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!

Motivation.

Hello there!

Recently I have found myself being both motivated as well as unmotivated.  People are finding more ways to keep their selves motivated throughout life- whether it's saving money, losing weight or finding that perfect career.  Personally I have found it is also extremely difficult to keep myself motivated when the going gets tough over the past year.  A year ago I found myself a Graduate from my degree with no job, no money and no idea how I wanted to reach my perfect career as do many UK Graduates.  Now I find myself with at least a job and a bit of money however finding that way into what I really want to do career-wise a tough one.  The quote above is so simple however it means so much, I am guilty for being a wishful thinker and I am also extremely guilty of keeping my dreams, dreams.

Now I feel I have found the motivation to finally get back into what I loved and what I've always wanted to do, the road is long and tough but I know if I keep my determination up I'll get there.  It's always a cliche however it does have some truth to it.

Enough of the rambling now, I hope to at least start writing on this blog a bit more seeing as I have left it freakishly dormant for too long.

London 2012: Fencing

Hello there!

If you're escaping the miserable weather by trapsing through blogs like me.   I thought I'd post some pictures of the sabre finals of the fencing at the ExCel in London.  I was very lucky to go and watch a sport that I did not previously fully understand.

All in all, it was incredibly exciting, and congrats to Hungary for the fabulous Gold Medal.

Nail of the Week: Sydney Sands

Hey guys!

This week I've been obsessing over China Glaze' Sydney Sands.  It's a fantastic nude that just makes your outfit look so effortlessly chic, as well as making your hands and nails look incredibly elegant.

Try it out, you won't regret it.

50 Shades of Grey or 50 Shades of Lame?

E.L James' erotic literature sauntered it's way to number 1 on the UK bestsellers list 2012 back in March.  I know I'm pretty late on commenting on this book, but after finally giving the book a chance I thought I'd put my own thoughts out there.  The novel evolved from the online fad of fan-fic (For those of you who may be slow on the uptake, it generally tends to be sensual fiction about fictional or real people).  And since the boom in popularity with eReaders, women no longer have to feel ashamed of reading novellas such as 'Fifty Shades of Grey' in public!

Christian Grey is a successful, handsome business owner whose sexual desires disables him from having any other form of connection with a woman.  Anastacia Steele, the heroine (if we can call her that) is an inexperienced English Literature Student with big aspirations and a desire for something more.  Basically to cut a long story short they meet, become attracted to each other, and spend the majority of the novel getting down and dirty while Christian Grey waggles his wallet and treats Anastacia to alot more than sexual desires.

The fact that this novel reached the Bestseller's list is mainly due to its gimic rather than for any literary prowess.  I feel as though the author could have maybe done a bit more to keep the readers interest as once you've read one extremely descriptive intimate moment, it does get boring.  I mean come on, how many times can you keep referring back to Christian's bulge? By midway I was ready to put the book down.  However if you can get past the abundance of description and just accept that this novel is more trash than classic, then it does make way for an ok read.  I personally didn't find this to be an amazing novella, it's aim is to shock and in some senses it does.  But I don't see how she could fill out this story to make it into a trilogy, let alone make it's way to number 1 on the Bestsellers list.

5/10

The Book Challenge.

"Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it."- William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Hello there!

As a Literature Student you would probably expect my room to be flooding over with books and a distaste for reading anything other than classics.  On the plus side,  I still have that passion to read even if my room is starting to resemble a second-hand bookshop.  Although I do have 5 or 6 books a week to get through for my classes, I still find time to read anything I can get my nose into.

Whilst my friends are happy to blow their loan on booze, shoes and other pretty things, I have a serious problem with buying books.  Every time I am in a bookshop I end up buying a book or 3.  EVERY...TIME!  Well anyway I'm rambling.  I have noticed that I have a few books (non-uni related) that I need to get my nose into, and so I have decided to set myself a challenge.

The Challenge: Finish the small pile of books that I have been meaning to read in 4 months before I am allowed to buy more.

I have allowed myself 4 months to get through the books that have been on my bookshelf for a very long time before buying any more books. Then that splurge in Waterstones will feel ever so wonderful. 

 The books are as follows:

1. Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness
2. Philippa Gregory- The White Queen
3. Charlotte Bronte- Shirley
4. Judy Bloom- Tiger Eyes
5. Suzanne Collins- The Hunger Games
6. Veronica Roth- Divergent
7. Emma Donoghue- Room
8. Julia Williams- Last Christmas
9. Trisha Ashley- Twelve Days of Christmas
10. Trisha Ashley- A Winters Tale

Post a comment if you have any goals yourself and what they are :)

xoxo.