My Diet & Fitness Plan

It's the time of year where every individual is prepared to get their body 'summer ready', and I am also one of those individuals, but with a plot twist. As I do seasonal work, most of my days are spent in the workplace, therefore I don't have chance to go abroad this summer. However, my work friends and I have decided to book a holiday for the end of the working season, so we have longer to get our bodies 'winter ready'. Lucky for us, that gives us a couple months longer than everyone going abroad during the summer!

I am clueless to fitness, and often give up easily. This time, however, is different. During my shift at work last night, I asked the Head Chef for guidance as he is more aware of fitness knowledge than I am. Together we decided the best ways for me to tone up, and agreed to begin our diet regimes on the same day in order to encourage one another to stay consistent.

Last night we started off with a mile and half run (well, a jog for me) and I felt great after it. I slept so well, and today I woke up at 8:15am rather than my usual of 11am. Now as I eat my porridge and sip on a mug of green tea, I am going to introduce you all to my diet plan, in which some of you may wish to begin yourselves.

Food and Drinks

• NO carbs. If you wish to consume carbs during cheat day, these must be brown (e.g. brown bread).
• No red meat.
• Quorn would be a better replacement for meat.
• Fruity drinks must be consumed in moderation (this includes the likes of orange juice and apple juice).
• Flavoured water is a better option than the one above.
• If you wish to eat chips, ensure that they are made with sweet potatoes.
• ALWAYS eat breakfast.
• Porridge is a great option for breakfast, although cereal can be consumed in moderation.
• A good lunch would be a bowl of soup with one slice of brown bread.
• One banana before or after a run will maintain your energy.
• Ensure to drink lots of water.
• If consuming alcohol, ensure that it is either vodka with diet lemonade, or with diet coke. However, you are allowed single shots, and either 1 lager or 1 cider.
• Green tea to replace coffee and tea. Decaff would also be a great option.
• If you wish to have a McDonald's, you may order a sweet chilli chicken wrap, without the sweet chilli.
• Try to keep your meal times consistent each day. (e.g. breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12:30pm, tea at 5pm).

Fitness

• Running every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
• Weights (2.5kg in order to simply tone) are to be done on Tuesday and Thursday's.
• When doing weights, make sure to also do leg exercises.
• Ensure to not just run, but walk often. Walk the dog, walk to the shop, etc.

Forfeits

These forfeits only apply to myself and my colleagues, but are shown to give you a brief idea. Feel free to set up your own and share them with me in the comments!

• 25p in the jar every time we have a cigarette.
• 50p in the jar if we miss a run.
• Each time we consume something that we are not meant to have, 50p is to go into the jar.

Cheat day is Saturday night and Sunday day (I'd allow this to be 12pm-12pm) as we all work carvery shifts on a Sunday and obviously wish to tuck into one once we have finished working hard! Also, Saturday night is the obvious time for us to consume our vodka and diet lemonade.

Make sure that you also include your hobbies to this schedule, For example, I am going to start dancing again as of next month. I also live quite near to my workplace, therefore I am to start walking/cycling there when the weather is nicer. Consider the distance that you may drive or take public transport to - could you get off a stop earlier and walk for ten minutes? It's a great endorphin, especially when the sun is shining!

Make sure to let me know what you think to this plan, and whether you're going to take notes from this! Got any tips? Let me know in the comments below. I can't wait to update you all with my progress, hopefully I'll stick to this longer than a day for once!

Autumn-Blaze

xxx

Woman Crush Wednesday

Ah, Woman Crush Wednesday. I have two major girl crushes, and I thought that it would be appropriate to address this on the blog, and I'm sure that many of you will agree with me on today's WCW.

Cara Delevingne. Need I say more? 

Cara has been my #1 girl crush for many years now, and on numerous occasions that I've been told I look similar to her, I've genuinely squealed with excitement. There's something about her stubborn, yet fun personality, bold brows and sharp jawline. If I could be re-incarnated into anything in this world, I would want to be this woman.

Not only can she act AND has the face of an angel (literally, have you seen those struts down the Victoria's Secret runway?!), but she can also play the drums and sing. And beat box. Is there anything this girl can't do?! Probably not.

Aged only 23, Cara is a huge inspiration to girls such as myself. Fame has not gone to her head. She is grounded, and shows appreciation for all family, friends and fans. I adore her crazy ways, and believe that she is definitely a role model all women across the world should look up to.

