Detox Delights

Detox

When it comes to eating healthily and going to the gym I have been a very naughty girl this year.

I was never a huge gym bunny, despite the fact my mother is a fitness instructor, until my second year of uni. Freshers fifteen really caught up with me and I decided to put my free gym membership (from working at Virgin Active) to use. I worked out 3-5 times a week, ate well (if you ignore the occasional cheesy chips) and wasn't as excessive with my drinking as first year. Over my second and third year I lost about a stone and a half. 

Not only did I have a free gym membership, I worked out with two of my best friends (one who had a car, making the weather an inexcusable reason not to go to the gym), and I had motivation. Holidays. My month long trip around Vietnam last summer with my teeny tiny best friend was a huge motivator.

Fast forward to this year. I lost my free gym membership, live with my I-only-excercise-if-it's-tennis-or-swimming-in-my-garden boyfriend and have developed a penchant for take away. Nawt good. The fact that I have only drank alcohol about five times this year, rarely drink a drink that isn't water and on the whole eat rather well has meant my weight hasn't ballooned too much. 

I have put on about five pounds that keep coming and going as they please. I can feel it on my stomach, back of my thighs and my ever disappearing slash reappearing collar bones (my favourite body part). 

Something needed to be done.

So I detoxed. David Kirsch's 48 hr detox. For 48 hrs cheating was chewing. I drank his ready made pink lemonade for three meals a day and lost 5 pounds. If anyone watches The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (guilty as charged) the Super Charged Cleanse is quite similar to Yolande's master cleanse. 

It claims to leave your feeling slimmer, healthier and more energized in just two days, without feeling hungry or fatigued. I'm not going to lie it wasn't a walk in the park (I don't think I could have mustered the energy for a walk in the park). A friend of mine attempted the detox but got so delirious she gave up and ate a Mcdonalds at the end of day one. 

I was fine on the first day. I spent most of the day shopping. Zara has always been a good hunger distraction. Drank my detox and my bubbles as well as lots of white tea- I found drinking hot drinks tricked my body into feeling full. I woke up on day two with loads of energy and I am not a morning person! I worked on day two, probably not a good idea. The sardine packed commute to work was hell. At around three I felt really faint and couldn't concentrate much on my work. I powered through, drank my bubbles and went to sleep at about 9 that night. The next morning it was over. I felt slimmer, healthier and more energized but it would be a lie to say I didn't feel hungry or fatigued.

Well worth a go if you are looking to embark on a health kick. After two days of food deprivation it makes you think twice about that slice of shortcake. It is also harder to lose weight when you have toxins residing in your body as the toxins grab hold of the fat. However, it is not the answer to quick fix weight loss loss. A couple of weeks have passed and slowly but surely most of the weight has crept back on.

One thing I was impressed with was the Thermo Bubbles.

I supplemented the drink with Kirsch's Thermo Bubbles. Another pink lemonade flavoured drink that works to boost your energy levels, increase your metabolism and curb your appetite. There is no way I could have survived the detox without these. 

In an attempt to rid myself of those pesky five pounds for good I have recently started the 5:2 diet. Coined the greatest diet revolution since Atkins it seems like everyone and their uncle are trying it. The idea is to eat what you like five days a week and restrict (or fast) for two days. 500 calories if you are a girl, 600 if you are boy. Apparently you should lose on on average 1 pound a week from this intermittent fasting, as well as seeing improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol. 

I have tried many a fad diet (often influenced by my mother) - Dukan and Grapefruit spring to mind. And whilst I don't think I will stick to fast dieting for the rest of my life it is reconditioning my thinking about how much food my body actually needs. I seem to be surviving just fine on my 500 calorie days. Yes I feel hungry but it is nothing unmanageable. I have been having asparagus and a egg for breakfast, edamame beans for lunch and salmon and greens for dinner. I have to say the recipes in Mimi Spencer's Fast Diet cook book are delicious. I have to admit (and I'm not sure if this is cheating or not) but I have been relying on my Thermo Bubbles to get me through my fasting days. On one of my 'normal' days last week I tried to eat healthily  probably around 1,500 calories, but didn't drink my Thermo Bubbles. I felt more hungry than my fast day with them.

I like the knowledge that I have rid my body of a huge built up of toxins and that thought it may be hard I don't have to eat that whole tub of Ben and Jerry's in the fridge.

If you are looking to detox/change the way you think about food/shift those extra few pounds I cannot recommend David Kirsch or the 5:2 diet enough.

I am finally getting my eating under control....now just to start hitting the gym. Might as well put my new Nikeys to use.

Check out fast dieting here: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/

Rant or Rave?

Rodial Crash Diet Sticks

Whilst I used to be a self confessed gym bunny I have to admit my recent definition of a holiday diet has consisted of walking briskly from the station and switching my milk from semi-skimmed to soya. However, with bikini season right round the corner (I go on holiday on Monday the corner is about to smack me in the face) I am determined to look less killer whale more Brazilian bikini model (well I can dream can't I).

After emerging from winter hibernation I have rediscovered body parts I haven't seen in months (feet- I'd forgotten what you look like, stomach- what the hell happened to you?!) Recently I have not been the most faithful of partners to my diet, blue cheese keeps leading me into a life of adultery. But this summer my tummy's time is up.  Si-a-rah-nara sucker.

