New Years Resolutions

Christmas is over and it's that time of the Year to make a few plans for the coming months! I'm not the one to say 'New Year, New Me' because I think changes can be made within you every day and I'm always the one with the notebook writing small plans and ideas. I think taking the time to plan is very important, you should always want to become better than yesterday, do something different, even if it's a very small note - it's all a step forward. One of my New Year Resolutions is to look after myself more, don't over work and create a balance within my work and a healthier lifestyle. It might sound a little selfish, but if you don't take care of yourself, no one else will! I'll surely be topping up on new supplements, vitamins, plan more workouts and try out more of a variety of food. As you can tell by this post I've also been shopping for healthier snacks as I'm terrible for sweets, so I found some great replacements for my lunch breaks :)

WRITE IT DOWN

Once it's in your notebook/ipad/phone it's already an idea, it also makes it much easier to go back to it because we've all been there forgetting it at the end of the day. Whether it's a small 'Jog with Honey' note or 'Cut down on chocolate' more of an overall note, it all becomes a focus at the back of your mind.

ONE BY ONE

Always focus on one idea at once, if you give yourself too much to handle it's very easy to then forget everything all together! Let's face it, we've all been there where a nap seems so much more appealing than doing that essay/project for work. But I promise, if you give yourself a 'Tuesday 10am-12pm' to sort out one thing you will suprise yourself how much you can actually get done. Plan by exact day and hour if you can, that way you can just tick it off and focus on your next step.

STAY POSITIVE

I know it sounds so cliche, but honestly it all comes down to how you see it. It's never really as bad as you make it out to be, yeah we all ate too much for Christmas oh well, today is a new day and let's make a change right now, for yourself. If you look back on today two years from now you will wish you started today, two years is a long time to learn, experience and live right?

ENJOY

The most important thing is, do it because you want to. Do what really makes you happy inside, this is why I personally love a healthy lifestyle it gives me a sense of freedom, control and inner happiness. You don't have to starve or be in the gym 24/7 you just need a balance, a new notebook and yourself. You can do it, if I can!

Hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to many more Fitness and Health related posts for the New Year! I'd like to take this moment to thank all the brands and people I go to work with this Year, I am forever grateful and can only wish to expand for 2016.  I hope you will enjoy my little fitness journey, blog posts and videos for the New Year as I have lots planned for us! 

Love, 

Skai x

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Should You: Take Supplements?

Good evening guys, I hope everyone is well! Today I wanted to do a little post on supplements, I hear so many different opinions of it all and let me guess, supplements in general made you so confused you just don't take any at all?

Well, there are so many supplements out there that it might leave you wondering whether they work or if they're even safe. First thing, not everybody needs supplements but I'm here to tell you why I do. Common supplements include minerals, vitamins and herbal products, also known as botanicals.

“It’s possible to get all of the nutrients you need by eating a variety of healthy foods, so you don’t have to take one,” says Carol Haggans, a registered dietitian and consultant to NIH. “But supplements can be useful for filling in gaps in your diet.”  

So for example myself, I am aware that in my busy schedule where I wake up early in the morning and rush off to work before I even touch breakfast sometimes. Sometimes I simply forget or don't find time to eat specific food which has all the nutrients and vitamins I would need for a balanced diet. As much as I would love to have all the correct meals per day I simply can't sit here and say that I've never swapped an apple for a piece of carrot cake on lunch. I wish I could eat more fish as I love salmon yet I couldn't eat fish every single day without getting bored of it either. I also wish I could actually enjoy an orange or two! But I have an annoying citrus allergy and luckily can take a Multivitamin which has Vitamin C instead all in one pill without having an allergic reaction. Also some vegans that miss out on specific vitamins/minerals from dairy and meats can find these in one Multivitamin/Fish Oil tablet. 

For example, Calcium supports bone strength and Vitamin D helps your body absorb Calcium. Vitamins C and E prevent cell damage and help maintain health. Fish Oil tablets is a favourite of mine, it promotes a healthy heart, hair, skin and bone health. If you're into fitness too and enjoy regular exercise I find that these are extremely important in order to stay strong especially throughout winter. 

