Project and life update… 12/02/17

Hello creatives,

So I’ve been really slow with progressing on any projects recently! With having my masters research project proposal due, and being between cars whilst mine was in the garage, I’ve been slacking!

Throughout the night last night my other half was up every hour after being hit with his third lot of norovirus! The poor thing is so unwell and the doctors will definitely be called first thing in the morning. It is not normal to have norovirus three times in 3 months! We think he could be picking it up from the hospital/medical school that he’s currently studying in. 

We have recently started trying to be healthy again after being seriously lazy with our eating habits. Healthy smoothies for breakfast and more home cooked meals! Yesterday’s was a homemade chicken and spinach masala and booooy was it gooood! (I was very impressed with myself) and I even made enough for leftovers today! 

As george was up sick all of last night, he has been in bed all day today, therefore leaving me with the day (and the telly) to myself! 

With all this time, what I should have been doing is starting my home workout routine, however I picked up the crochet hooks instead! Whoops! 

Between cleaning the flat after a week of visitors, and checking up on george I’ve managed to come up with this single crochet soft toy (not complete as you can see…). Don’t ask me what it’s going to be, because I couldn’t tell you haha, and the arms look a bit like chicken wings hahahaha! I’m just playing around with it at the moment, but I really like the idea of the limbs and body all being one piece!

More progress has been made on my chunky double crochet blanket, and I’ll definitely need another 200g ball of wool to get anywhere near done! I’ll have to find somewhere to take a full photo of what has been completed so far!

Fingers crossed that george recovers as it looks like we may have to scrap plans about his mum coming to stay with us next weekend as we can’t afford to spread the illness! It also looks like our Valentine’s Day dinner booking will have to be cancelled on Tuesday unfortunately (I’m gutted because it’s the yummiest fancy steak house, but obviously health comes first). 

Hope you have had a weekend full of rest!

I’ll keep you updated,

Love, Lana xoxo 

LIEBSTER AWARD!

I want to give the wonderful Skyeskretcher a massive thank you for this amazing nomination! Please go have a look at her blog (link will open up a new tab!) and throw her some deserved likes and comments!

Bootea Teatox – My Results!

Many of you may have heard of a detox (or a TEAtox) called Bootea. Its a detox which uses green tea to cleanse and shed a bit of weight off you! i also found that it made me feel a lot more energised and healthy!

I first heard about it online, and advertised in Holland & Barratt! Then saw a few satisfied customers on instagram and a few friends trying it out, although with mixed outcomes. The only way i was going to know how it worked with my body was to try it, and even if there wasn’t a significantly visible result, at least i would feel great (hopefully).

I am now currently on my third set as the results from my first was just so promising and motivating. And ill even show you how well it worked!

The first time i tried it, i was completely dedicated, i ate healthy (obviously with the occasional snacks.. old habits die hard) and even attempted to hit the gym – Shocker. I found the day time tea quite nice, as i personally love green teas! (If you don’t like the taste yourself, you can add natural sweeteners such as honey to improve the taste).

There’s two different teas, the daytime tea which you have once a day every day for the two week time period, and a night time tea which you take every other day starting on the first day of the teatox. The nighttime tea tastes quite different to the daytime one and you can definitely taste the fennel in it! For those who don’t like green teas, this one will definitely need a natural sweetener in it unless you’re willing to neck it in one!

I took a few photos here and there to see if there were any visible results, apart from what i thought i saw, and how i felt. And here are two photos 11 days apart:

Please excuse the sweatiness and the unattractiveness! the ‘after gym session’ look isn’t one of the prettiest!

The photo above was halfway into the teatox, and the photo below was nearing the end! (I will also now let you know that those abs have completely vanished under a cosy blanket of chub for the winter season… or until i get back into the gym…)I lost a lot of the chub layer across my tummy, resulting in toning up! I felt fabulous and it was such a motivating result that it almost became addictive! This was when i then purchased the next two sets which i was ready to pick up and start immediately.