Perhaps one day I'll get to meet this bold browed beauty, but for now I'll admire from afar just as thousands others do. Sigh.

Who's your Woman Crush Wednesday?

Autumn-Blaze

xxx

American Style Pancakes | Baking

Pancakes are a guilty pleasure of mine. If they didn't exist, neither would the tub on my belly, but they're far too good to resist! Everytime I stay at my boyfriends, the 6:30am get up is made bearable by the thought of the generous 15 minute journey to McDonald's so I can devour some pancakes, mmmm.

Today I decided to attempt to make some pancakes. I say attempt, as let's face it, I'm not brilliant at making them - unless I buy them from Tesco and microwave them, then they're perfect. Surely that counts?

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

135g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml milk
1 large egg
2 tbsp melted butter or olive oil

Method

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. Then, in a separate bowl, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then progressing to whisk in the melted butter.

2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat together with a fork until you have a smooth batter. Allow this to stand for a few minutes.

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When this has melted, add a ladle of batter into the pan and wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble. Then, turn over the pancake and cook it until both sides are golden brown. The pancakes should have risen to about 1cm thick.

4. Repeat this until all of the batter has been used.

5. Serve with a topping of your choice.

I chose to top my pancakes with chocolate spread, lemon juice and sugar. A greedy bums paradise! They look quite gross, because quite frankly, I'll never meet the McDonald's expectations, but practise makes perfect so hopefully I'll get the hang of it!

I hope that you enjoyed this baking post, I look forward to posting more recipes in the near future.

Autumn-Blaze
xxx

Spontaneous Shopping

Shopping is a fabulous retail therapy, and seeing as today was payday and I've been feeling a bit run down, what's better to cheer me up than splashing the cash? I originally wanted to purchase make-up, but what I spent my money on was quite the opposite!

First of all we have these gorgeous tan Michael Kors pumps. I've been prone to buying pumps lately, preparing myself for the summer weather, and I could not resist these! The best bit? They were only £29.99 in TK Maxx. I can't wait to piece these with an outfit, so hopefully they'll be seen featured on an OOTD post sometime soon.

Admittedly, my boobs haven't grown since I was in year 6, and it seems virtually impossible to find nice bras for small sizes (Please tell me I'm not the only one!), but today I came across this lace bralette in New Look. Retailed at only £9.99, I've been looking for a bralette like this for quite a while. The small price and colour instantly attracted me, and I think it'll look great beneath a white blouse. An advantage to this bralette is that the sizing is in those of usual UK clothing sizes (e.g. size 8), therefore I had no need to worry about them not having my size. I cannot wait to purchase more of these!

Here on the left can be seen a floral air freshener from New Look priced at only £1.99. Due to this price, I'm not expecting it to be the most extravagant air freshener, however I am looking forward to having a cute little pug hanging in my car! On the right can be seen some Sugared Cup Cakes from The Hampton Candy Company. These were bought from TK Maxx as they were located next to the till and I was super duper hungry (as always). These cost £2.99 and are probably the most expensive sweets I've ever bought (Tesco value keeps me happy) but it was soooo worth it! They're super juicy with so much flavour, I'll definitely be looking out for these again.

Last but not least, I got my nose pierced! I had this done a few years ago, and I've been wishing to have it re-pierced for quite a while. I find that if I book things in advance, I chicken out, therefore it was a spur of the moment kinda thing. My last piercing was done with a gun (which it's not meant to be) and shattered my cartilage, and this one was done with a needle. Nerves kicked in and I closed my eyes and almost passed out, but it was worth the small dose of pain!

Finally, a tattoo. Yup. A tattoo. Again, a spur of the moment kinda thing. For 6 years I've been wishing to have a butterfly tattooed onto my wrist in memory of my friend, and that's exactly what I did. I originally popped into the shop to enquire about the tattoo and have the colour of my semi-colon re-touched, but somehow this happened! I'm proud of myself for not crying, not due to the pain, but because of how much it means to me. Thank goodness my Mum was sat there or I would've been a mess!

Do you find that spontaneous shopping trips are often the best? 

Autumn-Blaze

xxx

Lunch Date | Outfit of The Day

Today was one of my rare days off, therefore I took up the invitation of going out to a Tapas bar for lunch with my Nanny. It's our favourite place to dine for lunch, and as I'm in my work uniform most days, I decided to make an effort with my appearance.

