I'm writing this post having demolished an unusual amount of food today, I've had my main meals, I've snacked, I swapped my roast veggies lunch for a sandwich and crisps and I know exactly the reason why; I'm stressed.

I'm sure being stressed is a feeling that we can all relate to in some way, shape or form but we might not know exactly what the science is behind stress and why it can make us feel the way it does. Over the years I've become very familiar with the physical symptoms of stress for me, I start to feel 'run-down' which is very similar to the feeling you get a day or two before you're hit with a bad cold. My skin flares up and one or two angry zits are definitely not uncommon, I suffer with occasional mouth ulcers and just generally looking worn out and tired constantly, despite getting maybe 7/8 hours sleep each night.

One of the most prominent symptoms of stress for me personally though is a change in my appetite. I can eat anything and everything when I feel stressed or anxious for a long period of time and that's what I wanted to discuss in today's post.

Why does stress affect our appetite?

You might be familiar with the term 'flight or fight' - that's the mode our bodies go into when we're stressed. Our brain's take the wheel when we're in this mode and it decides what we need to do next in order to survive - imagine back in the day our ancestors way back when would be hunting for their dinner and a hyena or big cat would appear. Our brains send a message to our adrenal glands to pump out adrenalin which is intended to kick our butts into gear.

This whole process that our bodies do for us can put our appetite on hold - and rightly so - if you're faced by a lion then using up energy on normal bodily functions such as digestion go on hold and energy is used elsewhere to either fight the threat or run.

Now, when we continue to be stressed and it's not just a one-off situation - or our bodies at least think we are stressed - then something slightly different happens. The same adrenal glands as before now pump out a hormone called cortisol and cortisol increases our appetite and the motivation to eat.

It's this unfortunate connection between stress & our appetites which can lead to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes - as increased cortisol levels also spur on an increase in our insulin production & glucose which ultimately can raise our blood sugar levels.

Why do we rarely crave a salad or plate of veggies when we're stressed?

I know there might be some exceptions to this rule BUT I for one definitely don't want to reach for particularly healthy foods when I've been feeling stressed for a while. For me, I want bread, chocolate and crisps. Living the dream!

It's good old cortisol again that's to blame for the cravings some of us experience when we're stressed. High sugar, fatty foods give our bodies energy and that's exactly what it thinks we need when we're in 'fight or flight' mode so that's the signals it sends to our brain.

So how can we tackle overeating when we're stressed?

The best thing to do would be to make sure our stress levels never get so high that we put our bodies into 'fight or flight' mode but that is so much easier than done and sometimes life throws things at us that we can't see coming.

Try to stay mindful of what triggers your stress and be wary of the signs your body may be giving you ahead of time, if you're starting to feel run-down, burnt out or on edge then begin to take some extra measures in self-care and looking after yourself.

 Keeping some healthier (notice I didn't say healthy) snacks on hand when you're going through a particularly rough time can be a good idea. For example, today I should have thought about the way i was feeling and made myself a lunch that was maybe a little more appealing like a nice bowl of pasta or a homemade sandwich or wrap.  I brought my bowl of leftover veggies to work with the best intentions! Some chocolate rice cakes, trail mix or apple slices & peanut butter are all comforting treats that will hopefully satisfy your cravings.

Above all, don't be hard on yourself. You're already feeling stressed so don't add to that by worrying too much about what you're eating in the short term, if your feelings of stress persist and your eating habits change more long-term then always speak to your GP or a specialist.

My Staples of Lifestyle Maintenance: Sleep

I know, 'lifestyle maintenance' sounds a little boring and you might be sat there thinking 'what the heck is that' but let me explain.

Until you take a step back and take inventory of your health, you might not realise that it's determined by a combination of really important factors that keep us ticking over and functioning as we should be. You are most likely more aware of lifestyle illnesses and diseases such as diabetes (type 2), obesity and heart diseases and I truly believe that as important as it is to look into the cure, care and medicine behind these illnesses it's also incredibly important to look at how we can prevent them.

One way we can begin to prevent lifestyle diseases is by looking after ourselves a little better and that's where 'lifestyle maintenance' comes into it. If our houses get messy, we tidy and clean them. If our car breaks down, we get it serviced and fixed. Why don't we treat our bodies and minds with the same respect?

There are many factors that contribute to our overall health but I thought I'd share with you over the course of four different posts, the factors that I think are crucial in maintaining our health - this is based on knowledge I've gained through my studies into health & nutrition and also gathered from a wide range of experts who have looked closely into what helps us live our lives to the fullest.

Today's post focuses on sleep.

Sleep

It's strange how maybe 3 or 4 years ago I wouldn't have even considered sleep to be crucial in my day-to-day health and simply functioning as a human being but it doesn't take much investigating to realise it's actually probably one of the most important things we can do for our mental and physical well-being.

So how much sleep do we need? 

It's advised that adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night in order to function well during the day. It's a bit of a myth that as we age we need less sleep as even adults 65 years old or older need 7 as a minimum. Children need a little more, sometimes 10-11 hours a night.

What type of 'sleep' is there?

This might seem like an odd question to answer but there are actually four stages of sleep we go through during our visit to the land of nod;

Non Rapid Eye Movement- or NREM - sleep is divided into three parts; 1, 2 and 3 with each part becoming gradually 'deeper' into sleep. Parts 1 and 2 are the stages where we're most easily woken (unless you're my boyfriend who could most likely sleep through World War III if it came about).
Part 3 of NREM is the deeper stage of sleep which we're more difficult to rouse from and if we are awoken from this stage of sleep we might feel quite dazed and disorientated.

