Fitness Friday| The benefits of Green Tea

This weeks Fitness Friday is more health related if you hadn’t already guessed. I don’t know about you but I always find that I can easily commit to being fit but struggle to keep my diet healthy all the time. Personally I try to change small things in my diet one at a time so I can make a habit of it. One of these things is drinking green tea! Since I started working in an office my tea consumption has gone through the roof, and although many say tea is a healthy alternative to drinking coffee, it still has plenty of caffeine in it when drank in large quantities!

So as I have started swapping my builders brew for a green tea when I’m in the office I thought I would share the health benefits to drinking green tea, in the hope that some of you may swap one of your usual brews to a green tea!

• Its a healer- Green tea is packed full of goodies and antioxidants that can help fight against certain medical conditions such as;cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular diseases, and infection.
• Smile- Green tea can help prevent tooth decay and bad breath. Its bacteria destroying abilities kills the bacteria that causes dental plaque.
• Weight loss- Green tea aids weight loss… fact! There have been countless studies across the world which have all found that participants who drank green tea lost more weight than those who did not. Green tea boosts that metabolism of yours, meaning you burn the fuel in your body quicker than before.
• Need a boost? Green tea enhances the energy levels in your body! so when you get to that afternoon slump, instead for reaching for a coffee and chocolate bar, try a green tea instead!
• Depression- Scientists have found that there are goodies in green tea that help fight depression. However like with all teas, those who drink it find that it is relaxing and helps fight against episodes of anxiety.
• Hydration! We all know the importance of drinking water, however I know many of you do not like the taste of it. So how about drinking a few cups of green tea? Green tea provides hydration benefit similar to water… plus it has no calories or sugar unlike some flavoured water!
• Fight the Flu!- Green tea’s high levels of antioxidants along with its Vitamin C consent help fight against infections and keeps cold and flu at bay!
• Super Skin!- Fro you beauty blogger green tea is a must! Green tea helps keep your skin clear, youthful and fresh. Many facials and face cream contain green tea extract because of its ability to keep your skin agile and help prevent the aging  process! Great for your skin

Do you drink green tea already? Do you know of any other health benefits to share with everyone? Would you swap your usual brew after reading up on the benefits to green tea?

Fitness Fridays| Smoothie Love

Firstly apologies for not posting any Fitness Friday posts over the past couple of weeks, I hope you understand I was busy with my dissertation. But fear not they will be continuing, and are becoming a little bit more personal, as I am currently starting a health kick, to ensure I’m looking super fit for summer. It is the perfect time to start in my opinion (if you haven’t already) as the short bursts of sunshine are really motivating to remind you that bikini season is just around the corner, June is only 2 months away!

As the title suggests this post is not really fitness, but diet related. For those of you have been a loyal follower of mine from the beginning you will remember that I adore a good smoothie, and if it is homemade even better! So for my health kick I decided the first small step I am taking is to change my breakfast from carby bread and cereals, to homemade smoothies. If you have a blender there really is no excuse, as they don’t take long at all, especially if your fruit is already prepared. And if you don’t have a juicer, you can buy them relatively cheaply on ebay for around £20.

Smoothies themselves are a great start to the day, here are some of the benefits for you;

• They are full of fibre, which will help you feel fuller for longer.
• If you add natural protein such as spinach or whey powder then the smoothie will keep you even fuller!
• Smoothies can contain 2 or 3 portions of your fruit or veg for the day… so it gets you off to a great start for hitting the magic 5!
• They are perfect for summery and spring days, as they are cool and refreshing.
• The vitamins in your smoothie will significantly improve the appearance of your skin, hair, and nails… great for us beauty bloggers especially with those close up photos!
• The high water and nutrient content will help keep you hydrated throughout the day.
• Obviously they are a low caloried option. The recipe below contains only 200 calories…great for girls wanting to shape up.