I will give you a warning, if you are wanting to give it a go, to make sure you’ve mentally prepared you for the amount of time you will be spending on the toilet, as with all detoxes, comes pooping (graphic, i know, but don’t say i didn’t warn you!!)

The second time i did it, i failed to remember to have the right teas at the right times due to the busyness of my summer days, and this resulted in only feeling energised and cleansed instead of seeing visual results as i did the first time. Not a bad thing, but there i was hoping my beach bod would be back – wrong. I also failed to eat as healthily as i did the first time! whoops, i guess i set myself up to fail, the tea’s not magic!

Im now on my third run, and i’ve managed to stick to it as I’m constantly in the house revising for my exams, and revision is always perfectly matched with a cup of tea! Although i have less time to work out, i have had a few Cheerleading sessions and these will be becoming more frequent as my examination period ends. This time, i feel like I’ve lost more weight than the first time but i haven’t built up the muscle definition that i did the first time, but i still feel fab with the results! I’ve even introduced non high waisted jeans/trousers (hipsters) back into my wardrobe as my previous muffin top has reduced in size! 

I hope this helps anyone willing to give it a go an inside of what its like and how its not just down to the tea itself, but also the lifestyle surrounding it. Give it a go! Heres a link to their website, order and get started! You can only try, and see how it works with your body!

They’ve also recently introduced a shake which will help reduce snacking, satisfy hunger, keep you fuller for longer and help you lose weight! Have a read! Experiment.

I’ve recently ordered the Slimming shake powder off of Protein World, so once I’ve given it a go, I’ll let you know my results!

– Lana xxx

Healthy Replacements for Those Tempting Treats

If you’re anything like me, all you do is complain about how you want to get fitter, lose weight and eat healthy! But all you really do is google ‘ab exercises’ or look for the next dieting pill or weight loss remedies, but don’t actually get anything useful done!

Some people, especially George, were born incredibly lucky with the power to maintain a toned figure and eat all the junk they want without the side effects of putting on weight, or losing muscle definition (then again the boy does get spotty after a week of takeaways!). But others like myself can feel every tiny bit of fat layer itself up on every inch of my body – Gross. I just HAD to find something i could eat without feeling yucky, and that he would enjoy and not think was ‘too healthy’ (if thats even a thing…)

The amount of times I’ve said to myself “oh just one bite won’t hurt” and it leads to me devouring a whole tub of ice cream is shocking, and i want to be able to do this without the following guilt! Luckily i stumbled across the perfect solution – Homemade banana ice cream! Unfortunate if you don’t like bananas, but you’d be surprised how much the flavour can change with just the addition of extra ingredients.

Have a look for yourself!

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Homemade Banana Ice Cream

The best bit about this recipe? ONE MAIN INGREDIENT. – BANANAS

1. Peel a bunch of healthy looking bananas (Yellow with maybe a few brown spots) and place them into a deep bowl. The amount of bananas you peel is dependant of the amount of ice cream you want!

2. Once peeled, cut them however you want, slices, halves, quarters, your choice, and stick them in the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until frozen.

3. Take your frozen banana pieces out of the freezer and place them into a food processor or blender (make sure your blender is powerful enough to handle frozen bananas!) and blend till smooth in texture. You can add a touch of milk if you want to help the blending process as well. It should look something along the lines of this!

4. Scoop it out and Voila! Deliciously smooth banana ice cream!

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If you’re not a keen banana fan, test out the addition of different ingredients!
– Mint Choc Chip? Chocolate chips and a few drops of peppermint oil.
– Cherry and Vanilla? Add frozen cherries and few drops of vanilla flavouring.
– Peanutbutter? Well.. you can probably guess!

As usual, GET EXPERIMENTING. Guilt free ice cream, ready to be devoured!

– Lana xxx

The Beginning

There are so many things i want to write about! Everything from Christmas sale purchases, fashion, homemade beauty remedies, living abroad, music to clean eating (although as much as i love the idea of clean eating, sticking to it is the hardest part, especially on a student budget!) and i feel that now that the new year has come, its a great time to begin sharing and experimenting!

Now lets see how long this lasts…

Im excited.

– Lana xxx