Nutribullet

I have a new obsession to tell you about. This week, I received a Nutribullet after having heard about how amazing they are from everyone I know. I wasn't convinced - they seemed like overpriced food processors. How wrong I was. 

The Nutribullet blasts (literally) every other food gadget out of the kitchen! I normally leave the gadgetery to Dima, as he loves it, but I've found myself using this often more than once a day. It comes with two blades, both super high powered. 

One makes smoothies, juices etc and the other blade is a milling one - it can grind up anything! This is great for making nut butters/flours etc and especially cauliflower rice, which I am a massive fan of. It's faster and stronger than your regular blender, my boyfriend loves me a lot for bringing it in to our lives! 

Grinded carrot - takes under 30 seconds!

Easy to use, you just pop in whatever takes your fancy, along with some liquid (water, coconut water and almond milk are my favourites) and press down to watch the magic! I also love that you can just pop off the cup and attach the handle, (there are 3 different cups) with minimal washing up! 

Great for on the go breakfasts - I took this one to my other new obsession - Skinny Bitch Collective classes. They start at 6.45am so it's good to just grab something and go! 

For breakfast I normally blend up some almond milk, porridge oats (30g), banana, blueberries, coconut, goji berries, strawberries and cinammon. Amazing. 

And for post-exercise recovery I've been blitzing up spinach, cucumber, an apple and some ginger for a super low calorie, healthy boost. 

Insanely amazing - I feel so much better already after taking these! 

xx

Top 10 Workout Tips

Food is a major love of mine, along with being generally lazy and avoiding exercise. However my job as a model sort of dictates that I have to be a certain size, so I try my very best to drag myself to the gym a few times a week, hard as that may be! Here are my top ten tips for working out when you really would rather be in bed/eating pizza etc.

1. Buy cool workout accessories

It's the beginning of the year, and the shops are bursting with their ranges of 'cool' work out clothes (because everyone loves working out in their overpriced bra!) and other fancy workout gear. Yoga mats, water bottles, ipod holders - if you can think of it, they've got it.

This month I bought a water bottle juicer from Amazon and it is amazing. You can juice half a lemon, lime, whatever takes your fancy in the bottom half and have all the benefits of sipping on lemon water all day. Great if you aren't good at drinking normal water, and super cheap at £10.

Also getting a cool pair of new trainers or gym clothes really helps you want to go to the gym and show off in it! Missguided's new range is really cool.

2.Wear your gym clothes to bed

Might sound a bit 'gross' if you re-wear your gym clothes a few times before washing (errrrm no.. I don't do that) but it is literally my tip-top-tip. I used to wear my school uniform to sleep in Cyprus because we had to wake up at 6am! (But we finished school at 1.40pm and went to the beach, so can't really complain).

If you just throw on a pair of leggings and tshirt before bed, when you wake up you can literally roll out of bed, grab your pre-packed bag and sleep-walk your way to the gym. Do a sleep-workout, and by the time you are properly awake you have finished!

3. Work out in the morning 

Similar to #2, the earlier you work out the better. It is out of the way, and leaves you energized and endorphin-ed up for the day ahead, with your metabolism burning away all day. If you work out before breakfast (with still a small snack to stop you from fainting, like a banana) then you naturally will burn fat instead of energy. I've recently discovered you only start burning fat 30 minutes after you start running (quite a problem when I only used to do 20 minutes a day!) because first of all you burn the food you have recently eaten. This also means you get to look forward to an amazing breakfast afterwards.

The later you leave your work out, the more excuses you will find to put it off until tomorrow - this happens to me so much it is ridiculous!

4. Coffee

A good, but probably not 'totally' healthy tip is to drink coffee before your work out. Or eat a banana, anything that gives you a good energy hit and gets you working out twice as hard! I've recently started making use of the amazing coffee maker I bought Dima for Christmas (or making him make use of it for me, as it remains a bit confusing) and every time I drink it before a run I burn double the calories as I would normally.

Just don't make a major habit of it, it can be pretty addictive!

6. Set your alarm ten minutes earlier than you have to

I don't know about you, but once I have opened one eye and checked my phone, I can't get back to sleep. Rather than just lie in bed all morning on instagram, this makes me more motivated to actually get up and start my day! 

Pretty much my alarm!

