Being Becca

Monday, 4 May 2015

April Summary

Firstly, May the Fourth be with you! Star Wars has been on all day so far in our house..

This month I feel like I've been even scattier than my usual self! Like I've got into this habit of posting these "Hello April" etc. photos on my Instagram so when I look back I know what month I took which photos in (handy tip there for you!) but I didn't even realise it was May until yesterday which was three days in!! Oops! Also this is the first time in like 3 months that I haven't stuck to my blogging schedule! I was off work at the end of April and planned to blog lots and get all my posts scheduled, but I just didn't have the time and fell into the trap of writing them on the day (which I hate) and this post was meant to go up on Saturday but I didn't have the time! I'm disappointed with myself!

Anyway let's get on with it..

What I've been up to..

Not going to lie April was a bit of a rollercoaster month! Some days I found myself feeling really happy and loving life, but other days I've just struggled to get out of bed, had no motivation for anything and just felt really down about everything. I think that's where my blogging suffered partly, because when I feel sad you I just don't tend to have the motivation to blog. I want my posts to be happy and I just don't feel like I can fake that when I'm feeling down. But then when I felt better and was wanting to blog I was too busy! I started off the month seeing a guy too, which I thought was going really well, but, lo and behold, men are a mysterious (and annoying) species and he decided he didn't want to take it any further. So that was a bit of a knock to my confidence, so I spent the rest of the month really trying to feel good about myself again. I started taking my fitness more seriously, which you can read about in my last post here. I intend to post monthly updates on that. I also ordered myself the infamous MAC Velvet Teddy to perk myself up! Oh and the mini break I went on with my friend to Berlin helped too! German guys like English girls apparently. You can read about my trip in this post.

Fitness

As I said I've wrote an in depth post about my fitness and what goals I'd like to achieve, but I'll give you a quick overview of what I've done since that. I started this morning with a nice 5 mile run with my best friend, we did okay but I do think I need to really start focusing on improving my running if I'm going to do this half marathon in September! Running is a tricky one, you can be really physically fit but if you don't run a lot then you probably won't be able to run far! I think it's a mind game more than anything. I've been doing these Insanity classes at the gym on Saturdays too (well when I'm not at work) and they are incredibly hard but I love them! I always feel so good after. Well until I start aching anyway! I've been trying to fit some gym and swimming into my week too. I think my perfect week would be three gym sessions (leg + abs day then arms + back day and alternate weekly), one swim (I sort of count that as a rest day) my insanity class and a run (they would count as my cardio days). But I guarantee I'll rarely be able to fit all that in! But a girl can try right?!

Blogging

I already mentioned that I've slacked off with blogging a bit this month. Honestly though I do think that's okay sometimes, as if I don't feel like blogging I just generally don't do it. Because blogging to me is a hobby, it's not a job and I don't ever want to get to the point where I find it boring and it stresses me out. I seem to have posts in my head to write but haven't got round to taking the photos, but then photos ready for posts I don't want to write yet! I've even bought the product for my giveaway but haven't wrote the post yet! Bad Becca!! Also one thing I've been struggling with which I would like your help on, is blogging friends.. Which I know sounds a bit pathetic! Basically how do you guys keep up with people and make blogging friends?? I have certain bloggers that I read more than others and tend to interact with on Instagram and Twitter sometimes, but I wouldn't really say I have any close blogging friends.. But I want some!! I think my problem is I don't have time to keep up with social media like Twitter and Instagram, so I miss people's tweets and I always forget to do the blogger chats! Does anyone have any tips for me?? Also if any of you want to follow me on Instagram or Twitter I will follow back and maybe I'll make friends that way?! Blogger friends wanted! Haha I'm such a loner blogger!