Here is a really easy one I have been making and drinking most mornings this week. It has three ingredients, and takes 2 minutes to make. Your ingredients are a packet of frozen mixed berries, a carton of grape juice, and a pot of natural yoghurt. Throw in a bit of each (I don’t know measurements I just throw it all together) and blitz… there you go breakfast! I admit this is quite a sweet smoothie, so not great if you don’t like sweet things, put you can Google recipes, or try your own!

I hope I inspire someone to give it a try. Give it a week, and you will notice your skin becoming a lot clearer, and maybe your waistline reducing.

*Apologies for the blackberry photos..bad quality!

Body Scrub Review- Scrub Up Naked

I am obsessed with exfoliating! I love it, the whole process of getting rid of old skin and revealing lovely soft glowing skin.. amazing! (Obviously I don't over do it, as this does

 more harm than good.)

I often find with scrubs that they are not coarse enough for my liking, I actually like to feel the grains against my skin, not just for me to feel once and then for them to disintegrate like many do. 

I have my favourite facial scrub (Find out what it is here!) However I am yet to find a perfect body scrub. The best one I found was a one from Boots' Sanctuary range, it was a salt or sugar scrub.

I wanted to try a new one, so I looked up on Ebay and found a big giant tub of natural sea salt scrub for about £3.50... Bargain! It is made by the Natural Bodycare company, which is based in the UK. They use natural products and are against animal testing... great for such a cheap product! Now for the Review;

The Good

• It is coarse! Yeah, lots of grainy bits of salt to rub into your skin!
• This salt does not disintegrate quickly
• Meaning you you do not have to use much in one wash :D
• It leaves skin lovely and smooth (obviously this is the required result of a scrub but this scrub makes this smoothness obvious.)
• It's animal friendly and natural (always a plus)

The Bad

• The scrub leaves a waxy residue on the skin, this is obviously a result of the product being natural, but I do find it a little too waxy for my liking. (I suppose really the wax is keeping moisture in, but either way I don't like the feel of it.)

Overall I feel I am still looking out for a favourite body scrub, so will probably try something new next time.

Does anyone have a favourite body scrub they would recommend? 

Are Detox a sham or not?

So its that time of the year again, where health and fitness comes to the front of everyone's mind. Detoxing is obviously one of the most popular ways to kick start this phase many of us go through. From juice diets, to yoga, to beauty treatments, there are many different ways to detox. However I recently read an article in the Daily Mail saying that detoxing, in fact, had no benefit to health and is a sham. To be honest I always take any article published by the Daily Mail with a pinch of salt, as I believe they can over react a lot!

So I did some researching into the topic. Experts believe that the body is perfectly capable of ridding of all the toxins in your system without the need of detoxing. They even claim that some detoxes out there can even be dangerous. Detoxing is not what improves your body's functionality, it is the increase in the healthiness of peoples diets that make them feel better, and it is in fact bad diets and lack of exercise that make people feel sluggish and heavy, not toxins. Basically experts say detoxing is no more than a marketers dream and a million pound industry.

I personally agree that the body does detox itself, but to a degree you can help your body through many methods. You cannot cram your body full of rubbish continually, do no exercise and expect it to still function effectively and properly for the rest of your life, you need to nudge it in the right direction. I don't agree with spending large amounts of money on special products, but instead, upping your intake of vegetables and fruit, restricting carbs, taking up yoga and Pilates (exercises that concentrate on breathing and stretching), just using your commonsense. Do not buy into fads and pills, if you up your vitamins and fibre you will see more movement in your bowls (lovely I know, sorry) which will help rid the waste you have in your body.

For example my mother had a series of colonic irrigation, and the benefits she gained form this were great. When she saw the therapist she obviously listed all the possible benefits, but my mum personally lost around 7 pounds, which was most obvious on her upper abdominal area, as this is supposedly where waste in our body become crammed, and makes us look bloated no matter how much exercise and toning you try to do. She also felt less lethargic, and recommends the treatment to everyone and anyone who will listen.

