My Weight Loss Journey! 11lbs Down and My Easy Tips!

Around 3 months ago I got to the point where I’d began to get uncomfortable with my weight and decided it was time to change. I’d attempted to ‘diet’ a few times over the last couple of years and within around a month I’d always end up back where I’d started and giving up.

But this time was different and as of today I’ve lost 11lbs so I thought I would share my story so far with you seeing as, at least for me, this time my efforts have worked! I wouldn’t normally share specific details about my weight loss but today’s achievement puts why I’m writing into context. I decided to begin to lose weight when I tipped the scales at 10st 10lbs (150lbs) . I think it’s important to state I’m 5 foot 5 inches and whereas I don’t think I’ve been officially ‘overweight’, I was unhappy with my body hence the decision to change my eating and exercise patterns. I’m writing this post today as I achieved my first big goal and weighed in today at under 10st! Now I’m 9st 13lbs (139lbs) and seeing that number on the scales has definitely given me motivation to keep going!

So now I’ll go into how I got there. First I just want to say, although this worked for me, it might not work for you, I haven’t followed a diet plan or used Weight Watchers etc, I’ve just done this my own way. But seeing as this is the first time I’ve lost so much weight whilst actually intending to, I thought I could share my tips and tricks and who knows, they might work for you too!

1. Cut Down Portions

     The main thing I’ve done which I believe has contributed to my weight loss is cutting down portion sizes. I LOVE food and I could never ‘eat clean’ or cut out certain food groups to lose weight. That definitely does not work for me. So for my main meal on an evening especially, our meals consist of a lot of veg as sides anyway so generally I can still have an average sized portion.  But as l live at home and eat with the rest of my family, if the meal happens to be something with higher calorie content, I’ll just have a slightly smaller portion than I would have used to have. And that’s it! Easy peasy,right?

2. Boredom Snacking is BAD

I’ve realised that the main reason that I snack is because I’m bored. Whether it’s whilst doing uni work in the afternoon or watching TV on an evening, I find crisps or chocolate find their way into my stomach so easily! So now I think very carefully whether or not I’m hungry or bored. If I’m hungry I try to snack healthily, on foods like fruit or nuts. But hungry or bored aren’t the only two options, you could be thirsty. A lot of the time when you think you’re hungry, you’re actually thirsty! I found a great tip is to drink a glass of water when you feel hungry, and if you’re still hungry then have a snack, if not, you were just dehydrated!

Which leads me onto my next tip nicely!

3. Drink Water!

It’s a tip you’ll hear again and again but it’s SO important! I try to drink a pint (around 500ml) of water with every meal and then lots of water in between meals too! It will help with weight loss and improve your skin and hair too!

4. Green Tea with Breakfast!

There are varying reports as to the benefits of green tea, with many experts believing it speeds your metabolism. This is yet to be confirmed, but I thought I’d try it anyway! I drink Twinings Green Tea and I was surprised that it doesn’t taste too dissimilar to normal tea! I’m not sure how much difference it’s making but the benefits of green tea besides those for weight loss are enough for me to keep drinking it anyway! I have a glass with my breakfast everyday.

5. EXERCISE!

Exercise isn’t something which is crucial to weight loss but it will speed up the process! Personally, for the first 6 weeks I did Vicky Pattison’s 7 Day Slim which is great if you have a busy lifestyle as it only takes 10 minutes a day! I think during this time I lost around 6lbs. Following this time I had university exams and found myself needing all the time I could get for revision but continued to lose weight through eating healthier. I’ve not actively exercised eg. cardio since this time, but I have done slower paced things such as walk my boyfriends dogs. BUT I still lost another 5 lbs in this time, so exercise is not crucial. Hitting under 10st today has made me decide to start exercising again, and tonight I did 5km on my exercise bike and I now plan to keep this up! So what this section is trying to tell you is, exercise is not crucial, but if you have time, even 10 minutes a day is good, as it will aid weight loss and make you feel healthier!

