You only miss the shots you don't take

So it's been ten days since my last fitness post where I spoke about why I was trying to get fit and also about my favourite zaggora workout gear, so I thought it was time to give you all another update and hopefully do some more motivating, I've also been sent another amazing product to talk about.

I was always a bit skeptical about posting a skin bearing before and now type picture but I've had so many lovely comments from people that I'm even putting this on my blog (it's on my instagram and twitter already). I took the left picture a few weeks before I went to Brasil and the one on the right is a few days ago. I'm starting to notice really big changes in my body and how clothes fit, my jogging bottoms now fall down as I walk if I'm not careful and I can easily get in and out of my size 16 jeans without use of button or zip- yay! One of my favourite changes is how my boobs look, luckily they've not got much smaller as I've lost inches, but because I've lost from my rib cage and tummy they look way bigger- I always used to dream about surgery but I can honestly say that idea has been thrown to the bottom of the ocean tied to a block of concrete.


In the last ten days I've definitely started to notice some real inch loss, counting it all up I've lost roughly 7 inches in ten days which is amazing- I haven't even been a hardcore gym bunny. I can feel my confidence with my body increasing too, especially with all the lovely comments about this outfit post, it's really nice being able to do outfit posts and feeling comfortable with it!

I've also been trying my hand at jogging a bit more lately, so far I've only managed two actual jogs and both were diabolical but I kept going and you know what I don't really care how long it takes me to run, the satisfaction getting home knowing I've tried is more than enough to inspire me to go again... more on that later..

Skinny sprinkles 21 sachet box* c/o skinny sprinkles

The lovely girls at Skinny sprinkles sent me some of their strawberry sachets to try out, I have a horrible relationship with my postman so was really happy when I got home and noticed the box was postboxed size, they were winning me over already...

''Skinny Sprinkles contains glucomannan (Konjac) in the correct quantities recommend by EFSA for weight loss. When you drink Skinny Sprinkles the glucomannan immediately starts working in your stomach and swells forming into a gel. The stomach reacts to this gel solution in the same way it would food, which delays gastric emptying. Gastric emptying refers to the speed at which food and drink leaves the stomach. Food is retained in the stomach to allow digestion to take place, where as fluid leaves the stomach almost immediately. This is why a glass of water will not satisfy us in the same way as food will, it is the delay in gastric emptying that makes us feel full.''


Skinny sprinkles are not to be mistaken for a meal replacement shake, they suggest taking a sachet 30 minutes before meals to curb the appetite to help you eat less. They're really simple to make- powder, water, stir - and can be mixed in with fruit smoothies too! I'm actually really good with portion sizes at dinner time so I thought I'd try to find other ways to use them with my fitness goals. I often find myself having a huge energy dip and hunger attack mid afternoon so thought I'd see if the caffeine content and gel would help me here, boy does it. Instead of reaching for biscuits, crisps and chocolate in between afternoon lectures I now find myself pouring a sachet into my bottle of water and shaking it up and sipping away! I've also found that the caffeine content helps with workouts,  sometimes after a hard day at work the last thing I want to do is work out but having a sachet of skinny sprinkles on the way to the gym gives me a huge energy boost, which actually helps me to work harder  (and much healthier than an energy drink).


I've also found the website really useful, they have great pages such as main reasons for weight gain in women & how to set your calorie targets.


If you'd like to try skinny sprinkles they've kindly offered my readers a 15% discount code, valid from Monday 27th May- Sunday 2nd June 2013 simply enter the code baileycakes15 at the checkout.

It might help you with this...




