Weigh In - 30th July

Despite my best intentions, the scales went up again....I only have myself to blame as I ate very badly and skipped a few gym sessions. I'm fighting a loosing battle between wanting to get fit this summer and wanting to enjoy it with food and friends. I'm beginning to feel my want to get fit winning though with the possibility of a dance job in October keeping me motivated. I've found a picture of me from when I was at my skinniest as well which I'm going to keep close for added motivation. I was a lot more body-confident then, it'd be nice to get back there.

It's not guaranteed yet that I'll be performing but if I am I'll need to be in good shape as it's a 50 minute performance with costume changes to 5 different decades worth of music. It sounds great fun but I have to prove I can keep up so the hard work is going to have to really start next week.

To get there I'm looking at my options for which gym classes I have to pick from over the next few weeks and sign up to these on top of my normal gym routines and dance classes, and I'm going to make sure I do at least one purely strength session also. I need to get back into the habit of doing my ab exercises before bed each day too.

So that's the plan for going forward. Focus on getting better and not on eating.

Weigh in - 22nd July

It's safe to say, I'm really struggling to move today. I went to visit my new job last week and was rather impressed so I joined. It's not very big but every time I've been since it's been very quiet, which is definitely a selling point for me. I haven't signed up for any classes yet, but I do plan to. For now I'm just working on getting back into a gym routine. In less than a week I've managed 3 gym sessions and a dance class. So I think I'm doing rather well.

I went to my first professional dance class last night and it was so much fun but I really am suffering today. I don't know how I've managed it but I seem to have pulled something in my back. Not ideal but it does seem to be easing. It was remarkably good after my gym session tonight which I was very surprised at, I'll probably regret the decision to go and workout though if I'm struggling even more in the morning. But overall it was a good session and has given me a lot to of areas improve on.

I don't think the gym is the reason behind this but, the extra weight I gained last week I've lost. To loose it so easily I'm pretty sure it was just water weight, but I'm not going to complain if it means I've got back to my maintain level. I've just got to keep going and hopefully my routine will fall back into place soon.

All in all a relatively good week.

My Everyday Makeup Routine

I really enjoying reading other people's blog posts on their everyday makeup routines, and since it's been a while since I posted something other than my weekly weight updates I thought I'd use my spare time to share my routine. I'll admit now I'm not the greatest at applying my makeup, and a lot of the stuff I do I've taught myself along the way. I'm an only child so I haven't had sisters to learn from and my Mum doesn't wear a lot of makeup, so it has just been trial and error over the years. So here goes, my before to after routine. Apologies in advance for the poor quality of some of the photos.

Before

Stage 1: Moisturise

I have two major problems with my skin, an oily T zone and the tendency to go very red very easily. To combat this I apply No7 Redness Relief Balm (you'll see from this post I'm a massive No7 fan) before I start to straighten my hair and leave it to soak in. Then whilst I go and brush my teeth and get dressed I apply No7 Beautiful Skin day cream for Normal/Oily skin. This is one of my more recent No7 purchases and I love how smooth my skin feels after wearing it, and how much better it makes my makeup last. Once this has sunk in I move onto my foundation.

Stage 2: Face

I've gone through a lot of foundations over the years but really found it hard to get a great colour match because my skin is so pale. The best match I found was from the Benefit Hello Flawless range and when I first switched to this I absolutely loved it (see my Benefit Product Review) and was convinced this was going to be the best for me. But after another week or two of wearing it I began to notice that the foundation just wouldn't stay on my skin and I'd regularly left with patches around my nose where it had rubbed off, even if I hadn't touched my face at all. It didn't matter what I did it just wouldn't stay, so I switched back to my good old faithful No7 and their Stay Perfect foundation. I apply with my foundation brush (which I think is a No7 one also) all over my face so I get an even coverage.

My concealer again is a No7 one (beginning to see the trend here?) I bought it as it was supposed colour match to my foundation, however I do think it's slightly lighter. I only use a little of this under my eyes to try and hide my bags and to cover up any spots I have. Finally, I seal it all with some translucent powder (again No7) and apply a little bit of pink blusher on my cheeks to give me a little colour.

Stage 3: Eyes

You'll finally see some variation in products here. I start with my eyebrows, using Benefit Browzings to give some definition and shape to my face. I was a bit skeptical at first about this product because its seems a lot of money for such a little box, but despite using it every day it is lasting me a very long time. I use this with a Boots own make eyebrow brush to get my brows all going the right direction and the shape I want.