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're extremely lucky if you do not need supplements, it means you're getting enough Vitamin D, veggies, meats, fruits every single day? Sadly I know I don't, especially not in London! So here are some simple and affordable supplements I personally recommend to buy to keep up a balanced and healthy immune system throughout the year! Would love to hear your thoughts about this too.

Cod Liver Oil - order here

A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals - order here

Green Coffee Bean & Raspberry Ketones Complex - order here

Green Coffee Bean & Raspberry Ketones are known for help in order to lose weight. I've had friends and myself take these for health benefits too. However I feel like there's more to it and it actually gives your immune system a health boost. Do you feel like at the moment your weight is constantly changing and you feel tired all the time? I've heard reviews and you can see on the website yourself, people who lack of sleep, vitamins and minerals can become weak which then leads to random weight gain/loss and fatigue. I would recommend to try this to gain a healthy balance with your own body, it may work for you too. I wouldn't recommend to take these daily for a long period of time and would try out one pack for when you feel at your worse to help you get on track with your usual diet and exercise. Just to end I wanted to add that I'm no scientist and just sharing my personal experiences with the supplements and the effects they've had on myself!

I hope you enjoyed this post and feel free to leave any feedback :)

Love, Skai x 

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Home/Garden Workout

 Hi guys, hope everyone's having a good week! I've been wanting to do this post for a while and finally got to do it, I think it's really important that you know it's not all about 'going gym' you can do majority of workouts at the comfort of your home. I've chosen my garden for today but you could do this indoors in your living room/bedroom etc. 

All you need is an even floor space and a weight that you can use such as a 2 - 8kg, if you don't have one grab something heavy! Here are a few ideas for you to try at home, don't forget to stretch before you start to avoid any injuries.

Legs - (Repeat 5 x 10)

Hold the weight above your head and lunge forward, squeeze your leg muscles as you go down and hold for a few seconds before you come up and repeat equally with both legs. It is very important you don't do any more/less with one leg as your priority should be to have both legs equally strong. You can do this exercise in two ways, if you don't have a lot of space I suggest doing one leg then come up and change to another leg in the same area. If you have a bigger place you can also do walking lunges.

Glutes - (Repeat 5 x 10)

Put your feet slightly outside shoulder width and point your toes slightly out. Move your lower body down and hold for a few seconds before you jump up. Personally I never miss this exercise during my glute/leg days I find it very effective.

Arms (targets biceps) - (Repeat 3 x 10)

Full range of motion all the way down, flex your tricep at the bottom and slowly bring the weight up and squeeze the bicep. Repeat with both arms equally even if one struggles more than the other! It's very normal to have that don't worry lol I have that with my left arm I feel like I struggle with it more than the right one, but never let it do any less reps to hopefully get them equal soon.

 Stomach (Targets abs & 'love handles') - (Repeat 5 x 10)

It's pretty straight forward, keep your feet on the ground at all times and bring your knees towards you, then bring your upper body and the weight up and move towards left-to-right squeezing your obliques.

| Leggings - Gymshark, Trainers - Asos, Top - Nike (now in sale order here!) |

Arms (targets the long head of your triceps which is commonly known as 'wings' lol) 

(Repeat 5 x 10)

 This one hurts! But believe me this is the best exercise to target that annoying area, I've always naturally had bigger arms so I always try to focus on this area as I feel like I store my fat there the most. 

Hold the weight up and lower it towards your back slowly to then bring it back up and squeeze. As you squeeze think of that specific area of your body, nothing else. 

Focus mentally and you will achieve more physically, have a great workout!

Hope this was any help, let me know what exercises you find effective?

Love, Skai x

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May Favourites

After Body Power we were left with many goodies including protein shakes and other supplements that I'm still trying to save but I think it's time to finish them all :D

You may have seen me mention on my Instagram that I have purchased a new camera. It's an Olympus Pen Lite epl7 and is such a great addition to all of the travels that are coming up. It is great quality, size and also has wifi which allows me to send photos to my phone straight away :)

I kind of got bored of carrying my Dslr, it takes so much space and this is so easy to carry in my bag. I will also be buying another lens for it soon to improve quality for outfit posts, can't wait!