I said earlier how I've been trying to get into jogging, I'm not going to lie it's exhausting and it's really hard work so I thought I'd drag you in to my jogging mission too. On my last post lots of you said you felt inspired to get out and move & I've had a lot of people on twitter asking about how to get active / saying they're not fit so I thought I'd set a little challenge and let everyone get back to me, I'm starting easy, my next post might be a bit more gruelling....

move for a mile three times this week 

Starting out with a fitness journey can be hard work, the thought of running for a mile scares even me so I'm just saying get out and move. You can move however you want but the rules are: 

1) you must get your heart rate up

2) you must break a sweat

Hopefully this is something really achievable for everyone, I know that some of you will look at this and think no problem & others will probably think no way. Some people will have to really push themselves to just walk a mile non stop & I'm sure some of you will be able to run it- regardless of how you do it, let me know how you get on in a comment below or give me a tweet! 

xo 

The bake festival and a bbq

A few blog posts ago I wrote about the Christchurch food festival & mentioned the bake weekend. We had a few minutes spare in between our copious amount of trips to the tip, we've been sorting out the garden in our spare time lately, we decided to pop in and see what yummy goodies we could fill our tummies with.  I'm really sorry that it's another post to make you all hungry, if you're really keen on being hungry Rosie blogged about the Sunday if you fancy having a little nosey at that too! We headed down mid afternoon, after the judging had happened and I was quite sad to have missed the demonstration from Kirsti at Claridges on how to make perfect macarons. We had a little wonder through the tents and browsed all the stalls, we decided to grab a quick smoothie although Dan didn't quite realised what he'd signed himself in for, having to pedal to blend the smoothie- what an awesome idea I'm thinking they'd be even better for summer cocktail partys! I was pretty impressed by all the entries for the bake competition this year, especially the circus tent, although dare I say I reckon I could definitely give them a run for their money- I might have to enter next year?! The picture of one cupcake was a gorgeous strawberry and champagne cupcake from Fox's cupcake co , I have never ever had a cupcake quite so spectacular-  the sponge was lighter than a feather and the buttercream was incredibly light but full of flavour, absolutely heaven (I feel like I'm cheating on lulubelles by saying this).

We then bundled back in the car with bags filled with goodies and headed home for a doggy walk (there were loads of dogs at the bake sale but ours is no where near good enough to resist cakes) and a BBQ, we decided got some lovely butchers sausages and chicken fillets which we marinated in sweet chilli before chucking them over the coals. I also made almost health puddings for everyone, layers of strawberry, banana and sugar free marshmallow, they were so yummy!

What've you been up to lately?
xo



p.s nominations for the cosmo blog awards are open, I'd be over the moon if you nominate baileycakes under the travel or lifestyle category :) I promise I'll stop asking soon...

The Raft Milford on Sea

I hate sharing little gems like the raft, it's one of those restaurants that you just want to keep secret between you and a few near and dear. We first heard about the raft when a friend suggested drinks in their shack, I was a little confused at first but the shack is a gorgeous space in the garden, cosy enough for drinks with friends or a small party (it's the picture with all the cushions), whilst passing we'd checked out the menu and popped a note on our to visit list at home. We've been really busy bunnies lately but have just had massive hand ins and deadlines so to celebrate decided dinner and drinks were in order so we got dressed up, hence the almost outfit of the day and face of the day pictures, & wondered on over to milford on sea. We were greeted by friendly staff who showed us to our table, as you can see the decor is to die for, theres a fire & cosy grand dad chairs, a huge table for parties and booths through the main part of the restaurant, you then walk past the open kitchen where the chefs are happy to natter whilst spinning pizzas and off to the garden and shack. Being the fussy fiona that I am I decided to mix and match pizza toppings and they were more than happy to accommodate this, the pizzas are all made in the kitchen on site so changing things about a bit isn't a problem at all, you can even watch if you want. Dan went for the burger which was served in a quarter of a lovely bread roll with chips and salad. We were both over the moon with our choices, everything was cooked to perfection and full of flavour. After washing down our mains with a celebratory pint we decided to order 'the raft' sharing dessert, a coconut panna cotta with mango sauce, meringue with fresh berries & an ever changing chocolate brownie- it was baileys and almond that day. The puddings were all delicious and despite me thinking otherwise were more than enough for two to share after dinner.

We will most definitely be returning to try out some of their other dishes soon!
 xo

 p.s nominations for the cosmo blog awards are open, I'd be over the moon if you nominate baileycakes under the travel or lifestyle category :) I promise I'll stop asking soon...