Fitness| Top tips to keeping motivated

Hey ya'll!

I hope you are well?

I wanted to keep this brief and let you in on some of my tips that I do to stay on a 'healthy' lifestyle routine, and how I keep motivated for working out. These are just my thoughts that I think help me keep motivated.

I must stress the importance of having a convenient place to workout. Finding a gym or outdoor space that is easy to access, for example being close to where you live or work, easy parking and or walking distance (or running if you're super motivated). Or alternatively, try and make space for you to workout at home, put any obstacles to one side and push the coffee table to the corner of the room and suddenly you have a workout space- yes, it may not be a large space but some workouts don't need space.

Working out, doing the same thing over and over can get boring, that is why sometimes you're thinking- 'why am I doing this?'
Do what you enjoy doing, if you don't like running, don't run! Simple! Do the things you find fun and you'll find working out ...well..sometimes you won't think it's a workout.
An example would be dancing. If you like dance- even if you think you're rubbish, I can safely say that doing dance in my lounge, following a Youtube video is so fun and when I finish I don't even realise I've worked out- It's great!

In addition to this you can grab a friend and experiment with Yoga or similar. I find that if you're working out with a friend, it can draw the attention away from the dreaded exercise and can make it just fun!

Excuse my big butt, but this was so fun (I've wanted to headstand for ages and now I can thanks to Carly)

Have a reward meal once a week, you don't have to be healthy all the time, especially when you've been working hard. Reward yourself and keep positive by creating a fitness environment. I like to go on Instagram for inspiration. On there I can find clips of routines to do and even motivational body pictures.

Lastly, try to ease yourself into it. It can be quite terrifying thinking 'I've got to workout at least 4 days this week', try and start off with two days and build a routine. Once you've got a routine going you can up it from there. If you fail to go one day or have a bad day of eating and feel bad, DELETE that guilt! We all give in to a bit of temptation here and there- just get back on the band wagon and think about what you've already done for a healthy lifestyle.

Do you have any fitness tips to share with me?

Love Claudia xx

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The Beauty Box| Estee Lauder

I recently got this from my mother for Christmas, what a present!
Firstly, look at the packaging- how beautiful! I am nearly always influenced by the packaging of the product I'm using, there is just something about a amazing product that is wrapped up in a pretty casing.

This set contains a large make-up case, a lip gloss palette, nail polish, advanced night repair, Modern Muse perfume, mascara, revitalizing supreme anti-aging creme (because you can never start too soon), eye pencil, three lipsticks (16 Candy Shimmer, 61 Pink Parfait, 86 Tiger Eye), eye make- up remover and a eye shadow palette.

I love all the products from this set but I am totally and utterly in love with this eye palette. It just ticks all the boxes, it's neutral tones *tick!*, it has great pigment *tick!*, beautiful blendable colours *tick!*, it also has a handy large mirror *tick!* and well.. need I say more?!
I think this is a lovely gift set to give or get given and I'm so thankful my Mum got me this because it has been so handy and I have been able to create some wonderful make-up looks.

I know this is a tad late after Christmas but hey! Sometimes I can be a bit late to the party!

Hope you are all well and getting through the January 'blues'.

Love Claudia xx

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Spa Getaway| Macdonald Hotel and Resorts Lymington

My best friend and I had some major catching up to do and hadn't seen each other in 6 months, so we had the brilliant idea of going onto Wowcher and finding a deal to have a one night stay at a spa.

We found this one at Macdonald Hotel and Resorts which included one nights stay, a 30 minute treatment in the spa, use of the leisure facilities, a three course meal, free wifi and a full English breakfast in the morning.

There were several treatments to choose from, my friend chose the back, shoulder and neck massage and I chose to have the 'Sole delight grooming for feet'. Both were very enjoyable and relaxing treatments. Mine consisted of laying down on the bed (below) and having my feet and up to my knees, exfoliated, massaged, left in a mask, and massaged again. All the products used were Elemis products and it was so lovely. While my feet were in a mask for 5 minutes I had a scalp massage too.

