Hello everyone! I cannot believe that it's the end of January already. I really don't know where the time has gone, it's crazy.

I've kept up my 2lb weight loss and maintained that which is good for me. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things now that I have more than 1 day off a week.

I've seen a change in my diet, for the better of course, it helps taking one day at a time as opposed to a week or a month.

I am getting there but unfortunately I have to battle with the thoughts that are telling me it's ok to eat unhealthy food when I know full well that it isn't. Everyone assumes this is easy but being an emotional eater, it's harder than anything I've had to do.

This will actually be my last new year update because I didn't want to carry it on past January. So I'm going to start a new series, one that I can carry on for a lot longer than a few weeks or for the length of the alphabet!

I'm going to do my first post on it next week but I haven't decided how often it will be yet! You'll have to wait and see!

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New Year Update #3

It's been a seriously long week, do you not think or is it just me?

It's been a much better week, I'm feeling tonnes better, (or I was till today), and I even bought a dress a size smaller than I thought I would and the other one I bought is a bit on the big side! Do you know how amazing that feels?

I've worked 6 days this week and looking back on it I can't even think of what to share! Typical!

It was my Mum and Sister's birthday yesterday, (yes my sister was born on my mums birthday), so I made them a cake (naturally) and I'm pretty proud of this!

I also made brownies to take into work, they were gone in a matter of minutes.

I finally have a bit more time off this week to get caught up on everything so I will hopefully have more to share with you!

New Year Update #2

Last week I told you I was doing something exciting during the week. I wouldn't exactly call it exciting anymore, more like a really tough 4 days that I probably wouldn't do again. 

I did a cleanse for 4 days and while I was really hoping to lose more - I lose 2 lbs in total. There were definitely mood swings and really, really low points. If you have the determination to do it then you should definitely go for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that I lost some weight but I'm not sure it was worth doing it all that. I've dug out my gym kit and I'm just going to get down the gym more often. I mean if I take my gym stuff to work then I have no choice but to go after!!

I've also cleared out all my good so there is only healthy ingredients left. It's a good start right?

I also did a Tesco order of tonnes of veg! I'm feeling way more positive now.

It also helps when you get friends telling you that you look better!

Baby steps!

Is anyone else struggling? or do you have any good motivation for me?

New Year Update #1

I’d be seriously lying to you if I told you that I started off the year with tonnes of exercise and healthy food. This has not been the case. I am lacking some serious motivation, I even weighed myself and I’ve written down everything that I’ve done and eaten but something isn’t clicking.

Is anyone else having this problem? Or is it just me?

If anyone has some great motivation blog posts or even some tips, please please PLEASE send them my way.

There’s something mentally stopping me from getting up and sorting it out. Don’t get me wrong, every other aspect of my life is sorted, thought about, planned out, you name it, i’ve done it. It’s just losing weight that has me stumped.

I’m desperate to shift this weight, so why can’t I get down the gym? I’m sat here writing when I can be at the gym. 

On another note, I do have something exciting happening from Wednesday to Saturday which you will find out all about next week. Don’t worry it’s 100% health related, I’m not giving up on myself! So all that motivation you’re going to send my way will be much appreciated as it’s going to be a tough 4 days. Apologies to anyone who has to be around me!

Day Zero Challenge

Happy New Year you beauts!

I got my inspiration from this blog post here. This Day Zero Challenge is to do 101 things in 1001 days, roughly 2.75 years. That's plenty of time right? I'm going to be doing a mixture of personal goals and fun things that I want to achieve. I'm going to be doing this instead of doing my New Years Resolutions, even though a lot of these are things I want to do this year, it's just a bit nicer to have projects that I can keep going for longer. 

Start: 01/01/2015

Finish: 28/09/2017

Key:

Incomplete

In progress

Completed

Personal:
1. Write 5 Letters to 5 people who changed my life
2. Write a personal mission statement
3. Cook a roast dinner for my family
4. Keep up a savings jar
5. Make a uni scrapbook
6. Write bad memories on a piece of paper then burn it
7. Completely rewrite my CV
8. Go to the spa
9. Do something different for a holiday
10. Go to a concert
11. Go to the Theatre
12. Find 50 things that make me happy 
13. Keep a "my day in six words" diary for a month
14. Create an inspiration board
15. Create a photo collage
16. Create an inspiration book
17. Create a memory jar
18. Sort out my pinterest
19. Sort out my emails
20. Keep my car cleaner (it's white so it gets dirty so quickly)


Purchases:
21. Get a new Phone
22. Throw away all my underwear and start again
23. Throw away all my makeup brushes and buy new ones
24. Buy a Camera
25. Buy a pair of heels (I threw all mine out)
26. Buy completely new bed sheets

Health and Fitness:
27. Do the couch to 5k running plan
28. Do a 30x30 challenge (30 minutes of physical activity for 30 days)
29. Detox January - no alcohol, no bread, no dairy
30. No alcohol for 1 month 
31. Track my progress - take a picture of myself on the 1st of each month
32. Lose 3 Stone
33. Get myself a good workout regime
34. Write a meal plan and actually stick to it for 1 month
35. Find a skincare regime that works for me
36. Get to a healthy BMI

Sell, save and earn:
37. Create a strict budget and stick to it for 4 weeks
38. Make a product to sell on Etsy
39. Only make birthday presents for my family for a year
40. No paying for meals out for a month
41. Save £100 in 1 month (this is hard for me)
42. Do my weekly shop in £20
43. Create a budget and stick to it
44. Get out of debt

Style and beauty:
45. Buy myself an expensive dress when I lose 3 stone (over £50)
46. Get a manicure
47. Get a facial
48. Get a massage
49. Declutter my wardrobe/chest of drawers
50. Get a hair cut (I NEVER ever get my hair cut)
51. Get a spray tan

