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?

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? 

Winter Warmers\ Health Benefits to Soup

I don't know about you, but working all the time, and only having a short lunch break (20-25 minutes) makes finding a suitable, fulfilling and healthily lunch difficult. Especially during the colder months. I never have time to leave work and go to a sandwich shop such as Pret-a-Manager, Boots or Costa Coffee, and I do not like preparing my own cold salads or sandwiches.

So my latest thought has been soup. Home-made soup to be exact.
Yes I agree it easier to buy a can of soup, but it is not as healthy, more expensive and less fun.
So I make batches of soup, then portion them out into freezer bags, and freeze them. When I go to work I use the microwave to defrost them, and hey presto fresh home made soup to warm me up :)

This is a soup I made this evening- Lightly spiced Carrot Soup.
Recipe- http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12276/lightly-spiced-carrot-soup

BBC good food website has a few great recipes, they even have the nutritional value about each dish to help you calorie counters!

A quick, easy, healthy solution to a rushed lunch!