LIFE: Food update

Hello and happy Sunday! I got up pretty early and now have the house to myself as Mike is at Ninjutsu.  Thought I'd give an update as to how my eating has been since my last food post.  

Basically I wasn't eating very mindfully, which kinda defeats the purpose of intuitive eating.  I would start to snack at like 9:30am at my desk, and that would continue all day! My life would consist of sugar highs and crashes, which resulted in me constantly struggling to keep my eyes open at work which is not good!

So, the changes I made were:

• Not taking any chocolate/cake/anything sweet to work, or money so that I could buy any
• Signing up for Graze (the nibble box cos it's full of gourmet yet healthy treats) - I have voucher codes if anybody still wants one
• Taking 2 portions of fruit with me to work - this week was an apple and two kiwis a day, which has resulted in me having 5 or more of my fruit/veg portions a day
• Drinking more water - I have always done the 8-a-day thing until recently, and have started to do the whole having 2 glasses instead of 1 whenever I'm thirsty
• This week I took a salad with me one day, Wednesday I think, and I really could tell the difference in my well being! I've decided I'm going to have salad every day from now on.
• Eating what I want at home - I want to stress, this is not me dieting at work, this is just purely for the sake of my energy levels. So I can eat intuitively at home, which normally consists of me having a few pieces of chocolate or some icecream when I get home from work.
• Getting Mike to stop dropping me off at my work entrance; instead he drops me off at a point where it takes about 20minutes for me to walk to work, so I get a nice refreshing bit of exercise first thing in the morning.

The changes I noticed were:

• Feeling FANTASTIC!!! My mood has been so good the last few week - I have bipolar so this is something I really have to look out for
• Energy levels maxxed up.  I feel alert and awake, no sugar peaks and crashes  
• My skin is better - looks so much more radiant, and my hair seems to be growing faster too! This is a bonus I didn't expect!
• I just generally feel cleaner, healthier and happier.  Can't really put the feeling into words, but I just feel so much nicer!!

Definitely going to keep up with this, not because I have to, but because I want to carry on feeling this good :) :)

Hope everyone's having fun at LFW!! Jealous much!

FASHION: Current lusthaves

It may have snowed (a little) this morning, but I'm completely over winter and thinking about my summer wardrobe.  There's so many things online that I am in love with - too many clothes not enough time..or money!  Anyway , here's a selection of my current favourites:

Topshop "knitted summer pastel jumper", £36
Perfect for spring with its cute pastel colours, but still warm enough to wear when it's a wee bit chilly!

Wildfox Couture "leopard spots slip top" £69

I can really imagine this being thrown over a bikini on the beach, or worn with denim cut-offs.  Ideal for summer!

Rare "pleat neck keyhole back dress" £47

Really wanting a tan right now, and of course white is the perfect accompaniment to glowy skin!

Topshop Boutique "fluro flower swing slip" £68

Even if 100% silk is dry clean only and therefore completely unpractical, this is absolutely gorgeous don't you think?!

Miss Selfridge "star and stripe denim short" £30

Ah yes, the aforementioned denim cut-offs :)

Givenchy "Le Prisme Visage Powder Bucolic Blossoms" £36.50

Is this not THE most beautiful thing you ever set eyes upon? I burn I perish! And there's only one left in stock at HoF............I rest my case.

LIFE: A non-dieting approach to eating better

Ok, i admit it, I'm a total anti-dieting Nazi.  I HATE everything to do with the dieting industry - the way they pray on and humiliate vulnerable women, the way they happily destroy your self esteem and confidence and steal your money and and and.. ok I'll stop the rant! 

I used to diet, sure, but I quickly ended up in the disordered eating cycle of bingeing and deprivation.  I would binge because I was miserable/lonely/happy/sad/angry etc, and then feel worse after it, and go back on the diet.  Dieting has been shown not to work though; something like 95% of dieters put their weight back on (plus some more) within 5 years of dieting.  I have been going down the 'intuitive eating' route for the last 2 years, and my GOD does it make for a better life!! I am also much thinner than when I was dieting, and soo much happier.

Anyway, as you can see I feel very strongly about this!! Which makes what I'm about to say all the more difficult...

I. Need. To. Control. My. Eating. Better.

I get to work and I'm on the cake before 10am.  I just graze on sugar all day, and wonder why I get so sleepy.  I just live on sugar highs followed by sugar crashes.  I get rid of the crashes by eating more sugar.  Life is just one long roller coaster, nutritionally speaking.  I know sugar isn't the best thing in the world for my MH, and the meds that I'm on can cause diabetes II, so I don't really want to increase that risk!

