WTF Friday: Dress Burgundy

I am bringing a new series to my blog called Whats The Fashion Friday (WTF Friday-see what I did there). Today's theme is dress burgundy. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge fan of burgundy... my friend recently came back from Spain with friendship bracelets for my group of friends, with a different colour for each of us, and of course mine was the burgundy one. As burgundy is so on trend this summer I have been working through the Zaful website to find my favourite burgundy pieces and have selected my top 3:

NO.1

Play-suits/Rompers are so on trend at the moment and I love them! This one is perfect for summer 2017 with off the shoulder sleeves and a neck band....anyone else obsessed with this trend? Every top I currently wear is off the shoulder I find it so flattering. This play-suit is also perfect for anyone looking to draw in their waist, with a tie to draw you in and break up the outfit. Flares are also a massive must have this season and the flared sleeves on this romper make it right on style.
You could easily dress this up with a gold choker, earrings and heals,or casual it up with a pair of sandals, a material choker and sunnies.

Zaful have kindly given my readers a 10% discount, so if you fancy styling this piece use the code below! If you do get this piece please send me a pick to show me how you style it I love to see everyone's individual styles. I'm thinking I may wear this to my cousins wedding party next month!

It’s Romper season. Click for Best ideas of floral rompers.

Get yourself a new romper this summer!

Use 10% off code: ZFEN01

NO.2

For my second choice, I have picked this gorgeous off the shoulder dress. This is definitely the simplest of the three items I've picked out but its still so in style. This is the perfect dress for a sunny day, layered over your fave bikini with a pair of bright sandals and sunnies. dressed like this are the perfect canvas to pair with bright pattered accessories, and I'd definitely recommend a bright belt round the waist to draw you in at the middle. The sleeves are again flared and I love the simple cut out design!

NO.3

My third piece is a maxi dress, this meets so many trends in one piece, what more could you want. Not only is it off the shoulder but floral are also big in this summer. Due to being a large floral print, you can so easily accessories this piece with very simple jewellery. I love layered necklaces with an off the shoulder neckline, and lots of rings. You could pair this piece easily with a pair of burgundy or fawn strappy sandals, or take it into the evening with a pair of heals and an arm cuff.

I'd love to know what you think of the pieces in this post, send me any pics if you style any of the above! Also contact me if you have any requests for trends to be covered in another WTF Friday post! Hope you have an amazing Friday!

Emily xx

Top Tips to Loose Weight-Based on Science

So anyone who is a regular at my blog will know my journey has been all about weight gain, but my understanding of nutrition, health and diet doesn't just cover weight gain and so I thought I would write a post for all you lovely people out there who are looking to shed a few lbs.

Initially, I would like to say please make sure you are loosing weight for the right reasons, if you feel you are a healthy weight and are looking to loose weight that is lower than what you know is healthy for you then I would highly encourage you to look at the mind website which covers all aspects of eating problems with self help and contacts.

This blog post is based on a scientific background, I have studied biology to a level and am now training as a nurse which has a highly scientific anatomy and physiology element.I have also spent a year under the eye of an accredited dietitian and have learnt a lot through her, all these tips will be based on what I have learnt and what I can pass on, please dont follow fad diets that dont have evidence to back them up they could do more damage then good!

TOP TIPS TO LOOSE WEIGHT:

1) Work out your basal metabolic rate- there are many calculators available online which can be used to work this out and this will give you a rough idea of what you should be eating to maintain a healthy weight.

2) Work out your daily calorie intake- Initially it is a good idea to keep a food diary either by journal or phone and roughly work out your daily intake of calories, it may be worth weighing portions just for a couple of days to get this as accurate as you can...but PLEASE dont stress over getting it exact!

3) Work an approximate weekly or daily calorie intake-In order to loose a lb a week most people will need to loose around 3,500 calories from their diet a week (around 500 cals a day). If this is going to take your calorie intake under 1,200 please consider a slower weight loss route, maybe 1/2 lb a week. If you begin to restrict calories too much your basal metabolic rate will drop. This will make loosing weight extremely hard as your body works more slowly to hold onto fat!

4) Work out meals you love that fit your daily calorie intake and leave a few spare for healthy snacks! For example if your daily goal is 1,200 calories eat 300 at breakfast, and lunch, 400 at dinner and have 200 for a couple of 100 calorie snack or one larger 200 calorie snack.

5) Healthy snacks:

Apples-these are not too sweet and release sugar more slowly into the blood stream lessening the sugar spike they have a fibrous skin which some of the sugar sticks to preventing it from being digested too quickly and causing a sugar spike and then slump!

Pears these are another great fruit to eat due to similar reasons as above!

Blueberries, these are packed full of anti oxidants that will help remove toxins from your system and keep you feeling healthy!