A personal example of detoxing is when myself and my friend did the Maple Syrup Diet, which is famous because Beyonce used it to lose weight for her role in Dream Girls. Basically you are to drink nothing but a mixture of lemons in hot/cold water, organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper (it was pretty gross). You drink this for 6 times a day for 10 days, me and my friend managed 4 1/2 days. Surprisingly my hunger disappeared after 2 1/2 days, however my humongous headache made me want to die. This is an extreme "Detox" and I would not recommend it, as personally apart form losing 5 pounds, I saw no other benefit, I think I actually looked worse.

What are your opinions on detoxing. Have you ever tried a detox, or bought any products?

Look Perfect Despite Not Feeling It| How to Cure a Hangover

So its that time of year, when a lot of people burn the candle at both ends of the stick. Meaning some of us can end up becoming unwell and looking even worse. Due to myself working in hospitality I don't get much time off work, so I am guilty of not having much sleep, too much alcohol and energy drinks, and a poor diet. Here are a some tips that I follow or have heard of through the years.

Tired Puffy Eyes

We've all woken up with little piggy eyes, despite getting what we thought was enough sleep.

These puffy eyes, are actually caused by things such as dehydration from excessive alcohol consumption, or from sleeping in dry stuffy rooms. 

To reduce the symptoms try letting gravity do its work, so prop your head up while you sleep with an extra pillow. If this does not help, try gently tapping the eye area lightly with your finger tips, working from the inner eye by your nose, toward the temple. 

If this does still not work, use the good old trick of cupping each closed eye with a chilled stainless steel teaspoon for five minutes. 

Bloodshot eyes

Eyedrops! Eyedrops! Eyedrops! These work miracles, as often bloodshot eyes are the telltale of a tired or hungover person. For those who wear contact lenses, so cannot spend the day putting eye drops in many companies now have solutions that you can spray on your closed eyelid and they still have the same effect.

There also exists a homemade remedy, however I have not tried it, so do not know whether it works, but to me it sounds painful due to the witch hazel. Anyways you are to add a couple drops of witch hazel into an egg cup of mineral water, then place it snugly over the eye allowing it to wash the eye for around 10 seconds. 

Chapped lips and noses

Shiny, peeling noses are often around this time of year to the risk of colds and flu. The easiest way to get rod is of a slick of one per cent hydrocortison products such as Hc45 cream, which is available at chemists. 

Chapped lips need protected and healed from products such as Vaseline, use this especially at bedtime. 

Always avoid matte, pale, frosty lip colours of you do have chapped lips as this highly emphasized the flaky lips, instead use moisturizing lipstick with a sheer gloss or satin texture. 

Dry, Flaky skin

Due to low humidity, central heating and other dehydrating elements pf the colder months, our skin becomes dry, flaky and dull.

I am an avid believer in exfoliating, but it is needed even more so in the winter. We do not shed our skin unlike reptiles, so we need to give ourselves a helping hand. Exfoliating will rid the old dead skin cells, and reveal more fresh healthy cells. Always layer on the moisturiser afterwards though, otherwise you will see no benefit. Outdoor exercise will also help boost circulation and will improve the look of your skin. 

Dull complexion

Diet and exercise will always help your complexion, there is really nothing better. So despite the cold months and stodgy food, please still keep up your exercise regime. 

Boost your complexion even more so with the use of a good moisturiser, a radiance-enhancing one will work best. Really massage the lotion into your face, then let it absorb into your skin for five to ten minutes before applying your foundation. 

The dreaded hangover

You feel awful because of the alcohol leaving you dehydrated, which affects the blood vessels around the brain giving you an awful headache. 

- The things you can do to minimize the symptoms are lining your stomach before you go out with a good meal. This helps slow down the rate the alcohol is absorbed. 

- Drink water before, during and after drinking alcohol this is the best thing you can do as it slows down your drinking, and helps flush your body of the alcohol and stops dehydration. 

- Treat headaches with paracetamol rather than aspirin or ibuprofen painkillers as these can irritate your stomach.

- Eat protein rich meals (if you can keep it down) scrambled eggs, or a chicken wrap are ideal.

- If you are feeling sick, ginger helps as it has anti-nausea qualities. So have a smoothie with ginger included in it, also  a smoothie will help replenish your body with vitamins. 