So what am I going to do?  Well, I've got a month free at Graze to see if I like it (comment on this post if you want a free box voucher code), I'm cutting out the cake and chocolate as much as I can.  I'm going to eat more Nakd bars and that kind of thing, to see if slow-release foods make a difference to my energy levels.

But, and I feel this is the important part, I'm not going to beat myself up if/when I do eat chocolate.  I'm not going to act like I'm a failure, or think that there's a bandwagon to fall off, cos there's not.  I feel I'm making a mature and responsible decision that will not have a negative impact on my life.

HAIR: My little pony

Aaagh! I was so happy with my hair in the colour+style it was - my red bob looked funky enough to satisfy my alternative-ism (new word) yet cute enough to not look too 'out there'.  I am 25 now after all! I shouldn't be dyeing my hair crazy colours anymore! Right? Right?!

Wrong.

I've had my eye on the pastel hue trend for a while now.  But I resisted the temptation, somehow.  I guess I thought maybe I'm *too old* for crazy hair.  Regardless of my motives, I managed to avoid running to the hairdressers with a My Little Pony in hand, shouting "I want its hair!!"

That all changed last night, when I saw this post and I started thinking.  I LOVE all kinds of *crazy* hair.  I used to have blonde, pink and brown hair in my youth (it looked AWESOME).  Then I went turquoise and blue and brown.  Then pink with white highlights.  I loved it! But then the real world hit, and I started having post-uni interviews etc and the cool hair simply had to go.

I contemplated the chalk (pros: looks amazing; cons: washes out straight away and dries your hair out) and dismissed it as it just wouldn't look right in my red hair, and wouldn't last long either.  I started thinking about my crazy dye days.  And started investigating.

And found all these:

 (1)

  (2)

 (3)

 (4)

 (5)

 (6)

(7)

(Images found on Google search and/or here)

I, quite simply, fell in love.  

So how am I going to go from being a vibrant-redhead to a pastel princess? It's going to take some time for sure!

1) Lots (but not too many!) protein treatments.  These not only will improve the condition of my hair and decrease porosity, but are also great at lifting dye a bit.  Not so good if you want to keep your dyed hair healthy and coloured, but great if you want to start over.  I love Ion Reconstructor Treatment (you can get sachets at Sally's for about £1!)

2) Keep my tresses healthy and conditioned for the inevitable ...

3) Bleach bath.  I'M GOING TO THE HAIRDRESSERS.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!! Unless you like orange hair that falls out and breaks.  I need to speak to my stylist and pray that she thinks this is feasible!!

4) Dye to a light ashy brown base.  Again, I'm doing this at a hairdressers.  Even if you're broke (my purse hasn't recovered from Xmas!) you have no excuse - go to your local stylists and book an appointment with the trainee.

5) Go pastel! I'm thinking pastel streaks a la picture number (1), with the cut in the style of piccie number (4) - choppy and with a full fringe.   And for the pastel colours? Lilac, pale pink and sky blue.  Hell yeah!

I've also found this magical little ingredient -

 (Fudge Paintbox - Whiter Shade of Pale)

This is basically a toner to neutralise golden tones in platinum hair.  It can also, however, be used to make pastel colours out of the normal Fudge Paintbox dyes which are normally mega vibrant.  

What do you guys think? Are you a fan of the pastel trend, and should I really go for this drastic change? I think I've already made up my mind though....!

xxxxxxxxx

TATTOOS: Dreaming of Peacocks

Even though I am so shitbroke after christmas, I have found myself looking at tattoo ideas. I have wanted a peacock piece on my back since I was about 21, 4 years ago. Of course, in those 4 years either I or my partner has been a student, so unnecessary spending is out of the question.

I thought I would post some inspiring piccies of what I want anyway just for fun. They're for my benefit as much as anyone else's!

Have a lovely lazy Sunday :) xox

REVIEW: Diorshow Mascara - Backstage Makeup

I had pretty much given up on me ever having fluttery lashes without bringing out the falsies.  Mascara has never been my friend - I've tried Badgal, MAC Zoomlash and countless drugstore mascaras, but never ever had any decent eyelashes.

I got a £25 Debenhams gift voucher for Xmas, and decided I was going to get a High End mascara with it, in a desparate last quest for pretty lashes.  I decided on Diorshow Blackout mascara, but the sales assistant gave me Diorshow original by mistake!  I didn't realise I had the wrong one for about a week, but after that time I was so in love with it I didn't care.

