I’ve previously mentioned that I visited the Good Food Show in London. It was around the time that I was doing a lot of late night shifts in preparation for the peak season at work and I wanted something to keep me going while I was there.

This is where I found Stur, it is a liquid water enhancer and they are so great. There are 6 different flavours; cranberry and pomegranate, tea and lemon, green apple, blackcurrant and apple, tea and peach and orange and mango. My favourite has to be the tea and peach one so far!

Per serving you get 100% of your daily vitamin C, no sugar, calories or fat, all natural flavours and they are lightly sweetened with natural stevia extract. Then in each bottle you get 30 servings, however I have to disagree with this as I think I must have got half of the amount out of each bottle I’ve tried so far.

There are two good bits of information in the box the drinks came in.

“Good to know…vitamin C contributes to the normal functioning of the immune system and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue”

“Enjoy a…varied balanced diet, drink plenty of water and maintain an active lifestyle for good health.”

What makes it a great company is that it is family-run and it was originally for the founders’ pregnant wife to drink more water. They are passionate about better health and happiness.

Check out their website here for more information and prices.

The Sad Reality

I’m not sure if many of you know but over the summer I’ve been working in a local convenience shop (which I cant name or I’ll be in trouble!). So while I’ve been working there, I’ve really noticed the eating habits of some of our customers.

Now I will just add in here that I know it is quite hypocritical what I am saying and that I shouldn’t be so judgemental when I know that I have also been out and spent £5 or even more at a time on junk food. However, saying that the whole point of my blog is that I am on a journey to a better life, and by the time I have children I will have figured out a good balanced diet for them! I certainly don’t want them having sweets every night…

I mostly work evenings, which obviously doesn’t always paint a very good picture as the customers are normally there for the chocolate or alcohol.

But this is honestly not the most shocking part. The amount of sweets that parents buy for their children is incredible, incredibly awful that is. We often have our regular customers come in on a daily basis and since I work 4 or 5 days a week I do pick up on what they buy quite a lot.

Cringey I know but with obesity in the news headlines more and more frequently, it’s interesting to observe families to see what they’re like! And who doesn’t love a good bit of people watching.

Anyway there’s one particular family that comes to mind as I’m writing this. As far as I’m aware I have only met the two sisters and their mum.

The sisters argue like crazy, even in the shop, I even get embarrassed serving them – it’s that bad!

Every day that I work, they come in a buy so much junk food, it makes me feel sick even thinking about it. Obviously the shop has a small chilled section and we have steak slices or chicken and bacon or chicken tikka, you name it! The girls also buy these because they are normally on offer…they have got to be the most awful looking things ever!  Plus the thought of all the calories, fat, carbs and processed meat that goes in them makes me feel quite nauseous!

I’m going a little bit off topic here. So out of the two sisters, one must be about 14 who is a pretty average size (surprisingly because of what she eats) and the other is about 15 but she is without a doubt overweight, obviously at no surprise to any of us. I think its really sad that this has happened to her but whenever they come in with their mum, it’s not like she does anything about it and still lets them buy it.

No their mum is a different case, the complete opposite to myself, where she doesn’t eat enough…and it’s pretty obvious.

I think its pretty bad that we live in a society where eating disorders are so common nowadays. Yes, the NHS say that they are addressing it but they clearly aren’t or obesity cases wouldn’t be rising so rapidly and unfortunately it’s something I see everyday. I’m only one person out of thousands who are obese but I am slowly getting there and one day I hope to be able to influence and help people on their own journey to a better life.

Also, if you actually read this, please let me know! I have no idea who really reads it so it would be nice to actually thank whoever you are. (sorry family, you don’t count because I give you no choice but to read it!)

Get down the gym!

As I have said before the best way to maintain weight loss is by a combination of effective exercise and a healthy diet. 

Obviously exercise will increase the number of calories you burn but also strength exercises (weights etc) are crucial to increasing or maintaining your muscle mass to ensure that you can still carry out basic everyday tasks. I only say this because if you are only dieting (and not exercising) then you are reducing/not able to maintain your muscle mass. It is also important to have muscle mass so that you still burn calories while you are resting. If you were to diet alone you would need to reduce your calorie intake even more to retain muscle mass. However, you do not want to eat so little that it has negative health consequences, we want to make ourselves healthy people, not ill!!

That's really all it takes!

This is why you want the combination of exercise and a healthy diet, it's the best way to go. Personally I am going to aim for 1500 calories a day and going to the gym 4 times a week. 

Not only does exercise make you feel good, improve your social life (I need a gym buddy or two!) and improve mental health but it also prevents the development of diseases. It has been shown that there is a link between inactivity and the risk of metabolic conditions, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases, cancers, neurological problems, reduced quality of life and shorter life expectancy. If that's not enough to make you exercise then I don't know what is!

Again dieting alone rarely will have a positive impact on your life. It won't really positively impact your mood (you will be left hungry!), anxiety will increase and it won't have a positive impact on your social life (you will always be worrying about what you could possibly eat). I must say, I really feel like this is true, certainly for me anyway. I do have a slight panic when I have to go our to eat as I am quite a fussy eater so finding something to eat is almost like a chore! This will then increase my anxiety which is never a good feeling and I'll be in a bad mood! So that is why I want to get back to the gym so I can enjoy myself when I want to go out for dinner with friends. 

I got the information from this website, well worth a read (though I feel as if what I have written makes it easier to understand), it's a good one.