Why is NREM sleep important?

We need to go through each stage of NREM sleep to wake up feeling well rested the next morning & each stage usually lasts for around an hour/hour and a half. If you wake up one morning feeling tired and not with it then it's most likely because on of your NREm

The final stage of sleep is Rapid Eye Movement - or REM- sleep. This is the closest stage to being awake and it's called 'Rapid Eye Movement' sleep because your eyes do literally that, they move rapidly under your eyelids, darting from side to side. During this stage of sleep is also when you have dreams as your pulse quickens and your brain activity increases.

Why is REM sleep important?

REM sleep is the stage of sleep where our brains are most stimulated especially in areas of the brain that work on making and retaining memories and learning new things.

How can I sleep better?

You might assume that it's what you do right before bed that means you have a well-rested night's sleep but actually there's lots you can do even from the moment you wake up that can lead to a better night's sleep.

Morning: 
Keep a regular schedule - Keep the peace with your body and try to stick to regular hours of sleeping/waking. It might seem a bit like you've reverted back to childhood by setting a 'bedtime' but going to sleep and waking up at the same time most days will really help.

Get some natural light - Getting some daylight as soon as possible in the morning can really help reset our internal body clocks (or circadian rhythm as it's sometimes called)

Daytime:
Quit The Caffeine:  The Sleep Council advises that you should try to avoid caffeine 8 hours before bed but personally I try to not have any caffeine (so that's a matcha latte for me) before 2pm. If it's gone 2pm then no matcha for me!

Get Moving: Try to indulge in some gentle exercise during the day, exercise promotes the quality and quantity of your sleep and even if it's just walking around your office block or taking the dog for a walk it can help us sleep better.

Evening:
Put down the phone: Evidence has shown that using our phones and other electronic devices before bedtime can keep us awake due to the blue light they emit. They also stimulate our brains a little too much during the time when we should be trying to wind them down before we sleep so have a break from your phone an hour or two before bed. Have a bath, read a book, stay away from Instagram!

Avoid the temptation of a night cap: If we can't sleep there are times we might turn to a cheeky alcoholic beverage to send us off to sleep but despite being a sedative this can do us more bad than good. It might get us off to sleep okay but our sleep will be disrupted and we can end up feeling unrefreshed in the morning.

Night:
Give your bedroom a calm-makeover: Basically, ensure the room you sleep is set to a cool temperature, make sure it's dark and keep it a quiet space. If you don't have them then try to invest is some blackout blinds to help keep the light out, these are especially handy in the summer months when it can come flooding through curtains uninvited!

Get rid of rude alarm clocks: I searched high and low through the alarm clock settings on my iPhone before resorting to downloading a new tune from the iTunes store for my alarm and now I don't dread the noise so much in the morning. Keep phone and alarm clock lights off and turn off the television before you sleep. Before we moved in together, my boyfriend would fall asleep to the television and I have no idea how he did it!

Top Tip: Something that has changed my attitude to sleep is keeping the bedroom peaceful and calm. When I worked from home I'd be tempted to have breakfast in bed and log onto my laptop, have conference calls etc but keeping the room strictly for relaxing and sleeping has really helped me to associate the bedroom with unwinding and calm. 

Credits: The Sleep Council

The 'Good', The 'Bad' & The Ugly of Diet Culture Language

There's a lot to think about and consider when it comes to health, fitness and well-being. Everyday we're faced with a hundred choices, guidelines, 'rules' etc and we're left to just sift through it and try and make sense of it!

A lot of these choices we can use our own common sense for and filter through the BS to find the truth but sometimes we can be poorly led by influencers and creators down a long and winding round to an unhealthy mindset.

A little story about something which actually inspired this post; yesterday I purchased a bundle of eBooks online which was being touted by a few health and fitness influencers, you could get 90 books for the price of 2 or 3 - what a deal! The content of these books which were written by influencers (most of whom are no different to you and I and no more qualified to make claims about food/diets) and were based on subjects such as food and recipes, a vegan/plant-based diet, sustainable fashion and minimal living to name a few.

As soon as I began to flick through the eBooks I slowly became disappointed with the content. As the books are written by creators and individuals there was a lof of personal information, views and opinions rather than science or facts to back up any claims made about fitness, food and a healthy lifestyle. 

That's why i wanted to highlight some of these concerns in the hope that together we can begin to decipher the many, many messages and posts that we come across on a daily basis and how we can all make small changes in the way we talk about food to benefit ourselves and those around us. 

Food can be an emotional trigger for a lot of people, in particular those who have experienced eating disorders and disordered eating patterns or habits and with words flying around like 'clean', 'detox', 'good', 'bad' and 'cheat' it can be very confusing and misleading to know what we should and shouldn't be putting in our bodies. 

The end goal for all of us - regardless of how we get there - is to have a healthy relationship with food but I appreciate that's easier said than done and for a lot of people that's a long journey which can take a lot of hard work. One small way we can begin this healthier relationship with food is to see it for what it is; nourishment for our bodies and yes, that means all food, not just a salad or a celery juice drink in the morning. 

What about cheat meals and good vs bad foods?