6. IT’S TRUE! A Little Bit of What You Fancy Does You Good!

Everything in moderation is key. I’ll use my own experiences to explain what I mean here. I started my weight loss just before Easter, and before I knew it I’d accumulated 4 Easter eggs from friends and family! To begin with I kept them in their boxes and as it turned out during this time I hadn’t lost much weight. But when eating a bit of egg in moderation on an evening for example, I found the weight started falling off. I think that sometimes you can deprive yourself too much and I’ve found if you fancy some chocolate, then have some, but in moderation!

7. Find What Works for YOU

It’s taken me a while but I now have a meal plan/pattern that I stick to pretty much every day. I’ll start by saying I barely ever drink anything but water, its good for you and free of calories!

My breakfast generally consists of:

- A slice of wholemeal toast and thinly spread Nutella

- A cereal bar such as Jordan’s Frusli in Juicy Blueberry

This is always with a glass of green tea and a pint of water. My breakfast is generally low in calories, I’m not hungry in the morning and years ago I would never even have breakfast, so this works for me!

An average lunch would be:

- Wholemeal pitta filled with half a can of tuna and low fat mayonnaise

- A low fat yogurt

- Low calorie snack bags/crisps such as Morrisons Nume Baked Salted Pretzels

Evening meals are the only things that differ but will generally be things like:

- Fish with vegetables such as broccoli and potatos

- Spaghetti bolognaise (but in a smaller portion)

- Nando’s style chicken with homemade sweet potato wedges

I will have snacks in between meals if I’m hungry such as fruit or wholegrain crackers.

This meal plan may not be for everyone and I’m no expert in dieting but this is working for me so thought I would include it to give you an idea of how I have lost weight! I hope you’ve enjoyed my story and hope my tips can help you if you’re trying to lose weight too! 

Unfortunately I don't have any full length photos of myself to show the before and after shots but if my journey continues as I'd like it to there will be a follow up post where I'll find a photo from before I began, and a photo of me when I reach my goal.

Do you have any weight loss tips? Are you on, or have you been, on a weight loss journey too?

Flashback Friday! My Prom!

This last Wednesday marked 4 years since my school prom! I can't believe it's already been 4 whole years, it only seems like yesterday I was trying on my dress. I say dress in the singular form because this is the only dress I tried on. After searching the boutique for what seemed like forever, trying to find something I liked, the owner asked if I liked 'princessy dresses' and then brought this from in the back. I fell in love as soon as I saw it! How often do you get to wear a dress like that?! After trying it on I knew it was the one!

So much has changed in the four years that have passed since my prom; I've spent two years at college sitting my A Levels, and following that I was accepted to The University of Hull to take my degree in History. I've just finished my second year so only one more to go! 

Anyway, 4 years later. I'm still with my boyfriend, James! These photos were taken just a couple of weeks after we met! 

I can't believe how young and different we look in these photos! 

Here's a picture of us at the seaside a couple of weeks ago for you to see for yourselves! 

What did you wear for your prom? Would you like more posts like this in future?

Primark and H&M Haul - June 2014

Yesterday saw a shopping trip into Hull for my friend Yasmin's birthday! It was a longggg shopping day which actually ended in a Primark sandwich. What I mean by this is we dashed straight into Primark and bought a few things, went round tonsss more shops in which I was quite disappointed and couldn't find very much I liked, and ended up back in Primark and bought a couple more things! Basically I'm really loving Primark at the moment! So, what did I get...?

Right so first I'll go through the first part of the 'Primark Sandwich.' The first thing I found was these pair of light summer jeans. I've lost a bit of weight recently and my old pair of light jeans are a tad on the baggy side, so at only £10 these were the perfect replacement!

The next thing to find it's way into my basket was this simple patterned cami. I must admit I've been pretty late to purchase a cami but after recently getting my first one I couldn't resist this black and white one; a steal at just £4!

I really love the cute little pattern and I definitely think the cami looks more expensive than it was!

Next up was a trip to the shoe section. After seeing so many sandals on blogs and vlogs I was so excited to have a look around and I wasn't disappointed! I have flat feet so shoe shopping can be quite difficult for me, but after trying on 3 or 4 pairs, I settled for these nude, strappy sandals! Once again, at only £4 they were a bargain! Especially after seeing VERY similar styles in Accessorize for a whopping £35! 

