Top five healthy instagrams to follow

I absolutely love Instagram, it is the platform where I find my inspiration and motivation whether it is recipes or workouts. The health and fitness community is incredibly helpful and supportive, I thought I would share my top five favourite Instagram account that I currently follow.

Emily @whatiateforbreakfast
This feed is the definition of yolk porn, seriously just look at the photos below. Whenever I am stuck for breakfast this is my go to page, the presentation is always gorgeous and new ideas I would've never thought of from avocado buns to all the stacked crumpets.

Tara @taras_transformation

I am in awe of Tara's feed, everything is presented so beautifully. I don't know how she does it, but seriously Tara can make any dish look incredible, even when travelling Tara manages to make her food always look incredible and so well presented. 

Coralie @shelifts.thefork

Coralie's feed is insane, full of yummy meal and snack ideas (not to mention her incredible cakes, seriously they taste as good as they look). Coralie is a huge inspiration for people to push limits and work their hardest, check out her lifting videos!  

Sofie @healthyfitsofie

Sofie is the queen of porridge and always posting after workouts making me feel inspired to get up and work out! I am so impressed how Sofie managed to stay healthy even when exams and revision were happening. 

Rachael @myjourneytogold 
I would say that Rachael is my biggest inspirations on Instagram, she is always posting simple yet incredibly delicious looking meals. It looks low fuss but high nutrition which I am definitely down for. Even when on holiday Rachael is posting running updates and showing that life has a balance! Plus if you're ever looking for an inspirational quote then this is the feed for you.. or if you love peanut butter.

Who are your favourite fitness and healthy instagrams? 

Initial thoughts on Weight Watchers

It's no secret I have had some strong opinions against Weight Watchers and Slimming World for myself personally. My eyes were opened when a few people explained to me you can eat unhealthy food but it's okay if you're within your points, or unlimited carbs as they are syn free. I couldn't wrap my head around this, and couldn't see how this would ever work for me.

Well.. after a few G&Ts with my friend she explained how Smart Points on Weight Watchers has helped her focus on what she eats, so I thought I would give it a go. My main problem with food is that my portions are too small so I end up snacking or binging. I have no will power so once I have one snack the week falls apart. I have tried so hard to work on this alone and also calorie counting on MyFitnessPal, however I found I am a Yo-Yoer. However I will be making healthy choices within this, not eating a McDonalds frequently and justifying it by saying it's within my points. I looked at getting a personal trainer to coach me as I am the kind of person who needs a little guidance, however WAY too expensive. I wish I was one of those people who could educate and discipline myself, but the reality is that I am not one of those people. I need some form of structure and organisation to help me, I'm more than willing to give this a go with an open mind.  I thought I would give WW three months and see how I get on with it, it has clearly worked for so many people, so why not me? I have spoken to my friend that's a dietician about this she said as long as I follow it healthily I should be okay, but she prefers Slimming World. Maybe that'll be my next tipsy try!

My initials thoughts towards the Smart Point plan:

The Good

I definitely don't eat enough for my main meals, my meal portions have about doubled if not tripled since starting weight watchers, however I am definitely snacking much less.

I have to be more organised to ensure I know how many points I have for each meal, meaning I have to take my lunch into work which has been saving me money.

The app is absolutely brilliant full of delicious recipes and helpful tips from the community. It's easy to pick and choose what type of recipe you're after whether you're looking for a specific ingredient or ideas by meal time.

Chicken is surprisingly low in points, meaning I can up my chicken game in meals and even snacks. GIMME ALL THE CHICKEN.

The Bad

Why does it not take into account good fats? An avocado being more points than a chocolate bar or bag of crisps! Where is the logic in that?

Bananas and grapes are no points, my Instagram is full of people eating huge amounts of these daily but they are so high in sugar I would've thought that would be taken into account.

Nuts are stupidly high in points, these were my go to snack.



Do you follow Weight Watchers or Slimming World? What are your thoughts on this?

Four ways to help you to wake up on time

Setting my alarm at 6am was never going to busy, I was forever Googling how to wake up easily and actually feel awake. I feel I have mastered this and wanted to share my tips with you. I'm not saying these tips will work for everyone, but they have worked for me. I have never been a morning person and now I get up at 6am easily raring to go for my spin class!

1. Lumie Light
Now this is the best £50 I have ever spent. It is a light that gradually wakes you up with a sunrise, this is so important especially during the winter months where it is pitch black outside. I set my alarm for 6am so the sun gradually starts to rise from around 5:30am. I find I wake up 2/3 minutes before my alarm which is surprisingly a great feeling. I recently found out that if I turn your alarm on then turn the light up before you go to sleep the light gradually fades away, the sun sets, for you to fall asleep to. It is incredible what a difference a light would make to waking up.

2. Turn screens off and relax 30 mins before sleep and get an early night
I have set my bedtime for 10:30pm where I relax and listen to music, listen to the Headspace app or read my book. Then at 11pm everything is put away and I go to sleep. As I've spent time winding down I find I fall asleep much quicker and manage to get a solid 7 hours.

3. Change your alarm noise every two weeks 
I had the horrible iPhone alarm noise for two years, you know which one I mean? ERG ERG ERG ERG, the one that gives you a heart attack. Well I found I had become immune to the noise and it stopped waking me up. I discovered that if I changed the alarm noise every two weeks or so it kept me on my toes and woke me up.

4. Lay out EVERYTHING the night before
My alarm is only set at 6am for when I have the gym, I make sure I have prepared my breakfast and lunch the night before, packed my gym bag with everything I need and even laid out my clothes. This was I can roll out of bed, get changed brush my teeth and go. Maximising time spent in bed!

The worst part of waking up is always getting out of bed, the sooner you do it the better. I find if I snooze my alarm I end up feeling so much worse 10 minutes later.

What helps you get out of bed in the morning?

Etsy Oxford Street Pop-Up Shop

With the gorgeous weather in London it seems to be silly to spend time inside shops, solution? We headed to Oxford Street and found ourselves on the roof garden above John Lewis.

I already adore Etsy with the personalised unique gifts I could spend hours browsing the websites, my bank would not thank me though. Fox & Lily stole my heart at this event, with their gorgeous ring dishes and holders. I wanted everything!

I will let the photos speak for themselves of how gorgeous the whole set up was, after all a pictures says a thousand words.

Lush Arndale GRAND OPENING

Imagine my excitement when an email landed in my inbox with an invite for the opening of the new Lush store in the Arndale. How could this get any better? Well getting the opportunity to meet Kat and Caitlin was just the cherry on the cake! They are both beautiful, chatty, talented ladies. There was never an awkward moment we just chatted, laughed and snapped photos from the word 'hello'.

Now on to the store itself, it just blew the socks off the other Lush shops I've been to. The layout was much more open so there is no more bumping elbows with people when inhaling the gorgeous bath bombs. My favourite part of the store is definitely the green house they have at the back, growing gorgeous plants by the skin care. We spent a long time in here snapping all the photos we could and taking it all in.

I still cannot get over how incredible the staff were. Everyone was so welcoming and genuinely buzzing about the store. They really made the atmosphere! From a bubble blowing competition (I was totally Queen of the Bubbles!) to hunting down more champagne for us, the staff were SIMPLY THE BEST!

I was like a kid in a sweetie shop, running around (well walking as it was busy but you get the idea), trying out every product I could get my hands on and getting the scoop on all things lush. We were lucky enough to receive a goodie bag to pamper every inch of us including hair, face, lips and body. I felt very spoilt.

I don't want to waffle on too much about the evening itself but rather show you photos, so here goes!

Have you visited the new store? What is your favourite part?