6 Top Tips To Stop Food Cravings

Hello, hope you are all well!

I thought I'd write this post as I have actually been using these tips more than ever recently...I seem to be in some kind of super crazy junk food craving mode - literally, every second I am craving something (chocolate, cake, biscuits, crisps - you get the picture) and I have been trying my best to be good! So, here are my best tips for not giving into those cravings, or distracting yourself if you like - I vary which tips I use so that I don't get too used to them!

1) Make yourself a cup of tea 

• As soon as I start getting a craving, I make myself a large cup of tea. This can be any tea, I tend to go for camomile or mint tea as they have a natural sweetness to them (as I usually crave sweet things). This has been my absolute go-to tip recently, not only does drinking tea fill you up and distract you from the craving, but it's also so good for you and helps with rehydration too! I recommend green tea, camomile tea, mint tea, fruit teas and/or any other herbal teas that you may like. Seriously, try it! 

2) Brush your teeth

• This one's pretty self explanatory, like the cup of tea its another distraction technique that has additional benefits. Obviously, a nice clean mouth, shiny white teeth and fresh breath come from brushing your teeth, plus the minty taste in your mouth you are less likely to want to reach for junk food as your taste buds are already being stimulated with mint! This is another tip that I use constantly, it works for me so well. Have a go!

3) Plan your treats

• Were all human, we all enjoy some (or a lot) of junk food from time to time! Plan "cheat meals" or "cheat days" in advance as something to look forward to (that is, as long as you can get back on track afterwards)! Tons of people swear by this tip and it is probably the most popular method used in the fitness and health industry. Most people choose days on the weekend for this as you are more likely to be splurging then. Just make sure you can get yourself motivated and back on track and this could work wonders for you!

4) Get up and move

• This is yet another tip which has amazing added benefits! As soon as you start to daydream about all the biscuits, chocolate and cake you could be eating (if you're anything like me than this is a full time occupation) - get up! Do 10 squats, do 10 star jumps, do 10 lunges, go for a 10 minute walk! Do anything! If you're moving, you're not only distracting yourself but you're also benefiting from burning up energy, getting the oxygen flowing, improving circulation and much more. GO go go!

5) Grab some fruit

• This is especially effective if you are craving sugar! Fruit is full of NATURAL and GOOD sugar (the only kind of good sugar) and will help you if your body is willing you to eat sugar. Not only does fruit contain a ridiculous amount of good things (essential vitamins, minerals and fibre), but it all tastes so amazing, it is natures candy, use it!

6) Make an alternative

• This is particularly good if you're craving things like chips, deep fried chicken, crisps, cake etc. With this tip you can actually satisfy some of the craving, by making a healthier alternative to the craving! Search for substitutes and healthier versions of your favourite recipes/foods and make them! Get creative. Get cooking!

I hope that these tips help you in some way and that you can use them easily and that they work. I use these on a regular basis and sometimes combine a few if a craving is really bad. But most of all, remember, we are all human, do not beat yourself up about a bad day/week/month. Aim to be better than you were yesterday and take everything step by step. If you slip up, dust yourself off and get back up.

Thank you for reading, I know I ramble a lot!

Amy xxx

How to lose weight fast and get perfect skin, hair and nails!

...or not, glad I got your attention! Wow, its been a long time, almost 2 years to be exact! I've been wanting to write a blog post for a while now, so here it is :).

The title of this post will probably attract a lot of attention as it seems to be the kind of thing girls and women are always searching for. Society today places huge emphasis on the 'perfect' this or the 'perfect' that and is almost always focused on trying to make us feel insecure about things we shouldn't be worrying about and giving us expensive or unrealistic 'solutions' to become or look 'better'. Well this is what has prompted my desire to write a new entry, and perhaps a few more.

Another thing that I am so guilty of doing almost all the time, is comparing myself to others. And at that, comparing my true self to what others choose to put on display. Instagram, facebook and other social media sites give the illusion of another person's life as 'perfect' or near 'perfect' as naturally we choose to put out all of our best and hide our worst. This is one of the worst things that you or I can do for our happiness, self esteem, confidence and general well being! But it is something that we do naturally, when looking on these social media sites, and we need to stop.

Everybody is unique, different and individual, if we were all exactly the same the world would be very boring and predictable. Appreciate and be grateful that you are different and embrace your imperfections as well as your best points. Nobody is perfect, not Victoria's Secret models (okay, maybe Candice is ;) ), not all the amazing girls on instagram, no one is perfect. Stop aiming for the unachievable and start aiming to be the BEST version of YOU. Only when we realise this will we be happy in our own skin. And I don't know about you guys, but I think I need reminding of this daily! It's so easy to constantly compare ourselves and nothing good comes from it.