Next I apply eye shadow. I very rarely go for bright eye shadow because I never think it suits me. So out of the pallet in the picture, which is a Victoria Jackson pallet, I tend to go for the pink/white/gold colour on the left. I've had a few different Victoria Jackson products, particularly eyeshadows, and do like the colour variations but sometimes they don't show up very brightly unless you apply a lot. Majority of the time however, I don't find this an issue because I don't like my eyes to stand out loads.

After finishing my eyeshadow, I move onto eyeliner. The eyeliner I'm currently using is a Natural Collection one I bought for £1.99 from Boots. I'm not very good at applying eyeliner so I don't do anything fancy like wings, I just apply a line to my top and bottom lids to give my eyes a little bit of definition, and there's often some days where I don't apply any at all. Depends on how I'm feeling and if I'm running late.

Finally, I apply mascara. The one I'm currently using is my newest makeup purchase, No7 Lovely Lashes. I was, until this week, using Benefit They're Real mascara but I've now ran out and none of the Boots I can easily get to sell Benefit products. I have to make the effort to go into Town or the the Metro Centre to buy Benefit so I opted for something else. The No7 product is great, it doesn't make my lashes clumpy at all, but I do feel it looks better when I don't have eyeliner on. It seems to loose it's effect when I do. But it does make my lashes look rather natural, which I like.

Until I wrote this I didn't actually think I wore that much makeup, but maybe I do. Anyway, here it is my everyday makeup routine. And here is the final result. Hope you've all enjoyed and again sorry for the poor quality photos! Let me know any recommendations you have.

After

Weigh In - 15th July

The last week has been pretty rubbish if I'm honest. Getting my exam results was definitely a highlight, and going out celebrating on Friday night was fun, but Saturday and Sunday were just days I'd quite like to forget very quickly.

Despite my rubbish few days, I'm proud of myself for not cheering myself up with food. If anything, I went the opposite way and just didn't eat enough. But anyway, today was weigh in day (because I forgot yesterday again...I'll get better at remembering I promise), and it wasn't good. For the first time in a while the range I'd set myself as being an acceptable maintaining limit was exceeded.

I'm really annoyed that I've gone over, but the only thing I can blame is my laziness by not going to the gym. So it's time to snap out of that mentality and get myself back there.

If only my possible new gym would answer their emails about membership and that would be sorted.

If they don't respond tomorrow I'll just have to continue at my current gym until I get sorted. But I really do need to get back to do something.

Last night was supposed to be my last night at dancing until September, but a great opportunity came up and I was invited to join the professional group for a conditioning/strengthening/flexibility class during the holidays. I'm so excited. My teacher said we'd go over some of the professional routines they've done for their exhibitions/conferences/parties etc so hopefully I might be able to prove I can keep up and be asked to join permanently.

But to do that, I really do need to make the effort to get back in shape, so it's definitely gym time.

No more excuses.

The Moment of Truth...

So today was the day we've been waiting for. Exam result day!

I amazingly slept through the night without worrying at all about today (possibly the first time ever), and woke up this morning actually forgetting it was result day. For all of about 5 mins anyway.

And the great news is, I PASSED!

With flying colours.

A great 78% (which in CIMA exams is really good).

So I went to work with a massive smile on my face and had a pretty good day. I'm really pleased and that all my hard work paid off.

Now, onto the next ones...

Weigh in - 8th July

I haven't got much to say in these weigh in weeks at the moment. I'm still on track to keep maintaining for the next few weeks until I get into my flat. So I'm rather pleased, especially since I've been slacking on the gym. A combination of long work hours and a bad back has made it pretty hard to get to the gym.

I've made the decision to switch gyms, my current one is very basic, not very welcoming and doesn't feel motivating at all, and have spent time researching different ones in my new area. I've made the decision to join one that's a short drive away, but has a wide range of classes on offer, more variety of machines and equipment to use, and is still reasonably priced. I'm going to try and book an induction this week if I can, if not I might wait until I move and get settled to make the switch.

I'm so achy off dancing yesterday. My lovely teacher decided we needed to do a lot of stretching so had us doing all sorts, and now I'm very stiff and achy. Only downside to the whole day was my knee beginning to pull and hurt again because I'd forgotten my knee pads. Note to self: be better organised.