So you get up each morning, you have maybe a bowl of porridge oats with some honey and fruit for breakfast, you have chicken and couscous and some roasted veg for lunch and then hey, it's Friday night so you order a takeaway pizza for dinner. Some would call this a 'cheat meal' but erm...who or what are you cheating on exactly and what makes the pizza you had 'bad' versus the chicken and couscous for lunch that you might label as 'good'? Nothing makes it good or bad except us and our language, not doctors, not nutritionists and not dieticians (not the good ones anyway!)

Ditch the 'detox diet' ASAP!

Another gem that the internet has created and one which cropped up in the eBook bundle I purchased yesterday was 'detox' your body with food and drink. Firstly, let's get our science hats on, we have two A* organs that do this for us, they're called our kidneys and liver. They don't work part time and they certainly don't accept bribes in the form of celery juice or lemon water to wake them up in the morning or make them work any faster. They work consistently 24/7 and eating a healthy, balanced diet can of course keep them in tip top shape but you definitely don't need to have a lemon slice in hot water every morning to wake up your system, just enjoy it if you think it tastes yummy and makes you feel good!

Clean eating is just eating unless your food needs washing first...

Another term that 'diet culture' has created is 'clean eating'. I have been 100% guilty of using this term (along with a lot of the others at some point in time too) but what does it even mean? It translates loosely to eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods but that's just what we should be aiming for anyway. It doesn't need to be labelled as 'clean' eating as that would suggest anytime we have a slice of cake or pizza it's 'dirty' eating? Unless our vegetables and leaves need a quick spritz under the tap before we use them or you drop your sandwich on the floor then there's no such thing as clean or dirty food. 

The Final Takeaway...

One way we can start to steer away from using these 'diet culture' buzzwords is to look at food in a slightly different way and then just put our blinkers on to block out all of the bull that the internet and television can throw at us. Educate yourself a little, it's invaluable to know more about the science behind food and it suddenly becomes less scary. 
There's no clean, good or bad when you realise what our food is made of. Every item of food includes a nutrient for us that we need in one way, shape or form. Whether that be a donut that contains sugar and fat or an apple which contains essential fibre and vitamins; our bodies need sugar, fat, fibre and vitamins in addition to many other nutrients and vitamins to thrive and work at it's best. The truth is we just need a little more of some things than others so a healthy, balanced diet is the way forward. 

Ditch 'Diet Culture' For Good

Changing your mindset when it comes to eating and your relationship with food can seem really daunting and difficult at first. There's so much flying around world wide web that tells us what we should and shouldn't do when it comes to diet and fitness and it can all get overwhelming and very confusing.

I'd like to add that I'm not a health professional in anyway, I'm not qualified to offer health or nutrition advice but I've spent a lot of time researching the benefits of ditching so-called 'diet culture' and would love to share my findings with you!

What is 'diet-culture'?

Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN is an outspoken leader in the non-diet, weight-inclusive movement is and her definition of ‘diet culture’ has been widely quoted and referenced. She says:

“Diet culture is a system of beliefs that:

• Worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, which means you can spend your whole life thinking you’re irreparably broken just because you don’t look like the impossibly thin “ideal.”

• Promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status, which means you feel compelled to spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money trying to shrink your body, even though the research is very clear that almost no one can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years.

• Demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others, which means you’re forced to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, ashamed of making certain food choices, and distracted from your pleasure, your purpose, and your power.

• Oppresses people who don’t match up with its supposed picture of “health,” which disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, damaging both their mental and physical health.”

Diet culture can make the idea of just nourishing and looking after your body by eating ALL kinds of foods seem kind of crazy, out-there and impossible. That's because diet culture has convinced us we can't possibly be healthy in body and mind without SOME kind of restrictive diet or special tea that will do the trick for us.

That's where Diet Culture does us dirty. 

Where might you find 'Diet Culture'?

Below are some good examples of diet culture around the web that you might come across on a regular, even a daily basis and not even really assosicate or label as diet culture. Well, you will now!

• Celebrities flogging ANYTHING that they claim helped them lose 2 stones in as many months
• I've recently seen an ex Love-Island contestant sharing her weight loss results all over Instagram, dropping to a size 6 and what came hand-in-hand with it? The weight-loss programme she created in order to do it! It's SO important to remember there's not one size that fits all when it comes to what you eat and how you exercise so there's no way that they can guarantee you'll have the exact same results and there's no reason why you should have to either! 
• Foods that claim to be 'guilt free' or perfect for 'cheat days'. 
• Guilt isn't an ingredient in any food. All food is guilt-free and labelling food as such simply leads to us making connections with food and creating unhealthy relationships with certain foods. The other end of the spectrum is 'cheat days'. If you start to feel like you're cheating on yourself then you'll be overwhelmed with negative feelings towards certain foods which can easily lead to more disordered types of eating.

How to Recognise Diet Culture & Ditch It For Good

Luckily, there are plenty of ways we can tailor our lives to ensure we're not plagued by diet culture and to help us live our best and healthiest lives! 

