Product Review - STAUDT Knee-Cuff

So I was asked by Somnishop to try out and review one of the health products that they sell and I thought it was a perfect opportunity because using a knee cuff would really help my knees to recuperate  after exercise and the hockey training that I do as I often have alot of aches in my knee joints as they are the joint that holds the most physical weight of your body during running on the pitch or at the gym.

Size?

The sizing given is pretty accurate and the material is stretchy, its based on measuring your thigh a hands width above you knee to get the right size for you. I chose a medium and it fitted perfectly. 

Appearance? 

The design of the cuffs are simple and practical, with just the brand logo on the front, this isn’t an issue as this product is best and advised to be worn at night during the sleeping period when you are most still, to get the full use of the smart materials massaging your joints therefore appearance is not as important at practical use of the product. 

How it worked for me? 

The cuff kept my knee joints warm after I had done  2 hours’ worth of exercise during the day, I put them on before I went to bed, the ventilation was very good and did not make it uncomfortable or too warm to wear. The materials used are soft and stretchy and therefore are comfortable against the skin and do not restrict any movement in your legs during the night.

Comfort? 

The materials used to create the products are super soft which is good because wearing them at night it will need to be as comfortable as possible. The smart material used to create the cuffs aid ventilation through the night ensuring that your skin under the cuff has a non-sweaty sleep. The sponge material create a soft bed like state for the knee to rest on in the cuff.

Ease of use? 

Very easy to use you just slide on the leg and pull up to the knee and fasten to your own preferred tightness using the Velcro straps,

Does it achieve its purpose?

So far in my opinion I do believe the knee cuff helps to aid and prevent aches after sport, its comfortable to wear and has definitely had a positive impact on my knees  in the short term however I will carry on using it for the long term and do an updated opinion of the knee cuff in a couple of months when my hockey season has started and I will be using the product more often to prevent knee aches and swelling after the training and matches.

I highly reccomend this product to anyone that does vigorous sport exercises and experiences aches in their joints after sport, the customer service is also super friendly and cooperative to any questions or requirements you have. 

They have all the product listings they sell on there Amazon page 

Or you can find out more about their products or about the company at: 

www.staudt.at

www.somnisleep.com

Wearing my logo?!

Recently I got approached by College Custom and was asked if I would like to get my logo printed on a piece of clothing. Who wouldn't want to wear their own logo?!

College Custom are a company based in Brighton that personalises sports wear, clothing garments and accessories mainly for schools, colleges and universities. They are the sister company of LeaversHoodies.com.

They gave a such a professional and enthusiastic service I loved it! I was contacted the whole way through the process from the designing to the delivery. I would definitely go back to College Custom for any personalised clothing I want in the future!

I chose the hoodie in amongst the numerous other options on the website (there were loads to chose from!) due to being practical to wear during my training at hockey and wearing it to and from the gym. 

My hoodie arrived within a week of it being made and I had no problems at all in receiving the hoodie. It usually takes about 2 weeks from payment to delivery because all garments are made to the highest quality. As soon as it arrived I ripped the parcel open, I was super excited to try it on and my first impressions were very positive. The inside is like a fleecy material which is so warm and cosy and the fit is slightly baggy which I love in hoodies because it makes it easier to move when doing sports in my case.

At first I did think there was a hole in front hand pocket but then realised and was totally amazed because I had never had this little contraption in a hoodie, but it was a little incision in the hoodie to thread your headphones up the inside of your hoodie so the wire doesn't get in your way on the outside of the hoodie! I know, I was just as amazed...brilliant! 

I would definitely recommend using the College Custom service because the customer service I received was so exceptional and the garments are such a high quality. 

Go check out College Custom and Leavers Hoodies for more information and to check out their super cool range of garments to choose from! 

www.collegecustom.com

www.leavershoodies.com

Missing: Motivation!

So recently in my world of health and fitness there hasn't been a lot of fitness (boo you Shannon). In the past few weeks I have lost a lot of motivation to get my bum to the gym and sweat my ass into shape. I keep using excuses like " oh I have too much uni work to fit the gym in as well" or "ill go tomorrow and work even harder" (which 99% of the time doesn't happen either).