So this month was all about stocking up with supplements, vitamins etc.

This month I've also been obsessed with salmon bagels haha! I started to drink more coconut water, I'm not sure which one I've tasted before but I never liked the taste of it for some reason? However this one tastes sweet and is so much better for you than juice! Believe me juice is usually = pure sugar.

Other new goodies I've added to my wardrobe is this Nike top :) I liked it because it's simple and good for wearing in and out of the gym.

Hope you enjoyed this small post, I'm thinking to do more of these, maybe at the end of each month? I would include all types of things to do with food, fitness, fashion etc. 

Let me know if you think that's something you would find interesting? :)

Love, Skai x

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Leg Day

 Hi guys, hope everyone is well! I've actually been travelling a lot since my hand in at Uni so just been visiting family and relaxing :)

Before leaving London, Lee and I went to Fit Tech Gym to do leg day. So I will show you some of my favourite leg/bum exercises that you may find useful.

I always begin with stretching and then move onto 'sumo squats'. Grab a weight and repeat 3 x 10 to get your legs started. Make sure to tense each time you come up.

 I usually try to do squats every other leg day and begin with no weight by then gradually adding 5kg each time. Once I hit my heaviest weight of 60kg I then do drop sets by removing 5kg each. Another great way of doing squats is having a comfortable weight such as 5/10kg on a bar and repeating the same weight five times.

 

Don't be afraid of only using the bar, it's very important to get your form right so doing it with a bar is also an effective exercise! I would only suggest to start adding weight when you feel comfortable enough with your form during movement. It is also very important to understand which muscle you're working out to prevent growing one area more than others. I'm a pure example of it, when I first began two years ago I did more exercises that focused more on quads (front of the leg) than glutes/hamstrings. It was my own lack of knowledge this is why now my leg days are more glute/hamstring based. I would recommend to have two leg days per week - one focusing on squats, leg press for your quads. Second day - glutes and hamstrings to grow your bum :)

 Leg press as mentioned earlier is a good machine to use for strengthening your leg muscles and I feel like this has really helped me to grow my quads so if you want to build that area I would recommend this machine/movement.

 Another exercise I enjoy doing at the end is this one, it really is that simple but believe me at the end of your workout this kills! I like to do this one to end my workout as you really feel the muscles in your bum in the end :D repeat 3 x 20.

To end our workout the owner's of the gym showed us around and took us outside to flip some tires!  I only managed to flip the smallest one haha but it is harder than I thought! We had a great time at this gym, everyone seems committed and serious about their workout I would highly recommend to visit! 

I hope this was useful to some of you, there are many more exercises as you know I couldn't share them all :) What's your favourite?

Love, Skai x

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Ab Workout

Hi guys, hope everyone is well! Today Lee and I went to my Uni to fix a few bits and get ready for the final hand in next week! Later that day we lunch'ed at Nandos and went to LAX Aldgate Gym in London. I wanted to share some of the ab exercises with you and let me know if you find these helpful! 

First thing, just wanted to say I truly believe in the saying 'abs are made in the kitchen' it is all down to your diet 100%. Abs will only appear if you lose the body fat layer around them, you can train abs as much as you want but they won't appear unless you lose body fat through correct dieting. I know this through my own experience, I only started to see results once I began to have a balanced diet. So once your diet is sorted let's begin to train those abs and grown them :)

Exercise no. 1 - step outwards using one leg at a time, this one is a killer haha but really good. Repeat 3 x 10

Exercise no. 2 - Lean forward, but not fully and touch each side of your foot by twisting. This targets the sides of your obliques, well the love handles we all 'love' so much hah. Repeat 3 x 20

Exercise no. 3 - keep your body fully on the ground and only lift your legs up (both at the same time, place them over one another if that helps) and down without fully placing them on the ground. When you're bringing them down do it as slow as possible. This targets the lower bit of your stomach, this part I've been struggling with for a while, I seem to store my fat in the lower part of my belly the most:( but hey, let's keep it going.

Repeat this 3 x 10

Hope you enjoyed this quick post, let me know if you found this useful and also what other exercises would you like to see?

