So next year I turn the big three O! And although 30 is far from old it does feel like a big milestone! I also think that becoming a mother and the chronic lack of sleep that came alongside my little bundle of joy has really taken a toll on my face! So now I've... Continue Reading →
I have actually now completed all three programmes included in Focus T25 (Alpha, Beta and Gamma) and I currently do a different combination of workouts from all three programmes each week as my current training schedule. All three programmes are slightly different; with Alpha you don't require any equipment aside from a mat for ab... Continue Reading →
It's been a long while since I last logged into WordPress and did any blogging. To be completely honest life has just got busy, and I don't really have much in the way of spare time anymore. Rafe turned two back in December, and so far I am finding two both the best, and most... Continue Reading →
If you don't want to pay for a personal trainer or don't have access to a gym YouTube can be a fantastic resource to get fit in the comfort of your own home. There are so many channels, many of which are run by qualified personal trainers, that provide great workouts that you can do... Continue Reading →
Recently I purchased Rafe a Klean Kanteen. If you haven't heard of them they are a company that produces stainless steel water bottles and sippy cups among other products. The main reason I decided to get one was because I was finding that Rafes plastic sippy cups had a tendency to retain the taste of... Continue Reading →
If you have read some of my previous blog posts then you will know that the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of me having the abs of my dreams is my diet. I love food. All food. But I especially love pizza, biscuits and Ben&Jerrys Phish food ice cream! As we all know... Continue Reading →
Having just come to the end of week 5 of the focus T25 alpha programme I thought now might be a good time to do a little review and an update on how I am finding the Focus T25 programme as a whole so far. Plus I haven't blogged in so long I thought this... Continue Reading →
From Friday evening my 18 month old has been suffering with hand, foot and mouth disease...and it's been worse than the newborn days, the fourth trimester and the four month sleep regression all put together. And he's only had it fairly mildly. In case you have never heard of it hand, foot and mouth disease... Continue Reading →
I've been stuck in a fitness rut recently. I gave up BBG a little while ago after I lost my enthusiasm for the programme and I have been doing my own workouts using weights and kettlebells ever since...but I am not really enjoying that either at the moment. I've started to really crave the buzz... Continue Reading →
I am writing this blog post to instil some hope into parents (especially breastfeeding mums) of babies/toddlers who are 'bad' sleepers, that you will eventually get some much needed rest! As I have previously documented on my blog my 18 month old son has been what many would consider, a terrible sleeper. From four months... Continue Reading →
I exercise entirely at home, I am not a member of a gym and I haven't been for about ten years. I love my home workouts! No worrying about what you look like or what you are wearing, and it's a lot cheaper too! It also fits perfectly around being a stay at home mum... Continue Reading →
That's right I'm officially taking a break from BBG. I still think that the programme, especially BBG 1.0 is very good, but I've lost my enthusiasm for the workouts and the workout style, and I need to mix things up a bit. For me exercise has always been something that I have really enjoyed (even... Continue Reading →
Proper hydration is so important for our overall health. Water flushes out toxins from our bodies, prevents fatigue and headaches caused by dehydration, keeps the joints lubricated and can stop us overeating by mistaking thirst for hunger. There are many other benefits to proper hydration aswell but it's not always easy to remember to drink... Continue Reading →
I started the week feeling really motivated to stick to my healthy eating...and I've been reasonably successful. I've been tracking my food on the app Lifesum all week (apart from the weekend, but more on that in a bit) and I've actually done really well (I know I'm shocked too!) I won't go into my... Continue Reading →
I LOVE pasta and although I usually swap it for something like a baked sweet potato or spiralized courgette, (zucchini) I do feel slightly envious of my other half with his massive plate of spaghetti! Pasta is by no means a terrible thing to eat, the wholemeal variety is probably slightly better in terms of... Continue Reading →
So with project 'get lean for summer' in full swing I was on the lookout for some healthy, nutritious snacks that would also satisfy my sweet tooth! I decided to make some energy balls. I have made some similar to these before using the 'Green Goddess' Mum on the Run powder (see earlier post) but... Continue Reading →
Meal prepping my lunches has played a key part in me successfully losing my baby weight. I find that having a baby or a toddler makes it very difficult to find the time to do barely anything for yourself, including making a healthy lunch from scratch. This can lead to reaching for quick, easy convenience... Continue Reading →
