Fitness Focus: How I started my journey and advice on getting started

My fitness journey started in 2012. I've struggled with my weight on and off for as long as I can remember, but in 2012 I had reached my heaviest weight. I had big family events coming up that I wanted to look good for, so I decided to make a change. I wasn't really sure where to begin or what to do so, I turned to the internet and started to research ways to make fitness and health more of a priority.

I started with walking first thing in the morning when the world was still half asleep. It was the only way I felt confident doing it, which sounds silly looking back. I would listen to music and walk a big loop around my neighbourhood usually taking between 20-30 minutes. I started using My Fitness Pal to track my dietary intake and made small changes to my diet. I used to eat really badly, there was no balance in my diet. I'd cook things like steak pie, dauphinoise potatoes, creamy pastas, with lots of brownies, cakes, cheesecake, fry ups. You know how the story goes! I guess I must have known deep down it wouldn't have been a sustainable lifestyle. 

After a while, with walking and counting my calories I managed to lose about 7lbs. I decided I had to step things up in the fitness stakes, and I bought Turbofire which is hands down the single best decision I made during this journey. I didn't have the confidence to join a gym and I didn't really know what to do next. Turbofire gave me everything I needed, a 12 week guide and a bunch of really tough but genuinely fun work outs. It was pretty expensive when I bought it (£150 I think! Ouch!) but it was worth every penny. I've also yet to find a single person who hasn't loved Turbofire after trying it. The music is awesome, the moves are easy enough, and the calorie burn is insane. Needless to say after that I started noticing results more quickly, and so did everyone else! I've had the programme for 18 months now and I did one of the workouts this week - I still love it! I completed the programme, and in that 12 weeks so much changed. My body slimmed down, my fitness was so much better, and my confidence was building!

My advice to anyone starting a fitness journey is simply this: make a start. Start anywhere you can. Do simple things like drink more water, go a walk, find ways to make changes you feel you can manage. The rest will come. Don't focus on how far you have to go, but start by doing things like taking a starting weight, take measurements, take pictures, do all three if you can! You'll want to be able to look back on your progress, and if the scale doesn't show your progress, measurements and pictures will! 

In my next Fitness Focus post, I'll take about the next stage in my journey!

Boots Mini Haul

So I had a wander around Boots today, initially sucked in by the 3 for 2 on Soap and Glory and they hype I had heard around their new fragrance Orange-asm (I hated it), but as is always the case a few other things caught my eye...

First up is a first time purchase for me. My MUFE HD Foundation is giving up on me now so I wanted to try something cheaper and easier to get a hold off. I settled on Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation because I've heard so many good things about it, I'll make sure to do a follow up post on my thoughts. I got it in shade 53 light beige, and it's £3 off in Boots just now!

After a shellac nail disaster (I swear I'm never getting them done again!) I wanted a few new colours to try and cover all the damage done while I grow them out again. I went for Essie - Romper Room from the spring collection and an old favourite Revlon Buttercup. I've been using RenuNail to try and help my nails get healthy again so I will do a post on how it goes! I picked up another old favourite Cutex Ultra Cleansing Nail Polish Remover, my nails seem to be stained so I'm hoping this will help!

Finally, being the lip product junkie that I am, I picked up Maybelline's newest offering, the Colour Sensational Nude Lipstick - Tantalising Taupe. It's also worth pointing out that just now, Maybelline products are 3 for 2 in Boots. This lipstick is an instant winner, it's like your lips but better, but it's very drying so definitely needs a gloss on top.

Til next time folks!

Disneyland Paris Trip May 2014

Last year, my Sister and I went to Disneyland Paris for the first time in June. Disney is kind of our thing! We had a great time, but there were a lot of things about that trip that weren't great. Disney seemed to think so too and offered us a free trip! So off we went...

First off, isn't the castle beautiful? It's Sleeping Beauty's castle, quite different from Cinderella's castle in Disney World, but I mean, it's pink! What's not to love? And it's absolutely beautiful inside with gorgeous tapestries telling the story of Sleeping Beauty. It was really cool seeing it right before Maleficent is due to come out. 

I had to share a picture of my favourite ride, Phantom Manor. I lost count of how many times we went on this, I love Haunted Mansion at Disney World too! We also got to ride Space Mountain for the first time as it was closed last year. That was intense! So much more intense than the one in Disney World!

 We left the confines of Disneyland for the afternoon and went shopping. Of course we had to go to Sephora, and I bought a Marc Jacobs blush which I am literally obsessed with! Keep your eyes peeled for the review and swatches soon!

Disneyland Paris was having a spring event which meant there were flower arrangements and special treats stationed around the parks, and we were lucky enough to get really good weather. We lucked out with this trip! Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris?

Marc Jacobs Obsessed Blush

So when I was in Paris recently (you can read about it here) I decided to buy something I couldn't get in the UK. There were so many amazing things at the Marc Jacob counter that it was really hard to pick, but I'm so glad I went for this. Next time, I'd love to try the foundation and one of the eyeshadow palettes. I've kept the rest of the pictures in natural light so you can get the best idea of the colour.