• Be Kind To Yourself
• Only use words to yourself that you'd say to someone else. Would you outwardly punish a friend for having a slice of cake at work when it's someone's birthday? Or grabbing a cheeky McDonalds on your way home from an evening out? No, so don't do it to yourself. Be kind. 
• De-Clutter Social Media
• Something huge that's helped me is keeping on top of my social media feeds. Even I follow someone at 3pm and by 3:15pm I've seen something from their feed which doesn't make me feel positive or inspired then I'll unfollow them straight away again. Go through accounts and people you follow and unfollow any that make you feel like you're not doing enough or ones who share diet culture (some celebs can be huge culprits of this as it makes them a few bob!).
• Educate Yourself
• Last week I shared four Health & Wellness podcasts which i'm currently listening to and loving at the moment and I love them so much because they're full of interesting, educational facts from registered professionals across the health industry. When you begin to learn more about health, nutrition and a healthy diet you'll start to easily see through the amount of bullsh*t there is on the internet. 

As I've mentioned previously, I'm not a professional and can't advise on what you should be eating and how you should be exercising but Diet Culture affects all of us negatively, there's no two ways about that so if we can all learn to ditch it and start loving ourselves despite what the internet might want us to think then that's a win!

My Skincare Routine 2020

I'm currently loving writing these type of blog posts at the moment, I recently wrote about my morning routine - you can read that here - and found it really helped motivate me to stick to my new routines for 2020.

Today I thought I'd go through my current skincare routine with you and show the products that I use on a daily basis. I do my skincare routine each morning & evening and do my best to stick to this even on early weekday mornings and also on late-nights when I'm super tired!

Cleanse

You may or may not have heard the term 'double cleanse' pop up on social media or around the beauty community and I just thought I'd quickly explain what it means.

It doesn't necessarily mean scrubbing your face with a cleanser once, rinsing it off & doing it all over again using double the product luckily! I cleanse once with Micellar Water to remove make-up, oil and any other crap the day has thrown at me.

I then clease for a second time but this time using a Salicyclic Acid Cleanser. I squeeze a small amount of product onto my Homedics Face Cleanser and in circular motions I move the product around my cheeks, chin, forehead and take care around my eyes and under my nose. I'd 100% recommend a silicon face cleanser - there are so many on the market at the moment to choose from and I feel like it just gives a deeper clean that I could with my hands!

Tone

After drying my face post-cleanse I'll grab a cotton pad and soak it in my toner of choice; at the moment I'm testing out the Glow Tonic from Pixi as I've heard great things about it and so far I'm loving it!

Before I moved onto Pixi I used up a full bottle of Nip & Fab's Salicylic Acid Toner - this is actually part of the Teen Skin range but as I can be prone to breakouts every now and then I really like to use products with blemish fighting ingredients. My local Boots was out of this toner hence why I tried Pixi but I'd definitely recommend this product if you're also prone to spots or blemishes.

Moisturise

Once I swept my toner across my face and neck I'll leave it to soak in for a minute or two whilst I pick out my moisturiser.

Depending on whether it's day or night I'll use slightly differnet products. In the morning I use my all=time favourite moisturiser ever, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel. I've been using this product for years now and I love how gentle and soothing it is on the skin.

 In the morning I take some moisturiser in my palm and add two or three drops of Clarin's Radiance Drops - I find this gives me a little more colour during the week and helps to balance out my skin-tone.

In the evening I'll usually apply a serum from The Ordinary (I have three from their range and have written about them here) and give my skin the once over with either a Jade or Rose Quartz roller - if you'd like a seperate blog post on rollers or gua-sha products then please let me know! :)

Finally, if I've got the odd spot or two I'll apply some product direct to the bad boys to reduce their size and redness over night, my favourite product for this is Bye Bye Blemish - you use a cotton swab to take a small amount of the pink liquid once it's settled in the bottle and whack it on the spot overnight to dry it out.

4 Health & Wellness Podcasts You Need In Your Life

If - like me - in 2020 you've made the decision start looking after both your mind and your body a little more then - like me - you might need a little inspiration, motivation and guidance to get you going.

Luckily, there's an abundance of resources available for free at our fingertips these days and one of my favourite ways to soak up new information has been to listen to podcasts. I was never really a podcast person but over the last 6 months have really begun to enjoy them, especially whilst driving to and from work (as each journey is around 40 mins each).

I thought I would share you with the 5 podcasts I think you need in your life if you're looking to take control of your health and wellness this year, let me know if you take a listen to any of these and I'd love to know your thoughts!

4. Going For Goal
This 'cast is created by Women's Health and is brand new for 2020. The host, Roisin Dervish-O'Kane interviews leading nutrition, fitness and psychology experts each week to discuss their personal strategies for success.

3. Deliciously Ella
You might have seen Ella's products in the health aisle at your fave supermarket, well the health food guru also has a podcast and each episode she discusses a variety of important subjects with various experts from the importance of sleep, how and why we love, sexual health along with discussing food myths & facts!

2. Give Me Strength
Personal trainer Alice Liveing interviews extraordinary women during her podcasts episodes with each one delving into the importance of building mental and physical resilience and how this can empower us to be healthier and happier.

1. Food For Thought
This is my favourite podcast to listen to by far, created by certified nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert (aka Rhitrition), it discusses all of the important myths and subjects around health. She dives into the myths around carbs being bad for you (spoiler, they're not), Intermittent Fasting & so much more. I love Rhi's perspective and everything ultimately comes down to a healthy relationship with food.

Let me know what your favourite podcasts are as I'm always on the look out for something new to listen to! :) 

My Morning Routine: Work Edition 2020

If you read my 2020 Goals & Habits post then you would know that setting myself some new routines was something I wanted to achieve this year. This week I started back at work properly after the Christmas break and I just *knew* it was going to be hard to tear myself out of bed each morning about 3 hours earlier than I was used to so I used the few days between New Year and starting back at work this week to establish a new morning routine.

