Getting healthy - and staying that way!

Remember I said I was going to get fit in 2015? So far I have done pretty well - I gave up chocolate for 22 days (which is a huge achievement in my world), rejoined the gym and got back into a healthy mindset. 

After a few pilates class I can finally almost see my abs again after their Christmas holidays!

I've recently joined Kiss Gym in Acton, literally a five minute walk from my house. This has massively helped because not only has it got a women's section (thank the lord), all the equipment and classes you could need, it is only £20 a month!

I have porridge every morning for breakfast, and love it.That probably makes me a bit weird, but my porridge is normally my favourite meal of the day. 

I also bought this giant pack of Goji berries from Amazon for £5, and have become totally obsessed with them. I put them in my porridge (along with banana and chia seeds) and then snack on them all day like raisins. They are pretty much posh raisins with a tonne of health benefits - just be careful they don't get stuck in your teeth like mind did!

This water bottle has also massively improved my water drinking - after spotting my friend with one I found it on Amazon and bought it for a cool £10. It is pretty snazzy, it has a juicer in the bottom so you can put anything in there (lemon is probably the most obvious) and have more interesting water. 

So, all in all looking healthier! Although I did fall off the wagon this week and had a gigantic chocolate and general food meltdown. But the important thing is to start back up again and clear your mind (I hope!) - you can't change the past, but you can change the future :) 

May Goals

Hello May! I am SO excited that April is finally over - it was seriously one of the most boring months of my life, spending it revising everyday, going to the gym and eating healthily! In 5 days my post-university life will begin... as well as SUMMER! Just 5 more days of hell left - who invented jurisprudence anyway?!?



My Goals for this month are to sort out some things that I have neglected during this revision-frenzy!

1. Spring Clean

My room is... not nice. There is a huge pile of washing mounting up and my clothes definitely no longer fit the slightly nicer weather we are having! I am going to do a major clean out of my room when I finish, including taking ALL of my law books and notes and putting them out of sight! :) 

2. Yoga/Blogilates every morning 

I posted about the 30-day Doyouyoga challenge (completed!) and since finishing it, I have definitely missed waking up and doing something unrelated to work before I start off the day. I found some Blogilates videos on youtube and they are so much fun to do! Casey is a really good teacher - I will try and do these everyday :) 

4. Gym and Healthy Eating

Just because summer is finally here, doesn't mean I can stop being healthy. I have hardly drunk alcohol for over two months and feel a lot better for it (although I doubt there won't be a celebration when everyone finishes!) and actually do feel a lot happier and healthier after eating healthily for that time and working out. Hopefully I will start the job that this has all been for next week, fingers crossed!

5. Sort out my foot

I am pretty sure I have achillies tendonitis and it is not fun. Typically, after upping my exercise and forcing myself to run I have managed to injure myself! I have a doctors appointment tomorrow so will hopefully sort it out before it gets any worse. 

6. Drive! 

It is so bad that I have had the chance to drive for 4 years now and haven't managed to even take my test yet, despite over 80 hours! I am going to try and do an intensive course this month in automatic (hate manual!) so hopefully I will be able to pass quickly! I hate driving lessons and driving in London generally, there are so many hidden rules and people running out infront of you!

7. Sort out my life plan 

I need to apply for training contracts, internships, everything really! Modeling this year is going to be great and I'm really excited for it but it is definitely not a long term plan. 

Have a great month! Hopefully the sun comes back and stays out! 

Foxcroft and Ginger

As I may have mentioned, I live in East London. Bar the trendiness of Shoreditch (where recently a cat cafe opened up. and it has a six week waiting list.) there isn't much going on here except Whitechapel market (definitely not a 'must see') and fried chicken shops. 

So when I saw that Foxcroft and Ginger was opening up next door, it was pretty much the highlight of my week (is that sad? yes). Unlike general 'to go to' places in London, which are largely based in Central and thus subject to serious space limitations, east London doesn't really have that problem. Once you get rid of a couple of seriously declining sports shops (fun fact: there are no womens sections in sports shops here!) and chicken shops that were definitely serving up poisoned pigeon, there is a lot of room to work with! This means one thing: no queues!! 