Hello! I am back in the land of blogging! I wrote a post a little while back on Rafe and some concerns we had on his health after finding some swollen lymph nodes on the back of his head. I thought I would do a little update as to what's been going on since then.... Continue Reading →
I've found myself struggling recently. Not in terms of fitness, in fact my workouts seem to be the only thing going to plan at the moment. More in terms of motherhood. I generally keep this blog mainly health and fitness orientated, but I thought I should do a sort of explanation post for the lack... Continue Reading →
So if you have read my blog for a while you will know I am an incredibly inconsistent person (when it comes to most things in my life to be honest...) but mainly my eating habits. I flit from trying to eat super clean and healthy/restricting myself...to devouring an entire Dominos takeaway on a Saturday... Continue Reading →
One of my guilty pleasures is reality TV and following celebrities (in the magazine/Instagram sense not in the weird stalker sense). It's not something that I am overly proud of but nevertheless it is something I enjoy. For this reason I follow quite a few celebrities and reality television personalities on social media, particuarily fellow... Continue Reading →
It's been an eventful week. All three of us have been struck down with illness, Rafe and I quite mildly...poor Richard has been suffering! I genuinely don't think it's just a case of 'manflu' either on this occasion! Then Thursday we encountered the most snow we have seen here (in the U.K.) for a long... Continue Reading →
Recently one of my friends put a post on Instagram that caught my eye. It was a little poem she had made up about the follow/unfollow game a lot of people seem to play on Instagram in order to increase their following and how it's a bit of a crappy move and I thought I... Continue Reading →
I thought I would do something a bit different with this post and document this past weeks workouts, the split I use with my training aswell as a bit about my diet. I figure doing this regularly will make me a bit more accountable! So this week was week 22 of the bbg. It was... Continue Reading →
I generally like to keep my blog super upbeat and positive about all areas of fitness and healthy eating. It was like my 'happy place' to document my little fitness journey, and up until now I have felt really motivated the whole way through. But just recently my mood has somewhat changed, and for the... Continue Reading →
My favourite time to workout is first thing in the morning. It leaves you feeling refreshed and clear-headed and in my opinion it's the best way to set you up for a productive day. Getting that rush of Endorphins first thing is going to make you feel good and in a more positive frame of... Continue Reading →
We are almost at the end of January now and 2018 is well underway. So what has become of our New Years resolutions and goals that we enthusiastically set ourselves at the beginning of the month? January is known for being a bit of an 'anti-climax' month. The celebrations of Christmas and New Years eve... Continue Reading →
Now when I say 'cravings' I mean the unhealthy, refined sugar, processed, 'junk' food cravings that we all experience sometimes. I mean if you are that lucky person who has a craving for Kale then go for it! But if like the rest of us you crave ice cream, crisps, chocolate and biscuits then maybe this... Continue Reading →
So recently I found myself in the middle of a bit of a vaccination debate...okay I am exaggerating slightly when I say 'debate'. Basically I put a post on my Instagram account regarding Rafes 12 month vaccinations and the concerns that I had and it attracted a bit of attention from some people who are... Continue Reading →
So this morning I decided to weigh myself for the first time since long before Christmas...Okay little disclosure I have been rather...er relaxed...about my eating recently and just enjoying myself over the festive period (as we all should). I thought it was probably time to just check things weren't getting out of hand! I use... Continue Reading →
Okay sightly embarrassing confession coming up..I can't swim. Well I can probably doggy paddle a width whilst resembling a drowning Spaniel, but that's the extent of my abilities. It's not through lack of trying either, not only did I have the compulsory swimming lessons you get as a kid at school, I also tried one... Continue Reading →
'New year, new me' a statement we hear over and over again in January. This year I'm not about creating a 'new me', I'm pretty happy with the old me, although admittedly there are a few things that could do with some gentle tweaking! So instead I have come up with a few fitness and... Continue Reading →
I use the term 'detox' lightly. This isn't a pre-Christmas crash diet or crazily restrictive juice plan or anything like that. It's just some of the things I like to do to make sure my body looks and feels it's best before big occasions. Christmas can be a time of excess, and most of us... Continue Reading →
