Life: January Roundup

I'm going to put it out there, I quite like January. Not only is it the month of my birth but I love that it seems like a fresh start, a time to make plans, set goals and have lots of things to look forward to throughout the year.

January has been filled with lots of happy moments, yummy food and lovely things. At the start of the month we spent a lot of time cooking and tidying the house, this is the year where I try to declutter a bit, our house isn't big enough for all my crap! My birthday mid-month saw me very spoilt with loads of lovely gifts, some bits from Charlotte Tilbury, a FittyLdn box and tickets to see Ellie Goulding in March!

In the gym, I've been working on building my strength and working on my pull ups - training was going really well, but I've been knocked out a little with an ear infection that has put my balance way out of whack - hello dizzy spells. A few weeks later and I'm feeling much better and can't wait to get back training!

Ted's been on lots of adventures this month, the biggest being when we headed to Richmond on the train. He wasn't too sure about the train at first but he soon settled, trying to say hello to everyone! We had a wander around Richmond park before stopping by Richmond Bridge to give our paws a rest.

This weekend, I headed to the Fresh & Fit Fest at The Hoxton in London. There were different workouts to try, talks by many influencial fitness people and lots of yummy food to sample & buy. I went to a Silent Disco, hosted by Misfit and run by Tally & Zanna from the #GirlGains, I knew it wasn't going to be just dancing with Tally writing the HIIT routine, it was hard but I loved it. Later on, I also tried out a Rave class by Gymbox- a dance routine, with glow sticks, on a mini trampoline. I loved it! Today, my arms and legs ache so much but I loved and am so tempted to try another class.

January was an awesome month and a great way to start off my year! I can't wait for the rest of 2016 now!

How was your January? xx

Christmas Gifts - Fit Food

Stocking fillers, usually made up up of tubes of smarties, bags of chocolate coins and, in my house, random trinkets from around the house! I always end up with stuff that I eat within hours and then feel guilty about it, so why not replace the trash with healthier options! 

You can't not have chocolate, a perfect replacement would be Green & Blacks Salted Caramel Thin, I love this, one square a day is my treat. 

For the nut butter addict in your life, you can't go wrong with a jar of the good stuff. Nuts 'n' More Toffee Crunch is amazing mixed into morning porridge or dolloped on pancakes, whilst Buff Bake Snickerdoodle is awesome straight out of the jar for a pick me up!

Finally, snacks on the go don't get much better then Quest Bars in their variety of flavours, heated up they are the food of gods. Propercorn help satisfy sweet or savoury craving, perfect for keeping you away from the crisps. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a Chocolate Orange, well Bounce have that covered with their new Orange & Cacoa Bounce Balls, perfectly orangey and chocolatey, a great replacement!

Just a quick round up of food ideas for gifts, let me know which ones you would pick!

Christmas Gifts - Fitness Tech

Fitness technology is something that has exploded in the past 12 months; there are some many different options for all types of fitness fans. 

First up, lots, fitness trackers. Personally I adore my Fitbit Flex, I've had it a year and vary rarely leave the house without it. It tracks the basics of steps and general calories throughout the day, connecting to an app of my phone. From there the natural upgrade would be to the Fitbit Charge as it also tracks heart rate as well as displaying the time.

A cheaper option would be the Misfit Shine which is a bargain at £30. This is like the Fitbit flex as it tracks the basics and connects to an app, it would be perfect for someone new to fitness. One that I know is quite big but I've never tried is the Nike Fuel band where you earn points as a motivation depending on how active you are.

One thing I can't live without in the gym is music and I adore my wireless headphones, no more faffing about with trying to tuck the wires in my bra! These Beats by Dre are pretty pricey but perfect  in the gym, there are loads of other options as well so have a good look around for others in your price range.

Now, not technically 'Tech' but everyone needs a decent bag for storing all the tech and fitness wear in as well as a water bottle to keep you hydrated, I don't go anywhere without my Water Bobble, I have a 500ml for the gym and a 1L one for day to day, I aim to drink 3 of those a day! 

So there you are, some possible picks for the fitness fanatics in your life - which ones would you pick?