(Image courtesy of www.debenhams.com; Diorshow mascara £22)

This mascara, this little tiny tube, has performed miracles.  It has given eyelashes, making me feel much better about my looks and my makeup.  I will definitely repurchase again and again, purely because it has succeeded in giving me lashes; something I had given up on!!

Want the proof? Left eye (as you look at me) is Maybelline False Lash Effect.  As you can see it gives me pathetic lashes just like every other mascara as ever done.  Right eye is Diorshow mascara, the Miracle Worker ;)

 Excuse the lack of makeup elsewhere! I wanted to give an idea of what the mascara looks alone

 Maybelline False Lash Effect...

Diorshow...

  And with my eyes closed.

My opinion? It's love!! And it looks soo much better in person than it does with a camera shoved in my face.. this seems to highlight all the imperfections (and makes my nose look huge, what's with that!!).  My one problem is that the brush is really really big, so I'm still a bit clumsy with applying the mascara. I have to have a Q-tip in my other hand to clean up the black smears from under my eyes that appear when the brush touches my skin.  I still feel it's worth it though as I never get any smudging etc during the day - when it's on your lashes it stays on your lashes, until you attack with eye makeup remover.  I really feel like it really makes you look like you're wearing falsies.  

Like I said, it really works.  9.5/10 from me ;) I took off 0.5 because of the big brush)

TATTOOS: Taste of Ink

I thought I'd do something a bit different today and show you guys my tattoo work - the completed as well as the work-in-progress.  I was going to add in pics of all my tattoos, but I a) didn't want to come across as a poser(!) and b) don't particularly want pics of my stomach and hips etc on the net! Anyway, here goes!


I was obsessed with star tattoos since I was about 13, but obviously was way too young! When I turned 18 and was in "the scene" (cringe!) stars were the big thing, and I hesitated as I didn't want to be that cliché.  However, my love of all things astral won over and for my 20th birthday I got my first taste of ink - stars going down my hip.


There is a moral to this story - don't expect your artist to read your mind!! My friend left me at the studio, taking the picture of how I wanted my first piece with her! So I had to explain how I wanted my tattoo to look to the artist, and didn't end up with it looking how I had intended! HOWEVER, I love it to bits, and don't regret it or resent it or anything! I still love it :)


My mother cried herself to sleep for days after she saw my hip (months after I had it done I should add - I hid it well!) and that put me off having any more work done for a while.  Even though I worked in a body modification studio for a few months I managed to resist the urge for more permanent work done.  I concentrated instead on piercings, and ended up having over 40 done in  just a few years (not all at the same time).  I even had a suspension which was an amazing experience.  


When I got back from travelling round the world aged 21, I was eager for more tattoos.  I went to a convention and got a lucky charms piece done at a convention - very spur of the moment.  It was on my ribs, which is possibly the most painful place ever!!


I fell in love with all things oldschool at that time, and got a beautifully colourful anchor on my other side about a month after my last piece.  


I also got my beloved stars on my neck done a while after that (you can see I really got the bug!), which remains one of my favourite tattoos.  The artist, an old friend, was very reluctant to tattoo my neck as he thought I'd live to regret it (I haven't) and that it would hinder me at job interviews (it hasn't, although I do work in research where anything goes!) but gave in in the end!


I calmed down after this, but knew that my next piece was going to be a sleeve, which I've always loved.  So, after a good few months of deliberating, I decided to go ahead of it.  Rob was totally in tune with what I wanted - a girly and elegant sleeve but still definitely influenced by Japanese styles.  

I started it 3 years ago, and although I didn't know it at the time, it was doomed to go unfinished.  About 6 months in to the work, I moved further north to do my MRes and couldn't really afford either the train fare back to Birmingham every fortnight or the charge for the tattoo either.  I decided I would get it finished after my Masters and when I could afford it .... and then got a job in Edinburgh, 6 hours away from the studio!!! Since then, I've never really found an artist who's work I really liked.  Someone recommended Irezumi in Glasgow to me, and they look awesome and their work looks right up my street! So I hope I will get my sleeve finished soon!


*Rob Colley is the artist who did all my pieces other than the convention one, who was the artist at the studio I worked at, but now has his own shop in Birmingham called Park St Tattoo - check them out cos they're awesome!  


Do I want any more? Always! I really want a new school peacock on my back, lettering on my wrists and something on my feet!