I don't really know why I have lost the motivation, I think maybe at the beginning the academic year when uni started again I got too caught up in the 'partying' and drinking which made me lose all motivations to keep up with my health and fitness.

I'm definitely making more of an effort to get back into the swing on things now though, I'm starting to bring back the realisation of how much I enjoy going to the gym and how much better it makes me feel after a work out. I'm still not 100% of where I want to be in terms of my body shape either, so now its all go, back to the fitness focus and keep on with my journey to living a healthier lifestyle and a fitter future. 

P.s I know I have bits of negativity in my posts here and there but this is mainly used as my diary of my journey which I can look back on to see my ups and downs and how I overcame different milestones, I wont be negative all the time because I'm not a fan of negativity but everyone goes through spells of it! ANYWAY....

I am super excited for the next few blog posts to come and to keep on with my journey!

Review: Aloe Vera Refresh!

So I got contacted by Satellite PR and asked if I wanted to try out the ‘Grace Aloe Refresh’ drinks and I was super excited to get involved!

A little bit of background about the drink…

Grace are a Caribbean food based company that have expanded to countries such as Canada, United States and the UK. They produce Caribbean based foods and drinks to allow everyone across the world to experience the taste of the Caribbean.

I received two flavours of the Aloe Vera Refresh drink. The original and a strawberry flavoured version. I totally fell in love with the drinks, in my honest opinion I prefer the original flavour of the drinks because I think the strawberry flavoured drink tasted a little bit artificial but that’s my own opinion.

So let me explain…

.

Taste?

The taste is hard to explain in words, it is a very sweet drink but not over powering due to the soothing texture. It not a ‘stodgy’ drink it has the same consistency of water.

One of the main features that plays a big part in the drink is the small segments of Aloe Vera pulp in the liquid. (So if you don’t like drinks with bits in, maybe this one isn’t for you) The only way I could think to describe the texture and consistency is it tastes like the drink has small juice vesicles in it. You know what I mean, the tiny segments within an orange segment full of the juice, it’s like that texture, but Aloe Vera pulp instead of orange juice vesicles. Basically there are soft bits of pulp in the drink. It can take a bit of getting used to the taste and consistency but I loved it from the get go.

I tried the drinks that contain 50% less sugar than the normal Grace Aloe Vera drinks which doesn’t affect the taste at all as I tired both of them and both the normal aloe drink and the 50% less sugar taste the same in my opinion.

Each bottle is 500ml and claims that there is 96 calories per bottle. The contents contains 30% Aloe Vera pulp and juice. On the bottle it says that the drink has ‘more than 100% of your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C per bottle’ BONUS! I have heard many people gaining health benefits from drinking Aloe Vera drinks, which is true as it helps towards making the immune system function properly and helps reduce tiredness and fatigue. (All of this in a bottle?! Winning)

My samples of the drink didn’t last long enough (because I couldn’t stop drinking them!) for me to fully experiment with looking at changes and benefits of my own body over a period of drinking the Aloe Vera drinks but I will definitely be buying and drinking more of the drinks because I have fallen in love with them.

I recommend this drink for everyone to try! I would try it two or three times before you make a decision because the taste can grow on you and no be put off by the slight 'yucky' look of the drink in a glass, taste it! It makes you feel super refreshed and I know how cliché that sounds but its true, the pulp really helps to boost the energetic sweet flavour of the drink.

You can find out more about Grace Products on their website! http://www.gracefoods.com/

Note: I received the drinks free of charge to try out and review in my honest opinion on my blog. All images and opinions are my own.

Confidence Is Key.

Confidence plays a rather large part in everyone's everyday life.
Got an interview? Make sure you're confident.
Meeting some one new? Just be confident.
Starting a new job/new uni/new school? Let your confidence shine through!
Peeling a potato? Let your confidence lead th ....Wait, what?