I'm hoping the combination of my back hurting and my knee pulling isn't a sign of what my old age is going to be like.

25 Facts About Me

It's been a few months now since I started this blog, and even though I've quite a bit of posts about me and my life, I don't quite feel that I've said enough for you to know me. So here's my 25 Facts About Me post.

1. I'm an only child. I was such a good baby and out of fear a second would turn out the complete opposite, my parents decided just to keep our little family of three. I didn't feel left out growing up because I have a lot of cousins that I was really close too. Best thing about that being that we weren't with each other 24/7 so very rarely fell out.

2. My two favourite places to go are Lake Windermere and Keswick. I think I've been there for at least one day every year since I was a baby. My first holiday as a baby was to Keswick. There's been a few times we've even considered moving to there or Keswick, the timing has just never been right for both my Mum and Dad to change jobs, and me to move school. Maybe some day I will.

Lake Windermere, summer 2009 (approx)

3. Even though we never got to move to the Lakes, I have lived in seven houses. Five with my Mum and Dad, and two as student flats.

4. I'm lucky to have a job I love, even though it is not a job I ever wanted. I remember arguing with my Dad from about the age of 10 that I didn't want the job I now have. The plan growing up changed from vet to teacher to dancer to IT to a journalist as I got older. By the time I reached Uni I was going to become a Business Lawyer, that didn't happen either. I had a placement year at uni where I worked as an accountant and fell in love with it. The year went so well they offered me a graduate scheme to get my qualification. And although I do at times have bad days, I've never woke up thinking I really don't want to go to work today.

Stolen from Pinterest

5. I played in a Brass Band until I was from age 6 to 18. My Grandad is a well known trumpet player in my home town and got me into music at a really young age. I played a few different instruments over the years, playing in school bands and other bands too until I moved away to uni. By then I'd joined adult bands and playing became more like a job than a bobbie, so I took the decision to stop. There's moments I miss it, but not enough to tempt me back.

6. A duck bit my finger when I was three as I tried to feed it bread.

7. Despite the duck biting my finger, I don't have a fear of ducks. However, I do have a massive fear of swans. I run away from them if they come too close. They're vicious!

8. I'd love to write a novel. I've started a lot over the years but I always tend to overcomplicate them and never get them finished.

9. I have a huge obsession with Harry Potter. I have read every book and seen every film at least 10 times each. I managed to read all 7 books in a week one summer. I was very disappointed to not get my letter on my 11th birthday and have spent every day since wondering how it managed to get lost in the mail....I'm going to blame the fact we kept moving house.

10. I have a scar in my eyebrow from where I walked into a wall of the hotel in Disneyland Paris. I was trying to be clever and walk around with my eyes closed and walked face first into the wall. The Firemen came (apparently that's normal in France) to patch me up and then sent me to hospital for stitches. When I got back to the hotel I had a brand new autograph book, with Get Well wishes waiting for me from Minnie Mouse.

11. I have never been on an airplane.

12. I'm not a party-girl. I prefer quiet nights in to big nights out. I don't mind going out for meals and drinks with my friends/family, but nights out clubbing don't really appeal to me, and I'd much prefer a house party.

13. I always wanted to be a cheerleader. I don't know why, maybe I spent too much time watching American teen films. I did a little bit at my old dance school when I was about 13 but it wasn't proper cheerleading. I'd still like to give it a go at some point, but think I'm a little old for it now.

14. I love musicals. All of them, even the sadder ones, make me so happy. I'm currently watching Sunshine on Leith for the first time whilst writing this and can't stop smiling (great film by the way). I do think life would be a bit better if we all sang everything, even though I can't sing.t

15. I like to pretend I can sing, even when I know I can't. But I very rarely sing in front of other people. Normally just to myself when I'm in the house alone or when I'm in the car.

16. I love to read for pleasure, but the amount I read has significantly reduced since I went to uni. When I was at school I maybe used to read a book a month, now it's more like two books a year. I think all those boring text books I had to read to pass my degree spoilt my fun.

17. The most adventurous thing I've ever done was to go skiing, twice. Both times I injured my arm, the second time ending up in hospital for x-rays. I'd love to go again but probably would end up in hospital.

18. Gemma was my best ever birthday present. Nothing will ever top the moment when I got out of the car in Bradford, walked up to this random house, knocked on the door to be greeted by 12 puppies and came home with one of them.

