2014 is my time...to get healthy

At the end of 2012 I started to get my health on track, running three times per week, discovering smoothies, juices and super foods such as Chia seeds and generally contributing to feeling a lot healthier .

Then in January Dan had a minor operation, that turned into a major pain! He was told it would take just three weeks off work to recover, but unfortunately he didn't recover as quickly as we had all hoped and ended up with months off of work and I ended up taking over his care. It's nothing major, don't worry, but I had to learn to dress his wound due to nurses not being able to come out to us because of the snow and I wasn't at all ready to do it.

Dan is still healing now and I think that the stress of the whole thing became the reason my IBS decided to take over my body, resulting in me becoming quite ill and dropping a lot of weight very quickly. I got so bad that I would barely eat one meal a day, I would cry at the thought of eating any food because of how ill it made me feel and exercise just left me so exhausted each time I tried that I decided I couldn't do it anymore and just gave up. It wasn't until around September last year that I started to eat again, and I'm still not eating the way that I should, in fact I've gone the opposite way now and eat far too much some days because I'm finally able to eat some of the foods that I missed. 

All this being said, now that my health is far better, I want to get my body back on track, as much as possible. In order to help kick start my healthy new ways I bought a few things from poundland, yes, poundland, to help motivate me!

Smoothies : Over 200 healthy, nutritious, delicious smoothies and juices RRP £9.99 £1 Poundland

This smoothie book is perfect for the beginner, or for those, like me, who already loves smoothies, but lacs in imagination when it comes to ingredients. The book starts of with basics, such as what a smoothie is, how it will benefit your body and nutritional information. It then 5 fruit sections - apples, bananas, berries, strawberries and tropical & citrus each including smoothie recipes based on that fruit. It also includes a vegetable section, a juice section and an index, of course. Each recipe includes the ingredients, serving number and method, it couldn't be simpler!

The Perfect Pilates Bum with Margot Campbell DVD £6.99 Sainsburys £1 Poundland

I liked the idea of this DVD because with Pilates you don't need any equipment, it's gentler on the body but gives great results. This DVD starts with a warm up, follows with 4 workout sections and ends with cool down, just like if you were to go to a class at your local sports centre. The four workout sections are Sculpt and Tone focusing on abdominal muscles; Strengthen Up focusing on back and core muscles; The Perfect Pilates Bum focusing on the bum and surrounding areas; and Total combo focusing on raising your heart rate by building on the moves for the first three sections. These four sections aim to work your body parts in different ways but the combination will give you 'the perfect pilates bum'.

6 Minute Morning Stretching RRP £3.99 £1 Poundland

Poundland had a variety of these books so it's worth keeping an eye out for others.

This book includes an introduction, a variety of stretches for different parts of the body, each lasting 6 minutes - Thighs, Bottom, Calves & Ankles, Stomach & Waist, Arms Shoulders & Chest, Back & Neck; It also includes a two-week plan to give your body the best possible benefit. I liked the look of this book because I think stretching is just as important for your body as exercising. I'm not looking to lose any weight but rather become more toned and stretching can help with this. With each stretch lasting just six minutes, I'm also more likely to incorporate them into my day as it's easy to fit in, doesn't require any equipment and doesn't work up a sweat, resulting in me needing to wash my hair everyday before work, have you seen my hair?! 

I feel more positive about getting my body back on track this year, being healthier, more active and more toned is my mission. I may have to nip back to Poundland to see what other books and DVD's they have left too.

Do you have any health related New Years resolutions?

Love

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2014 is my time...to become organised - The Filofax edition

So we can choose to make new resolutions any time of the year, but I'm pretty sure the New Year is a good place to start right?!

Although I have quite a few new resolutions for this year, my most important one is probably to become more organised! Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not an organised person by any means and I always forget to do everything! I am thee worst at texting back, and there is no point asking me to remind you to do anything, because I'll most likely forget...

So that's where my new filofax comes in to play...

Filofax Temperley Ikat Compact Personal Organiser - Yellow - £45 £22.50 Filofax

I adore this little message by Alice Temperley, I think it adds the perfect personal touch!

 This filofax was inspired by Temperley London 2012 cruise collection and is the perfect all round organiser for everyday, with everything you could possibly need in a diary and it doubles up as an evening clutch bag too.

This organiser is simply perfect for becoming, well...organised! With a section for your diary, projects, addresses, birthdays, notes and expenses, it makes it easier to keep a track of everything. It doesn't come with pages to slot in between these sections but you can easily make your own on word and print them out or buy note pages in personal size from the filofax website, my local Tesco sell them too, so it's worth a check. There is also your personal week-by-page diary for 2014 which you can replace each year with the new years diary and a ruler/pagemarker which is really handy when your in a rush to write something down.

If your the type of person who works to a very busy schedule and sometimes ends up having to get changed for a night out at work, to go out straight after, this diary could make that a tad bit easier for you too as the diary can simply be removed to reveal a clutch bag perfect for an evening out, with compartments for your cards, notes and there's even a coin compartment too.