I feel like from past failed experiences of changing my lifestyle and fitness it has mostly always been about 'you must lose weight to fit in' or 'Don't be the fat friend in the group' and when I researched into a ton of fad diets and pointless easy exit ways to try and lose weight it just focused on ' lose your weight and workout and life will be just dandy' and although that is slightly true because my life has become a lot 'dandier' since I have started this journey and lost  a lot of weight and become a lot healthier and fitter, I feel like the other factors that you gain from the journey of weight loss and fitness get undermined.

This is where confidence comes in.
Now this time last year, even thinking about stepping outside my comfort zone scared the crap out of me.I had no confidence in anything like talking to new people, making new friends, expressing my opinions, nothing. Nada. I just wouldn't put myself through it. I was probably at my worst during 2011-2013 in the view of my diet, lifestyle and fitness. I was very overweight for my age and that is when my confidence took a very harsh drop ( although I could talk for hours to people I already knew, but that's about how far it went.)

I can hand on heart say that starting this fitness, health and lifestyle journey that I decided to embark on at the beginning of the year has been the best thing I have ever done. Physically, mentally, personally and emotionally it has made my confidence blossom. This summer, that is coming to an end ( super sad, its been rad) has been the best summer for me to prove to myself my confidence has improved. On a recent trip to Devon I decided before we went I was determined to go surfing. no matter what. I had never done it as much as I love water sports and being in the water ( yes, I was definitely a mermaid in my past life) in the past my confidence had held me back greatly and the thought of getting in a wetsuit surrounded by beach goers didn't sound appetising to me, but this summer I wanted to do a ton of stuff I had never done before SO, I got my wetsuit, I got my surfboard and headed out to my favourite place in the world, the ocean. I spent about 4 hours non stop in the water working on my surfing on one of the days and LOVED every minute of it.

I'm not saying that if you eat a salad here and there or go to the gym once in a blue moon (is the moon actually blue though?) that your confidence will come flooding back, that's not how it works. I have been working on my confidence now for the best part of a year in my health, fitness and lifestyle as well as my everyday personal life. Its all one big journey/adventure that I am loving!

I want to carry on stepping outside of my comfort zone fitness and lifestyle wise. One thing that I want to pursue also is to get on the university hockey team. I have a big love for hockey and was always on the teams in my early high school life but it kind of faded due to my drop in confidence, and just didn't think it was 'cool' at the time. (very regretful that I even made this an excuse back then) I have been umming and ahhing all summer about joining because my confidence in my fitness is still growing and although I now have a pretty good fitness level, my critical self still compares myself to others and makes me worry that I wont be able to keep up. But I really want to push myself that bit further even if it is a challenge and I hate it sometimes, I know I will regret it if I don't sign up and challenge myself.

Keep working hard, dreaming big and being positive. Your confidence will soon come flooding in.

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Setting goals and running a full marathon in Canada?!

So from my past experiences of talking to people about them wanting to workout or go to the gym or even just work on eating healthier, the main conclusion I can make is. EXCUSES.
I feel that 101%, ( added that 1% to emphasise my feeling for this point, hello drama queen!) excuses are one of the top reasons as to why goals that people set don't get smashed.

If I ask someone to come to the gym or on a run with me or if they even ask for some advice on health, fitness and lifestyle, I watch the cogs start turning in their head and almost straight away a lot of them reel out all the things that could stop them and use an excuse as to why they "CAN'T".

So this led me to thinking that a major part of setting goals isn't just about the positives of the journey but also how you will overcome the factors that could prevent you from achieving the goal. One of the major flaws is people putting their work, social or personal life in front of their health and fitness life. You should make the swap and make your work, social and personal life fit around your health and fitness life. 

'The only bad workout is the one that didn't happen' - Unknown. 
Eliminate the excuses one by one to progress with your goal setting! Willpower
I think willpower, goes hand in hand with motivation especially when it comes to working towards goals. The willpower you build up will help to prevent yourself from skipping that workout or not running that extra mile and it will result in a massive push in the right direction of your goals. Our brains can be the biggest competitor to try and destruct your goals, we've all been there...