Christmas Gifts - Fitness Wear

People have been asking me what I want for Christmas since October and I really have no idea, but after watching 3 Xmas films in a row, baking an Xmas cake and watching loads of YouTube gift guides, I now feel suitably inspired to sit down and put together some lists.

First up, fitness wear. Over the past 10 weeks I've been training once a week with a trainer and then training myself a couple of times of week - it's going well and I'm developing quite an obsession with fitness wear, I'm developing quite a collection! Getting new gym wear is a real motivator so would make the perfect gift! 

My favourite place to shop is Active in Style, they have so many great brands from Lorna Jane to Running Bare, personally I adore anything from Onzie, I own two pairs of their booty holders and they suck you in and make you feel like you can lift anything!

Another good place to stop by is Sweaty Betty - they have gorgeous printed leggings, great slogan tops and some fantastic accessories! Plus they do gift cards so if you're not sure what someone would want then you can load one of these up and they can treat themselves!

Final stop would be Nike to grab some new trainers. I'm a bit of a trainer snob and only wear Nikes, I have 3 pairs in rotation and I adore them all because they are bright and add a pop of colour to my normally all black outfits. No one can ever have too many pairs of trainers, plus you can get some good deals on them if you visit outlet stores or keep an eye out on ASOS for them.

So there you have it, a few gift ideas for the fitness fanatics in your life, next up will be a fitness accessory gift guide - don't know when but keep your eyes peeled!

What do you think of my picks? Where else would you recommend for Fitness Gifts?! 

#sixweeksoffitness - Setting the challenge

Source

So summer holidays are here for us teachers and it means I have to find a way of filling my days with things to do and not just raiding the cupboards and eating my weight in Thank You Teacher chocolates.

With that in mind, plus the fact I'm starting a new job in September, need to start wedding dress hunting in the winter and am not 100% comfortable with how I feel in my own skin so I've decided to hit up the gym as much as possible and get myself back into some good habits as well as concentrating on eating mindfully rather then just grabbing whatever I can find.

I'm not setting any goals, not putting in a target on how many pounds I want to lose, I'm just aiming at working out and feeling healthy. My starting point and the progress pictures are what I'm using to monitor my own progress, although I feel a bit odd about putting the pictures on the blog, but I don't mind my measurements.

Starting
Weight - 190lbs
Thighs - 26inch
Hips - 40inch
Waist - 34inch
Body Fat - 32% (This is dodgy as my scales are not 100% accurate but its a rough starting point)
Plank - 45seconds

I'm going to track my workouts over on my Instagram, using the hashtag #sixweeksoffitness as well as some of my meals. I'm tracking all of my food on myfitnesspal to keep me accountable as well as writing the odd post on here about fitness etc

I'm not writing this for people to read, if you want to read it them please let me know of any tips, food ideas, workouts, posts you would like to see, but this is more to keep me accountable as to how I'm doing.


With that in mind, I'm off to fill up my bag with some healthy snacks for my weekend away.

Review - Upbeat Protein Drink

As part of my new, healthy attitude towards food I've been looking for ways to make better choices when it comes to snacking. I'm awful at picking the right thing, I will always pick crisps over fruit, or chocolate over healthy bars, or a bottle of coke over a bottle of water.

I know in my meal plan I need to up the amount of protein I consume to help fill me up for longer, but I'm not yet ready for some of the protein dense meals I see on Instagram for breakfasts so I've been adding protein powder to my smoothies, but sometimes during the day I need a bit of a top up so I've been grabbing an Upbeat protein drink.

Upbeat is a ready made protein drink that comes ready to drink and easy to grab whenever you need it. I always pick up the Strawberry flavour and the Chocolate & Orange flavour as it helps to have them in the fridge to throw in my bag if I haven't had the chance to prepare a protein dense snack. It's honestly like drinking a strawberry yoghurt, so easy to drink and tastes great.

Each bottle contains 20g of protein, less then 150 calories and helps keep you full between meals or as a bit of a pick me up after a gym session, I always grab one on my way home from Bodyjam on a Thursday night as a bit of a treat or I have emptied a bottle into a bowl and then frozen it for a few hours to make a frozen yoghurt style pudding.

