#sundaysayings (douze)

"I think the thing to do is enjoy the ride while you're on it."

- Johnny Depp

Jas' Fitness Journey - Week 4

As week 3 of my fitness journey comes to an end, week 4 begins. Apparently it takes 4 weeks to notice a change in your own body and at the end of my third week, I can see a change already. I have lost a bit of fat and gained a lot of muscle, especially in my legs and core. This is due to a combination of increasing how much I exercise and important changes in my diet.

Such a change to my lifestyle has changed how my body looks - but whether it's overly noticeable, you could question. So, here is one of my progress pictures so far:


PRE-FITNESS JOURNEY

END OF WEEK 3 OF FITNESS JOURNEY

So as you can see, the lighting is slightly different in the photos, which could be a little deceptive - although, at the end of week 3 it looks like I have lost muscle. BUT, what has actually happened to my body is, I have lost a layer of fat, hence why I have smaller 'love handles' and my stomach muscles have come together and become a more dense and ultimately stronger.

From here, I need to keep up the exercise, healthy eating and hard work in order to build up my muscles further and to make them more toned.

#sundaysayings (onze)

"If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a painter', then by all means paint."

- Vincent Van Gogh

Jas' Fitness Journey - Week 3

It's the start of week 3 and having taken part in my fitness journey for nearly a month, I am slowly but surely making progress. Today, is a a quick progress update - if you missed last week, you can view that HERE.

Little steps, but we are getting there:

• I have started working out once a week. 
• I have started drinking lemon water (one of the best drinks for you!)
• I have exchanged unhealthy snacks for healthy snacks (although I did have a sneaky chocolate bar for the first time in ages!).
• I am back dancing again - Yay!
• I am still battling, but I am eating 3 meals a day more often that I used to.
• I feel much healthier in my body, even if I can't see any physical results yet.

My Healthy Lemon Water Instagram this week...

Lovesales.com - Review

Lovesales.com is a relatively new website that collates all your fashion discounts together, so you never need to buy anything at full price again!

Often, as customers, we end up spending ages trawling through sales racks in shops, or going on a million and one fashion websites trying to find clothes that you like in the sales. As we all know, this is extremely time-consuming and often we don't end up getting what we need or want at all.

Now, lovesales.com does all that discount trawling for you and you can simply visit their website HERE to find plenty of discounts and sales from brands that you love! With the hard work being done for you, it is much easier to access all those clothing gems out there, instead of only finding one on a sales clothing rail in a crowded shop, in which the item of clothing is probably falling apart and needs fixing or altering.

To make it even better, you can personalise the website to show you brands that you choose - catering the sales directly to you. With brands such as Zara, Laura Ashley, Urban Outiftters, Mango, Ralph Lauren and more to choose from, the world is your oyster in these clothing sales.

You can also get alerts for when there is a price drop, or new sales on items and brands that you love. The image below shows what the sales pages look like - with the opportunity to visit the full sale (the pink box) and the opportunity to be alerted about future sales (the blue box) at Miss Selfridge. As you can see, thy currently have up to a whopping 70% off in their sales right now.

Lovesales.com really isn't something you'll want to miss out on, when you can get the latest trends, build your wardrobe up and a get unique street style at a guaranteed low price - and it's all within the touch of a button!

#sundaysayings (dix)

"Everything is hard before it is easy."

- Goethe

Jas' Fitness Journey - Week 2

So after a great start to last week, this week is filled with even more fitness, healthy food and energy!

My last post was written on a Tuesday and involved how I started the fitness journey, you can read more about that HERE. So what have I done since?

Wednesday and Thursday - I went food shopping! 
This involved buying plenty of fruit, healthy snacks and substantial meals that I know would make me want to eat the full 3 meals a day instead of skipping meals here there and everywhere. It sounds pretty awful that I skip meals, but with a busy lifestyle and being used to not eating breakfast most days, it has become a truly horrific habit. Especially considering breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day.

Friday - Intense 20 minute workout
This involved a whole long list of exercises:
Jogging (on the spot)
Heel Flicks/Butt kicks
Jumping Jacks
Cross Jacks
Back Lunge to High Knee
Skater Kicks
Full Body Bridge Raises
Single Leg Bridge Raises
Boxing Jabs and Kicks
30 Second Plank
Mountain Climbs
Leg Raises
Burpees
Squats
Lunge with Twist
'Inchworm' Press-Ups (on knees)

..... I did say it was a long list!

Saturday, Sunday and Monday - I saw lots of family and moved the rest of my stuff (basically everything), into my flat!

Tuesday and Wednesday - FOOD!
The last couple of days, I have been focussing on making sure I have been eating 3 meals a day and I have been getting in the routine of taking supplements. Not any old supplements and not to replace meals, but because I need to make sure my body is getting the right nutrients. As a result, I have been taking multi-vitamin and mineral tablets daily and Spatone, an iron supplement daily. This is because a crappy student diet doesn't fulfil everything that my body needs.