KEEP THOSE LEGS MOVING AND YOUR WILLPOWER WILL GET STRONGER
The achievement from having the will power to fight back to all the distraction and preventions can boost your motivation. The fact that your will be able to prove your negative thoughts wrong will make you even more determined to push the negative thoughts to the back burner. 
I'm not saying anyone is perfect and everyone gets off track once in a while (definitely including me!)but by adding will power to the 'goal achieving' equation It will be a whole lot more enjoyable seeing your progression.

When people say keep your goals small and reachable, In my opinion I feel like they are selling people short a bit, why not have a couple of bigger goals that can get smashed by the smaller goals you set? Im not saying set unrealistic goals and it'll be rainbows and unicorns, but keeping to small goals can sometimes get repetitive. I think you need a bigger goal to set the bigger picture.
These past couple of weeks ive kind of gone running crazy and although I didn't enjoy it as much before and used to see it as a 'chore' in my workout routine, I am finally really starting to get into it since I have worked on my pace, timings and distance. This has lead me to set some new goals for me. One long term big goal that will be achieved by smashing some smaller goals along the way.

Long Term Goal:
By the time I finish my degree in 2017, I want to be able to run a full Marathon either in England or in Canada (Where I want to go as soon as I have bagged this degree)

So I wrote this goal down and then thought of all the things that can boost me towards smashing that goal. Below are the events I want to take part in to propel me into being ready for a full Marathon and of course with other frequent training in order to build up my mileage background and training tolerance.

Smaller Goals:
Tough Mudder- Mud Run 2016
Race for Life - 2016
London Royal Parks Half Marathon - 2016

Wolf Run - 2017
Full Marathon- London or Canada 2017

I know to reach these goals I am going to have to build up some more willpower to prevent myself from slacking during training.
Seeing the goals I have set myself helps me tons to keep focused on what I want to achieve.

There are loads of ways to keep yourself focused on your goals,

• Set daily/weekly reminders on your phone, computer, tablet of what you're heading for and why
• Keep a journal of the journey towards your goal! when you get to the end of the journey being able to read back over everything your achieved and overcame will boost your confidence!
• If you start to slightly slip off task, sit down and remind yourself of what you want to achieve and revamp the motivational willpower

Don't let the negatives, preventions, distractions beat you!

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My 4 Top Tips on Eliminating the Excuses.

There are so many positives to working out not only in terms of fitness and health but it can also just generally help you as a person.
The Number 1 positive I love about exercising is:

• It releases endorphins 

So learning about the good old endorphins in my old Health A-level class I found really interesting how they can be our 'natural feel good' hormones that are often released during exercise resulting in putting you in a fabulous mood after a workout! ( I know, what more could you want?!) 

• Stress Reliever

So you're near exams or a project due in date and you are last minute having the ultimate stress out? Well get those running shoes on and run it off or get to the gym! exercise has also been proven to help improve and control your mind set in stressful or anger fuelled situations. Whilst exercising your body releases 3 main chemicals (adreneline, serototin and dopamine)  that work together to relieve stress and enable to you take a better control over your negative emotions and ultimately bring you mood up from a low to a natural high. Even just 10-15 minutes of vigorous exercise can eliminate negative feelings, so I am sure revision could hold for 10 minutes while you run out the stress and create a revision ready mind set for you next session in front of your books/laptop.

So, so far I have briefly explained that exercise can have a pretty positive change on you generally i.e your moods, on your mind set, emotional control and of course your fitness and health so why are you still reading this and not outside exercising yourself into a good mood?!

okay wait before you go and do that take a look at the next 4 points to eliminating the excuses...

NUMBER 1
Setting yourself goals:
Now with this one alot of people set goals that are slightly out there and don't carry them out because "Its not working and its taking to long to reach the goal" and im not an expection to this because my goals used to be ridiculous ( I mean 'looking like Michelle Keegan in a matter of weeks' at 16 my goals were a bit excessive) and I always ended up giving in because I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere near to my (slightly ridiculous) goal. SHORT AND SWEET, these are the best goals in my opinion. 
Of course everyone that sets out on a journey of creating a better lifestyle and to get fitter will have the long term goal of a better body image, health and fitness but I mean REAL short and sweet.(and no I don't mean doing a 10 minute run with the goal of reaching Express Diner to get some fried chicken.)