So next up came the 'Sandwich filling' and although I found a couple of good buys, I have to say the likes of New Look, Topshop and Zara were quite disappointing for me. There were some nice pieces but for what I was looking for (summer tops and a maxi skirt) I struggled to find anything which tempted me into parting with my cash.

But something I was particularly happy with was the selection of belts in H&M. Having not been shopping instore for a while, I'd been disappointed with the lack of trouser belts online with the majority of belts being waist belts. But hats off to H&M as they had a nice selection of trouser belts! I picked up the brown belt for £6.99 and the blue belt for just £1.99! I especially love the brown belt which looks especially good quality!

Next is a more random purchase! For the last few months I've been consciously trying to be more healthy and lose a bit of weight. As part of this change I've been drinking green tea with my breakfast everyday and I've been wanting a clear glass mug instead of a normal tea mug to drink it from. I was therefore so happy to find this glass mug in Wilko's for just £1.50! A very simple/random buy, but it made me very happy this morning to drink my daily green tea from it!

Another random purchase was a Jelly Bean Air Freshener in Blueberry for my car. It cost only £1.86 from Sainsbury's but my car smells soooooo good!

So it was at this point that we made a trip back to Primark to complete the final stage of the 'Primark sandwich'. During the first trip I'd found a gorgeous navy and white striped maxi skirt which upon locking myself in the changing room, I realised was a size 16 rather than the size 10 promised on the hanger. At the time I thought it was the only one left but when going back in I found the one I had had was in the wrong place and there was a full row of them with plenty of size 10s! IT WAS FATE; I HAD TO HAVE IT! 

So here it is, the gorgeous navy and white maxi skirt, which rather than being in the long flowy style, is an elongated pencil skirt with knee high slits down the side. This skirt cost only £8, is so flattering on and will be perfect for those days when you want to keep cool but not have your legs out. 

Last but not least, I had been searching all day for a cropped summer cardigan for those days when you just need something to cover your shoulders and the tops of your arms for when the typically British weather gets cool or breezy on a summers day. This peach cardi is perfect to slip on on top of dresses or summer tops and is so soft too! For only £6 I might even have to return for another colour! 

So that's everything! To say I only spent £32 in Primark altogether I'd have to conclude it was a pretty excellent day for bargains! And all that for less that the almost identical £35 sandals in Accessorize!

Do you own any of my purchases? What's your favourite high street store this summer?

Would you like to see more posts like this in the future?

MID-BOOK REVIEW: Gone Girl

Firstly I want to start by saying, I know a 'Mid-Book' review is a pretty odd thing to write, but the book I'm currently reading is so gripping that I couldn't wait until I'm finished reading to share how I'm feeling about it!

So a good few months ago, me, my Mum, and my Nana were searching through an array of books in a local charity shop. I stumbled across a copy of 'Gone Girl' for just 25p, it was absolutely crisp and the spine untouched! I knew this poor unloved book had to be mine! To be honest, although I'd heard it was supposed to be a very good book, I didn't know too much about the premise but thought I couldn't go wrong with what looked like brand new book for 25p!

So months passed and I'd been so busy with university work, I had not had any time even think about starting to read it. As soon as my second year of uni was over I finally started to read. Although slow to start, once the main plot line began, the book has been VERY difficult to put down!

If you don't know, the book is about a couple whose lives change on their 5th wedding anniversary when the wife goes missing, and it looks like she may have been murdered. The husband swears it was not him but clues suggest otherwise. Coming from the perspective of the husband in present, and the wife in the lead up to the event through diary entries, the tagline 'THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY' has never been so apt!

Once you hit around page 150, the MAJOR twists and turns begin! It's one of those books where you think 'I'll just put it down after this chapter' and that chapter leaves you on a cliffhanger and you say to yourself 'oh I'll just read another one!' This can go on for a while!