If you want a treat opt for popcorn which is just salted gain we want to prevent sugar spikes which can lead to you feeling hungry and tired, and try making healthy home bakes using egg, wholewheat flour, vanilla, almond milk and stevia- I have some great low cal recipes on my instagram

6) If you are a snacker separate your meals into snack sized portions and pick at those throughout the day.

There is nothing wrong with snacking and there is evidence that it can keep your basal metabolic rate high, you just need to make sure you are staying within your goals and snacking on the right foods.

7) Find a good fitness plan that you love! In order to keep that basal metabolic rate up you need exercise! This promotes muscle preservation and muscle keeps that rate higher, it will also help to burn a few extra calories to help you on your way. Anyone who knows me knows my love for a Lucy Whydnam-Read work out which I have linked, they are super quick, are appropriate for all fitness levels, are easy to follow and she gets amazing results! Shes qualified and knows her stuff! But if home work outs arent for you get walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, or lifting weights anything that gets that booty moving!

I hope these tips are helpful to you and best of luck with your health journey! Please share this if you like it and spread the message of health and positivity and none of these unhealthy fad diets!

Love Emily xx

Initial steps:

1. When you feel stressed, take a moment to breath

2. Pinch your fingers and repeat 'ive got this', 'i am strong', 'i am happy'

3. Remember no mental state is forever, we are constantly changing and the way you feel now will pass!

Steps for long term stress:

1.Ask for help, when we are stressed our mind become confused (watch this documentary by the BBC on the effects of stress) sometimes we dont see things so clearly and are thinking and rational become sluggish, therefore taking time to reason over anything that is causing you stress offers another persons opinion and helps you to slow down and form rational thoughts.

2.Another way you can aid your thinking is by writing down your thoughts, this helps you you to declutter them and also form an action plan.

3. See every moment as an opportunity to learn, learn how you deal with stress best, is it by taking time to exercise, doing colouring, playing a musical instrument? Find something you love and make sure it is a part of your everyday routine no matter how busy or drained you may feel, prioritising health is key!

With multiple exams, organising work and study at the moment, these are a few ideas I have found work to keep my stress under control, or at least help me deal with stress. I hope if anyone else is reading this and feeling any form of stress in their lives that it will be of some comfort and help!

Emily x

1. If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it.

2. If you don't ask, you wont get.

3.If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place.

4. You are not the first and you certainly wont be the last.

Today I was having a conversation, and was reminded of a saying my Grandad has drilled into me from a young age 'if you dont ask you wont get.' Occasionally, when we get tired, have a bad day, or week, we begin to feel demotivated, and can loose sight of our end goal. I find that reminding myself of these motto's whenever I feel this way, helps to reassure me that I got this and that I should do what ever I can in my power to achieve the goals I have set myself. If you haven't set yourself goals then I highly recommend that you do, go for a variety of long and short term, it helps you to have motivation. Even if you dont succeed as quickly as you would like, if you keep focused, one day you will achieve them and when that day comes the sense of achievement and self-worth you will feel will be completely worth it. Not only by living by these rules will you feel content and have purpose in your life, you will also never have any regrets, and know that you are doing everything you can to be the best person that you can be.

How to create the PERFECT Vanilla Vegan Biscuit

As its Easter Sunday, how could I not share an Easter bake?

These vanilla cookies are a dream, they have that legendary SNAP that all good biscuits need when you bite into them followed by a soft chew in the mouth.

They are perfect for baking by adults and children alike and by changing up your cookie cutters you can make them perfect for any time of the year.

With just 102 calories per cookie, they aren't going to ruin that diet, when you can't help but tuck in ;)

INGREDIENTS:

180g Plain flour

100ml Vanilla Soya Milk

50g icing sugar

50g Pure sunflower spread

1tsp vanilla extract

for the icing

150g icing sugar

Vegan food colouring

METHOD:
Cream together the flour and the sugar

Add the vanilla extract, soya milk, and half of the flour mixing until combined

Add the rest of the flour, mixing with your hands to form a dough bowl

Roll out onto a floured surface and cut out with your chosen cutters

Place on a greased baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden around the edges

Remove from the oven and leave to cool

IN a bowl mix the icing sugar with approx 2-3tbsp of water but add 1 at a time and judge according to consistency.

Separate into 3 bowls and add your favourite food colours to each

Decorate and leave to dry-if you can wait that long!!

What Vegans Eat-Protein Packed Oreo Brownies

Often when people hear you dont eat animal products their first concern is your protein intake. With education in the variety of food out there that contains protein this has never been an issue for me and these brownies go to show why!

This plate of gooey chocolaty goodness is my protein packed peanut butter Oreo brownies! 🍫 they are @oreothins @trunutbutter powder coco powder and melted @greenandblacks chocolate! Only 36 calories a slice, high in protein, and completely vegan they are a fitness fans dream!