Achievable goals are key. If I am in the gym I will set a specific goal for that gym session keeping them short and sweet. For example: I wont allow myself to leave the gym until I have done at least 60 minutes of working out no matter how long it takes or how much my mind keeps telling me to turn around and walk out the door ( burst into song, I know you want to) I will not leave (being strict and having a lot of mental strength really helps). Its just the same if I am outside going on a run, I wont allow myself to go home until I have done a HIIT run for at least 40 minutes. Achieving a goal is honestly the best feeling and will definitely motivate you to go out and smash another goal during your next workout!
So keep them short and sweet on a daily/weekly basis and it will all add up to achieving a long term goal!

NUMBER 2
Compete with yourself: (or the oblivious person on the next treadmill along)
Now anyone that knows me knows I am not a competitive person...HA who am I kidding I am UBER competitive! If you get on the treadmills or any other machine next to me in the gym you have just entered yourself into a competition without knowing, that's all I'm going to say...
I love being competitive with others especially in sports but also competing with my own personal bests. I am constantly trying out new workouts or new levels of workouts to beat my usual ones which, can make a workout so much more fun and interesting.
So what are you waiting for?! your personal bests wont come to you! GO GET THEM!

NUMBER 3
Reward System:
As childish as this point may sound it can really work. 
Yes, you can totally have that glass of wine or the Jaeger bomb while you're going out on a 'mad night out' tonight IF you've done your workout for the day! Simple as that folks, you get that workout in during the day, you can get the double vodkas in during the night!

NUMBER 4:
Nullify The Negatives:
"Its just who I am" 
This quote above is the one that I have heard the most when it comes to excuses of not exercising, and yes I always used to think this too but not one word of that is true when it comes to body image or your fitness levels. YOU can change that.
Way too many people influence your own thoughts and will ultimately lead to you believing you cant just because someone else says so, this then results in your attitude being the main negative that is stopping you from saying you can or you did. Take matters into your own hands, its easy enough saying that 'you can' but until you do you wont gain anything from it. So because 'YOU DID' read to the end of this blog post ( thank you for bearing with)  now 'YOU CAN' go and put it all into practise so you can say 'YOU DID' and 'YOU ACHIEVED'. (An awful lot of cheesiness in that last sentence)

2 Months Off the Gym!

So its now summer and I have come home from uni for 2 months and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to get a membership at a gym near home or just use the outdoors as my gym. Due to wanting to save money for when I head back to uni after summer, I've decided to take the next 2 months off the gym and make the outdoors my gym. I did buy 2 essentials that I wanted to have during my workouts over the summer as I felt they would make it more effective to what I want to carry on achieving plus I can take them back to uni with me and use them there too!
So The first thing I bought was a 5kg medicine ball. I wanted to get one heavy enough that it challenged me but I didn't want to get one too heavy that it would make it hard for me to use effectively.
I then bought a kettle bell set that included 4 kettle bells ranging from 2kg, 4kg, 6kg and 8kg.
Both purchases were definitely worth it! they make my workout routines a whole lot more fun and challenging. I just use a simple yoga foam mat for when I do exercises that involve lying down, for added padding and comfort on my back.

Kettle Bells: £24.99
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Palm-Springs-Vinyl-Kettlebell-2kg-4kg-6kg-8kg/dp/B006LTCJ8K/ref=sr_1_88?s=fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1435241001&sr=1-88 -

Medicine Ball: £19.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medicine-Crossfit-Strength-Training-Kilograms/dp/B00KSDC9QW/ref=sr_1_10?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1435241037&sr=1-10&keywords=5kg+medicine+ball

For my runs I just go on different routes around where I live, mainly country roads and hills because I live in a village with a ton of quiet routes to run on.

