I'm Doing a Week Detox!

I told myself that I was going to try and post every Monday but of course I failed on week 2! It's Tom's half term and my reading week so I've had him up in London over the weekend and until this afternoon which is why I haven't got round to writing anything.

I've come home for a few days for my week off to relax and hopefully get lots of practise done. I don't have a gym or pool membership down here and don't really have anywhere local so I'm hoping to get in a good morning and evening home workout. It's only me and mum at home this week so I'm hoping we'll also eat quite healthily because my diet last week with Tom (as always) was not the best. I really need to get him into healthy food but it will take a lot of work!

My plan is to use this week almost as a detox because I feel like a lot of the progress I had made in my body and mindset, I lost over the last few days of not exercising and not eating well. I want to try and eat really clean and start of each day with a good workout and make sure I end each day with a more yoga/stretching based workout and some relaxing meditation so I can really get in a good head space and start next week on a blank canvas. I have just downloaded the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Workout guide. I tried one of the week 3 workouts at the gym with one of my dancer flat mates who has been working through it and I honestly haven't sweat so much in my life! It was such a good workout that I can do with the weights at the gym or in a busy week, can get away with doing at my flat. It's a 12 week program with an extra 4 weeks pre-training. I was working it out with my calendar and if I start the pre-training next week and take a few weeks off while I'm home over easter (because I won't have gym access and won't be able to do workouts as regularly) then the program will finish the week I break up for summer- perfect!

My plan for next week is for 3 days to get up at 7 and go to the gym to do one of her set workouts and then a short swim and for the other 2 days to get up at 7.30 to just do a longer swim. I will continue to give myself lie ins at the weekend and stick to just doing a more relaxed home workout and stretching.

I am going to try and do a cumulative post over the next 4 days or so at home to show you what I eat and the workouts I do as well as to keep me accountable and more motivated. This will hopefully go up at the weekend so keep your eyes peeled!

Wish me luck! x x x

Places I Want to Travel to (well some of them)

Lying there every evening looking up at my painting of Paris, world map and pin board of travel photos on the walls above me, it's no wonder I spend so much of my time dreaming of all the amazing places I want to visit! I can't actually think of a country I don't want to visit so I will try to narrow it down to my top 10 and they are in no particular order because that would be far to difficult! Please please let me know if you have visited any of these places in the comments and tell me EVERYTHING about it. Enjoy!

1) India  Isn't this somewhere everyone wants to visit? The vibrancy and colour and culture and bustle. There is incredible architecture both old and new including some of the world's best hotels but for me it's the every day community that attracts me. When I go abroad, of course we do the touristy attractions but I love going and meeting the local people and seeing and experiencing their culture (I think I got this from my mum). I just think you only see a very small part of the country by sticking to the tourist path and you'll never really understand the country. I want to walk through the markets smelling all the amazing spices of every colour. 

2) Vietnam  A couple of years ago I visited Bali, Indonesia with my family and that was without a doubt the best holiday I've ever been on. I couldn't get over how green it was and Vietnam looks the same. Exploring rainforests, climbing through rice fields, relaxing on beautiful beaches- what's not to love? Being a largely Buddhist country, there are incredibly beautiful temples and ancient cities and a lot of cultural history. Truly beautiful!

3) Marrakech, Morocco  I still remember the first time I found out about Marrakech. I was about 12 years old and we watched a clip from a Jamie Oliver cooking program in food tech where he was in Marrakech. I remember being completely entranced by the hussle and bussle and the amazing colours and I remember almost being able to smell the food in the market through the TV and ever since then it has been one of my top places I want to visit! This Easter I am going to Morocco with my parents and I am so so excited. We are staying in the Atlas Mountains and will be visiting Marrakech as well as going for walks through the beautiful scenery. I will definitely do a few blog posts of this week because it will be amazing and I'm sure I will get loads of photos so keep you eyes peeled for that in April!

4) Safari in Kenya  Okay I'm going to admit it... all my life I have had a strange, unnatural obsession with giraffes... like seriously my room is full of pictures and models and cuddly toys of them and as a child I had a whole sticker album just of giraffe stickers. I just think they are the most beautiful and fascinating creatures. Whenever we go to the zoo, I always spend about half my time with the giraffes and for my 7th birthday I got to go in and feed them and it was AMAZING but I have always wanted to see them in their natural habitat. I just think the nature of Africa is so much more grand and impressive than that of England and a Safari seeing all these incredible animals would be a great experience.