Gemma on a camping trip

19. Although I'm not the most fashionable person, I do have a lot of clothes. I've so far managed to donate three bin liners worth of clothes to charity, and all my drawers/wardrobe are still bursting with stuff. I plan to get rid of at least one more bag by the time I move.

20. I turn into a lobster if I've been in the sun too long or when I get out of the shower. My boyfriend finds this very amusing.

21. My boyfriend and I have been together for 4 years in November. We met at a party when we were at Uni and have been together ever since. Our first date was to Strada, a restaurant in Newcastle, where I had Spaghetti Bolgonaise (not a good choice on a first date) and he had Chicken Milanase. I still have the email from when I reserved the table. We have a good relationship, with very few arguments, and still enjoy spending time together. Even when he is a pain and annoys me :)

The night we met

22. I passed my driving test in March 2009 and last year bought my own car. A shiny blue Seat Ibiza. It had a tough job to live up to, as the little Fiat 500 I'd driven previously was my dream car, but it's definitely part of the family now. I've even made the effort to hand wash it, something Freddie fiat never got.

23. Zombie's freak me out. I understand they aren't real but the thought and idea freaks me out. My boyfriend made me watch the first episode of the Walking Dead with him last summer and I didn't sleep properly for about a month afterwards. I have built up the courage to watch all the episodes of the Walking Dead that have been made because it is such a good series, but I still don't like Zombies. And I really don't understand the people who think that Zombie runs or Zombie apocalypse survival team building days are fun. If there's ever a Zombie apocalypse I won't survive long.

24. I'm a bit in love with Vampires. I don't know why there's such a difference in my opinion between Zombies and Vampires, but there is. I blame Vampire Diaries for starting my love. The vampires there are just so good looking I wouldn't say no to any of them biting me.

25. I'm really quiet when you first meet me, then when I get comfortable around you I show my weirdness.

Weigh in - 1st July & June Monthly Round Up

Happy 1st July everyone!

I seem to have gotten into the habit of being so unmotivated by Monday mornings that I forget to get on the scales, and it's normally when I get to work that I realise I've missed my weigh in. So here's to another weigh in Tuesday, and another maintaining week.

I'm actually really surprised I didn't put on this week. My diet hasn't been very good over the last week and with quarter end close at work meaning I had to work till 7pm every night, I didn't manage to get to the gym. The only saviour I had was my dance class and then dance show on Sunday.

My show went really well. We were second on stage so there wasn't much time for nerves, and I didn't mess anything up. It was such a great feeling to be back on stage, I didn't realise how much I'd missed performing until I did it again. I want to try and get back into performing more regularly again, maybe join a dance group for parties/conferences etc? Need to completely sort myself out though to be able to do that so once I get into the flat I need to have a big reorganisation of everything and sort myself out so I could maybe try and do more.

Goal Number 1 - Complete the Operational Level of my CIMA Qualification

Only 9 more days and I will finally know the answer to whether I have achieved this or not. I'll be over the moon if I have, and absolutely devastated if I hadn't. Fingers crossed!

Goal Number 2 - Move into my own Home

After the momentary excitement of a possible June move in date, I'm now back to waiting and waiting and waiting. The plan is July to move in but I'm yet to get that in writing. The novelty of buying a flat sure runs out after 7 months of waiting.

Goal Number 3 - Loose a stone in weight

Still ongoing, but as I'm not putting weight on I'll say we're making good progress. As I've said before, as soon as I get into the flat and I can control all my food, do more outdoor running and get to the gym more.

Goal Number 4 - Get my Splits on Both Legs

So I haven't got my splits, but I have managed to get my leg hold! I'm really proud that I've managed this, and I'm getting closer and closer to my splits. I just need to work on getting my legs straighter and hopefully both my splits and leg hold will be so much better.

Goal Number 5 - Learn to Cook

I've made my own tea a few times this month as my parents have been out with other people. My most exciting dinner was piri piri chicken kebabs with potato salad which was lovely, although the potatoes were slightly under cooked. I made enough to get me through lunch at work the next day too.

Plan for July

Plan for July is to get into my house, pass my exam, and sort myself out. Look into changing gyms, plan my meals and exercise routine, and get back to a normal sleeping pattern. I miss setting my alarm for 7am. 5:50am is farr too early to be getting up for work.