My Food Shopping Habits.

When I moved out my accommodation a few weeks ago I found all my food shopping receipts from the first half of the year at uni and my gosh it was horrendous what I was eating! ranging from buying big packets of crisps to 3 packets of biscuits and numerous ready meals and fizzy drinks. yikes what was I thinking?!

So I now do a food shop for all my long lasting foods every 3/4 weeks. e.g. sweet potatoes, tins of tuna, rice, quinoa, pasta and so on... which would be an online shop because being at uni without a car makes it difficult to get 3/4 weeks of shopping in 2 hands whilst walking home, so that's done online and then every 2 weeks ill do a fresh food shop that I do myself in the supermarket (im super picky on the state of my veggies and fruits when I buy them). A lot of people think doing 2 types of separate food shops would amount to a lot of spending, when if you do it properly it definitely doesn't amount to a lot of spending.

Before I started my huge lifestyle change I made myself cut a lot of shit out of my diet which then led to me spending less money on food shops, and it was easier that I thought it would be, not having the rubbish foods in my cupboard because I cut them completely out of my shopping lists made it a lot easier to just forget about them and not be tempted by them.
The main foods that I have cut out my regular diet are:
Bread/doughy type products.
Chocolate
Sweets/sugary treats
Crisps
Fizzy drinks.

So how do I make my fresh food last 2 weeks?
Your freezer is your new best friend.
I know buying frozen vegetables wont be as fresh and as fabulous as fresh vegetables but we are students paying £9000+ a year for Uni so buying frozen veg will be a lot cheaper and will last longer in your freezer than buying a ton of fresh veg that will probably go out of date before you can eat all of it! So most of my veg is frozen, apart from spinach and the odd salad veg that I buy. I buy fresh spinach because I love spinach cooked and uncooked, however I do eat spinach like there is no tomorrow so I don't have much of a problem with it going out of date quickly.

Another tip: if you're buying fresh veg, look at the back of the product section. Whilst working in Tesco for a bit as an online shopper I HAD to pick from the back because that is where the product with the furthest away used by date is, meaning you'll most of the time get a product with a longer used by date. Don't grab from the front they are normally nearing the end of their used by date.

My fruit that I buy varies from frozen to fresh, I buy frozen fruit for my smoothies and breakfast, like blueberries and other berries because they last for agessss! and then fresh fruit for eating on a daily basis, I do keep a lot of my fruit in the fridge as I find that normally keeps it fresh for quite a while I mainly get fruits such as apples and bananas because I find they last longer than maybe a mango would.

Top Tip On Fruit: Buying un-ripe fruits, like slightly green bananas, these will slowly ripen over time meaning they will generally last longer than buying ripe or over ripe bananas which will go squashy and gross in a shorter time!

When I am fresh food shopping I often go for the supermarkets own brand purely because of money and it is often cheaper, it may seem like an effort at the time but spending more time on comparing prices of fruit and looking for longer used by dates of the fruit will definitely be worth it in the long run.

Happy Shopping!

London Calling!

So I decided to spontaneously jump on the train to London for the day on my own to go exploring! it was super fun and could not resist going on a hunt for a supermarket called 'WholeFoods' that I had been told about before. Now anyone that knows me, knows if I could live off green juices and smoothies for the rest of my days I totally would! So I found it and walked into WholeFoods to find in front of me, a whole sections of fresh juices and smoothies. Heaven. The supermarket I would say specialises in raw, organic, and super healthy foods ranging from creating your own salads to raw protein bars! Although it is slightly on the pricey side due to the really good quality of the food and drinks they sell it is definitely my new favourite supermarket, however student life 'n' all means I'm definitely not rich enough to get my shopping regularly from there! I picked up two different green juices and a raw raspberry snack bar.
Triple Green Smoothie:
Apple
Kale
Spinach
Kiwi
Banana
Ginger
Lemon

Creamy Greens Chlorella:
Avocado
Banana
Spinach
Apple
Lime
Chlorella

There aren't many Stores in the UK as it is originally an American Store but I really hope they open some more in the UK! Check out their website for more info about them! 
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