What I've Been Loving

MAC Velvet Teddy and Whirl lip pencil! I finally got my hands on them after they were sold out for ages.. I really like the colours on me actually! I will be doing a review. I've also dyed my hair dark again after struggling to get it lighter, and now that it's dark but no longer black I really like it! The dye I used was Garnier Nutrisse in Mocha. I've also been loving the InstaNatural Vitamin C moisturizer that I was sent to review, which you can read about here, it just makes my skin so soft! Of course Made in Chelsea and Game of Thrones are now back on so they have been making me look forward to Mondays a hell of a lot more! The only issue is they are both on at the same time! And when I'm up at 5 I can't really watch one at 10.. I think I'll stay up tonight though! I've been enjoying The Island with Bear Grylls too, it's so intense I love it! Although I'd never do it.. oo and I always forget to mention what I've been reading! I'm currently reading the All Souls Trilogy and I'm on book two (Shadow of Night). They are a supernatural series which are my favourite (so much more exciting than real life!) and I'd definitely recommend them if you like vampires and witches and all that jazz.

Hmm anything else to report? Oo I applied for a Masters in Urban Planning the other day! So fingers crossed! Also I'm not feeling summer ready at all! Not in terms of how I look, but my wardrobe! I feel like I have no summer clothes! It's sad.

Anyway, here are a few of my Instagram snaps for the April, I took a lot this month, there was more than double this!

1. Hello April

2. Easter brownie with creme eggs in, it was so gooey and amazing!

3. Snapchat whore

4. Bought these to motivate me!

5. The happiest elephant you've ever seen?!

6. Annabel and I ready for a night out in Berlin!

7. This just explains my life.

8. Trying out Velvet Teddy and Whirl and my new hair colour = happy girl!

9. I love a good quote and I feel like this is me right now.

How was your April? Are you feeling summer ready?!

Starting a New Fitness Journey

I'm not really sure what put me in the right frame of mind to really take my fitness seriously suddenly (I mean I was before but now I really am going for it!) I think if I'm really honest I'm kinda hating on men at the moment, they always let me down and I just feel like the new Bridget Jones so I decided to ditch them in favour of pursuing abs instead! There's no point getting down about something you can't control, but I can control my health and fitness and will certainly feel better if I look amazing. And I won't lie, exercise usually works better if you've got a bit of anger to vent too!

So yeh that was basically the massive change of heart I had, and what gave me the kick up the arse to really start focusing on my own health and fitness. This is going to be a long post, explaining what I'm doing really, what inspiration helps me, what my long term goals are and how to do it in a healthy way..

I guess the main reason I'm doing this is that I want to feel a lot more body confident. Don't get me wrong, my body is alright, I've always been slender and I look okay, but I want to look good naked to put it crudely! Well in a bikini anyway! I also just want to feel strong and know that I'm healthy on the inside, to know that I'm giving my body what it wants and needs. After a workout and eating well I always feel more confident about my body even if there's no outside difference!

These last couple of weeks I've done really well for me, although I had a week off work which has made it easier! I've worked out in the gym a few times (a mixture of cardio and weights) I've also been swimming, been for a couple of walks and done an Insanity class the last two Saturdays which was the hardest workout I've ever done! So I think I've got in a good mixture and exercised every part of me!

In terms of eating, I've really just been trying to cut out sugar and cut down on carbs. I usually have carbs for breakfast, Weetabix with chia seeds if I'm working because I need to be out the door by 6am! Or porridge or muesli with blueberries and a banana which I have when I have a bit more time. This week I've switched the milk in my muesli for almond milk too because it's been on offer.

Sorry for the appalling food photos, I can just never make it look good!! But it's healthy and that's what counts ;)

If I have any more carbs they're usually wholewheat and I'll just have a small amount. I've been trying to have protein for lunch and dinner too, usually tuna for lunch and chicken for dinner. I'm loving roast veggies at the moment for dinner so I just chop up a courgette, sweet potato, pepper and anything else I have, slather some coconut oil on them and whack them in the oven with some chicken, so easy!