Macros:

36cals

1.6g fat

4.7g carbs

1.7g protein

Recipe

Green and Blacks cocoa powder-1.2tbsp

Tru-Nut powdered peanut butter-50g

4 oreo thin biscuits

tsp baking powder

Maya gold organic Dark chocolate Green and Blacks-20g

100ml dark chocolate almond milk

Pre heat the oven to 180c

Mix together the baking powder, peanut butter powder and cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate by placing in warm oven

Stir in the chocolate milk to the dry ingredients, and mix until smooth

Add the melted chocolate to the mix and stir again

Finally crumble in your Oreo thins-I added 4 but feel free to add more!

Bake for 10 minutes and enjoy!

Choose Happiness Motivational Monday #4

There are two quotes Im focusing on this week. It has been a particularly busy week and both seemed very appropriate.

So this quote is perfect for my motivational Monday post this week. The week has involved, moving house, cracking my ribs, revising for exams and writing my academic development.

It hasn't been the easiest week of my life to say the least, but it has taught me so much about my own strength and also the strength and kindness of those around me.

My parents have coped and led our house move with such calmness and enthusiasm it is truely inspiring. We have all only ever moved once and my brother and sister had never moved before so to say it was an adventure would be an understatement. I dont think any of us quite anticipated just how much packing was involved or just how much stuff we actually owned.

It became even more of an adventure when on the morning of our move with only 4 hours sleep I managed to fall winding myself and cracking my ribs. My mum was onto NHS 111 straight away despite our desperate packing situation! My sister was the next Savior and kindly offered to come to UTC with me in the ambulance so I wouldn't have to go by myself. From this experience I not only learnt that my sister is a star but also that in order to be a good nurse I should never leave a patient to struggle (we were just watched by my nurse as my sister tried to move the wheelchair with the breaks on, and then struggled to get my coat off me due to my lack of movement!)

I then learnt that I have the best, best friend on the planet; who came out to get me from hospital, lent me clothes and let me stay at her house, even though it was her birthday and she had places to be!

I often find it very easy to look at what other people have and want it for myself, forgetting all the amazing components of my own life. I think it so important whenever I see someone achieving something that I want, to remember I can achieve just as much as they have and that I should feel pleased for them and to use them as inspiration to reach my own goals. This gives me confidence to achieve and also allows me to practice compassion which I believe is highly important. Jealousy is such a soul destroying emotion that often leaves upset, replacing that feeling with one of happiness for the person and aspiration for yourself is so much more positive in so many ways. I would advise anyone who feels like they want something someone else has to switch to this way of thinking!

It is also important to consider that they will have had their own adventures and learning experiences to get to that point, that you may not know about, therefore remember that the grass is always greener on the other side and that although things may look great for someone else it doesn't always mean they feel great or that it wasn't tough for them to get to that position.

Happy Monday everyone!

For today's post I wanted to share this quote with you all.

An Image from my first 10K run in a year, a huge step for finally being strong enough to run that distance.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine , as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

(Marianne Williamson)

It is such a beautiful quote and one that I feel is hugely important to spread. Its message not only tells us to love ourselves but to use that self love to empower others. I love the referral to childhood, when we dont have a care in the world and act as we like. Its so freeing when you finally reach a point in your life when you start asking yourself will this make me happy and if the answer is no you have the confidence not to do it, and if its yes then you just go for it with everything you have to give.

Essential Guide to Balancing Health, Fitness, and Study.

Exam season is here again, and boy is it stressful. I can feel the tension beginning to mount and the tiredness kicking in, and I'm sure many people are feeling the same way up and down the country. As the workload mounts the time we have to dedicate to the things we love begins to decrease.
This is where priorities come in. Its so so important to remember what your priorities are through this exam time and to make sure that you meet them.

Step 1:

Make a list of your priorities; this should include your work, health, down time and other obligations such as work.

Step 2:

Order these in terms of importance, and remember when doing this your long term goals as well as short term.

Step 3:

Create a timetable that reflects all the aspects that you have written down and the amount of time you can realistically give to each task.

Balancing Health and Wellbeing with Study:

I Love health, fitness and healthy eating, its my passion. I am constantly thinking about how I can improve my body, my mind and what new recipes I can create in order to do this. However, realistically whilst studying I cant focus as much as I would like to on getting the physique I am after and creating recipes. My number 1 priority is my studying and my grades. I am a huge snacker when it comes to revision and so I am inevitably going to eat more during this time. I also hate being sat down for long periods of time and love working out however I don't have the time to take hours out of my day getting ready for workouts doing the workout showering and then studying.

Therefore here's what I do to make sure my mind stays happy and healthy and I get my work done.

Food:

1)Snacks are a life saver! I dont eat large meals during exam period as I will inevitably snack anyway. Having gastro-Paresis means I struggle with large meals anyway, so instead I make sure I'm eating around 5 smaller meals and 4 snacks in between. This means I never feel hungry and can completely focus on my work.