- Eat yoghurt, better still live yoghurt. As the "friendly" probiotic bacteria in your gut can help to boost recovery from alcohol-induced liver damage. 

What are your go-to tips to ensure you look alive after a heavy few nights? What hangover cure do you use? 

Diet Tips| Dinner Do's and Don't

After my article on "18 days to look fabulous" a few comments mentioned that they find the many dinners they share with family and friends the hardest part of trying to be healthy during the holidays.

So I am going to share a couple of tips I have picked up.

Make sure even when following these tips that you enjoy your dinners. Do not spend Christmas worrying about what you put in your mouth, still indulge, just don't over-indulge!

• Fill up half your plate with vegetables or salad. These obviously are extremely good for you both on your waistline, but also your skin and hair. The more food you have on your plate that has less calories, the less you are going to eat over all. 

• Try everything, don't panic about eating something that may have a high calorie count. Just make sure you only have a couple of bites. Mariah Carey followed this rule to lose weight for her world tour. It is called the Morsel Diet, named so, because you have a tiny portion/couple of bites of whatever food you want, but ONLY a couple of bites. (I'm not saying to follow this diet, just follow the rule for your big dinners)

• Only have what is on your plate! Do not nibble before hand when preparing food, and do not take seconds. If you must, have more meat, more vegetables, not more potatoes. 

• Ask for a smaller plate. If with your own family, this is a simple ask, if not do not worry. If you have a smaller plate, you can not fit as much on it, so will definitely eat less.

• When at a buffet at a party or other event, follow the same rule. Have one plate only, fill it half with salad or vegetables, and have plenty of chicken legs (they always seem to have these at buffets) Just keep away form the carbs (pastry/ crisps etc) and stock up on protein (chicken, ham, sausages)

• Do not nibble on sweets, crisps, nuts throughout the day! If you must have some then portion it, take a separate bowl and have a handful (one handful) and eat this portion and this portion alone. If you don't portion and instead nibble and graze, you do not realise how much you have eaten, and can over eat very easily.

• For desert, have some!! (only if you want) But have a normal portion, not a huge one, you can always say you are full from dinner, so can not manage a large portion. The key with dessert is, if you can have it without cream, ice-cream etc; this can easily add another 200 calories.

It really is all about portion control, here's a picture to help you.

If you can not follow these tips, it does not matter! What you need to do is pick 3 or 4 big events, and have whatever you want during these dinners/parties, and just eat moderately and healthily for the rest of the time.

I hope these tips help you take control of your diet over the holidays. Let me know what your favourite portion control tip is. 

18 Days To look Fabulous| Tone Up Quickly

It is 18 days till the big night, New Years Eve! This means we all have 18 days to look and feel amazing for the big event (whatever your plans are.) Most people spend the occasion catching up with those we have not seen for a while, so what better occasion to turn up and make jaws drop. It is obviously very hard to maintain our weight throughout the holidays, never mind lose weight. However it is doable, especially during the week between Christmas and New Year, as the majority of parties and get togethers happen before Christmas day. 

So what I'm suggesting is that we do not punish ourselves with relentless calorie counting, but instead make healthier choices. Here are my top tips;

• Do you need an extra glass of wine after the 3 you've already had? Try swapping a large glass of wine (185cal)  for a vodka lime and Soda (76 cal), this will save you around 110 calories.

• Always have a healthy breakfast. You can at least start the day right. Have a healthy filling and nutritional breakfast, for example a smoothie, for your vitamins, then scrambled or poached egg on wholemeal toast. The protein will ensure you stay full untill lunchtime, and if you are hungover the eggs enzymes are good for your hangover (if you can stomach it.)

• Have a health lunch as well! If two out of 3 meals are healthy, it will make a difference. Plus if you have eaten well for most of the day, you will less likely want to ruin your good work, by indulging too much for dinner. Have some soup, hummus with carrot/ celery/ pitta bread, or warm Chicken and pasta salad (in a tomato sauce, not creamy!!)