Obsessed is the right name for this blush because it's the perfect coral/pink with the most amazingly subtle hint of a glowy sheen. It makes you look healthy, and I really think it would work on lots of skin tones. My sister bought it too and she's a paler complexion and it looks beautiful on her too! If you can get to a Marc Jacobs on your next holiday, or order from sephora.com, I think it's safe to say you need this blush! What do you think?

FCS Summer Soap Subscription Box - Candy Aisle

Today, the Fortune Cookie Soap Summer Box arrived. I was really excited about this box because I knew it was based on candy so I automatically thought I would love it! Unfortunately I don't. Here's my first impressions (L-R, top to bottom)

OCD Hand Sanitiser - Lollipop Your Cherry:

Love the formula of these, I just hate this fragrance because I hate anything cherry scented, and it's pretty strongly scented. 

Microdermabrasion Facial Scrub - Lemon Drop It Like It's Hot:

This is new to the FCS line, and it's formulated to brighten and smooth skin, and to be used 1-2 times week. It says it's lightly fragranced with lemon and orange but it smells pretty strong to me and I'm not sure my skin would react very well to something so highly fragranced but I will give it a try!

Lip Scrub - Blow Me:

This is a bubblegum scented lip scrub. I really like the Lush Lip Scrubs, but the FCS one is much drier. The scent on this is beautiful but it feels like scrubbing dry sugar on your lips which isn't nice.

Whipped Cream Body Butter - Captain's Berried Booty:

I love the formula of this, it's quite a thick moisturising body butter, and the fragrance is meant to smell like a cereal but I'm not sure which one. It smells like biscuits or cake to me, the vanilla is quite strong, but I can't smell the raspberry.

Sparkle Me - The Sweet Spot:

This is a super glittery body spray thats smells like a fruit cocktail with notes of orange, pineapple, melon and peach. It looks really sparkly in the bottle but when you spray it in it's not too sparkly. 

Solid Sugar Scrub - Rock Your Socks Off:

This smells like a grape Jolly Rancher and is formulated to exfoliate, moisturise, and soften. I'm not a fan of the scent to be honest, but I'll give it a try and see. For scrubs, I can't see past Frank Body Scrub, read my review here.

Fortune Cookie Soap - Lick Your Lips:

The company's name sake, this is a soap for hands and body shaped like a fortune cookie with a fortune inside. Mine was a quote from Peter Kay of all people! This is meant to smell like mint chocolate chip ice cream but it smells like cheap peppermint and the scent is really cloying which is a shame because who doesn't love mint chic chip!

Wax Tart - Sweet Dreamsicle:

This is the stand out product for me. A wax tart fragranced with pineapple, orange and vanilla cream, I can't wait to use this in my electric tart burner. If they sold this in a full size candle I'd seriously stock up. It's the perfect summer scent!

All in all, I wasn't overly impressed with this box which is a shame because I always really look forward to getting it. Do you subscribe to any boxes?

Bioderma Micellaire Make Up Remover

If you haven't heard of this then where have you been hiding? I've lost count of the number of bottles of this that I have gone through, and I literally have a mini-panic when I only have one bottle left. Today I went onto my last bottle, so following this post I'll be anxiously buying another two bottles. Yes I buy them in two's. It's that good.

I have sensitive eyes, and this make up remover makes light work of taking off my day's make up (I like a smoky eye y'all, it's no mean feat). It continues to surprise me that that seemingly boring water completely melts make up away and leaves my skin clean. I couldn't ever go back to a make up wipe, I wouldn't be inclined to try another make up remover. I think it's the one! 

Have you ever used Bioderma? 

My top 3 fitness Apps

Today I thought I'd share my top 3 fitness apps. I check all of these apps a million times a day, and I'm sure I wouldn't have achieved half of my fitness goals without them. So let's jump right in!

MyFitnessPal - This was the app that started my fitness journey. It's a totally free app that allows you to track your meals and snacks. works out how many calories you should consume a day, and also tracks your fluids and exercise. It lets you link up with friends, see each others progress and food diaries, and it gives you 5 weeks projections at the end of each week when you complete your diary. It also syncs with loads of other fitness apps, most notably, fitbit. 

Fitbit - Another free app that syncs with a fitbit device and tracks your movements, activity, sleep, steps, and syncs with myfitnesspal, and estimates activity calories. I love my fitbit flex, although I've had a few technical problems with mine, their customer service has been amazing and I've always had my fitbit replaced. Fitbit is a good motivator to stay active throughout the day, you can set goals, and there's a leaderboard with your fitbit friends on it, perfect if you have a competitive streak!

Tone It Up - I'll go into this in more detail in a separate post, but Tone It Up is a fitness community created by Karena & Katrina, who provide meal plans and workouts, weekly schedules and special fitness series. The bikini series started last week and is an 8 week challenge to get bikini ready for the first day of summer. The Tone It Up Community is a great place to get advice, support and motivation and it's definitely worth checking out their website, where you can find all the links to their social media.