I'm most excited about the projects, finance and extra diary section, because this year I aim to become more organised with my blogging, writing posts ahead of schedule and making sure that I blog at least 2-3 times per week, hopefully resulting eventually in scheduled posting on the same days each week. 

I also aim to write down what I spend each day and see where I'm spending far too much, learn to cut down and save! Is it bad that we're only on the fifth and I've already realised I spend far too much on makeup?! 

As for the diary section, this year I aim to take control of my IBS, writing a food diary, and keeping a track of what affects me and when. I have had IBS for five years now and a food diary is probably one of the most important things in pin pointing what your body can and cannot tolerate and I still have no idea, but I've also never kept up with a food diary for more than a week and I'm hoping my filofax will make this a little easier for me.

Have you made any new years resolutions?

Love

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NYE Outfit and accessories...

This New Years Eve me and Dan are heading to my mums for a quiet night of family celebrations. Usually we go out with our mutual friends, however with our schedules having become so hectic this year we've just decided to take a more relaxed approach to all festivities, plus were off to London New Years Day so we don't want to be too hungover as it's a long drive there. Roooaaadtrrriiip!!

The outfit... 

Even though we are just staying in, that doesn't mean I won't get dressed up! After all it is still New Years Eve! I've decided to wear this sparkly dress from Primark, which I think cost around £13, as I love to add a bit of glitter, or a lot in this case, to outfits at this time of year! I've decided to team it with my Primark two tone heels, these were £6 in the sale, because I love them, but I cannot for the life of me walk in them! However from the car to the house I think I can just about manage! And just in case that doesn't make me feel like the ultimate Primark queen, I'm teaming these with my Primark statement necklace, £4 ish because it adds the finishing touch. To tie in the nude on my heels, yes I'm a girl who likes to match, I'll be taking this nude studded clutch from New Look with me to pop my phone and keys in.

On to the beauty bits...

Of course I'll be pulling out my new Guerlain sale purchases, including the velvet body milk, to double up on this gorgeous scent, to ensure I smell scent-sational, see what I did there? all night long! I haven't yet used my new Mac palette, so I'll be giving this a try and keeping it simple with a subtle smokey eye, then adding my L'oreal colour riche lipstick in 461 scarlett creme to complete the NYE glam look.

Once my look is complete I'll try to squeeze in a picture in , before I head out the door and update this post :)

As promised...

What are your plans for NYE? Do you have your outfit planned?

Happy New Year Everyone! Wishing you all the best for 2014!

Love

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Sale Shopping...

I have always previously worked in retail, since I was 16 and therefore my boxing day has always been spent working! Having left retail in November I actually had the opportunity to do what I wanted, so of course it was spent having a lie-in and the rest of the day in my pj's before heading to my mum and dad's for nibbles and card games. I really wanted to hit the sales, but told myself I really didn't need anything! But that didn't last long! I only worked half a day on the 27th and 28th so I decided to hit the shops to see what was left in the sales, and I was actually quite surprised by what was left! Here's what I got...

27th...

The first shop I popped into was next, they didn't have a great deal left to be honest, but I saw this nightie, which I actually really wanted for Christmas, and they had one in my size left! At just £6 I couldn't resist!

I then spent forever between Debenhams and Boots looking for some perfume as I've ran out and only had a purse spray for Christmas which won't last me two minutes. I eventually decided to go for the Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Eau De Toilette, there is an Eau De Parfum but I asked to smell the testers and they couldn't be more different! I really don't like the latter, at all, but I fell in love with this one. At £17.75 how could I not?!

28th...

I've wanted to try the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour cream for so long, and I thought that I would check their prices for the festive sales. This limited edition little pot was down from £20 to £13.33 in the sale which I thought was pretty good, especially for this 30ml jar which in a multi-purpose balm should last a while as a little goes a long way with this.

Although these weren't technically on sale, I got some great bargains from The Body shop so I thought I would include them anyway. They do however currently have an offer on of buy one product, get one half price...

I decided I wanted to save my Guerlain perfume for best, which meant I needed an everyday perfume and I fell in love with this White Musk Smokey Rose scent a few weeks back. Honestly I thought this would have been on some sort of offer as it was in a Christmas package offer, but it was only £14 for both the Eau De Toilette and body wash so I was still pretty happy. 

When I got to the till, the sales assistant asked for my membership card, and it's been that long since I've used it, as I always forget, she informed me that it had actually run out last year, as in 2012! How bad is that?! However for just £3, which was the signing up fee, it's usually £5, though I'm not sure why I got it cheaper, I got a free Warming Mineral Clay Mask worth £10 and because I forgot to collect my birthday gift last year, they still honored it, even though I didn't ask, and I got to choose a £5 gift for free. I chose this Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner as my face has been so sore lately with painful lumps under my skin and breakouts galore, lovely I know, so fingers crossed this works.

So in body shop I got four products and a membership card worth £36.50 for just £17.60, now that's what I call a bargain!

Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchases, I was pretty tame, I could have bought lots more and I am still considering going back for a Benefit set that I've seen on offer but I like what I got and I'm now stocked up on perfume :)

Did you brave the sales? What did you get?

Love

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