5) Zanzibar  Did anyone else read The Wreck of The Zanzibar my Michael Morpurgo when they were younger? It was honestly one of my favourite books as a child and it was back then, reading the descriptions of the pristine beaches and shimmering oceans, that I decided I had to go there! Sadly I haven't (yet). It is a small island of the coast of Tanzania known for it's beautiful, turquoise beaches and white sand- paradise!

6) Northern lights  I feel like this is another classic that is on everyone's bucket list so I'm sorry for not being original but I just think it is something too incredible to miss off. I still can't get my head around the fact that this is created naturally?! 

7) Santorini, Greece  Santorini is a beautiful island of the South coast of Greece with a huge lagoon at it's centre. It has the traditional Greek style of little white and blue houses on hill sides over looking crystal clear waters. Santorini is probably most famous for it's beautiful sunsets. I visited Crete a lot as a child but I have never been to any other Greek island and I feel like I'm probably missing out. I love the relaxed feel of Greece and how important and close families are. 

8) Great Barrier reef  I do a lot of scuba diving so of course the barrier reef is one of my top places to go. It stretches for over 2,300km off the coast of Queensland, Australia and is home to over 600 species of Coral. I love the bright colours and amazing fish and I have always wanted to swim with whales. When I am underwater I feel so at home and I could honestly stay there forever and be happy and where better than the world's biggest and most diverse reef to do that?

9) New York  My parents and sister actually went to New York a few years ago when I was on a music residential and I am still bitter! Not going to lie, the main reason I want to go is for the shopping (obviously!) It is just so big and bold and busy and modern. I want to see amazing shows and shop in huge stores and go out with friends at night.

10) California  This was never really top of my list until very recently. Me and my boyfriend were both quite stressed out by work and we started thinking about our holiday and somehow came on to planning all our holidays for like the next 10 years and he mentioned how he wanted to do a road trip around California and his dad had said that that had been his best holiday he had done. I love the idea of the freedom and spontaneity of driving, being able to go here we want, when we want and for however long we want.

So there you go! Trust me there were many more and it was VERY difficult to narrow down. Please do leave a comment with some of your best travel experiences and anywhere you really want to go to. 

Hurry up summer! x x x

Little Changes Make a Big Difference!

So here I am 2 days into being bed bound thanks to illness and boredom levels are getting quite high. I feel like I've exhausted the film library of Netflix and finished this months edition of vogue and my friend's are busy with lessons and rehearsals and evening trips to spoons. In my last post when I said I wanted to get more into blogging I was thinking more weekly rather than the next day but seriously, the boredom is real!

I know 1 month into my health kick I am hardly an expert in healthy living and fitness but I have honestly noticed such a difference in my mind and body from the changes I have made in this short time! I'm just going to share a few of these changes I have made and a couple of tips I have picked up on the way. I hope you enjoy and find this useful.

The first big change I have made is planning all my meals at the start of the week and doing a big weekly shop. I still pick up fresh food and essentials that I run out of throughout the week but having a plan and the ingredients in my house stops me from coming home after a long day and having to make a decision about food which tbh would usually be grabbing a ready meal or pizza. Planning also allows me to see days when I am going to be busy and in this sort of mood so I can make double the day before and just heat up left overs, it also makes my food cheaper because I can buy in bulk food that I know I will use lots and I don't throw as much food out. I am planning on doing a post on what I eat in a week very soon where I'll go into more detail and share some simple recipes.

Another thing I've started doing is getting up early. I used to be constantly tired and have no energy all day so I'd start going to bed earlier but it really wasn't helping and then one day my boyfriend pointed out that maybe it was from too much sleep. This sounded a bit ridiculous to me but sure enough since getting up earlier I have had so much more energy- he was right (as always!). My morning routine on weekdays now is to get up 7.15 and go swimming for about an hour. Not only does this mean I get up early and don't waste half the day, but I also get in regular exercise which trust me, I never used to! I don't like swimming at the weekends because the pool is so much busier so I do allow myself a bit more of a lie in.

As well as swimming 4-5 times a week and going to the gym twice a week I have also started doing a mini work out at home focusing more on building up strength. Bellow is a video by the blogger and Youtuber Niomi Smart which includes her workout routine which is what I tend to do in my room with a yoga mat. If you don't already know her then you should definitely check out her channel; I find her videos so motivating and her 'what I eat in a day videos' give me so many ideas and recipes. As well as this workout, I am also currently working through Blogilates' 30 days flat abs challenge which is slowly building up my strength.