Just maybe set a couple, incase you fall back to sleep! 

6. Get out the door

A major struggle of mine is actually getting out of the door into the freezing cold air. I usually just get changed into my gym clothes then sit around procrastinating, until I ask Dima to literally kick me out of the house! Once you are out, you're out and once you are at the gym you may as well work out before you come back. Much like diving into a swimming pool, it's not so bad once you get in. 

8. Set some goals

Achievable ones! I try and run a little bit more every so often. I used to run 20 minutes a day about a year ago and now I try to always make it 40. Generally I do it in two 20 minute bursts on the treadmill so it doesn't seem so daunting, but even a minute more each week can make a huge difference. Try on your skinny jeans every week to see progress, and your skinniest-of-the-skinniest jeans every month.

My ultimate goal - might happen one day if I revisit Cheerleading!

8. Watch TV at the same time

I get really bored exercising. It's not that I can't run, it's that moment when you check the clock and it feels like at least 20 minutes have gone by when really it has been 20 seconds of blistering hell. So I watch TV. Luckily my gym has wifi (most of the time, when it works!) so I usually watch a series on Netflix on my ipad as this means I get to catch up on my favourite shows and forget everything else. American Horror Story is a pretty terrifying one to watch (makes you run a lot faster) - at the moment I am alternating between The Good Wife and The Originals. 

My gym - Kiss Gyms in Acton

9. Join a good gym

And make sure you go! Having failed at my trying to work out at home plan, I realised that the only reason I work as hard as I do is because of the atmosphere of the gym, knowing that you have bothered to come there so you have to do something before you can plod on home. A gym that is close by is perfect as you literally have no excuses. Check out what classes are being offered at certain gyms, if they have a swimming pool, sauna, women's only section... just tailor it to what you are most likely to do. I go to Kiss Gyms at the moment and only pay £20 a month which is pretty darn cheap for London. I just need somewhere with a treadmill, couple of yoga classes a week and preferably a women's section! 

10. Do classes

Classes are a great way to ensure you are working out to your full potential and doing it correctly. They can also be (whisper) fun! My favourites are yoga and pilates, and if I have something I really need to be toned for occasionally I will put myself through the hell of a legs, bums and tums class. There are literally so many out there, you are spoiled for choice! 

Ideal class!

Breakfast Jars of Heaven

If you follow me on Instagram, you will know I seriously love breakfast. It is my morning motivation to jump out of bed, and my current obsession is making beautiful, healthy breakfasts in mason jars. (Don't mason jars make everything look so much cooler/taste better?!)

The best thing about these are that they are even easier than my usual microwaved-porridge-and-fruit, perfect if you have early mornings and even better if you need to eat breakfast on the run. I ate mine on the bus and everyone glared at me jealously hehehe. They also taste literally out of this world amazing!

First of all, find yourself a jar (this is non compulsory, but will make your breakfast very Insta-worthy). There are so many kinds out there, for super duper cheap. Mine looks a little like this.

Then, the night before your desired breakfast-eating time, fill your jar with your base. I usually put in 30-40 grams of porridge oats (roughly 150 calories), goji berries (my other current main obsession) and chia seeds. You can add anything you want, but oats are usually a good place to start followed by nuts/berries/raisins/fruit/other healthy things like flaxseed etc. Then add a reasonable amount of milk or water - I use almond milk as it is really healthy and tastes amazing - give it a stir round and pop it in the fridge. Overnight, your ingredients will double in size and become incredibly tasty.

In the morning, you will find your breakfast ready and waiting for you! Now comes the fun bit of toppings - you can use whatever you want, but usually I just pile on as much fruit as will fit in the jar. Generally a mix of chopped banana, strawberries and blueberries.

Maybe take a photo if you are feeling particularly proud (I become very overexcited at this breakfast every morning and take pictures, because I am quite a geek), mix it up and tuck in!

Let me know what you think!

xx

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 :) 

Throw it all together Thai soup

It's Winter, so healthy eating just got about 100x harder. Who wants to come in from the freezing cold and sit down to a limp salad?! My friend Nicola inspired me a few weeks ago by making this incredible vegetable soup, and taught me how to do it. I had always steered clear of things like this because I would imagine it's quite difficult, but it literally could not be easier. Even better, cook up a gigantic broth and you have healthy, cosy and delicious meals for the rest of the week sorted!