As you can see, there is a lot of space beautifully and naturally lit! They also have a very ambiguous upstairs section which I haven't ventured up to yet, but regardless, I am pretty sure that there will be a lack of depressing-standing-in-the-rain-crying queues here! They also don't rush you at all, providing the perfect place to go and study.

Ok. The FOOD.

I went with my friend when I saw their doors creak open for the first time, and we were a little bit too early for 'hot' food. Which left us with the devastating consolation of eating cake for breakfast! (being an adult is awesome). I can confirm to you all, that their cake is aaaaaaamazing. 

My vain attempt of being healthy consists of eating carrot cake (any cake before 9 is practically negative calories as you aren't really awake right?) 

Their coffee is also exceptionally good, which I have heard about. As a new joiner of coffee-society I haven't got enough background to tell you about the TaSteS and textures but I can tell you that it is good. (also, coffee is AMAZING in general - how have I only just properly discovered it!?) 

We managed to resist these croissants.. but they lookin goooood. Everyday when I walk past Foxcroft to go to university, I inevitably see a ginormous table filled with cakes and croissants inviting me in. 

They have now started serving proper food, hallelujah!! Their menu looks too good not to be! I was pleasantly suprised at a 'healthy' option of poached fruit with honey and yoghurt - it was amazing. A taste orgasm, so good that I think it probably tricked me and wasn't as healthy as I convinced myself it was. 

A sort of sick circle, of being on a diet is wanting to not see any unhealthy food completely, to avoid temptation... but still wanting to know how it tastes. Still wanting to know how this FRENCH FRIED BRIOCHE HAM AND CHEESE SANDWICH WITH HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE tasted in the flesh. So when I go out for food nowadays with people, I generally force them to get amazing food whilst I steal snippets of it and moan about how I miss chocolate/pasta/creme eggs/sugar. 

On this particular day I took Nicola for breakfast, and she is currently in study-hell. She gets quite stressed and this results in her losing her appetite (because she studies for 12 hours a day continuously!), therefore I generously helped her out and ate all of her breakfast when she couldn't deal with it. 

Thus I can confirm that the aforementioned sandwich is INCREDIBLE. It is probably most comparable to bacon and maple syrup - something that should be savoury but is deliciously sweet. And so gurrd. I managed to control myself and left a bit on the plate. Then I went to the gym :(( 

Thank you for coming, Foxcroft and Ginger. We are going to be good friends <3

happiness

Over the past couple of weeks something miraculous has happened. I have stuck to my fitness plan (below) and feel really, really great as a result. Even though my final exams ever are hurtling towards me at a terrifying speed, and I have no real plan of what to do when they are over except hope that my life stays fun and carefree, I wake up everyday feeling happy and grateful to have another day where those are my biggest concerns.



Here are a few things I have managed to do, most of which I never thought I would be able to!

1. Run everyday for 20 minutes. I asked my boyfriend who can exercise all day (even though he doesn't!) for tips on running, because it is something I have always hated/been really bad at and he said there isn't any. You just have to force yourself to do it. So that is what I have done everyday, just literally forced myself to make time, go to the gym and run.
When you fully commit to doing something you don't like, even though you know it will be beneficial for you in the long run (hehehe see what I did there) it becomes more of an achievement than a challenge. By forcing myself to do it everyday I manage to focus better on my work and plan out my day - I'm already out of bed!



2. Eaten Healthily 
I have had a major addiction to chocolate. I ate it at least once a day and found it literally impossible to give up, being able to eat whatever I liked when I was younger with a great metabolism set really bad habits in me  which I really doubted I would ever be able to get rid of. Being given motivation though, as in an actual goal to get into shape for somehow has made me give up the thing I loved so much and realise that I don't actually need it. I haven't eaten chocolate for two weeks and I can honestly say that (most days) I don't miss it.

Instead I have spent a looong time thinking of healthy replacements, and found some really great recipes in the process. Here are a few:

Two Ingredient Pancakes
Mix two eggs and a banana together; fry (preferably with coconut/low fat oil!). This is the easiest and healthiest recipe I have found so far and it has resulted in me and my best friend tweaking it until we found a truly amazing concoction today of adding cinammon, raspberries, coconut and maple syrup. Tastes like normal pancakes but leaves you way more energised.

