My eldest went to the cinema to watch Terrifier 3 (definitely not my cup of tea) and my youngest went trick or treating with some friends. In fact, my Halloween evening was mostly spent collecting my youngest, having him go out again, and collecting him again. He had fun though which is what counts.

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Here's a break down of what I got up to this month: 

Wrapping Up October: What Happened This Month

Hair

Health

Another not great month health wise. My fibroids and uterine polyps have been causing problems. It was another month of tests and scans, which lead to finding out I'm starting my adventure with menopause too which has apparently come on suddenly. As I only just turned 44 in September and didn't have any signs of it happening when I had tests and scans done at the end of summer this was quite a surprise. I've been told it's not normal for it to come on so suddenly but that it can happen. Then again I never seem to do normal, especially when it comes to my health. 

Anyway, this made me realise just how little menopause, especially early menopause, is talked about. Something I think needs to change. How can we prepare ourselves for it if we have no idea about what it involves? FYI it apparently involves a LOT of stuff and can go on for years before it settles down. Fun, right? 

In other news, I broke a tooth this month whilst eating risotto of all things, and ended up swallowing the bit of tooth (not my finest moment). I finally managed to get a dentist appointment and get it fixed only for it to break again the next day. At least the second time round I didn't have to pay and it appears to be OK now. 

Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health 

Blogging

Traffic for October:  262,198 page-views

Number of blog posts published in October: 20

Current DA score: 27

Top three traffic sources in order:

1) Organic search

2) Direct

3) Organic social 

Top three sources for social in order:

1) Twitter (X)

2) Pinterest

3) Facebook

I've been continuing to update older posts on site to improve SEO and it's been having a huge impact on traffic. If you're looking to grow traffic to your blog I highly recommend updating some of your older content. Even small things like checking for missing meta descriptions or adding in headings/sub-heading can make a big difference. 

I also created pages for Book Reviews (work in progress) and The Clock Reading Challenge this month to make navigation on site better. 

I've got a post coming up on 5th November where I'll be showing you exactly what I did to increase my blog traffic. 

Reading challenges

The Clock Reading Challenge

The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge

Currently reading:

Shadow in the Ward by Ari Gray - currently on page 81/345 - Amazon - Goodreads

Nine Eleven by Bob Mayer - currently at 10% - Amazon - Goodreads

Cast Away by Annabel Chase - currently at 66% - Amazon - Goodreads

Travel

Nothing to share here as didn't really go anywhere this month.

Fitness

Nothing much to report here either. The first part of the month was very uncomfortable for me and so I didn't do any sort of exercise. Towards the end of the month I did make an effort to get more movement into my days. Walking more, stretching, doing some squats and a few arm exercises with weights. 

I definitely want to include more walking into my daily routine. Luckily the weather has reverted to summer again at the moment so I plan to get out and about more during November. 

I'm also planning on doing some fitness challenges to help keep me motivated to exercise more. 

If you're just starting out on your fitness journey like me, check out these 30 Day Fitness Challenges for Beginners. 

How did you do with your October Challenges? What challenges are you doing this year? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

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