I decided to wear a dress which I purchased from Topshop recently in the sale for £15 reduced from £38. I didn't realise until I got home, but the dress is actually a petite fit, therefore it would be too revealing to wear on it's own, yet looks great paired with some tights!

Black Chelsea Boots are a must have for every girls wardrobe as they go with almost every outfit. These ones were purchased from Next a while ago, and they are definitely one of the comfiest pair of shoes I own!

For accessories, I used my trusty Kurt Geiger bag which I bought from TK Maxx last year for £29.99. It's fairly small, but still fits all of my essentials such as my purse, diary and iPad mini.

Jewellery wise I went for the usual of my Tiffany & Co. Necklace, Nomination bracelet, Pandora ring, Vintage ring, and a black watch (due to having 'misplaced' my Michael Kors one, oops!).

I'm so in love with this outfit, it was perfect for dining out, and I felt so sassy! To top it off, I finished the look with bold brows, a dark purple/red lip and a smile. 

What do you think to this outfit? How would you style the dress?

Autumn-Blaze

xxx

My Go-To Book

As a keen reader, I've found myself scouring book shops during a majority of my shopping trips. Over the years, I have purchased a libraries worth of books, and the collection is consistently being added to. However there is one book placed on my shelf which I always pick up without hesitation when wishing to re-read something once again. I have read this book several times, and I have finished it within days each time, which is rare for me as I often get bored of some books or can not seem to grasp the plot or understanding of the characters, therefore I have to re-read chapters. Each time I have read this book, I have discovered a new love for it, analysing and vividly imagining the scenery and my favourite characters, as if they are all surrounding me.

My Go-To Book is The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.
I have been a lover of Sparks' work for as long as I remember, and The Last Song is by far my favourite. Like most of his books, this has been made into a film, starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. It is a fabulous film, but of course, I prefer the book. Small detail is missed in the movie, and it is those which create the real imagery of the characters and their surroundings.

Although a typical story about a teenage summer romance, this novel has an unexpected twist to it, and there is various moments which make it unlike the others of this genre. I have always wished for there to be a sequence to this book, and I have found myself composing a story for their lives after the summer at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

If you enjoy Romance novels and are searching for an easy read to touch your heart, then I would definitely recommend this book. It is certainly my favourite book, and I look forward to picking it up off the shelf once again.

What's your go to book?
Any book recommendations?

Autumn-Blaze
xxx

The First Saturday of 2016 | Outfit of the Night

Although the first Saturday of 2016 was on the 2nd, it is only now that I have found time to write up a post about my outfit.
I spent my first Saturday of 2016 with friends in the local city. We had this booked for months, and it wasn't until that evening that we realised that our first weekend of 2016 was being celebrated with one another (Credit to the DJ at one of the clubs for actually announcing this, haha!)

Above photo: Polaroid photos with the ladies!

Originally, I bought 3 outfits to pick from for the night. I'm super picky and always have a mass debate! What if I'm too hot? What if I'm too cold? Shall I show off my legs? Does this outfit mean I have to fake tan? Surely I'm not the only one!
I singled my choices down to two, due to one of the dresses being unflattering on my ironing board physique. One of the choices was a Michelle Keegan for Lipsy lace black top, paired with Lipsy black shorts and New Look heels. (Below)

On the night, I decided on a pastel blue dress which I had purchased from PrettyLittleThing.com. I had never ordered from this website before, but I was SO impressed with the service as I selected next day delivery, and it actually came the next day! (Unlike Missguided, which once delivered my outfits 3 weeks later. Not cool).

As we waited to check into the hotel, my friend Laura and I decided to have a mooch around the shops. It was in New Look that I discovered some pale pink heels which were reduced to £9 from £25. I was still unwilling to spend my money (I'm super tight), but eventually Laura convinced me after showering me in compliments after I had tried the heels on. The purchase finalised my decision for what to wear and they were PERFECT for my outfit!

Above photo: Me on the left, Laura on the right.

It seems that I didn't get the memo, because all the other girls were dressed in black (oops), but I was still so happy with my choice of outfit, although I did look out of place!