• Have a 30 minute brisk walk 5 days out of 7. Try going for a walk after your dinner, this will help your digestion also, so you will feel less bloated. Wrap up nice and warm and take the family or dog with you. If you don't fancy walking at night, then try walking to work, or get off your bus or tram a stop early and walking the rest. It may only be 10 minutes extra, but it will help boost your metabolism meaning you will burn more calories when you are sat at your desk all day.

• Do some strength exercises, even if you are new to it. Did you know that for every pound of extra muscle you gain, you burn an extra 150 calories a day! Plus it will help your posture, and the dreaded cellulite! So if you plan on wearing a short dress you need to be doing some lunges! 
• All I am asking you to do is 50  bicycle crunches in the morning when you wake up, and 50 before you go to bed. Bicycle crunches work the whole abs area, so will help trim your waist quicker. 
• Plus 50 squats while you brush your teeth in the morning and again in the evening. It is better than just standing there, plus squats are a great calorie burner, but make a great difference to the toning of your legs and ass... We'll all be looking like Beyonce in no time.

Now I am absolutely certain that everyone of you reading this will be able to do these small but significant things every day over the next 18 days. It really will make a difference your body, your skin, your hair, and it will ensure you look fabulous on the biggest night of the year.

Lets go for it! Let me know what your plans are for the New Year?

The importance of Health! Which life are you designing?

This image popped up on my Dashboard on Tumblr, and it really struck a cord with me. I may not be the healthiest person in the world, but I have a great respect for it, and thankfully a knowledge of it.

I get really annoyed by people who assume that because they are slim or skinny, whatever, they believe that they are healthy. Because I can tell you many of them are not. Your weight is not a representation of your health, you can be slim yet still have unhealthy fat around your organs that can damage them. You can be skinny, yet be unfit, and not have strong bones and muscles to support you, that will quickly deteriorate with age. There are plenty of people out they who may be classed as overweight, due to their high BMI's yet, they are healthier than people who are deemed healthy because of a lower weight.

I am not consistent with my health and fitness, but I do try, and I know that although "overweight" I am a lot fitter and healthier than some of my friends. Nutrition has a lot to do with it, and since drinking smoothies everyday for breakfast, which include on average half a mango, quarter of a cucumber, handful of berries, one banana, and a handful of spinach, I can't believe the crap I used to start my day with. Even just walking for 30 minutes a day is better than nothing. I believe that everyone should be active at least once a day. There is no excuse for not working out these days, especially with the computer games and DVD's that mean you don't have to trek to a gym, they make working out work round your schedule (although exercise should always BE part of your schedule). Even if injured with a bad back, or leg etc, do some gentle exercise such as yoga (which is amazing!)

Overall you may be young now, but how you live your life now will effect how you live it when you are older. Your body has a very good knowledge of how you treat it, and it will treat you the same as you age. Treat your body well and it will look after you for years. Abuse your body and it will soon shy and retire from yourself, and will refuse to work properly.

Just take the picture for example, or look to Jane Fonda for inspiration. At 73 she has just release a new exercise DVD. She admits she can;t do everything she used to, but she tries. (And she still looks fabulous doing it.)

Please just think about how you treat your body. Even just aim for 4 days healthy, 3 days not, and try and build it up and up. Aim for healthy breakfast and lunches, every little bit will help, and the more you do it, the more it become a habit.

Winter brings dark nights and dark eye bags

So as much as I love winter, I do not love eye bags, but according to anti-aging experts winter ages a woman's eyes by four years and eight months! Great, so we all look nearly 5 years older!

These science boffins discovered that due to the reduced sunlight hours,and the reduction in the time we spend outdoors during the winter months we have paler skin which emphasizes bags. We also feel more tired due to lower levels of vitamin D (generated by the body in sunlight).

Lacking vitamins D and K has considerable effect on the appearance of dark circles and puffy eyes. So not great news to us tired students who sleep very little at this time of year also.