Because this is a 'Thai' soup, I'll tell you in a nutshell how to make a thick, vegetable one (like I did a couple of weeks ago!) Basically collect your chosen vegetables together (broccoli, leek and potatoes work well), boil them for an hour, then whizz them up with a food processor! Hey presto - soup that fills you up but is unbelievably healthy.

Today, though, I went a little more adventurous and tried to make a sweet and sour soup. It was one of those throw-everything-together days, and it came out amazingly! (After my boyfriend Dima intervened, I may have put a little too much chilli in the start).

Recipe for Throw it together thai soup 

• 2 Peppers
• Mushrooms - every type you can find! I used big 'ordinary' ones as a base, then added a pack of mixed dried mushrooms which was amazing (shitake, oyster etc)
• Sweetcorn - I used the baby sweetcorn you find in packs.
• 2 Pork steaks, finely chopped
• 1 Chilli
• Lemongrass stick
• Ginger
• 1 Onion
• 2 Cloves of Garlic 
• Zest of Lime
• Coconut Milk 
• Fish Sauce - splash 
• Rice/Wine Vinegar - 1/4 cup
• 1/2 a teaspoon of white pepper
• Cornflour
• Coriander
• Stock cubes (1 per 250ml water)

1. Chop everything up, and set a BIG soup pan of water and stock to boil, depending on how much you want to make. I made about a litre of soup, but it will last me all week! 

2. In a pan, fry together the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. 

3.When done, throw it in the hot stock. Add your finely-as-possible chopped pork.

4. Then add all of the other vegetables - pepper, mushrooms, sweetcorn whatever else you decide to add. Throw in the rice wine vinegar, lemongrass and pepper too.

5. Leave to all boil together for 20-30 mins, then add 1/3 of the coconut milk and a splash of fish sauce. Mix a bit of cornflour and cold water together to make a paste, and add that too to thicken up the soup.

6. Finish it off with coriander and grated lime zest. Tuck in and enjoy! 

Hope you like it, let me know how yours turn out! Remember this is a 'made up' (yet exceptionally good) recipe so just follow your own instincts when measuring/adding things. 

Juicebaby UK

This year Juicebaby have been providing The Model Zone with all sorts of amazing food - I'm so grateful that they have because their food is literally incredible. They're about to open up in Chelsea, make sure you pay them a visit!

All of their food is vegan and plant based, but you'd never know it. Every single thing I ate I fell in love with. I (with no shame) tried all of their salads and loved them all, I've never actually 'liked' salad so this is a huge achievement!

This one, the Rainbow Bhudda Bowl was insane. Filled with 'Quinoa, arame, beetroot, kale, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger, miso paste, tamari, lemon, salt', it kept me going all throughout my show in the afternoon.

The Pad Thai Kelp Noodles was ridiculously tasty and filling due to being packed with 'Kelp noodles, squash, carrot, bell pepper, red cabbage, sugar snap peas, green onion, avocado, cilantro, almond butter, thai chilli, tamari, lime, ginger, seasame oil, agave, cayenne pepper, sesame seeds, maple syrup cayenne'. 

I also tried an 'undone taco' salad, which was probably my favourite. Tasted like taco-heaven and filled you up, without the unhealthiness! Me gusta :)

And the thing that totally hooked me... chia pudding. I'm a sucker for chia anyway but this took all of the best combinations to make chia heaven.

Juicebaby's chia pudding is literally the best I have ever had. I would literally pay however much these are priced at, they are that good. A thick banana bottom layer holds up a tonne of chia seeds with a topping of home made jam & coconut butter, raspberries, flaked almonds and coconut chips. Also thrown in for good measure is vanilla, filtered water, dates, maple syrup and cinnamon. All the models who were curiously poking at the frogs-spawn like pudding fell in love with it too. Good as chia is super healthy, packed with protein and gives you bounds of energy which was useful for show-hopping!

These Sticky Toffee Balls taste something like chocolate truffles, and are actually made of 'Dates, desicated coconut, coconut oil, carob and vanilla'. I tried to make something similar once and failed drastically, these are much better and very addictive.

