We’re just getting our first glimpse of cooler weather and I couldn’t be more excited. After what felt like the hottest Bermuda summer on record, along with a week in a Spanish heatwave with no air conditioning, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be cold. I always say there’s no hot like Bermuda hot, and there’s no cold like Bermuda cold.

I know I am craving it now, but something about our humidity makes it the kind of cold that only a very hot shower or bath can fix!

What is it about being in warm water, that makes you feel cosy from the inside out?

So I know I’ll probably regret it once it’s here, but right now winter seems very appealing. I’m excited to get Atticus into fuzzy onesies.

He has a fleecy one with dinosaur feet that is 1000 per cent cute and I’m desperate to get it on him. He’s now nine months old and at the perfectly squishable, ridiculously sweet stage.

There is a lot of babbling. He said ‘Dada” yesterday and I swear the Irishman left his own body he was so happy.

Atticus has one little tooth and another on the way. He’s standing and crawling and generally travelling at alarming speed, usually towards something sharp, electric or with a big drop below.

He seems to have absolutely no instinct when it comes to self-preservation …. Did I give birth to an adrenalin junkie or is this just life with boys? Send help!

Last night we had dinner at 9pm, because I wanted to make something nice, but I also wanted to play with Atticus after work and do his bath and bedtime.

Usually, he sits at the kitchen counter and I throw freeze-dried yoghurt drops at him to keep him entertained while I make dinner.

It works but I am not as present as I’d like to be. I feel like I have to choose between being present and eating late, or not being present and eating at a reasonable hour.

Of course, there is a solution — which is batch cooking. And I really do need to take my own advice on this one!

Batch cooking makes so much sense because it takes just a fraction of extra effort to bump up the volume.

And once you have the volume, you have meals you can refrigerate or freeze for days! The soup recipe below is one of my favourites and was part of our recent Nutrifit High Protein Summer Challenge.

This Thai soup is packed with flavour and you can make a chicken or shrimp version. Both are delicious!

You could also make it vegan but you would have to replace the fish sauce with something.

Fish sauce is one of those weird ingredients that smells absolutely terrible but somehow makes a dish sensational.

I’m yet to find a good vegan alternative! If you know of one, please share your wisdom!

Just one word of advice, if you batch cook the shrimp version of this then make sure you reheat it thoroughly.

The same is true for chicken, of course, but I feel as if people make more errors with shrimp. As someone who had food poisoning lately (not by my own hand!).

I’m on special high alert — it was gross and I almost died. (Well not really, but it certainly felt that way for a few hours.)

A quick note from me before I go! Beat the Couch – Season 25! – starts October 3rd.

I can’t believe we have reached such a great milestone and I’m so excited to celebrate this season with another phenomenal crew of runners!

There is no better feeling that completing a fitness goal, feeling stronger and more energised than before. Check out all the details at www.waterfrontwellness.bm and sign up. You’ll be 5k fit by Christmas, I promise!

Thai Coconut Soup (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 small red onion, chopped into fine slices

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

3-4 tbsps red curry paste, adjust to taste, start with less!

2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable, if necessary)

15 oz can coconut milk, full fat

1 tbsp GF soy sauce, (tamari)

2 tsps Thai fish sauce

1 tbsp agave

½ teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper

2lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined or 4 chicken breasts, finely chopped

8 oz mushrooms, very thinly sliced

4 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 lime, cut in half, one half sliced into wedges

½ cup fresh cilantro, (optional)

½ cup roasted, salted cashews, crushed

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced

Method:

Melt oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and peppers/mushrooms, then sauté until softened, three to four minutes.

Add garlic and ginger then sauté until extremely fragrant, one to two minutes. Add red curry paste — careful, as it may spit a bit — then sauté for one more minute.

Slowly pour in chicken broth while scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pot then add coconut milk, gluten free Tamari, fish sauce, agave, dried basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Turn heat up to high to bring the soup to a bubble then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn heat up to high to bring soup to a rolling boil then add shrimp or chicken, mushrooms, and spinach. Simmer until shrimp/chicken is fully cooked through, 4-5 minutes, then squeeze in the juice of one half lime and stir.

Serve soup with lime wedges, chopped fresh cilantro and crushed cashews.

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION, BNTA is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in Britain. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda or instagram @naturalbda.