So apologies for probably the worst written post in blog history (I think I wrote this more for myself than anything else) but I hope this helps at least some of you! 

Love, Amy xxx

ps. I hope you are all as excited as I am about creating an e-book to help you all, that's all I want to do, help others :) 

Progress & Tips

Hello!

So I posted some progress photos on my instagram, it is always important to recognise progress whether it be big or small!...

Slowly but surely...which brings me onto some of my best tips/advice - on top of doing HIIT and weight training/target toning, I focus on doing conditioning! 

The best advocate of this that I have found is Tracey Anderson (and her method), most of her stuff is readily available on YouTube so please have a look! My absolute favourites are her standing arms and standing abs routines but I regularly do all of her stuff (at least once a week)

The way in which it works is you use very small and specially created dynamic movements that "condition" the muscles and tighten everything up, bringing your different muscle groups closer together and also closer to the bone (this is just a simple explanation, it's not entirely scientifically correct obviously but it basically brings everything together and I think it's very important!)

I always stress the importance of finding a balance and this is definitely a major factor for me! I think it really helps keep my femininity and is helping me get tighter!

Make sure you all have a go! The specific DVD I use is the "Tracey Anderson Method: Mat Workout", its 59 minutes long and has 6 sections plus a warm-up and cool-down (all available on YouTube)

X

Today! Phew 😊💦

Hiya!

So I have been SO BUSY today, I also just found out that I'm working over 50 hours this week (as a domaciliary nurse), so my e-book may be slightly delayed...sorry! And I've teased you all so much! I'm so mean 🙊🙈

After having done my 45 min power walk with Dan earlier, I did 3 hours of vigorous cleaning for my mum (always put in 100%, no matter what you're doing!) and then as I was feeling so energised, I decided to do some HIIT! I will do a post on HIIT at another date but I will put it simply for now: it is extremely beneficial both in terms of cardio vascular fitness, endurance and agility, as well as muscle building, "toning" and defining! My workout looked something like this (I did it for 30 mins)

This is such a great diagram, you can pick and choose what you prefer and do alternatives! Not all exercises are suitable for everyone

Whilst I was doing this (amazing multitasking I know 😉) I had this delicious and nutritious meal cooking to be ready for when I was finished! 

That is: pan-fried salmon with chopped ginger, red chilli, coriander, garlic, shallot & lime with peas, beans & brown rice! 

I am absolutely dead! Getting an early night as I work starts at 6:45am tomorrow, then I'm going out for a family Father's Day lunch! 

Hope you're all well

X

Power Walks

Hello everyone! Posting off my phone currently 😊 

Here's a picture of my little brother from our power walk!

It started off sunny but towards the end there was a big downpour of rain but that didn't stop us ☺

There is nothing better than a power walk early in the morning to get your day going and to clear your mind! I usually do about 40-60 minutes and walk at approximately 5-6mph the whole way (very fast but we have long legs so very doable!) and I always make sure we do some inclines and declines in our route! I'm not that much of a runner, but we always tend to run the last 400m home at full speed (we make it fun by chasing each other) 

Hope you've all started your day strong, I will post my workout when I've done it later (I think that's the best way for you to understand how I workout!) and I will post lots of my tips about how to stay active. 

Love Amy 

X

Finally!...

Free of all things university related (although I can't guarantee I won't be retaking in August..however I'll worry about that when I get my results!)

Thank you to all the people who have been checking out my blog, I hope you like it and please give me any topics/suggestions/questions that you'd like me to answer on here in greater detail (its really hard to answer in detail on Instagram!)

So, I am going to talk about why I don't weigh myself anymore. I admit, I definitely have been tempted but I don't give in!

I took this photo earlier to demonstrate what I mean. So many of you let the scale determine how you feel, how you look and you let it diminish your progress and even get obsessed with the number it shows! (we've all been there). Let me tell you that unless you are competing in a bikini fitness/body building competition, or are morbidly obese, the scale is not the best way to measure your progress. The amount of times you and I have felt like we were doing so well, had noticed good progress and others even commented as well which is all forgotten about once we get on the scale and see that we have only lost a pound or two. 

We've all been there, trust me! And this relates back to why I also don't count calories any more (that's another post for another day!) 