After reading online today about a new trial that is being carried out in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire that involves new mothers being given £200 worth of vouchers if they breastfeed their babies I felt compelled to get the laptop fired up and blog. The trial that involves 10,000 women offers women £120 in vouchers... Continue Reading →
So Rafe recently turned a year old which means he is officially now considered a toddler!!! Which is crazy to me. Now he isn't actually 'toddling' yet, he's still currently crawling (at a rather impressive speed) and 'furniture surfing' at a slightly slower and more wobbly speed! Everyone said that once he started moving I... Continue Reading →
Attachment parenting was never something that I intended to do. In fact if somebody had asked me about it when I was pregnant I wouldn't have had a clue what it involved, and if I had googled what it was, it certainly wouldn't have been something that appealed to me. But here we are, Rafe has... Continue Reading →
As mentioned in part 1 at around two weeks post partum I began doing some of my own upper body workouts, using fairly light hand weights. I also used YouTube to source some great post baby safe exercise routines. One channel I love is 'Bodyfit by Amy'. She has both post partum specific and normal... Continue Reading →
On the 7th December Rafe turns one!! One! Where has my baby gone?! And more importantly, why doesn't he sleep through the night yet?!! Alongside all the predictable thoughts that start running through your head as your baby approaches their first birthday, I started thinking about how amazing the female body is terms of its... Continue Reading →
Okay so I might just be the worlds worst Paleo...I ate a mince pie on the very first day of my paleo journey! And last night we had homemade pizza for dinner...possibly the most anti-paleo meal you can eat. What can I say?! At least I am honest! In all seriousness though going Paleo has... Continue Reading →
I have a rather keen interest in leading a healthy lifestyle and a big part of that is have a diet full of nutritious and 'clean' foods. I was so excited to wean Rafe and get him on to solid foods. Being my first child I had no previous experience of the weaning process but... Continue Reading →
So after being stuck in an unhealthy eating rut for some time now I have made the decision to start following a Paleo diet in an attempt to get back on track, and in the hope that it will allow me to start seeing better results from my training. I have also found that since I... Continue Reading →
In my very early twenties exercise was a little bit of an unhealthy obsession for me. I felt like I needed to workout every single day in order to allow myself to eat normally. If I was taking a day off I would try and restrict the amount of calories that I was eating and... Continue Reading →
My baby isn't actually 'nocturnal' in fact his sleep habits are actually pretty consistent with those of many, many babies, especially breastfed babies. Basically he wakes up every two hours-ish at night, most nights. Occasionally he will do three hours and some nights it's every 45 minutes. But none less it has now been almost... Continue Reading →
So this week is international baby wearing week! What better time to write a blog post about my personal favourite baby carrier, my baby Bjorn baby carrier one and express my fondness of babywearing. I love babywearing! A phrase I never thought I would be saying back in the days when I was young, free... Continue Reading →
Recently Rafe turned nine months old and this also marked nine whole months of breastfeeding! My initial goal was to do six months, then when six months came and everything was going so well (apart from sleep...but more on that later) I decided there was no point in switching to formula and instead to go... Continue Reading →
Recently I was contacted by Green Goddess nutrition and asked whether I would be happy to try and review one of their products, the 'Mum on the Run' powder. After confirming that this was safe to use whilst breastfeeding I was happy to agree. The product is a blend of organic superfoods know for their... Continue Reading →
Recently Green Goddess health and wellness contacted me asking if I would like to try one of their products 'Mum on the Run' superfood, energy boosting powder. They sent the powder with a recipe for a 'Mum on the Run' energy balls and after trying it out I can confirm they are delicious so I... Continue Reading →
So I have just completed week 6 of the Kayla Itsines BBG guide and week 6 was tough! I feel like this week the guide took things up a notch in terms of difficulty and some of the exercised felt way more advanced (drop push ups and split squats...ouch!) For this reason I have decided... Continue Reading →
So it's Monday 17th July and today I will be starting day 1, week 6 of Kayla Itsines Bikini body guide. I feel like I should really insert a picture of my progress/current shape six weeks into the guide, but to be completely honest I feel like I have overindulged a bit too much recently... Continue Reading →
I have always struggled with my confidence. Not just body confidence but overall confidence in myself and my abilities (sometimes for good reason... ie driving). "You need to be more confident" is often the 'helpful' advice I have been given by well meaning individuals. But how? How do you suddenly start believing in yourself? Suddenly... Continue Reading →