Eggs
I have literally been living off eggs for two weeks. Boiled, scrambled, poached - they are literally so good for you and at 74 calories each, so easy to incorporate into each meal. Also a really good source of protein for poor students who can't afford(be bothered) to buy/cook meat every night. (Also I just really hate touching dead animals!)

Fruit
Fruit has also become a super massive part of my day, replacing the sugar highs that chocolate once gave me. Lemon water is a really great appetite suppressant, strawberries have become my new addiction, apple and cinnamon (baked, microwaved, raw), an orange on the way to uni, and obviously bananas (for my new 'pancake' addiction) have basically become my staple. I know some diets say you should avoid fruit because of their fructose - but this is good sugar. It isn't going to hurt you, its a natural alternative to processed 
3. Being kind
I thoughtlessly left my Michael Kors watch (21st birthday present) on a treadmill the other day and was absolutely convinced it had gone forever. By some act of pure kindness, someone handed it in the next day. This has made me really believe in the good of general people - Londoners get a bad reputation for scowling and rushing to work, but if you ever actually need something there will be someone there to help you. Every time I'm lost in the middle of nowhere looking for a casting, someone always helps me. Every time I drop something in the street - oyster card, sunglasses, ID - it comes back to me in one form or another.

Maybe I am just really lucky, but the great majority of what I have seen in London is kindness and it is really nice to give it back. Just complimenting strangers, telling them you like something they are wearing, because you actually do can make their whole day and makes you feel good. If I want to compliment a random person or help someone out, I just make myself do it before thinking about their reaction or how weird they will think I am, because 99% of the time they are really happy and grateful too. Make the world a nicer place!



I also really love reading the daily 'good deed feed' in the Metro! :)

4. Seeing/talking to people I love 
This is the most important. I have spent time with most of my best friends this week, and am seeing the rest later on in the week. I was moaning about people not contacting me, when my friend asked 'have you contacted them?' - she's right. Spending time with my boyfriend and seeing my cousin audition for a massive drama school (and getting through to the finals!), seeing my family and going for lunch with my dad all make a massive difference to my general mood. I am really lucky to have some truly amazing people in my life, you probably are too!


 Coming up is massive change in mine and pretty much everyone I know's life - I'm not too worried because I know it will all work out just fine :)



what has made you happy lately?


- all corny pictures shameslessly lifted from pinterest, the internet's prettiest, most entertaining form of procrastination - 

Amsterdam

The final year of university seems like it is going too fast yet too slow at the same time. We celebrated the ending of the winter term with a trip to Amsterdam! It's so scary to think that this could be the last Christmas holiday we get! 

we were blessed with the most beautiful sunrise ever on the plane..

and immediately found ourselves devouring gigantic pancakes 

Amsterdam is literally the most beautiful, peaceful city to just stroll in, so we didn't get a single tram the whole time we were there. We walked for hours every day, just taking in the surroundings and discovering new places along the way. 

We did start a free walking tour which was very interesting... but got distracted by the sparkly offerings at the flea market (Waterlooplein) 

 

Definitely worth checking out, everything is so cheap and unusual! Something I did learn on our short tour was that Amsterdam have their own banksy of sorts, a guy who is creating giant statutes and dropping them in the river... only the government know who he is and have been sworn to secrecy . 

This was in their City Hall, it had just been found in the canal! 

The coffeeshops are very fun in Amsterdam - they are basically just regular coffee shops with the addition of space cakes and joints! It must be why everyone is so chilled out and happy in Amsterdam :) 

December is a great time to go because all of the Christmas markets are on, especially if you go over a weekend as the usual weekend ones are on too! 

This Christmas market we found was much more of a FOOD market but we certainly did ourselves proud and ate something from every stall. Above are basically deep fried brioche balls, 1 euro each but the lady liked me and gave me 5 for a euro. Not really realising how bad they were, I devoured all six. Then the next day, after a feeeew more I sort of realised they are deep fried doughnuts. SO GOOD. 

The food in Amsterdam is generally amazing. We went for this really amazing dinner in Spui one night, at a dutch restaurant which was advised to us by our hotel (ask for non touristy areas!) and we all overestimated the size of our stomachs. 

Have a wonderful Christmas! xxx