2) Forget Macros and physique and eat what your body needs. There is no point starving your body of what it needs worrying about macros when at the end of the day you wont be able to focus on your work and instead you just sit there thinking about food. You have the rest of your life to get your macros and body back to the way you feel happiest but you only get one shot at your exams. Feed your body and ace those exams!!

3) Keep your food healthy! If you are craving biscuits make them at home so you know they only have the best ingredients in them! Eat cut up fruit and veggies and make lunch the night before to take with you to study so you aren't tempted to buy something unhealthy that will make your head groggy whilst you're trying to work!
4)Stay Hydrated!

Exercise:

I incorporate short 10 minute breaks into my study, where I walk around and get some fresh air (if I'm at the library) if at home then I will do one of Lucy Wyndham-Reads HIIT work outs in my break, following the low intensity version so I get in some exercise but it isnt compromising my work.

Mindfulness:

Its so important to stay mindful throughout exam season. Know when you are too tired and not being productive and do something you enjoy to relax, reschedule that study space into another period where you had given time to relax.

"1 hour of productive study is so much better than 5 hours of unproductive study"

Don't waste time staring at a page, remove the pressure from yourself and your mind will remain clearer and better ready to absorb the information, when you are focused.

The other day I was watching this video by Zanna Van Dijk and honestly if you havent checked out her videos then you need to they are amazing! In the video Zanna was talking about learning to love herself and finally feeling like she doesnt need to wear make up which I think is so important for us girls in modern society...we should never feel like we have to wear make-up!

This then got me thinking about why I wear make up and furthermore, who I wear make up for. I concluded that the reason I wear make-up is that it makes me feel good. I am obsessed with finding new brands and products and finding new ways of doing my make up, (reducing the amount of brands that test on animals in my collection, is a huge one for me right now). I feel ready for the day when I have applied make-up and a red lip always makes me feel like I can conquer the world.

However, I feel just as comfortable when I am not wearing make-up I will happily go for a run with no make up on my face what so ever and then go shopping afterwards, just as if its a sunday and I need something from the shop for one of my Sunday bakes I will happily walk up to the shop with no make up. I have no worries letting people in my flat see me with no make up on at night and in the mornings either.

I feel that wearing make-up in this way is healthy for me (and im in no way suggesting that my way is the best way). I feel happy that without thinking about it I wear make up for myself and no one else because I enjoy the process of choosing the products and playing with looks.

I definitely wasnt always this confident and used to wear concealer over any blemish when I was younger and apply a small amount of mascara, even going to the gym, as I didnt feel I looked old enough and wanted to look grown up.

After many years of people exclaiming over the fact I look about 8 years younger than I actually am I am totally used to this now and really couldn't care less!

I would be really interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this matter and to motivate you to consider: why do you wear make up or not wear make up, and who do you wear it for?

Are we our own worst enemies, or our own best friends?

Today someone told me they 'were their own worst enemy' and this got me thinking.

We live in a society where we are always comparing ourselves to others as I have mentioned in my previous posts. We have learnt to rely on others to deliver positive affirmations to us, and we have been taught to play down any form of compliment for fear as coming off big headed or too full of ourselves.

This is clearly something everyone wants to avoid, however we dont have to talk ourselves down in order to do that! As soon as you begin talking yourself down it spirals into a habit that becomes a self inflicted prophecy that you end up believing. But how can you prevent this from happening, and how can you get out of this cycle?

It all starts with thinking patterns.

If you are already in a negative cycle then as soon as you think something negative you have to counter it with something positive. After doing this for 20 days...thats how long it is suggested it takes to learn a new routine/habit, this will become affirmed. The more you think negatively the more positive thoughts will just naturally follow, until you begin believing the positives. Once you have over come this you have to affirm the positives:

Tell them to yourself without a negative.

Write them down.

Do this even if you dont believe them trust me one day you will!

'Remember life is more than fitting in your jeans'-Ed Sheeran

I love Ed Sheeran and this is so true, who cares about what you look like focus on personal goals and traits that you love, set yourself goals and targets that arent visual, tell yourself about how you like a part of your personality, or set an aim to be more self-less, more helpful. Just thinking and following these actions will make you feel better about yourself.

Confidence and Kindness shine through, you look incredible if you are being the kindest version of you you can be :)

Find something you love and work hard at it every spare minute of the day.

Set your self targets for exercise!

Exercise is an amazing thing. Not only does it release endorphin's making you feel great but it also makes you feel better about your body. Dont worry about aesthetics just try and be the healthiest version of you you can be, eating as well as you can 80% of the time and focusing on finding a form of exercise you love! (I'm a massive fan of walking!)

finally...

'YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY, YOU ARE TRULY YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND '

these are just my own thoughts, and I'd love to hear what other people think about it
Emily