I then on my way home probably stupidly decided to walk down Oxford Street, not realising that there was fab Nike store that I caught a glimpse of  and then was drawn into!
I know I have said in a previous blog about being a student and not needing the best branded clothing for working out and I still 100% stick by that, but it is always nice to treat yourself now and again, I didn't go crazy and had to find a lot of will power not to spend a ton of money because I LOVED it all. I did pick up a new top and new leggings to add to my ever growing workout clothes collection. The top was £18 and the leggings were £30 and for Nike that's a pretty good find, looking online for Nike leggings, a lot of them come up with prices ranging from £60-£80 so I was pretty pleased with my finds and the quality of the clothes is super good!
http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/

Being Healthy On A Night Out? Ew.

There is no such thing as staying healthy on a night out as a student, because let's face it (as much as I love my green smoothies) standing drinking one whilst your friends drink their body weight in Jäger bombs WOULDN'T BE FUN. However there are some things that you could do that would make you feel less guilty. So how I look at it is I use the nights out as my cheat days because I'm consuming alcohol containing ridiculous amounts of calories, instead of eating cheat food for a day I'll have cheat drinks on a night out and eat super clean the during the day before a night out. You get my drift... I don't go out every week purely because I'm a broke ass student half the time and for some sections throughout the year I'll be focusing on my health and fitness so I won't allow myself to go out (boring I know, but work hard now and play hard later and all that). When I do go out I have some tips on making it work for me and maybe with you too. EARLY HOUR CRAVINGS Being students and stumbling home at 5-6 am after a night out through a street filled with shitty takeaway food that seem like heaven at the time, everyone gets cravings for it. I'm no exception cheesy chips all the way! BUT that's where I draw the line. Chips. I don't get burgers, pizzas, kebabs because I know I will gain nothing from it and I've gotten used to not having bready/doughy type carbs in my diet, but because I'm a student, and always starvin' marvin' after a night out I limit myself to chips (don't get the cheese on top, you can get through it...DONT DO IT). This all depends of course on the money I have left which is normally none. Next tip... COOK SOMETHING BEFORE Honestly, the amount of times I've thought about how future Shan is going to feel in situations. So during the day before your wild night out, quickly cook up some pasta with sauce or a jacket potato and put it in a container in the fridge ready for your slightly intoxicated 6am arrival to your fridge to find your self thanking your past self for thinking of you in a time of need. Pros to this? Saves you money, it won't have half the greasy shit you could intake in a takeaway on the way home AND your stomach is content (using the word 'content' loosely depending on how long you'll spend laying by the toilet for the next few hours getting rid of the 'good time' that is alcohol). DANCING On a night out when I've gotten to the stage of drinking when I don't know some people's names (we've all been there) you will not stop me dancing until they play the last song. Love. It. This can also be a super way to burn some of the calories you're pouring into your body through drinking, ITS A WIN WIN, drink more? Dance more! WAHEEEY! EAT CLEAN DURING THE DAY So chances are you're not going to want to work out or do any type of exercise the day after a night out (or like me, even move from bed unless the word food is mentioned) SO what I do is, eat super clean during the day and do a good workout during the day before the night out. If you're busy, start a couple of days earlier, eat super clean for a couple of days, it's worth it. THE DREADED HANGOVER I don't think there is ever a solid cure for hangovers it's just enduring it. However there are some things that can help. On a night out while your bladder is getting full but your mind is telling you to not 'break the seal' because you'll be back and forth weeing all night, this is the main way your body is going to lose potassium, now I'm no body nutritionist/scientist whatever, but potassium is needed for your body to function properly and if you're alcohol weeing all night you'll be losing a lot of potassium. So that hangover is basically your body trying to get all your bodily levels back to normal. Bananas are a smashing source of potassium so have a 1 or 2 bananas on your bedside table for when you wake up as they can help ease the symptoms of a hangover. WATER
Everyone says it but it's so true, drink plenty of water before you go to sleep. The alcohol will have made you super dehydrated which will cause your hangover headaches, I make sure I drink 2 glasses of water before I sleep and have a glass of water ready for me when I wake up. But it's down to your own body so drink as much water as is comfortable for you. So they are some of the pointers I use on a night out, it's just based on what I am comfortable with and how I see things for my own body it's nothing professional or based on scientific facts of food and life, just a few handy tips. I'm going to do another one of these kind of posts a couple of weeks before freshers week in September on how I'm going to stick to my routine and keep my strict mind set, although I'm not a fresher any more this coming year, I will for sure be having one hell of a week pretending I still am a fresher because fresher life sounds better than 2nd year life!