At £1.84 in Tesco, these little bottles are fairly priced and great for grabbing on the go.

Have you tried Upbeat? How do you make sure you get enough protein?

xx

* I have been given vouchers to buy these by the team at Upbeat however I have bought these before and all opinions are my own.

Health & Fitness - Setting Goals

So after a brief return I took more time off, it seems that blogging about beauty isn't what I love to write about any more - I can see this being more of a lifestyle blog, somewhere for me to track my life rather than review the shed loads of nail polish and make up that I own. As I've written about before, fitness is something I've been enjoying more and more, I love feeling active and the aches after leave me feeling brilliant as I grow stronger and more toned.

This post is about setting goals - I've got 12 weeks until I start my new job, 8 weeks until I see my friend get married and 7 weeks until the summer holidays, all of those I want to enjoy rather than feeling fat and uncomfortable. I know I'm not massive, so it’s harder for me to lose significant amounts of weight but I think it’s important to still track the changes.

My Goals:

- Drink more water - an easy one to start with but one I need to do more as I often forget and get home feeling awful, using my water bobble really helps and tracking my water on my Fitbit app keeps me accountable.

- Eat Clean 80% of the time - I struggle with this 100% but using a few new cook books I've been picking cleaner recipes as well as cooking from scratch more, I've got a few recipe posts coming up so keep a look out.

- Track using Myfitness Pal and a tape measure instead of the scales - The scales have been hidden away and will only be brought out once a month to weigh in, I need to use the tape measure more and how my clothes feel as well as take progress pictures. 

My workout for this week looks like this currently; it might change with work etc.:

Monday - Bodycombat

Tuesday - Bodypump

Wednesday - Barre Pilates

Thursday - BodyJam

Friday - Rest Day (maybe Youtube Yoga)

Saturday - Metafit & Dog Walk

Sunday - Dog Walk

It looks like a lot but I love to keep busy and throw on my gym gear, so comfy!! Plus it's only an hour so not a great deal of time out of my day. If I get my butt in gear and get my eating on point, hopefully I can get myself a bit fitter, more toned and in a month’s time hopefully a bit healthier!

What are your goals for this month?

Slendertoxtea 14 Day Meal Replacement Shake

Hands up if your still sticking to your New Years resolution of healthy eating and exercise. I've been working really hard at keeping on track and planning meals but it can be hard to get all my meals in or remembering to eat.

Often at work I don't have a lot of time, in between setting up for the afternoon lessons, marking books, grabbing a quick brew and having a wee there isn't a lot of time to put food in, especially when it requires sitting down like a salad or soup, so when I saw the meal replacement shake from Slendertox I thought I would give it a go.

You get a 14day detox shake so it's meant to help kick start your weight loss, not a permenant meal idea. It's so easy to make up, one small scoop into 100ml of water, quick mix with a fork and you have a mini meal in a glass. It's more a couple of mouthfuls rather then a full smoothie but for on the go it's a great idea. I was worried with how little it makes that I would be starving within an hour hit in really not, it seems to keep me fuller for a fair few hours and then I eat normally in the evening.

You can pad it out using yoghurt or milk or blend it in a smoothie but I prefer it like a single drink with water, it's quicker for me. It doesn't taste bad, it's quite sweet and berry like. As for weight loss, I can't comment as I've only been using it a couple of days but if you want to know then I will update after the two weeks. 

For more information, check out Slendertoxtea website or ask me.

Have you tried a meal replacement? Would you try it? 

What's New - Boohoo Fit

Boohoo Fit by knickersandnails on Polyvore

January, the month of diets, dumbbells and new gym kit. I love buying new clothes to get me into the gym mood but I find that it's incredibly expensive! I know some people love buying high end brands, but I just want to be comfortable and to not look hideous. I saw Boohoo had launched their own fitness range on their Instagram page on Sunday evening so I hot footed it over to check it out and I must say I am impressed!