I personally could never go vegan or fully vegetarian, largely because of my nut allergy and meat loving family and boyfriend but I have really been trying to cut down on meat and find protein from other foods. While I don't have a strict plan on how often or when I eat meat, I've realised from my meal plans that during the week is usually meat free and then I have it almost as a treat at the weekends. This also works because I only really go home at the weekends when my mum does the cooking with a lot of meat and my boyfriend (who would be appalled if I fed him for 3 days without meat) generally only stays with me at the weekend. Reducing meat has health benefits on it's own but it has also meant I have tried so many other healthy foods that I would never have cooked. My cooking has definitely got more interesting and varied!

The final thing I am going to talk about is the introduction of homemade smoothies into my life. I have always been a huge fan of smoothies and juices but shop bought ones have so many added sugars and preservatives that they end up not actually being that healthy. I recently purchased a Nutribullet and I now consume well more than double the fresh fruit and veg that I used to and so many more vitamins. My go to mix is 50% spinach, 1/2 an avocado, then filled up with fruit, a sprinkle of sunflower seeds or chia seeds and topped up with water. During the week I have this for breakfast pretty much every day after swimming and before uni and then at the weekend I like to have one as a light lunch in between a more filling breakfast and dinner.

I know none of these are new, break through tips but honestly being healthy isn't rocket science! I know as well as anyone that staying motivated is difficult but the basic principals are just to eat well and exercise- simple! I am so so determined to stick with this and watch my self get more and more healthy.

I can do this x x x

Life Update (I joined the gym!)

So here I am 5 months into Music College and living on my own in the big city. I really do feel like I've learnt a lot about life and also about myself. I've had some very stressful and difficult times but I've also had the most amazing experiences and met some wonderful people. Anyone who's struggling with school or college, I promise you it gets better!

I would never have called myself 'healthy' or said I was overly happy with my body, thanks to a lack of time, asthma limiting my exercise and a taste for unhealthy food. I've sometimes gone through a motivated week where I eat well and actually do exercise but this never lasts... until now! At the beginning of January I got a gym membership. I did think I probably wouldn't use it enough and I'd end up cancelling it but since then I've been going swimming about 5 mornings a week and going to the gym twice a week. On top of this I've been doing a home work out (inspired by Niomi Smart) daily and eating healthily. When I have a long day I make sure I cook a proper meal the night before to take with me rather than buying unhealthy snacks on the go. I also bought a nutribullet which supplies me with a healthy and nutritious smoothie for breakfast every morning- yum!

I can honestly say that getting up early, doing more exercise and eating much better has really made a difference to my life! I feel so much awake throughout the day and just generally more positive. Definitely a good change in my life but still a long way to go!

This year I also want to get more into blogging. Whether or not people read it, I find it therapeutic and thought provoking. Recording the positive and exciting things in my life really does make me appreciate them more and definitely inspires me to take more photos to record my adventures. I am going travelling around Croatia in summer with my boyfriend and for these reasons, we are going to set up a blog for our trip so keep your eyes peeled in August!

This was a spontaneous late night post so sorry for the lack of photos. I will start trying to do much more regular posts maybe on a weekly basis... hopefully!

Have a great week
Much love x x x

Autumn Perks

I haven't written a post in SO long, mainly because I moved to London to start music college about a month ago so it's all been very stressful! So I decided it's about time to make a new post.

Since living alone in London, my obsession with style and beauty has gone a bit mad! Considering I'm living on a student budget, I have bought A LOT of new clothes and make up which I will definitely compile into a haul or Autumn favourites post for you very soon (I promise!). But for today I've made a short list of things I love about Autumn to help conquer any post-summer blues:

1. Crisp mornings and colourful trees make for beautiful photos.
2. The colder weather is a great excuse to drink A LOT more coffee.
3. Cozying up on the sofa with a blanket and sitting in front of the fire.
4. Bonfire night and fire work displays.
5. I'm not a massive fan of halloween but carving pumpkins does make me rather happy.
6. The Xfactor is back and even if, like me, you don't follow the show, you have to admit the first round of auditions is pretty funny.
7. Berry lipstick.
8. Finally time to whack out my favourite tartan scarf knitted jumpers again. In fact autumn fashion in general!
9. Amazing autumn scented candles.
10. Getting into a warm bed feels SO much nicer.
11. The clocks go back meaning we get an extra hours sleep!
12. Better sunsets.
13. Cuddling.
14. No need to feel bad about staying in in pyjamas with Netflix.
15. And of course, christmas is closer!