Mentality Over Physicality

In this blog post I really want to talk about how I have kept the right mind set for the past 4/5 months in sticking with working out 6 times a week and improving my general lifestyle.

For a pretty competitive person that hates quitting or failing I am surprised its taken me this long to get my shit together and stick at this new, much better lifestyle but I’m finally there and sticking to it because of how much better I feel now.

So the major point that I have noticed is for me it is definitely my mentality over my physicality, since going to the gym I can quite happily say my body will do most things I push it to do, but its the mind set that you’re in that is the most important, by far!

I’ve tried numerous times in the past to diet, exercise and all that jazz but looking back now I definitely did not have the right mind set in making sure I reach my goals and that ultimately made me fail in keeping up the diet and exercise. ( I hate failing).

What was the thing that kick started your new lifestyle? 

If I am being totally honest, the boredom I had of my degree. Yes, I am paying £90000 a year for a degree that I am quite bored of BUT I came to uni to get a degree and that is what I am going to leave with. I do Graphic Design, so there is a lot sitting on your arse all day in the studio in front of the computer or sketchbook and I was so bored of not doing something physically active with my days. SO off I went to the gym one evening and came out feeling so much better! not only does exercise make your fitter and healthier but it can help clear your mind of all the unnecessary shit, which is what that evening did and I have been going 6 days a week ever since because I love the refreshing feeling after. 

In my previous blog post I explained how I fit time for the gym with going to uni every day too. ( My Morning Workout Routine)

After cracking down on myself to get my butt to the gym 6 days a week I then went onto dealing with my lifestyle and my key word for this change is 

STRICT!

I am uber strict on myself, not as much as I was at the beginning of this journey because my body has adjusted. To change my sleeping routine and eating routine I had to make sure I stuck to it. So from going to sleep at 2/3ish in the morning and getting up at 8 for uni (wild one, yes I know), I had the big change of making sure I was trying to get to sleep by 10pm each night, it was not easy but I kept at it and now I have a much better sleeping routine getting 8 hours of sleep a night and I am not tired during the day.

Eating routines were not as hard to change, two of the major changes I made was cutting snacking out completely and replacing it with drinking water and not eating after 6:30pm until the morning for breakfast which can be challenging but I occupied myself with either going to see friends for the evening or doing work until l went to sleep to keep my mind off having that cheeky mid evening snack (don’t do it)

Being in the studio all day at uni with Cost Cutter just over the road also made it very easy to snack throughout the day and just generally buy shit foods due to boredom and just generally being sociable with others in the studio often turned to eating. As well as filling myself with crap I was spending ridiculous amounts of money each day on food, and looking back I can see how horrendous it looks on my bank statements (sorry HSBC x)

I managed to cut that whole shabang out my day pretty abruptly due to being very strict on myself and felt a lot better for it knowing my money was better in my bank and not CostCutters pockets.

so yeah thats kinda how all this came about, im going to do another blog post on how I eat when I have uni all day and don’t have time to go home and use the food in the cupboard instead of spending money and things like that. 

My general advice after doing it myself and changing my whole lifestyle is be mega strict, if you feel like you cant maybe get a friend of a family member to help you out/keep reminding you of what you want, because I promise you will feel 100% better. Its probably not the most appealing thing to do as a student but for myself it is definitely what I wanted/needed to make me happier, not that I was unhappy before but I definitely feel happier now rather than before.