If I fancy a snack I'm really enjoying natural yoghurt with Agave Syrup and a few almonds or dried fruit in. I also make sure we are stocked up on fresh fruit so I can snack on oranges or kiwis. Although I am eating I am just going to mention that I do not calorie count and if I'm hungry I eat! Please don't do any of those quick fix faddy diets where you starve yourself for two weeks, they're not worth it and the weight will come back on! The only thing I'm wary of is that sometimes I might just be craving and not actually hungry, so I'll usually have a drink of water and see if that takes the edge off, if it doesn't then I'll have a snack or if it's late at night a drink of milk which usually satisfies me. I've been drinking mainly water, green tea, peppermint tea and a new lovely chocolate orange tea which is nice instead of a desert!

My drinking habits haven't changed much because I drink loads of water anyway! Last week I didn't have sugar for a four days, which was so good for me! Well no sugar that isn't natural anyway, so I'm proud of that because I do cast myself as a sugar addict, I love chocolate! When I went to Berlin that did get screwed up, but I think I'm back on track now. I'm just trying to eat it in moderation and not go crazy. I have been substituting sugar with Agave Syrup, which is natural and a lot better for you, you won't get a high then a drop with it, but it still tastes great! I love it in coffee and on my breakfast.

So how do I stay motivated and inspired? This is a hard one because I haven't quite figured that out myself yet! Honestly I think the weather helps me a lot. In the winter months I really struggle, but as soon as we get the first nice day I just get a wave of motivation! It's probably because I realise I'm not "summer ready"!

I think really focusing on that amazing feeling you get when you've worked out or had a good eating day helps. I just picture myself getting stronger and healthier and all the benefits that come with that. I also follow a lot of Instagram Fitspo accounts! I like to scroll through my feed and see all these beautiful women to keep me motivated! Of course I would suggest being very careful with this though as you shouldn't obsess or starve yourself, I only follow women that are completely healthy, not any that eat less than they should be. Only follow these accounts if they are going to give you positive motivation, not if they are going to depress you! But anyway here are some of my favourites:

@heysam.se

Sam has gone through an amazing transformation journey of her own and posts the most amazing recipes! Basically she makes naughty treats healthy!

@hannahpolites

Hannah is so beautiful and has an amazing body, which she works very hard for! She's an Aussie girl and her photos make me long for a holiday! She also has the most amazing trainers collection..

@cleaneatz

Cleaneatz have so many amazing photos of healthy food and great recipes, you'll never think of healthy food as boring again! They post some quotes that make me laugh too.

@annavictoria

Anna has an amazing Instagram filled with great tips, motivation, meal ideas and exercises. She also posts some great positive quotes which I love! She's all about loving yourself.

I'm hoping to update you monthly on how my progress goes with this, I think this will work harder and if you follow my Instgram @xbeccabe I'll probably post some photos of what I eat, positive quotes etc. on there too! I've taken some before photos and measurements, but no one will be seeing those until I've seen some progress! :)

How do you feel about health and fitness? Are any of you on a similar journey? I'd love to know so we can help each other!

A Trip to Berlin

A couple of weeks ago me and my old uni flat mate Annabel booked a last minute city break to Berlin! We stopped over last Monday and Tuesday at a Holiday Inn, and flights included it only cost us £100. I thought I'd do a quick post showing what we got up to. We actually went to Berlin a couple of years ago on a uni field trip so we had already done a lot of the site seeing and museums so there was no pressure to ram everything in on this trip.

We got there early in the day and after having a slight subway incident where we were charged €40 for not getting our ticket stamped (how harsh!) which we were very unlucky with as we didn't see any more ticket people after that! We headed to Potsdamer Platz for some lunch. Potsdamer Platz is a lovely area in Berlin and I definitely recommend visiting! Annabel had a jacket potato for lunch and I had crepes filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese (with toast on the side?!) It was really good.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Brandenburg Gate

Had to have a trip to a bier garten in the lovely weather! Unfortunately I'm not a fan of beer..

The weather was perfect both days, just a little breezy!

The bird flew off before I could get it in focus :(

Ready for a night out!

This was our attempt at dressing casual, as Berlin's nightlife is quite alternative and you don't get in if you're too dressed up, but we still got a lot of people commenting that we were over dressed! It was obvious we were English haha. Most people were in jeans but I didn't even pack any!