Travelling and Exploring:
52. Visit my sister at her Uni in Nottingham
53. Visit Paris
54. Stay in a B + B
55. Visit Ireland
56. Go for Brunch
57. Go to a festival
58. Write a travelling bucket list

Career:
59. Get promoted to key holder
60. Get promoted to supervisor

Blogging:
61. Join postcrossing and send 5 postcards around the world
62. Do another blog challenge
63. Reach 30,000 hits on my blog
64. Go to at least 2 blogger events a year
65. Write a weekly post about weight loss in January (January 2015)
66. Improve on my photos
67. Learn HTML
68. Advertise on another blog
69. Design my own advert
70. Get my own Business Cards

Fun:
71. Apply to the GBBO
72. Visit a Zoo
73. Visit an Aquarium
74. Attend the Spring Good Food Show
75. Attend Eat Well Good Food Show
76. Go to the cinema 10 times
77. Read a book my mum or dad recommends to me - Gone Girl
78. Make a playlist of my favourite songs
79. Write a letter to myself to be opened when the 1001 days is over
80. Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet
81. Open a cookbook to a random page and make that recipe
82. Take a photo of the same place for every month for a year
83. Turn the previous challenge into a calendar
84. Make at least 10 things I've pinned on pinterest
85. Write a cookbook
86. Walk around Salisbury Cathedral
87. Learn to knit
88. Bake a Giant Cookie
89. Buy someone my favourite book
90. Bake a Christmas Cake
91. Restore a piece of furniture
92. Have a picnic in the park
93. Go on the London Eye at night
94. Make a Baked Alaska
95. Host a dinner party

Charity:
96. Raise money for Mind Charity
97. Do Race For Life
98. Send a care package to my sisters
99. Donate some clothes to charity
100. Start a yearly donation

101. Write a new list for the next 1001 days

What do you think of all this?

And again, here's to the new year, there's no looking back now...

Christmas

Can you believe it’s Christmas in FIVE days?

Here’s how the day normally pans out for my family. It starts early, very early, about 8am these days. There used to be years where we would be opening presents at 6am. We were a lot younger then and we value our sleep a lot more now!

The really embarrassing part is that i’m the one who still wakes everyone up, yes I’m a little child inside and there’s no shame!

I still have a stocking but I have a feeling that this will be the last year! Followed by a chocolate croissant breakfast with bucks fizz of course. Then we get ready for our family dog walk, this is the only time of the year that this happens!

This year we are having “elevenses” so we can have a later Christmas dinner. This is all part of my Dads plan to delay our last present a bit longer, I'm sure. 

Obviously after being stuffed from all the food we ate from Christmas dinner, we all collapse on the sofas to watch some classic christmas TV, I mean it would be rude not to right?

Then we normally get our last present that I mentioned earlier. This is called out “tree present”, it’s something unexpected that we haven’t asked for so it’s a huge surprise! it’s pretty exciting! By this time, everyones exhausted from all the excitement. 

Tea is obviously leftover sandwiches followed by more TV.

The best part? All being together of course! Unfortunately this year, I’m working on Boxing Day but that’s fine by me. All the exciting bits are over by then.

How does your Christmas go?

Northern Tea Gift Ideas

I’ve teamed up with the guys over at Northern Teas to bring you some great gift ideas, or you might even want to treat yourself. Obviously we all want to feel fresh as we start the New Year and green tea is without a doubt the way to go. You can use green tea instead of detox teas and get plenty of the same benefits.

These green teas are calorie free and are tasty and excellent quality. They are so much better than the ones you get in the supermarket. The ones that I got sent are Ti Quan Yin, Japanese Sencha Fukujyu and Japanese Gyokuro,

Ti Quan Yin

This is a fine quality Chinese Oolong green tea that originates from southern china, and the leaves are rolled tightly into little balls. It takes 3 to 5 minutes for the tea to brew, which is pretty average for green tea. It is a pleasant, aromatic and refined tea. It is one that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Sencha Fukujyu

This is also known as Green Spider Leg, because of the look of the tealeaves. It has a sweet, grassy taste but it is a smooth texture. It originates in China but is processed Japanese style. It has a short brew time of 2 to 3 minutes. The leaves are neat, flat green and stalks, flecked with hints of yellow. Indulge in a cup of this at the end of the day, I know I will be.

Japanese Gyokuro

This is a variety of Ryokucha, it is picked during the first round of harvest and shaded from the sun for some time before the harvest. This gives a delightful flavour with a very delicate, pale liquor. This again takes 2 to 3 minutes to brew, and it also has neat, flat green leaves and stalks, flecked with hints of yellow. It has sweet, mild and a very smooth flavour with a pale yellow liquor. This should also be indulged at the end of the day, looks like I’ll be alternating between this and Sencha Fukujyu.

Prices vary from £4.50 to £7.50 for 50g of these teas. This is due to the origin of the teas and the quality, so it’s worth the money! These are a fantastic Christmas present, don’t forget to get your tea strainers as all the teas are loose and I’d also recommend getting a teapot to make it that little bit more special!

PS. Don't forget all views are my own, and we all know how much I love green tea so you know it's the truth!

Day Zero Challenge

This is actually something I only want to touch on briefly as I am going to do my full post on it at the end of December, plus I need to think of 101 things!

I got my inspiration from this blog post here. This Day Zero Challenge is to do 101 things in 1001 days, roughly 2 and a half years. That’s plenty of time right? I’m going to be doing a mixture of personal goals and fun things that I want to achieve. There are so many categories I could list my challenges under, I need the next month or so to finalise what challenges I want to do!

You can also find the official website for it here.

Have you got any suggestions? Have you set yourself any challenges to do?