It's so hard to write this post and explain how good the twists are because I don't want to give anything away if you haven't read it! All I can say is this book really is SO addictive; if you love a good thriller or even if you don't, I would definitely recommend it!

Once I've finished reading I'll update you again and let you know how I find the ending (I really have no idea how this is going to end, when you think you've figured it out something happens which changes my thinking entirely!)

Now please excuse me, I must get back to my book!!

Get To Know Me! Fathers Day Special

So looking through my first set of posts over the last couple of months, I realised there's soooo much nail art and not very much about me!

A HUGEEEE part of my life that most of you won't know about (unless you've visited my about me page) is football! This is something I share with my Dad so I thought what better day to upload my first 'get to know me' kind of post than Father's Day!

So I'll start from the beginning! For as long as I can remember, my Dad's love of football, specifically his local team, Hull City, has been passed on to me! I was only days old when I would be sporting my first hand knitted black and amber little baby outfit (the colour's of my team). Even before I went to my first match I was obsessed by football and Hull City!

Here's a photo of me in my first ever shirt when I was just 3! I know, it's more like a dress! And I appear to be not smiling BUT that's because it was for my 'Young Tigers' membership card, so kind of a passport type photo if you will!

So to cut what could be a veryyyy long story fairly short, since my Dad took me to my first match when I was 5 (which we lost *sadface*) I have been addicted! 15 years later I'm a season ticket holder and love going to watch my team as much as ever.

My Dad says that I'm his lucky charm, because since I started attending matches Hull City have risen from the depths of Division 3, to the Premier League and this season we even made it to the FA Cup Final for the first time in the club's 110 year history! Even better is that this meant that we qualified for the Europa League for the first time too, so this season could be an even bigger one!

Here's a photo of me at the FA CUP FINAL!! For those of you who aren't big football fans, the FA Cup Final is the pinnacle of football for a supporter like me!

And here's a photo of me and my Dad at the final! From being only a couple of thousand of us at Boothferry Park, to being one of 80,000 lucky fans at Wembley Stadium, we've come a long way and I'm so happy to have been able to be there and share all of that with my Dad!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!

Ciaté Mini Starry Night Polish and Caviar Duo

So following nipping into a supermarket to pick up a couple of bits and bobs, I couldn't help gravitating towards the magazine stand and could not resist picking up the latest issue of Marie Claire magazine for the free Ciaté polish and nail caviar! It was a tough decision between the two they had stocked; Starry Night or Sunset Shimmer but I settled on Starry Night and hurried to the till before I could change my mind!

So the set consists of two bottles, one is the Ciaté Mini Polish in Ferris Wheel and the other is the Ciaté Mini Nail Caviar in Frost Yourself...

Initial thoughts were that Ferris Wheel was a little thin... 

As you can see, at one coat the polish was still pretty transparent but I suppose that can be forgiven seeing as it is such a light colour. I think after using Barry M for most of my nail designs I'm used to a thicker, more opaque polish!

But I stuck with it and I'm glad I did! As you can see, after two coats the colour began to show a little more! The lazy person inside me kind of wishes it was more opaque because it wasn't until three coats that it began to look a little like this...

I have to say that those three painstaking coats (okay I'm being a little melodramatic now) were definitely worth it because the colour result is just gorgeous! Especially for summer!

Next challenge was how to apply the nail caviar! I've never had anything like this for my nails before, but I know people who have and they got a funnel with the bottle. I'm not sure if the normal Ciaté set comes with a funnel but it seemed an impossible task to poor the tiny pearls directly from the bottle and onto my nails. 

After much thought, I decided the best plan of action would be to poor some tiny peals onto a piece of paper and push my wet nail down gently into them. Although I didn't get full nail coverage I'm pretty pleased with the results! 

I left them to dry/stick to my nail and after seeing a couple of the beads/peals had fallen off, I decided to apply some of my Color Club Top Coat, making sure to dab it on in blobs rather than in strokes to make sure I didn't know any more off! A couple of hours later they're still intact so I think I can safely say mission accomplished!

What do you think of the Ciaté Mini Sets? If I were to cheekily invest in another, what colour would YOU recommend?