Move it Monday: posting on a Thursday!

Im so useless, I aimed to get this up on Monday but here we are.  Last week I focused myself on two areas in which i felt was necessary.  Portion control and drinking more water.  In my last post I mentioned that I seemed to have been carbing up and eating very little protein or veggies.  While I do still need to improve on this aspect I focused on the quality of meals rather than quantity.  

The first thing I did was half my portions and ensuring that they were better options than what I was previously shoving in my mouth.  I can tell you I ate a lot of soup- mainly because I was in the soup mood but because it's the easiest way of incorporating extra veggies and protein.  I have now got into the habit of having a portion of soup with no bread for lunch.  Yay me!  

Secondly I needed to drink a lot more water, I was having at least 2 cups of water a day and now I'm having at least 5 a day.  The water has helped me stay fuller but also decreased my frequency of indigestion.  

Next week my plan will be to up my exercise, I will try and do at least 30 mins a day.

Xoxo

Move it Mondays: The Start....

I've been going to the gym for the past year, not religiously, but enough to say that I go to the gym.  Although I've been spending 3 days a week at my gym, at my assessment I had gone up in inches rather than down!!! This was a wake-up call for me to start looking at what I'm eating and caring more about my body.  I would never class myself as fat, being tall I am lucky that even though I'm classed as overweight, I don't look it.  I am an hourglass figure, any weight I do gain goes straight to my boobs and bum (lucky me!) but I would love to hit my pre-university weight at some point.  And with an impending trip to the States in August for a friends wedding there's no time like the present to make a change.

My instructor recommended that I did a food diary for a week which will help me identify where I can make better substitutions.  At first I thought "this will be pointless, I already eat well" but funnily enough it's highlighted where I am going wrong! I've noticed although I might be eating "healthy" foods the amount of sugar I am consuming is shocking! I know it's been said a thousand times that low fat options are full of sugar, and it's amazing how much fruit I'm consuming.  During this week I've noticed I've had more carbs, and sugar than any other nutrients.  From a former Vegetarian I feel like I've let myself down.  Instead of having wholesome veggie soups or tasty tofu dishes I've traded them in for high fat, carb and sugar diet. 

I have always had a bittersweet relationship with food.  I have the biggest sweet tooth known to man and I always envied the people that could eat whatever they wanted without feeling rubbish.  I skipped meals, counted calories and tried all the fad diets and all it has given me is terrible indigestion and I have lost my excitement for variety. I always ensure I have a healthy and wholesome breakfast but by the time lunch has come around I'm hitting the junk food.  So the challenge is to keep on the straight and narrow, eat right and exercise more!

To keep myself motivated I have decided to blog my meals, and weight (gained or lost) in hope that it will eventually help someone who may need support. This should also help me keep myself motivated and on track to improve my nutrition.  I no longer want to yo-yo diet, I would love to improve my relationship with food and improve my quality of life.

Soap and Glory: Kick Ass Concealer

I. love. this. concealer!!!!

I  cannot get enough of Soap & Glory.. Their scrubs, washes, lipgloss and now the concealer.  I recently made a purchase of the Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer, and after a week I'm in love! I have the most terrible under eye bags that no amount of water and rest will touch!! For me, a decent concealer is a must-have! What made me want to try this concealer is how similar it looks to the Laura Mercier Undercover Kit- but for much, much less.  I bought this for £10 as opposed to Laura Mercier's for around the £30 mark. So now I've gone off on a tangent about how purse-friendly this is I shall move on!

What the kit includes is 2 concealers (face and under eye) and a setting powder.  It did come with a small powder puff for the setting powder, but I prefer to use a brush.  I found that the concealer was a little on the light side in terms of consistency.. But highly buildable making a natural, flawless look
achievable.  I did find that the face concealer gave me a great amount of coverage that will suit both
day and night.  The bonus points of this also was that it lasted for a day without having to be topped
up!!

What I wasn't overly keen on was the setting powder.  I am not someone who necessarily needs to put powder on as my skin holds make-up quite well.  I found that with applying it with the powder puff that came with the set I was left with a white residue on my skin and I also found that this didn't improve when using a brush.  I think this would be great with someone with oily skin, but for dry skin it doesn't seem to be a great option.


NB: I apologise for the photos, I couldn't wait to use the product!