The range is a mix of leggings, hoodies and crop tops. Now I won't be bothering with the crop tops and no one in the gym needs to see all of my belly bouncing about but they are still cute. I love the designs on the leggings, lots of graphic detailing, side panels and a mix of bright colours and interesting prints, I quite like the Get Fit Leggings.

The range of hoodies are a mix of cropped and longline - personally the cropped ones are something I would like to layer over tops during a warm up or travelling too and from the gym.

All of the clothing in the collection is under the £20 mark which is awesome, meaning you can get an outfit for under £35! Head over to Boohoo to check out the rest of the collection.

What bits would you pick? xx 

#BigBlogmasproject Day 14 - Christmas Fitness Inspiration

Day 14 and the Christmas party train has well and truly left the station. The food is out and going out for drinks is becoming the norm. With all of this available, its easy to fall off the fitness train and pile on the pounds.

So to help combat this, I'm trying my hardest to stay on track, to do this and keep me motivated, I've created a Christmas board filled with Xmas themed fitness and yummy recipes which are perfect for the season. My favourites include the Running playlist and the Planksmas, the boy and I do this every morning before breakfast along with a Blogilates work out. Also, the Digestive Biscuit Snowman have been made and went down a treat with the children in school (and the big children in the staffroom!)

I try to update this daily to help keep me motivated and inspired. How are you keeping fit in the build up to christmas? xx

Follow Sarah's board Christmas on Pinterest.

Workout Wednesday - One Song Workout #2

Workiut time! To go along with the Tone It Up Bikini Challenge, I've been loving one song workouts still, so I've written my own again, loved last weeks - so did everyone else so here's another! 

My current favourite song! 

Cash Cash - Take me Home.

Enjoy!! Xx

Workout Wednesday - One Song Workout #1

So project summer body is on now I've put down all the chocolate and rubbish I've eaten the last couple of weeks, I'm starting small with short bursts of exercise rather than trying to go for a run straight away. I'm building up to more exercise, but to start with I've been loving one song workouts.

I've been doing 5 one song workouts throughout the day, having a mad 5mins in the morning, at lunchtime with some of my class (we have a mad dance around the room) one after school and then two before bed. I've found so many online and on Pinterest, so I decided to have a go and write my own.

Having a chat with the kids, we decided we wanted to write something using Happy by Pharrell Williams, we often use this one as a brain break in maths lessons as it keeps it fun, so I sat down with some of the kids and we wrote this, they tested it and you can fit it all in once if you go steady with it or you can get two rounds in.

I will point out, I am not a fitness instructor of any kind, I'm taking inspiration from lots of other examples that I've used, if you’re not sure of any of the moves, have a quick Google.

What song would you want a work out to next? xx

Wednesday Workout #2

POPSUGAR Fitness

So I've done something daft - in my drunken state on Friday night, I've gone over on my ankle and right royally damaged the soft tissue in my foot and ankle :( This means I'm now stuck not able to jump around in my usual gym classes whilst I rest and ice my foot for the next week.

So in my quest to keep fit at home, I've trawled through YouTube and stumbled across the POPSUGAR Fitness videos. PopSugar is an American company, and on YouTube they have a large selection of videos under different categories. The fitness section is obviously my favourite; however the beauty videos are really good. 

I've tried a couple of the fitness videos, my favourite being the 40min cardio videos as well as the Cross Fit playlists; it’s nice to try something different at home. For an at home workout, these videos are really good, very informative, clear and easy to follow, I will certainly be using them more at home! 

Have you tried the POPSUGAR videos? Xx

Wednesday Workout #1

I don't remember a time where I didn't dance, I started ballet way back when I was 3 and I only stopped at 16 due to a serious injury, but I've continued to dance in some form or other since then (in my pjs counts right?!) I still dance in a gym class each week, but part of me really misses ballet, there's something about being elegant and graceful, plus every little girl wants to be a ballerina some day.

When I saw that Sweaty Betty had an online class in Ballet along with their instore Get Fit 4 Free classes, I knew I had to give it a go. So I threw on some lycra, dug out the old leg warmers and took to the living room, praying no one could see me through the window.