So why should you forget the scale!? Here are some of my simple reasons:

• Muscle weighs 3x more than fat - ie. when losing "weight" healthily (through clean eating and exercise), we tend to lose fat and gain lean muscle, therefore, losing fat won't show as "good" results on the scale as losing lean muscle will (which you want to avoid at all costs) - and obviously the same goes for gaining lean muscle whilst losing fat, the scale tends to go up!
• The scale doesn't take into account body fat percentage. Just imagine a 140-lb woman with 35% body fat and a 140-lb woman with 19% body fat. They may weigh the exact same on the scale, but their body compositions will be completely different!
• Muscle also occupies a lot less room in the body than the equivalent weight of fat. Therefore, when you are losing fat and gaining lean muscle, you are (usually) getting tighter and losing inches from your body; which you may not be able to see on the scale at all (it may even go up), but can measure using tape measurements

Instead of using the scale, I tend to use measurements and focus on how I FEEL inside and out! And they both work, trust me. 

So why not put this scale to a little test? See exactly what I mean when I say don't use it to determine your success. If you don't believe me (or want to just try it out); weigh yourself tomorrow morning as soon as you get up and take mental note. Then go about your business as you usually would, maybe 5-6 nutritious meals, 3 litres of water, one workout, a shower etc. - now weigh yourself before you go to bed...chances are you're probably going to be about 2 pounds heavier than you were in the morning, if not more! And no, don't panic, it is near impossible to put on 2 pounds of anything in one day! So the answer? During the day you retain water weight, you can store up to 3-5 lbs of weight in your bowels and your clothes may even add on a few pounds!

From this I hope you all understand why I don't use the scale, and why I would never let the scale determine my progress again!

Love, Amy

X

Protein Powder

From the depths of revision I am writing a post on protein powder as I get asked about it a lot! And there are MANY misconceptions when it comes to protein powder, weight gain, 'bulking' etc. So I am going to help set them straight!

So I will begin by saying YES I do use protein powder! These are the exact products I currently use:

I am so so happy with the taste & textures of all of these flavours and I can't wait to try more! The vanilla is amazing for using in cooking and they all taste amazing mixed with water or milk. Per 29g scoop there is 24g of protein (amazing) 1.6g carbohydrate (again, amazing) 1.2g sugar and 1g of fat with 18 of your essential and non essential amino acids! I might also add here that even though my hair already grows extremely fast, since using whey protein it has started to thicken out and grow even faster!

So I get asked A LOT "If I use protein powder will I put on weight?", "If I use protein powder will I get fat?" and "If I use protein powder will I get really bulky?" - and the answer is no to all of the above! I will now explain why :)...

Whey Protein helps REDUCE fat and PRESERVE muscle

• Contrary to popular belief amongst us females, whey protein actually does the opposite to what we seem to think. Because of the high protein and low sugar and carbohydrate content, whey protein actually aids fat loss and promotes lean muscle gain as the body burns more energy breaking down protein and therefore burns more calories! Increased lean muscle also means that your body burns more calories at resting rate to maintain  it. The addition of lean muscle may lead to a 'weight-gain' on the scales as muscle weighs 3x more than fat, BUT it occupies a smaller area in the body comparatively to fat, therefore you will appear tighter, healthier and more 'toned'. (I have a HUGE vendetta against using weighing scales to measure progress with many reasons, but I will brush on that topic at another time!) 

Whey Protein helps rebuild, repair and reduce soreness in the muscles after a workout

• It is most beneficial to have whey protein after working out (especially after heavy lifting) as the body absorbs it very efficiently and therefore it works very quickly. Protein in general is essential for ALL growth, rebuild and repair in the body, and if you are looking to tone-up or gain lean muscle, you will probably need an extra source of protein so that your body is working at an optimum level, and whey powder is perfect for this! Because it repairs the muscles after a workout, it means that you don't have to skip workouts due to extreme muscle soreness and you don't feel as lathargic afterwards (although you still will if you go hard enough :)!). 

There are SO many other benefits which I am not going to mention, but just google it and you'll see for yourself! Now the last FAQ about looking 'bulky' is a HUGE common misconception amongst us females, and it goes hand-in-hand with women's fear of using heavy weights. This is ANOTHER post for another day BUT I will finish with the fact that women have no where near enough testosterone to become 'bulky', and it would be extremely difficult to do so. What I THINK the reason is for women thinking they will get bulky or are bulky is because they need to lose fat in order to be able to see more muscle definition without the layer hiding it, which is where the quote "abs are made in the kitchen" comes from - in order to SEE your abdominal muscles (or other muscles), you need to lose fat in order to show them off. They will have been there the whole time but until your body fat is lower, you can't see them and you will appear softer!

Anyway, I hope this is slightly coherent and you all understand the information! All of it is off the top of my head so there may be mistakes, and it's from my own research :)

X