As a result, this has actually stopped me feeling as drowsy during the day and has meant that my body can last from when I get up until I go to sleep without wanting to fall asleep at several times during the day due to lack of nutrients!

Thursday - Today...
I have been in a meeting pretty much all day - I had an early start, getting up at 7am and I will be off to dance and do some choreography for a couple of hours soon!

#sundaysayings (neuf)

"People cry, not because they're weak. It's because they've been strong for too long."

- Johnny Depp

QUIZ Clothing - Dress Review

 QUIZ Clothing is a fashion store that targets younger women with the latest trends. The store mostly sells dresses in a whole variety of colours and styles, all of which are at an affordable price. From prom dresses to day dresses and evening dresses to knitted dresses, QUIZ have the full works. The dress prices range from £6.99 in the sales, up to £79.99 for a top of the range prom-style dress.

The dresses sold by QUIZ are of a decent quality and last multiple washes without becoming damaged or broken. When I bought a dress from QUIZ a year ago, I visited the store in Milton Keynes Shopping Centre - anyone who has been to this shopping centre knows it is huge and easy to get lost in, but believe me, QUIZ is not a store you'll want to miss. The customer service was excellent and they really helped out in the changing rooms. The staff are very friendly and they put their customers first.

As a typical girl, I had picked up almost half the store to try on and I ended up in there for around 1 hour trying on all the dresses before I found 'the one'. (For everyone out there, 1 hour to try half the store's clothes on is pretty speedy!) Although, this wouldn't have been possible without the help and guidance of the staff.

If you're not the type of person who wants to shop in-store and you prefer to do it online, then you can click through to their website HERE, or if you are specifically looking for dresses, you can click straight through their vast selection of dresses HERE. The online store is easy to navigate around, and you even get free delivery if you spend over £50! As a bonus for all those students out there, students can receive a 15% discount - you have to register with them, but there is no harm in that, as it will make your shopping much cheaper! My favourite current picks are shown in the images below:

Jas' Fitness Journey - Week 1

So I started my fitness journey yesterday and did quite a small workout, consisting of:

5 full press-ups
10 press-ups on knees
10 sit-ups
10 crunches
10 bicycle crunches (per leg)
1 minute of mountain climbs

After the workout I felt normal and the next day my shoulders were aching slightly (I think this was also due to moving into my new flat recently!)

Then a few hours later I went to the dance studio to do choreography and danced for 2 hours and ended up walking with friends to Wetherspoons and the shops. Without a doubt, straight after dancing, the pain of exercising has hit me all the way through my legs - I feel like a penguin that is trying to walk like a human! My legs will most likely feel like jelly tomorrow and the day after, but I will keep pushing on to try and improve my fitness levels.

However, even if my fitness improves, to meet my goals (HERE), I need to eat healthier and more regularly. To start this off, I bought lots of fruit as snacks, porridge for breakfast and I have given up alcohol again at uni (yes, I managed to do this last year too!).

To help me keep track of my workouts and how well I am doing, I downloaded a fitness app called Fitocracy. Here, you simply record what exercises you have done in your workout and gain points for everything you record. The more points you get, the higher the level you attain and so far I have managed to reach level 3 already! Great motivation to continue exercising!

The Health Mission - Kenny

Dear Jazzypzazzy,

               As you may well remember I wrote a piece a month or so ago, illustrating and explaining the transformation I made, when I lost 5 stone in body weight.  Having read one of your latest blog posts, I have decided to write back again to give you my opinion on the use of supplements, and whether or not the media pushes the public to be skinny rather than fit and healthy.  Please be aware that these are my opinions, and that others reader can challenge these opinions as they see fit.

First of all the use of supplements can have both a positive and negative impact.  People use supplements to enhance muscle growth, and to also help muscle recovery times.  Supplements can also be used to increase carbs into the body if the person cannot eat full meals at regular times.  

Before I joined the British Army I worked on a building site and relied upon whey protein and carbs supplements to ensure I performed my best at my gym classes. However on social media sites such as Facebook over the last few months, adverts for supplements such as Juice Plus and Herbal Life have been increasing. 

Fundamentally people who are ignorant to these supplements believe that these are easy weight loss techniques that require little effort except to drink these shakes. Although, truth be told, in order to get fit and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle requires dedication and determination. Having these shakes may make you lose weight but you are essentially starving your body and any weight you lose will come back on when the person starts to eat normally again - you will not get any fitter without working out.

Getting fit is the person’s prerogative and this will only happen if the person puts in the time and effort.  There is no point wasting your money on a simple solution that people believe requires no effort.  

Kenny.