You get a warm up, arm session, cardio session and then an intense stretching session, all in 40 mins. As I've previously danced, the moves were ones that I knew, but if you were totally new to it you would pick them up to. The routine is fast paced and you do get sweaty very quickly. You're shown some of the moves first and then encouraged to switch on the music and watch on full screen.

After the first session, I hurt a bit, I've lost a lot of flexibilty so need to work on that, but now I've done it 3 times, I'm feeling much better, its becoming comfortable again. 

For a free class, this is one that is very good plus doing it at home means no excuses,  you don't need any equipment or special kit, bare feet and a bit of space and you good to go.

If you want to check it out then head over to SweatyBetty.com 

Were you a ballerina? xx

Wobble-Less Wednesday - 15 snack ideas

I'm awful when it comes to my food choices. I will happily eat 6 packets of crisps in a row and forget. My snacking choices have never been my strong point, so I need to get myself together and sort this out. I love snacks, for me I need snacks that can get mee from breakfast until lunch without keeling over in the middle of a lesson - so I need complex carbs and a hit of protein if possible.

I raided my kitchen cupboards for everything a list of things that wasn't a great choice and then wrote a list of what I needed  to get to grips with this healthy eating and thought I would share what I plan.

- Popcorn - make up a large batch on a sunday and then share into bags for the week ahead. 25g is the perfect amount & then sprinkle with a topping of your choice - I like either salt & pepper, cinnamon or even a sprinkle of chocolate powder.
- Banana
- Apples
- Graze box - for under £4 a week you get 4 boxes of balanced yumminess - why not try a free box with my code! XTP1TH5D
- Frubes (yummy!)
- Cheese Strings
- Boiled Eggs
- Avocado & ham on Melba toast
- Cucumber & Guacamole
- Weight Watchers Crisps - pick up the big packets from Poundland!
- Hummus & Wholemeal pitta
- Dark Chocolate
- Cadbury Fudge bar (3WW pro points)
- Peanut butter & a crumpet
- Mixed nuts - buy them from here! 

I try to makesure I have all of these in the flat or at work so that I can just grab and go when I need it without worrying I'm eating too much - plus the more I exercise, the more fuel I need to maintain what I've achieved so far!

So those are just some of the snacks I have in the flat - what sorts of things do you grab to help you! 

Wobble-Less Wednesday - Stop Making Excuses!!!

I have a confession - I am the Queen of excuses! If I can put something off then I will for as long as I can, making 1000 excuses!

In the past 6years those excuses have resulted in me gaining nearly 3.5stone of weight, but enough is enough - no more. I asked the question on Twitter, and I got responses with the same excuses I make to myself every week. Its frustrating, especially as we're now 16weeks away from the summer and my mindset needs to be changed. These are my excuses:

- "I'll start tomorrow" I make one every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc if I don't want to do something. This is especially true of what I eat, if I can have cake then I will, the diet will start again tomorrow. This can knock me for a full day and I'll eat whatever - but one small slip shouldn't cancel all the good I have been doing!

- "I've been really busy today" Really? How busy is busy? So busy that you've burnt enough calories for those two packets of crisps? I think not! I use this occasionally when I'm feeling lazy, however its no excuse - an hour workout is only 4% of your total day -have I really been that busy?

- "I've nothing to wear" No more is this an excuse, I actually love workout gear, there's so much cute stuff out there - I swear by Zaggora hotpants or Capri pants and a t-shirt, I usually get these from Primark as I cut them up to be how I want them to be. Its not meant to be a catwalk on the treadmill so stop making that excuse! 

- "If no one sees me eat it then did I really eat it?" How many of us are guilty of this?  Yes you have eaten it, yes you will need to burn it off - your only lying to yourself! This is where Weight Watchers comes in for me - I plan and track everything, even that little corner of the biscuit needs to be tracked. If you don't want to join WW then grab yourself a little diary/notebook & write everything down, or better still take a picture on your phone! Make yourself aware of what's going in your mouth, even when your not thinking about it! 

So those are just some of my excuses, I will not let them stop me! What excuses do you make? How do you over come your excuses?

For more fitness quotes, head over to my Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/KnickersnNails/ xx