To give some context, I work from 8:30am to 5pm and my journey to work is around 35/40 minutes drive on a good day, before Christmas I found myself getting out of bed later which meant I hit the heavy traffic on my way into work and I was around 15/20 minutes late every day. Luckily my company is super flexible but I really didn't like how rushed and stressed I felt each morning, so I decided to impose this new morning routine to get me up & out of the house on time (or even early) with zero stress in the mornings!

23:00 the night before - Bedtime
t might surprise you but my morning routine actually begins the night before and ultimately with a somewhat good night's sleep! I've started using the IOS Bedtime feature to set my 'bedtime' as 11pm and my alarm at 6:30am. I have a bath usually around 10pm and read for a bit after that but I try to put my phone down for at least 30 minutes before I go to sleep.

06:30 - Wake Up & Get Up
I've switched the snooze feature off on my alarm so there's no alternative but to get my butt up and out of bed, usually by now though Nellie has been shouting the house down so that enough motivation to get up and feed her!

06:30 - 06:45 - Get My Shiz Together
If I don't have leftovers for lunch then I like to prepare my lunch & snacks for the day during this first 15 mins of the day. I'll head downstairs, feed Nellie & then organise my lunch bag. I'll grab my matcha tea, keep-cup, water bottle, a couple of snacks (usually one for mid-morning and one for mid-afternoon) plus my breakfast & lunch and get it all bagged up and ready to go before I leave. I'll also use this time to put my multivitamins into their little sandwich bags to take later on in the morning.

06:45 - 07:00 - Skincare Routine!
One of my other habits to set this year was to stick rigidly to a skincare routine, I was particularly bad at it in the mornings last year (and by particularly bad I mean, I didn't do ANYTHING to my skin in the morning except splash it with cold water...). Now I use this time to cleanse, tone and moisturise before I apply my make-up.

07:00 - 07:20 - Make-Up, Hair & Get Dressed
We're lucky to have two spare bedrooms at home and each of us have claimed one as our own, I've turned mine into a dressing room essentially with another huge wardrobe, loads of storage and my desk for doing my hair & make-up. I don't wear a huge deal of make-up to work (or anytime to be honest) so it doesn't take too long to whack some CC cream on, brush my hair & choose an outfit for the day.

07:20 - 07:30 - Get Out The Door!
Once I'm somewhat presentable I'll say bye to Rob who is usually still getting ready when I leave & I'll also give Nellie her medication. Then I grab my bags & head out the door, usually I'll stick a podcast on in my car - currently loving Deliciously Ella's - and aim to be at work by 8:10/8:15!

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into my mornings, I find that I really enjoy writing posts like this and it helps keep me motivated to stick my new goals and habits for the year ahead! 

My 2020 Goals & Habits

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's 2020, what the heck? When did that happen?! I hope you all had a lovely festive period and spent a lot of time with your loved ones. I find the time between Christmas and New Year is very good fore some self reflection.

I've always loved a New Year Resolution although maybe I see them slightly differently the older I'm getting; they always used to be 'LOSE WEIGHT' or 'GET FIT' or 'EAT LESS CHOCOLATE' etc and although none of those resolutions are bad if that's what you want to do, I always found them far too vague which in turn made me see them as intimidating and unattainable.

This year I've decided to set some more realistic and achievable goals and also define some new habits I'd like to start this year and I thought in case anyone needed any inspiration I'd share them with you today.

• Eat clean more often - It's slowly dawning on me that I need to be kinder to my body. That means less processed food that contains, well, who knows what in it?! Don't get me wrong, I can't eat clean all day everyday as I love the odd treat now and then but I'm definitely going to make better choices when I can which

• Attend 5 gym classes a week - I'm currently a member of a fantastic fitness club in my local area which is run by one lady - Jo - who holds 9 classes a week including Zumba, Full Body Workout, Barre, AbsTastic and Clubbercise at our local gym. I joined last Jan and I still try to make a few classes a week now but my 2020 goal is to attend 5 each week.

• Take multivitamins DAILY - I've already failed at this one so far but that's only because I can't actually find the multivitamins I pruchased a month or so ago *eye roll* so I need to get to Holland and Barratt and treat myself to some new ones before I can get going. This one's pretty important for me though as I don't really eat any fresh fruit so am missing out on some vital vits! 

• Keep up my daily skincare routine - Since Christmas I've treated myself to some new beauty products and tools to really up my game in 2020 (it's not difficult seeing as my 2019 game was a make-up wipe...) I've bought a jade and rose quartz roller/gua-sha set and am loving using these day and night along with my new Homedics Facial Cleanser. I want to make sure that I keep this up as i'm a week or so in and already seeing a difference in my skin!

• Have more structure/routine - When I told my boyfriend about this goal he panicked but that's coming from him, someone who had practically ZERO routine before we got together. I reassured him though that it was my goal and he didn't have to join in. However, I want to ensure I'm getting 8 hours of sleep each night, making more time in the mornings so I'm not rushing or late for work, keeping the house tidy (putting something away after using it). Basically just having my shit together a little more. 