I hope you all have an amazing autumn and love it as much as I do! I am going to try and blog more often from now on so PLEASE leave any ideas of posts you want to see in the comments below, It would mean a lot! I will definitely post a beauty/style in the next few days so I will see you then.
Lots of love
xoxo

My (Benefit obsessed) summer look

Hello everyone!
I haven't posted in sooo long (thanks Alevels!) but I went on a bit of a make-up shopping spree yesterday with my mum so seemed like a good excuse. Basically Benefit has ALWAYS been my favourite brand of make-up so I've created my 'light summer daytime look' using some new Benefit products I bought yesterday and some of my old favourite... enjoy!

In summer I don't really like to wear foundation or powder unless I'm having a bad skin day or I'm going out just because it feels so much lighter and fresher so I just started with blusher. However many blushers I try, I always come back to my trusty Hervana. The swirl of colours just works so well together and with my skin tone. The back of the packaging describes it as a 'heavenly rose and berry delight' which pretty much sums it up. Next I used the High beam highlighter. I'd never actually used a highlighter when doing y own make-up because it didn't really seem necessary but I just bought it on a bit of a whim yesterday and I'm so glad I did!  It just really lightened up my face and defined my cheek bones. I don't have any past experience in highlighters to compare it too but it worked a treat!

Now onto eyes... I bought one of the 'world famous naturals' sets a couple of years ago for my prom make-up and I have used it to death ever since! You get 4 eye shadows and 2 cream shadows in each set. The cream shadows work perfectly as base I use the 'no pressure' colour when I'm going out and the 'R.S.V.P' colour during the day (and for this look). I just apply it with a brush up to the crease and then apply the shadow over the top. During the day I use 'call my bluff' up to the brow line and then 'thanks a latte' blended into the outer corner and the crease. I have tried both of Benefit's older mascaras so thought it was kind of compulsory that I try out their new one 'Roller lash'. I find that their old one 'Their real!' gives an amazing false lash effect for going out but for during the day 'Roller lash' is perfect- it is less thick but really lengthens and curls ever lash and just looks AMAZING!

Finally onto lips. I am usually obsessed with lipstick but yesterday when I was at the benefit counter I saw their 2 lip tints which I used to love so I thought I'd try them again. They feel kind of weird to apply as they are so liquid and cold but they dry beautifully and last really well. The 'benetint' always used to be my favourite but for this look I used the 'posietint' just because it looks so summery and matched the other colours. They look a lot more finished when used with a lipgloss and I've never really been a lip gloss person so I purchased one of theirs yesterday. 'Dandelion' works SO well with the 'posietint' and again looks really summery :)

I hope you enjoyed/found this useful. I will try to use other brands in future but I went a bit crazy with Benefit yesterday and it already makes up about 50% of my make-up draw so seemed suitable :') I would LOVE to hear any products you're loving at the moment or any good make-up tips so please drop a comment! Hope you're all having a great week and for those of you (like me) stuck in the middle of exams/revision GOODLUCK <3

Lots of love x x x

Summer Bucket List

Hello again <3 I've been getting really sentimental about how this is my last summer at home before I go off to uni so I want to make it the BEST SUMMER EVER soooo I've decided to make a summer bucket list of all the exciting, cute things I want to do after exams! I could probably go on forever so I am just going to do my top 10 for now, enjoy :)

1. Go up the Eiffel tower at night (I am going to Paris with a few friend's after exams and I think this would be so cute!)
2. Stargaze- so generic but can't believe I've never done this!
3. Go to a yoga class
4. Have a professional photoshoot with a friend (going to do one in London with my friend Maddy <3)
5. Put pink/purple stripes in my hair (again, with Maddy because she is queen of hair)
6. ROADTRIP (since I'm finally at the age where my friends can drive!) even if its just to another town
7. Go a full 24 hours with no technology
8. Have a trip to the zoo- I haven't been for yeeears!
9. Save up and have a MAJOR pre-uni shopping trip (seems like a good excuse!)
10. Tie-dye some old clothes because it's so colourful and summery and is funky to wear

Like I said, I could write so many more (and probably will soon!) but unfortunately I have to go back to college tomorrow *cry* so need an early night

Have a great week and comment any more ideas for me to add

Much love x x x