Ah, the juices of Juicebaby. I loved them all (I may have spent a bit too much time in the model zone), but the Vanilla Almond Milk was definitely my favourite (mega almond milk addict over here). 'Immunity' was a massive kick-starter with a ginger hit, Sweet Greens was the first green juice I have actually liked and Beet Baby was probably my least favourite as I'm not mad about beetroot, but still pretty good.

I was told that these smaller bottles of juice would be around £4.95, which is really good compared with others in the area (cough GLE).

Juicebaby do everything that is 'healthy' according to pinterest/instagram (chia, almond milk, avocado etc) but how it is supposed to be. They properly soak the almonds so the milk is nutty and delicious, they make the chia pudding from scratch, mix the avocado with the right complements. They do it for you, so you don't end up like me, miserably failing at pinterest's 'healthy yet delicious' recipes, covered in coconut flour, agave syrup, dates and so on.

Definitely worth checking out Juicebaby when they open (next week I think) in Chelsea, they are sure to be a massive hit. I will definitely be there continuing to eat up all of their supplies! Thank you so much for supporting us hungry models throughout London Fashion Week with your tasty amazingness :)

http://www.juicebaby.co.uk/

p.s - Although they were providing the Model Zone for free, everything I've said is the honest truth and I would definitely pay for everythiiiing I had! 

June

Can you believe it is finally June?! I am sooo happy it is finally here, fingers crossed the sun comes out a bit more in London! Not that it really matters, because I am off to Cyprus in a week and the sun is definitely out there :)

Goals

1. No Chocolate

I have fallen off the diet wagon for the last week and a new month which also happens to be bikini month is a great time to get back on (and stay on!). It is important when you have (massive uncontrollable chocolate fuelled) relapses that you just draw a line under it as quickly as possibe, and make better choices next time. I am going to try and give up chocolate again completely - I managed to once, it is just so addictive! I used to smoke for 5 years and giving that up was far easier than giving up chocolate (best decision I have ever made). After three days, it is fine - it's just those three days are really difficult! Wish me luck!

2. Learn to Drive

After the excitement of finishing university I have just been hanging out with friends, working and partying too much. I need to learn how to drive ASAP before my time gets super filled up! It's hard because I really hate learning how to drive, thinking to do automatic this time.. any thoughts?

3. Travel!

As mentioned, next week I am going to Cyprus with my best friend Katherine and I am so excited for it. I used to live there but haven't been back in two years so I will definitely appreciate it this time - can't wait to just lie on the beach and not have any worries bigger than what we are going to do that evening. And the food. Cypriot food is insanely amazing.

4. Grades

I get my results on June 25, and this will pretty much determine the rest of my life (to an extent). I sort of hate and love the anticipation of opening results - my A level ones were a pretty horrendous experience but it all sorted itself out in the end (make sure you get a remark if your results aren't what you expected - mine went up 14 marks as they missed 2 pages of my exam!)

 Fingers crossed that this goes well though, I have put in so much work over the last three years so really, really hope this shows! Then I will officially be a law graduate!

5. Relax!

It's officially summer - time to have fun! :)

Summer Days

Hasn't the sun been AMAZING? (for the past two days - it is probably gone for another couple of months now!) Luckily it was on the weekend, so me and Nicola headed down to Victoria Park for yet another picnic and frolic in the sunshine :)

 

Victoria Park is such a nice place to run - we used to run down this path when we lived in University, literally opposite! You can get there from Mile End tube station.

Nicola brought along a ridiculously amazing apple pie she whipped up - I ended up eating a LOT of it (theres two more layers under there!)

And attempted to work it off with some bridges!

We then headed to the Olympic Park - the swimming pool there has just opened up and it is incredible. For us, having lived in Cyprus, when it is warm we can usually just dip into our pools at home or go to the sea. So it was really nice to be able to casually go for a dip in the Olympic pool! It is huge and was quite empty, we paid £4.50 by pre-booking here.

We then explored the Olympic Park - I had never been properly before and it is looking pretty good! 

  

 

We had a lot of fun playing in the fountains...

Probably too much fun, we got all wet again after swimming! 

But it was seriously beautiful at sunset - it would be the perfect date spot (I had my best friend as the perfect date with me too luckily! :)) 

Even though I'm still not sure what the giant red statue is meant to represent?

A perfect day finished by a perfect sunset - I am SO happy that Summer has finally arrived!