The pastel blue dress and pale pink heels were paired with a pink clutch bag from New Look, my Tiffany & Co necklace, Michael Kors watch, Nomination bracelet, and Pandora bracelet. These are my everyday accessories, but they went so well with the dress - adding minimal, yet classy detail. (As seen in above photo)

For make-up, I used my No.7 foundation, then went on to use a MUA bronzer to contour, and a pressed Body Shop highlighter to add a shimmer just above my cheekbones and across the T-section.

A pale pink eyeshadow was used from a Next palette, and for lipgloss I also used a pale pink from a Next giftset which I got for Christmas.

My eyebrows were filled in using a powder, aswell as the Benefit 'Gimme Brow!'. I used two mascaras to enhance the length of my eyelashes, one of those being the Benefit 'They're Real' mascara.

Hair wise I simply tamed the mane by straightening it, keeping everything simple, but effective.

Above photos: My friends and I before we went out!

Unfortunately I forgot to get some close ups of my make-up, but that just gives me an excuse to go out again, right?! 

What do you think to my outfit? Would you have picked a different colour for the shoes and bag? Let me know in the comments!

Autumn-Blaze

xx

NYE 2015 | Get Ready With Me!

Good evening, lovelies!

First of all..HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that you all thoroughly enjoy 2016, and have constant joy and happiness throughout the year. Tonight's post is a 'Get Ready With Me!', showing off my make-up skills (or lack of them) to you wonderful beings, hopefully inspiring you along the way.

New Year's Eve is always an excuse for me to spend hours on my make-up (surely I'm not the only girl to do this?), and that is exactly what I did!

Above photo: Products I often use

During the day, I took my sister to the local shopping centre to run some errands. In order to keep my skin fresh as I knew I'd be wearing heavy make-up during the evening, I kept it basic with foundation and a light coat of mascara. The outfit I wore was the Boldly Bare knitted jumper dress by Hot!Mess, alongside some chocolate knee high boots from Dorothy Perkins. (See below)

Onto my evening look! First of all, I took off my make-up and washed my face with the Simple cleansing face wash. I first used this product at my boyfriends and have not looked back! It fabulous first thing in the morning to wake me up, and makes my skin super soft. 

I then used cotton pads to dab my face with rose water. It smells divine and scrubs off all excess make-up which you'd never imagine to be there!

Foundation wise, I used the No.7 Stay Perfect foundation. I had bought this previously, but then went on to buy Barry M foundation, however I discovered that the coverage with Barry M was not as good, and that more of the product was needed. Throughout the day it also made my face look oily, so back to Boots I went and purchased this foundation again! I swear by this product. Only a pea size of it is needed, and it does not feel as if it clogs up my pores. (See product below)

After adding Maybelline's Mastersculpt Contour Kit, eyeshadow powder, curling my eyelashes, a light coat of mascara and adding various eyeshadows (purple, gold, peach), it was time to add the finishing touches! (Above)

For eyebrows I almost always use a powder which my Mum got me last Christmas. But seeing as it was a 'special occasion', I got the Benefit gimme brow out! This product is slowly running out, and I can't bring myself to buy some more (am I too tight for not willing to pay another £17.50?), but I love it so much! For those of you who haven't tried this, it is almost like a mascara, but for your brows! I brush mine upwards using this in order to make them appear larger and fuller.

Next up was the Benefit benetint and 'They're Real!' mascara. Although I already had a light coat of mascara on, I added this in order to make them longer and thicker. I rarely use these products as they are fairly small due to being part of a gift set I received in 2014. 

I LOVE benetint as it is so easy to use and isn't too obvious on my skin. It's a light tint which I use on my cheeks, although it can also be used on lips.

And here is my final look! I added a bright red lip to jazz it up a little, alongside give a 'pop' to my outfit as I decided to wear all black.

Close up's of the look I created.

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of my full outfit, but I wore a lace blouse from the Michelle Keegan range at Lipsy, black skinny jeans from New Look and black Vivienne Westwood pumps. Accessories worn were my usual of a love knot ring from my Grandma, Pandora ring and bracelet, Nomination bracelet and Michael Kors watch.

I hope that you all enjoyed this post and liked the look that I created, I cannot wait to create more looks for you all!

What style of make-up did you go for on New Year's Eve? Did you keep it minimal? How did you celebrate the New Year? Comment below!

A very Happy New Year to you all, best wishes for 2016.

Until next time,

Autumn-Blaze 

xx