I love Rodial's tongue-in-cheek products, Boob Job and Tummy Tuck I could do with a bit of you. The Crash Diet Sticks claim to present a diet-free way to battle the bloat. Sound right up my lazy street. Over the next week I'll be sipping two sachets a day (the intense version, well you know what they say go big or go home) to (supposedly) increase my metabolism, drain excess water and promote fat burning. I am slightly skeptical- I drink (and pee out) so much water a day I'm not sure how much is left in me in retention. The ice peach taste is surprisingly quite nice. At first I thought mixing the sachet with 100ml of water seemed like a crazy small amount, but it actually tastes a whole lot nicer when downed in a shot. It is strange that they say to sip throughout the day. Ignore the instructions and down it fresher. Just close your eyes and think of peach schnapps. 

I've been taking them for three days so far and whilst I haven't noticed any weight lost my stomach does feel flatter throughout the day. I'll let you know how it goes.

Someone hide the cheese.

The sticks are available on several sites online beware that some sites (Harvey Nichols and Debenhams) are charging £48, but although Space NK are sold out online they're going for £19 if you can get your hands on them in store!

Guest Post

Ellie's Smart Goals

So it's a New Year, which inevitably means a New You! Woohoo. January is always the month for hopes and dreams, which all too often fall apart after the first week. Well I'm going to let you into a well-known secret of all the great achievers of the modern ages.... introducing SMART goals. It is a well known fact that writing down your goals is a great first step to victory so I suggest grabbing a pen and putting your aspirations on paper.

Most importantly though, is to follow the SMART format for all goals you make.

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

This means not simply saying "I want to get fitter", " I want to do more work". It means setting targets such as "By April, I want to be able to run 10k in 50 minutes." 

So for me, my goals are:

Getting to the library: 3days a week between 11 and 4pm. Because let's be honest, any more would be unrealistic. If I manage more, then I'll feel super charged. 

Going to 4 gym classes per week. As a final year student, there has never been a more important time to keep working out to destress and keep the mind clear and calm. 

and a bit of a fun one... trying a new recipe each week. I find it so easy to get into food ruts where you always end up cooking the same meals so I thought this would be a reasonable resolution to make. It's also on my list to start making my way through the BFI top 100 film list because it is actually shocking how few I've seen. E.g I only just watched The Shawshank Redemption last week! 

SMART goals mean you can measure your progress and therefore you're far more likely to stay on track. Of course, all goals will still require hard work and determination, but at least with this there will be a bit more motivation woo hoo. 

So good luck! Over to Frankie to tell you her goals for the year! Happy days!

So according to Ellie by putting my goals on the internet I will be more likely to follow them..

Here we go...

#1. Go for a run at least once a week (6k in less than 40mins- just to make Ellie happy)

#2. Post on my blog every day!

#3. Have a real life adult job by the time the rest of my friends enter the job market in September

#4. Run a 10k fun run by April

#5. Take my fish oil tablets three times a day

Finally this one doesn't fit into the smart formula, so I added it once Ellie had left (!), but do more Londoney things, and I'm making a good start with my visit to the Andaz hotel tomorrow for the Winter Club Sandwich, check back tomorrow!

The rest are rather vague, but the fewer I have the more likely I will stick to them!

What are yours?

I'm Back....

New Year, New Me

So I have had a bit of a break from my blog of late, I have been crazy busy at work over the Christmas period and didn't have enough energy to think let alone blog.

But now 2013 has rolled in I am making blogging religiously again one of my main priorities.

Every year I make far fetched resolutions which I will have most likely broken by January 2nd. This year I'm being a bit more lenient with myself. Rather than declaring I will lose a stone in a week, I am aiming for a healthier, happier year.

Come pay day I am going to embark on David Kirch's 48 cleanse to kick start my new year new me plan, but until those funds make a magic appearance I am going to start incorporating more juice into my diet. A sure fire way to get my fave a day, as it took 3 carrots and 2 apples to make one glass of juice (!). 

On top of the juice I want to get back to drinking more water. I used to drink approximately 13 glasses of water a day, this has dwindled down to my recommended 8 and i miss the feeling of over hydration. In my book there is no such thing as too much water.

In an ideal world I would give up dairy for good, but as a bit of a cheese fiend that is not likely to happen any time soon. So to begin with I am giving up milk. To be honest i'm not thaaaat big a fan of milk anyway, and I can't taste the difference between cow and soya in my tea and coffee so score.

2012 hasn't been my skin's best year so I am hoping to have more luck in 2013, in order to push fate more firmly on my side I am going to start taking fish oil tablets. They don't come cheap, and it is more than kinda irritating having to take three a day, but if it works it will all be worth it!

I also want to get back to the gym. The past two years I have been a fully dedicated gym bunny, I need to be to shift the freshers fifteen I put on in my first year. However since moving to Putney and dealing with a significant down grade in my gym my excercise has fallen by the wayside. This year I want to pick up those trainers and get back out there.

Two more to go. Most of my resolutions this year are focusing on health and skin but there are a few added extras. Number one to read more. My granddad likes to get me books as my under the tree present, and I still haven't finished the ones he got me last year. However when I opened Wild Swans on Christmas day my passion for reading returned. Finally, and really what should be most importantly, find a real life adult job!

Happy New Year! What are your resolutions?