• Say yes less - By this I mean, stop doing so much stuff that I don't want to do or being worried to say 'nah, I'm good thanks'. Even something as little as staying up late when really I want to just go to bed at 10pm and get a good night's sleep before work or turning down an invite to a party when I'd rather have some time to myself to relax and unwind. The only pressure that's on me to please everyone else is the pressure I put on myself!

What are your goals and resolutions for 2020, I'd love to know! Comment below or find me on social media over on Instagram @laurenefell

3 Ways To Manage Christmas Madness

As much as I love Christmas, I'd be lying if I said it didn't stress me the eff out sometimes.

Luckily this year we're not having to host at all over the Christmas period - last year I literally bought a new fridge/freezer to accommodate all of the food and drink - so there's a little less to think about in that respect, however there's still parties, presents & plans to make and organise so it can all get a little much.

 Last year when we were planning Christmas Day and Boxing Day at our house I discovered some useful tips & tricks to help manage the madness at Christmas time and I thought I'd share them with you in case - like me - you also lose your mind a little during the festive period!

 1. Remember it is JUST Christmas 

Yeah, this is a big one that my boyfriend has to regularly drill into me every time I fall into a mad panic around the first week of December. It's easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself to have everything just-so and perfect (hello, my name's Lauren and I'm a little neurotic about planning things...) but just remember what Christmas should really be about and that's spending quality time with your loved ones.

2. Plan effectively & make a list or two

Through my day job I discovered a really fantastic, free web-based programme called Trello. It's essentially an on-line To-Do list and you can create different boards and place cards in each board. 

Below is a screenshot of my Trello board for Christmas 2018, it really helped me to organise and prioritise hings and I could move things to a 'DONE' board once they were purchased or complete which was VERY satisfying. Trello also have an app which I downloaded to my phone so I could check what I needed on-the-go. 

However, if you're not a fan of a digital list then go old school, make a similar style list in a notebook or diary and keep track that way. Everything looks so much simpler when it's written out in front of you.

3. Take Some Time To Yourself

You know the motto 'treat yo'self'? Well blooming well listen to it! Don't forget to look after yourself and your mental well-being this Christmas. Christmas isn't worth losing your mind over so book yourself in at the hair/nail salon, grab those drinks with your colleagues or friends after work and enjoy this time of year!

How We Decorate For Christmas

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! Oh how I blooming love Christmas-time, I love the food, I love the family time and I reaaaally love putting up our Christmas decorations.

I reigned myself in this year (slightly) because last year I had the decorations up during the last week of November - please don't judge me, it was my first time having my own living room to decorate and the creative freedom was just too much for me, I couldn't contain myself! This year I held out until the weekend of the 1st December and thought I'd share with you some of the decorations I put up to get us in the festive spirit!

Our tree is an artificial one from Notcutts Garden Centre. When I lived at home with my parents we often got a real tree each year however to be more environmentally friendly both my Mum and I have purchased an artificial tree each which will hopefully last us for a good few years. As we have a slightly unconventionally shaped living room we opted for a taller, narrower tree but i still love how full and realistic it looks.

When it comes to tree decorations I am ALL about the sentiment. 80% of the decorations on our tree are ones from my family home which my Mum kindly donated to us when we had our first Christmas in this house last year. We've always had the same decorations on our family Christmas tree for as long as I've been alive so it's really special to now have some of those on our tree. 

I've purchased a few more decorations too and our tree is super personal to us with Sandy Claws making an appearance along with some personalised baubles. I love decorations with a difference as you can see I have a few brussel sprout decorations along with owls, birds, a llama and a sloth. Like i said, unconventional!

This year I'm very spoilt with three different advent calendars. We have a large fabric one which was a gift from my parents and they've very kindly put chocs in each pocket! I also have a Cadbury calendar (a time old tradition which I simply refuse to break) and a L'Occitane Advent Calendar which was a present from Rob. Honestly one of my favourite things about December is waking up and remembering my advent calendar's need opening - it gets me through the morning before work!

I hope you've enjoyed taking a little look through the keyhole into our festive living room, I will be sharing more photos over on my Instagram @laurenefell as we go through the month of December and I would love to see photos of your Christmas decs so please follow and tag me in your pics! 

Glyndebourne Christmas Concert | New Victoria Theatre, Woking

Last night I was kindly invited to Glyndebourne's Christmas Concert at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking. I'd never seen an orchestra performance before and took my Mum along with me for a festive evening and we had a fantastic time so just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you all!

Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra and Chorus performed a fantastic mix of opera highlights, Christmas carols & yuletide classics last night with the opportunity to sing along at the end to a Christmas medley which was bloomin' epic although I won't be auditioning for the Chorus anytime soon...

To be completely honest, watching an opera/orchestra/chorus wasn't something I thought I'd ever do or really enjoy but I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed the entire show. You'd probably be taken aback how many famous opera songs you'd recognise from TV and adverts just like I was and some of them are so emotive and atmospheric you really get sucked in. It was actually the perfect remedy after a long day's work and it really put me in the Christmas spirit. 

If you're a fan of opera then Glyndebourne are at the theatre tonight (29 Nov) for a performance of Handel's Rinaldo and and tomorrow (30 Nov) for Verdi's Rigoletto. Tickets can be purchased here. 

New Victoria Theatre in Woking is one of my favourite theatre's and I've seen so many shows there over the years from pantomime's to Derren Brown, Blood Brothers to Michael McIntyre! They have such an awesome selection of performances to check out throughout the year with some of the biggest shows stopping off at Woking on their tours.