A few ways to help us girls get rid of dark eye bags;

1. Sleep! Even if it is 15 minutes, it tricks your body into thinking you have slept for longer, and we all need our beauty sleep!
2. Using a cooling compress (wet cotton wool/cucumber slices) to help temporarily shrink the blood vessels, reducing puffiness.
3. Eye creams that contain vitamin K and retinol can also help.
4. Eat less salt (healthier diet) as it encourages fluid retention, thus puffiness.
5. If all else fails, hide it through makeup. Personally I use Rimmel Match Perfection 2 in 1 Concealer and Highlighter. It really is a great highlighter and the tube lasts a long time. 

What are your tips for reducing puffy, dark bags?

A Bad Diet Not Only Leads T o weight gain, but also body hair!

So this is one of the most unusual facts I found out the other day. I just love it when scientists discover things like this, it makes me wonder how they went about discovering such things.

Anyways, scientists have recently discovered that peoples body hair can be influenced by outside factors. Body and facial hair is a big worry to many women, so to find out what causes it gives all women so hope.

Obviously the most common cause of hair is through genes and race, some people are just hairier than others. The other more interesting factors are what follows;

1. Cakes and Biscuits- Eating large quantities of sugary refined carbs, like biscuits and cakes can trigger excess hair. The science behind this is that these carbs have a high glycaemic index, which means they release their energy quickly and can cause insulin resistance. Insulin is the hormone which controls blood sugar level and the resistance means the hormone becomes less effective meaning the blood sugar will lower. Because of this the body will increase its production of insulin which consequently causes the ovaries to produce too much testosterone which can lead to excess hair. P.S- Being overweight can also cause insulin resistance. 
2. Polycystic Ovaries- This condition is the main cause of excess hair in women. The most common symptoms is a high level of male hormones (androgens), which leads to hair growth. If excess hair is due to a hormone imbalance, it tends to occur in areas such as the chin, upper lip, sideburns, chest and inner thighs.
3. Eczema- Skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis causes hair growth due to inflammation, which  causes increased blood flow to that part of the area, accelerating hair growth. 
4. Menopause- As oestrogen declines during menopause, again that pesky testosterone sneaks in and becomes more dominant, again causing excess hair growth. 

How to tackle it-
Obviously with everything prevention is the best cure. so making sure you are fit and healthy will help you avoid weight gain, and can reduce the chances of developing conditions that increase your chances of hair growth. If its a hormonal condition that causes the hair growth, you need to wait to finish your treatment as hair growth will still continue so results wont be permanent. It is also recommended to use a range of medical treatments available on the NHS, such as anti-androgens (which block male hormones), eflornithe cream (to slow hair growth) or the contraceptive pill.

To remove hair in general there is your shaving (quick and painless), waxing (painful but effective), bleaching (painless, but not always an option for darker skin), and laser treatment (permanent, effective, but expensive).

The Princess and the Bee| Bee Venom Face Mask

I bet you are all wondering how the lovely Kate Middleton looks so great and what her facial routine is and how she is so wrinkle free! Or like me, you really haven't given a second thought about it. But anyways here is how she supposedly keeps her face line free, and it's a trick given to her by Duchess Camilla.

The big secret is a natural alternative to Botox, in the shape of a Bee Venom Mask. It is a product supplied by Heaven Skin Care by Deborah Mitchel. The science behind the product is that the cream contains one per cent bee venom. This venom tricks the skin's surface into thinking it had been stung, thus increasing the blood flow, collagen and elasticity. The Princess herself has private treatments at her home, as opposed to buying the product.

In my opinion I can see the sense in this, I understand how it works, and think it's a pretty innovative product. I would love to try it myself, but as I currently don't have many lines on my face I'm reluctant to folk out the £65 needed per pot.

If anyone has tried this product I would love to hear about it, and see what your experiences have been like.

Abs Are Made In The Kitchen

I don't know about you, but I never seem to get the right balance with nutrition and exercise. I either find myself religiously working out, 5/6 days a week, feeling great, but not eating right as I am in the mentality that "oh I worked out already, so I can eat this chocolate." Or I eat great, really healthily, but don't exercise, as I think "I'm eating great and loosing weight, so I don't need to exercise."