Do you have any of these apps? What fitness apps do you recommend?

Work Out Wednesday: Boogie Bounce

Want to jump about on a trampoline to awesome music? Meet Boogie Bounce...

On Monday I went to my first Boogie Bounce class. I should say it has taken me weeks to actually get a space. Unsurprisingly it's very popular, and luckily someone cancelled and I got in at the last minute. 

If you've never heard of Boogie Bounce, it's a fairly new fitness movement that involves high intensity cardio on Urban Rebounder trampolines to awesome upbeat music while following a series of choreographed moves. My class lasted an hour, which included a warm up track, high intensity cardio, a leg circuit then a cool down track. 

This class was so much fun, but I was sweating within minutes. I foolishly thought that as it was on a trampoline it would be low impact, but it's pretty hardcore! The class was encouraged to take it at their own pace, which I definitely did, and there were women of all shapes and sizes, ages and fitness levels. You can really make it as intense as you want.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy, I'd suggest looking in your local area. I've noticed a few have been popping up here, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it becomes more available. Trust me, you want to Boogie Bounce!

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess

If you read my previous post on the Bobbi Brown Beach fragrance then this post will come as no surprise!

If you haven't heard the hype, Bronze Goddess is released in a limited number each year around this time. Once they are gone, they are gone. I initially went into Boots where the sales girl told me they had completely sold out of the body soufflé and they only had 6 bottles of the fragrance and body oil left. I headed over to John Lewis and got my hands on the last bottle there! I'm told that they will be restocked a few times, and then thats it, it will disappear for another year! It's currently sold out on the Boots website but it's available on John Lewis with more than 10 in stock. Go go go!

This is the first time I have purchased Bronze Goddess, and I wish I had bought it sooner. The official description is 

"A sensuous, sun-drenched blend of Bergamot, warm Amber, Tiare Flower and Vanilla combined with delicious creamy Coconut. All heat. All desire. All woman."

If I was to explain it, it's like a fancy sun screen. I have to say I like it much more than Bobbi Brown Beach. It's like summer in a bottle, with a sexy sophisticated edge. I don't think you can get through summer without this one.

Review: Frank coffee, coconut and grape seed body scrub

You might have seen the hype on instagram. Maybe you heard that Jessie J used it. Apparently it's used by ever supermodel who's glowing skin and gorgeous pins you've lusted after. It didn't take much for me to part with $15 to try it out, and boy I'm glad I did. I'm talking about the Frank Coffee Scrub.

First of all I should say that I HATE COFFEE. I know, I'm weird. I hate the taste, hate the smell, hate everything about it. I was worried that I would hate the smell of this but I don't. I love it. Weird, huh? I do love coconut however so that why I went for this variation, as you can also get the 'original'. 

If you're considering buying this, it's also worth noting that this is very messy. It's essentially a very dry granular scrub that tends to get all over your bath. Trust me, it's still worth it.

So the way you use Frank is by wetting your skin the shower, turning off the water and then taking small handfuls of the scrub and massaging it into your skin. You'll notice the coffee starts to turn your skin slightly brown, but don't worry it doesn't stain. Then you let it dry. Yes it's kind of awkward when you're covered in coffee, looking like a caveman just hanging around your bathroom but trust me, it's still worth it. 

After 10 minutes, you rinse it off and there's no need to moisturise after, but it doesn't leave you greasy. Your skin smells faintly of coffee and coconut but in a good way and you're skin is buttery soft. 

This scrub claims to target eczema, acne, stretch marks, varicose veins, dry skin, and unsightly bumps on your skin, like those you get at the tops of your arms, and cellulite. So does it deliver?

Yes, yes, yes! It's helped my contact dermatitis, my eczema was much more manageable (it's started flaring up now and I haven't used this in a week - coincidence?) it reduces the appearance of your stretch marks, and it exfoliates every inch it touches, no more blocked pores or bumps. It also reduces the appearance of cellulite (we all have it!) and gives you smooth and silky legs that Beyonce would covet. I've since ordered another two packets because I can't be without this. So what are you waiting for?  Get dirty with Frank! 

Food Love: Superfood Smoothie

I've recently become a smoothie obsessive. Before last week, I can honestly say I'd never found or made a smoothie I had liked. However, that all changed and I couldn't be happier.

I call this the Superfood Smoothie, because it's got lots of awesome super hero staples in it. Here's how I make it:

-handful of kale

-handful of spinach

-handful of frozen pineapple and mango (I buy the smoothie packs from the frozen fruit section in the supermarket)

-150 ml pure pineapple juice

-150 ml coconut milk

- 2 tsps each of the following: maca powder, acai powder, wheatgrass powder, chia seeds, flaxseed

-1 scoop of vanilla protein powder 

- 1tsp of apple cider vinegar

I stick all mine in a blender and make sure it's completely smooth before serving, and I usually have it for breakfast or after a morning workout. I keep my spinach and kale in the freezer, since it stays fresh that way and along with the frozen fruit it keeps it nice and cold. Seriously, try this, whether you're smoothie savvy or a total rookie. Yum!