  Check out their full programme of Dec 2019 and 2020 here!

*Tickets to this show were kindly gifted by the theatre. 

Managing a Bad Mental Health Day (or two!)

As I write this post I'm not sure if I'm frustrated, downtrodden, disappointed, determined or what. I think I'm probably actually a concoction of all of those things because for the first time in quite a while I feel like I'm suffering from a 'bad patch' aka my anxiety is being a bugger at the moment and I'm having a little internal battle to stop it from taking back control.

This is the ultimate test for me really, my counselling journey came to an end a few months ago now and I've been on this ride all alone (without my counsellor to turn to I mean, my partner, friends and fam have been incredible) and I've been chugging along quite nicely up until now.

I have zero idea what triggered this anxiety attack. I actually think it might have been the amount of alcohol I consumed at a Halloween party, I don't drink very often now and although I was a nice kind of drunk I didn't consider the effects alchohol could have had on my mental health. I felt drained the next day and by the time I'd driven the 3 hours back down South I was physically and mentally exhausted. Little things were irritating me - a sure sign of anxiety for me - and I ended up devastatingly annoyed and upset at my boyfriend for starting to watch a movie without me whilst I was away that I wanted to watch together. I know. Tell me about it.

I felt really sensitive to comments and I took everything personally and to heart - something I'd not done for a while. The good thing was I now recognised those triggers and am currently doing my best to manage my feelings. I thought I'd share with you some things that are helping me right now.

Acknowledging How You Feel

This is important. My anxiety is hard to explain and hard to justify, I can rarely put my finger on exactly what triggered it so I just have to do my best to accept that and acknowledge that the brain works in mysterious ways (especially when it's tired and in my case from the weekend - hungover).

Don't try to argue or fight the way you feel. The sooner you accept it for what it is the sooner you can put your techniques and tools in place to move on through it so you can carry on with living and loving life!

Try To Rationalise

'Wow Lauren, try to rationalise when I have severe anxiety, good one!' Trust me, I knoooow. It's hard and it's especially hard when you're in the midst of the 'end of the world' according to your anxiety and making sense of anything and rationalising can seem impossible but it's 100% worth a good shot.

Ask yourself whether the thoughts you're having are based on fact or feeling. 9/10 these will be 'feelings'. If you were to ask me on a bad anxiety day you'd think I was Mystic Meg by the amount of made-up thoughts and feelings I'm 'sure' of. I'm actually not sure about any of them because they're all just my feelings, they're not facts.

Trust Yourself

For me, tackling my anxiety pretty much all boils down to the same thing; trusting myself. Trusting that I'm a good person, a good partner, strong, capable etc. I've been through some tough times and I handled them really, really well, so why am I so worried about possibly facing another tough time that hasn't actually happened and may never happen?! Who knows. 'Tis the nature of the beast I think and it has a good way of making you doubt yourself.

Don't Give Up Your Healthy Routine

This is a hard one for me. As soon as my anxiety hits I want to stay in bed all day, eat crap and watch Netflix. It's my happy place and it's comforting, that's fair enough but I also know it's not going to make me feel any better in a hurry.

Stick to your healthy diet, don't cancel that gym class, go to that bar with your friends if you can, in the long run it will help. I find that for me, the guilt of letting myself go just because I'm having a bad mental health day contributes to the way I'm feeling, it fuels the fire! I don't want to give it that power so even if I'm not 100% feeling it I will drag myself to that gym class - give me all that seratonin!


Look at anxiety for what it is, it's a mental health condition (if you will) which does a good job at trying to make us worry about every possible eventuality so it can 'prepare' us for potential trauma or threats. It's not a 'sixth sense' - something I have to tell myself constantly because I'm terrible at being convinced my anxiety is my 'gut feeling' so it must be right! It's not.

The best thing I can do for myself is repeatedly tell myself I've been here before, I might be here again but I made it through before and I'll make it through again. We are stronger than we give ourselves credit for so just remember that the next time you're faced with a bad mental health day, week, month or even year. It will pass.

When Life Interupts...

It's been a crazy few weeks. If you checked my planner you'd see all the blog posts & content I had planned for the last couple of weeks and unfortunately I've not been able to get one post written or uploaded, why? Well, life happened!

I love my blog and I love creating content but it is a very nice distraction from the trials and tribulations that life can throw at you and unfortunately I just wasn't able to distract myself this time, I was needed at home and I was more than happy to let a few blog posts slip by in order to be supportive when I needed to be.

A week-long trip to Center Parcs with Rob and my family was meant to inspire a lot of content for the blog but in reality I very much needed it as a break from my phone and I just needed to spend time with my loved ones, to recharge and rejuvenate a little.

I'm hoping I will get the chance to visit Center Parcs again soon in order to create the content and share with you what an amazing place it was, we got up to so much including archery and falconry.

I'm already back on it though and I'm looking to create some great content over the next couple of weeks including a brand post with Big Potato Games (because if Autumn/Winter aren't board game seasons then WHAT ARE?!).

Apologies for going quiet over the last couple of weeks but I'm sure all of you can understand - thanks for sticking with me and keep an eye out for some awesome content coming your way!

xo Lauren

Visiting Weymouth & Portland

I think I've really underestimated how good for you a weekend away from the hustle & bustle of everyday life can be and you really don't have to travel far around the UK to find some absolutely beautiful locations for a night or two to make you feel like you've travelled further and had a proper break!