At the moment I am eating great, but not exercising, I keep telling myself "Oh well, weight loss is 70 percent diet, and 30 per cent exercise." However if I don't work out I won't be toned, I need to kick myself up the bum. Think of it this way, you eat 3-5 times a day, everyday, however you only workout 1-2 times a day 5-6 times a week. The activity that you partake in the most, if obviously going to have a greater impact on your body. 

So starting this week, as in tomorrow! I am going to workout 4 days a week, and keep my soup/smoothie diet up.

I am also upping my soup/smoothie diet, to kick start my weight loss for December. So I will be having 3 smoothies a day, and 3 soups a day, it will almost be like a cleanse. Everything I eat will be green and I will be making sure the soups and smoothies are rammed full of protein so I do not loose muscle mass like you can do in some cleanses. 

Have you ever been on a cleanse, or liquid diet? Do you get the balance right between exercise and diet?

Food Intake Recently| The Benefits to Soup and Smoothies

Recently I have had this obsession on not becoming ill. I have a million assignments to do for uni my dissertation, I work 30+ hours a week in hospitality, plus it's party season... so basically I don't have time to be ill, and with loads of my colleagues being ill I had to take action.

I decided to up my vitamin intake and make loads of vegetable soup, and eat a bowl a day, hoping the vitamins would keep my immune system up. It seemed to work, plus my skin and hair looked amazing thanks to these vitamins. I have done well at sticking to eating soup, so decided to increase my vitamins more and added smoothies to my diet. So before I knew it I was having home made smoothies for breakfast, and home made soup for lunch. I feel great because of it, and because they are full of fibre and protein, I feel fuller for longer, so I don't feel the urge to snack. As a consequence in the past 2 weeks I have lost 6 pounds in weight, which is a great side effect.

For recipes I find them on tumblr, on recipe sights such as the BBC good food, or SparkRecipes. And as long as you have a blender it is easy to do. You can even make a few days worth in one go and leave them in glasses in the fridge, so you can just grab your smoothie in the morning.

I have really just accidently found myself on a replica of one of these silly meal replacement plans that people pay fortunes for, yet mine is completely natural, cheaper, and has the same effect.

So, so far, so good, as I have not fallen ill, I have tonnes of energy, my hair and skin will look amazing for party season, and my waistline is slimmer.

Have you ever tried a meal replacement diet? Or do you favour more green and natural diets? 

St Ives Apricot Scrub Review| Favourite Face Scrub

I believe it is absolutely essential to use a scrub 2 times a week, especially those who are prone to blackheads or milia (More on milia later), like me, as a scrub will definitely help reduce these blemishes, and even get rid of them is you use it regularly in your skin care regime. A scrub will exfoliate your face, and get rid of dead skin cells built up on your skin, which could cause blemishes.

My favourite face scrub is St Ives Apricot Scrub for Blemished Skin. Other variations of the same brand work just as well, I just use Blemished skin as it is most appropriate for my own. The price is very reasonable, at around £5, and it is available at most high street cosmetic stores, or supermarkets.

The scrub is quite thick, and very grainy, meaning only a little amount is required. Due to it's coarseness you do not need to scrub to hard on your skin for it to wok effectively. Straight after applying my face is instantly significantly smoother, and after apply a light moisturiser I am literally glowing!

A few pointers and warnings about facial scrubs and exfoliating.

1. Do not apply scrubs around your eyes. This area of skin is significantly thinner, and more delicate than the rest of your skin, so does not need to be scrubbed. If it is it increases signs of aging for sure, and no one wants that. 
2. Do not scrub too hard on your skin, you would think this would be better, but it is not, as you could end up taking off healthy skin cells, and consequently damage your skin. Your skin should not be red rare after this treatment.
3. Do not scrub your face every day, again it could take healthy skin cells off your face. 

The golden rule with exfoliation is, you can have too much of a good thing!! Less is more!