Love, Skai x

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The Healthy Choice

 Good evening guys, I think it is about time I update you on my fitness journey since my official start in January 2015. If you haven't yet make sure to look at the post 'My Summer Body' and you will see what my goals were!

I am still on a journey right now and can proudly say I have stuck to it and couldn't be happier when I see results! So far I have gone from 57kg at 5ft2 to 51.5kg. My goal is 50kg.

However I must make it clear that it is not about your weight! If you exercise, muscles weigh more than fat so don't judge your journey on the weighing scales, it's better to take progress photos! 

I've had a lot of you tell me you've started to look after your diet and exercise too due to my posts which is always an amazing thing to hear! I love hearing from you about your achievements as I am in the same position, trying to achieve mine.

The Cut

 At the moment my boyfriend and I are in the 'Cutting' process, we started it in March. For those that aren't sure what I mean by cutting, it's when you cut your calories from a caloric surplus to a caloric deficit. This means you're going from eating a certain amount of calories to gain weight to cutting to amount of calories in order to lose weight.

For example my calories at the beginning when I was gaining weight at 57kg were 2,000 and now I am eating 1,450 per day which is made up of 48 Fat, 109 Carbs and 145 Protein.

Carbs is your primary source of Energy so you need carbs, don't be cutting them out totally and starve all day. Therefore in order to lose body fat I have lowered my carbs so my body will look to find energy from the secondary source which is fat.
As well as this I have increased my protein intake to make sure I am preserving as much muscle as I have gained through out when I was gaining weight.

 I have also started to include a 15min cardio session at the end of each weight training workout as well as having an actual full cardio day in the gym. However that doesn't mean you forget weights! I've stuck to weight training too and carrying on eating clean, just lowered my treats :)

Myself and Lee have decided upon having One Cheat Meal per week, so we can look forward to something we've been craving that week!

Don't Give in - Replace Instead

 Best advice I could give you is that all you have to do is try find replacements for your favourite foods. So for example you love coffee..(the way I do) then make sure you always get a 'Skinny' which hardly has any fat in it. Or instead of a Peanut Butter Kit Kat get yourself a Peanut Butter Protein Bar!

 Also don't be afraid to ask for a healthier option, for example I went into Starbucks and took a few minutes to see what they have and found an omelette wrap, asked to take away some of the cheese and that was my breakfast. There are many temptations around us at all times that's why I advice to cook yourself.

One the Go

However I understand that not every meal can be eaten at home especially if you have a busy schedule and forgot to pack lunch. I used to get a little embarrassed and think what if he/she at a restaurant or cafe thinks I'm so fussy and picky.. but hey, who's going to get that body you want, them or you?

If it means asking for a wholemeal bagel instead of white bread, to remove any cheese of the sandwich at a cafe or have egg whites instead of full egg then you go for it!

The amount of times I have to do this just because I travel a lot and seem to always be on the go to uni or work. There is nothing wrong with choosing the better option for you, especially if you cannot always eat at home.

Just a little example, I found these chicken pieces at Waitrose on my lunch break at work. I have packed my own salad and avocado that day so I saved money and got myself a healthy lunch!

 I wanted to share some of the foods I have found to be great for a healthy snack! I know it can get tough and I get so hungry in between my meals sometimes it's easy to just get yourself crisps or chocolates. However there are many other options I promise, here are a few I recommend:

Popcorn - if you fancy a snack, get yourself some skinny popcorn! It's low in calories and tasty.

Blueberries - Low in carbs (Only 6g of Carbs in 100g!) 

Protein Bars - High in Protein and pick any flavour!

Teas - whenever you feel hungry even though you've just had your meal, make yourself a tea! It kind of tricks your stomach that you've just had more food :)

Water - I know it may sounds like the obvious option, but believe me it works. Drink more water in-between your meals and you will be less hungry.

Hope you've enjoyed this post about my recent diet and exercise plan. Please feel free to leave any questions/comments below and also follow myself (@scentofblanc) and Lee (@leealexandersimon) on Instagram for daily posts on our Fitness Journey!

Love, Skai x

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