Luckily in the South of England where we live we're only a couple of hours away from some of the most beautiful stretches of beach the UK has to offer so at the weekend we booked an AirBnb, packed our bags, loaded up the bikes on the roof-rack and headed down to Weymouth for the night for a little adventure.

We arrived on Friday afternoon around 1pm and we were so lucky to have incredible weather for the whole duration of our mini-break, the sun was shining and we couldn't wait to offload the bikes and get going but first we checked into our AirBnB. We chose a lovely static caravan (for nostalgia's sake mainly, neither of us had stayed in one since we were children) and it was perfectly clean, had a large seating area with a big TV, two bedrooms & a shower-room/bathroom.

After we'd checked in we got straight on the bikes and began our ride into Weymouth town centre, the caravan park we stayed in was a little distance from the town, perhaps a 10 minute drive but cycling in took us about 40 minutes along the coastal path to avoid cycling down the main roads - we took a couple of wrong turns on the way but it was worth it for the sea views!

We got lunch from Fish n' Fritz which is #1 in the Weymouth area and it didn't disappoint - we sat and ate our battered sausage, chips, curry sauce (for Rob) and gravy (for me) on the beach before we hit up the arcade! After lunch we cycled back a shorter route through town and chilled for the evening as we wanted to be up early the next day to keep exploring!

On our second day we had quite a lot planned, we wanted to head over to Portland Island which is adjoined to Weymouth by a single bridge in and out, there's a lot to do on the island and we will definitely be making a return visit sometime soon to stay on the island.

We parked in Chesil beach car park which was popular but has a lot of spaces, we then cycled across the very windy bridge to Portland marina, we cycled along the promenade to our first destination; Portland Castle!

I'd made a note to visit the castle before we left for the trip so knew it was definitely a must-do for us as we love history and it's an English Heritage site so if you're already a member you're in luck! We're not so entry was £7.50 each for us.

Portland Castle was one of Henry VIII's gun forts & was then turned into a house later down the line so it has a LOT of interesting history, especially surrounding it's time as a defensive fort. The tour is very good with a free audio guide, lots of posters to read and interactive features as you make your way around. You can do the tour at your own pace & as we liked to stop and take in the sea views & the odd picture it probably took us around 45 mins-1 hour.

Note: if you're cycling around Portland like we did, there's nowhere near the Castle to safely lock up your bikes so we were allowed to keep them inside the Castle grounds just outside the reception window so they could keep an eye.

Next stop on our trip was the Castletown D-Day Centre, we only found out about this place from a poster we saw on the beach the day before but wow I'm so glad we discovered it!

Rob is a huge history buff with a particular interest in World Wars so we were really looking forward to going back in time for an hour or so and this attraction did not disappoint. Entry is £7 for adults with family and concession tickets available and it's worth every penny.

The D-Day centre is fully interactive which is incredibly cool, you can get in the majority of vehicles, hold guns, try on helmets and backpacks and there's plenty to read about as you go round. There's so much to see and do there and we really enjoyed our time there which you can see from the photos we took!

Note: Don't miss heading up to the German bunker on your way out for some more interactive displays and some Nazi memorabilia - it's a real step back in time!

We absolutely loved Weymouth and especially Portland Island and I'm already excited to head back there next spring/summer again to explore more of Portland Island!

Lauren xo

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Energy Balls

This post features products kindly gifted by  BuyWholeFoodsOnline.co.uk - these are marked with an asterisk (*). 

There's always this tricky amount of time between finishing work around 5pm and starting my gym classes around 6ish where I need to fuel up for my gym class but also definitely dont have time to prepare or cook anything remotely substantial - that's where my beloved peanut butter energy balls come into it!

These lil guys are ridiculously easy and quick to throw together (and even more ridiculously easy to eat because they're so delicious). They're the perfect fix for some protein and energy before doing any exercise or just when you want a snack throughout the day. 

Ingredients (makes 12 balls):

• 85g creamy/smooth peanut butter
• 60g dark chocolate chips (or milk, whichever you prefer)
• 128g oats
• 60g chia or Organic Shelled Hemp seeds* (i've used 30g of each in this recipe)
• 2 tablespoons of Raw Wild Flower Bulgarian Honey* - I can't tell you how GOOD this smells.
• optional: handful of dried fruits (I was kindly sent some Dried Cranberries* but left them out this time round to keep the size of the balls smaller!)

How To Make Them:

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl (told you it was easy) and stir well to mix them together. 
• Place the mix in the fridge for 15-20 minutes so they're easier to roll. 
• Roll the mixture into 12 bites (or however you want to make depending on the size you want 'em) and store them in the fridge until you're ready to scoff them!

Benefits of Hemp Seeds:

I've added Organic Shelled Hemp Seeds* to this recipe because they're just so damn nutritious for you and these are a few reasons why:

• great source of protein
• high in fibre
• full of vitamins and minerals including magnesium (which will make our bodies very happy!)
• rich in fatty acids

About BuyWholeFoodsOnline

One of the things I love about BWFO (besides their HUGE selection of organic and whole foods obvs) is that at heart they are a family-run business start from really humble beginnings with founders and cousins Arthur and Joe setting up shop in their shed!

Having outgrown each warehouse and location they moved to due to the growing success of the business they finally settled in a whopping 25,000 square foot warehouse in Ramsgate in 2016 and that's where they've been ever since!