My legs and feet were so soft and I started to feel so relaxed.

Afterwards we decided to have a bit of lunch and then have a little walk around the grounds.. it was so COLD!

For the rest of the day we went to the pool, had a nice swim and went in the steam room.

(I wasn't able to take my own photo of the pool, this is from their website)

The three course meal was delightful and I have to admit I think I had the best cheesecake ever, it was honeycomb and Oh MY... it was so good! There is a picture of it on my Instagram :) (Link below).

Our stay was really great and I would totally recommend this to anyone who wants to have a girly weekend or a couples getaway. I'm looking forward to hopefully doing this again some time.

Love Claudia xx
(Disclaimer: this is not to show off or make me any better than anyone else, this is purely to share with you to enjoy).


Check out that cheese cake ;):
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Loving my natural skin| Bare-face confidence

Hey guys!

I want to share something with you, especially for those of you who are in the same boat as me..
The other day I was walking into 'Boots' and wanted to find a new face scrub. I've never been one to follow a strict skincare routine but I thought I would have a look about and see if there was anything that I hadn't tried before that took my fancy.
I found myself in front of the 'Origins' counter, picked out an fruity orange smelling face scrub cleanser (Smells delicious!) and headed to the lady who works in that section. I asked her about what sort of products would help my skin type, she suggested the scrub I had in my hand but also, was kind enough to give me a few samples to try out of some other products they had...

In the picture you can see from left to right four products that I received:
 Mega-Mushroom Advanced Skin Relief Face Serum, Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Face Mask, Origins A Perfect World White Tea Skin Guardian, Origins GinZing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser

I came home from this shopping trip excited and eager to try these products and for a good reason.
Having used these product for the last week they have honestly changed my skin complexion.

I have really struggled in the past with combination skin, an oily T-Zone, dry patches that collect the foundation on my face, redness and sensitive skin.
I have finally found something that just works for me!
I start off with the scrub, then if necessary the mask, then the serum and the skin guardian.

After reading a bit more in depth, having the mix of the Mega-Mushroom (which targets red and blotchy areas) and GinZing (exfoliating and radiance-boosting) targets my problem areas. The best thing is that all that is used in Origins is natural ingredients, which means natural products! No nasty chemicals on your skin!

I can genuinely say that, although I have only used this for a week, I have never felt more comfortable in my skin and will be going to purchase these products to have the full set. It is expensive but when you feel this comfortable bare-faced and finally happy with your skin I think it is totally worth it!

Have you found a miracle skincare routine? Or have you tried Origins?

Love Claudia xx

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Juicer recipe| Kiwi and Orange

I love a good juice, don't you?

I try and make it with as least one vegetable and the great thing about juicers is that you don't have to peel the fruit or veg you use, apart from things like oranges as they can make the juice bitter. So it's super super quick and easy.

I'm going to show you one recipe that I've been having recently, and if you like I can show more in the future?! Let me know in the comments.

Here are the things you will need!

A JUICER!

 2 Oranges, Handful of Kale, 2 Apples, A few bits of Broccoli, 2 Kiwis, Handful of Raspberries and 2 Celery Sticks.

 After Peeling the Orange, pop it all in!

and Juice!

The juice comes out in order of the fruit or veg you put through, hence the colours!

With this it means you'll need to give it a 'good ol' stir!

So it should look like this!

DON'T BE PUT OFF BY THE COLOUR BECAUSE IT TASTES AMAZING! Really yummy, as you can taste the fruit more than any of the veg.

I hope you enjoyed this and its inspired you in some way.

Love Claudia xx

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New Year, New You?| Welcoming 2015

Happy New Year!

I hope you have all rested well over the festive season and been surrounded by your loved ones.

As we all know its the time of the year where we all set goals for ourselves to stop bad habits, be healthier, be kinder, be more confident etc etc..... to basically try and better ourselves either in little ways or big.

The trouble is, is that most of us will be in the chocolate cupboard within a week and the gym membership will be cancelled by February. Is it really worth trying to go on a fad diet to just give up a few months down the line? The reality is that we are HUMAN! We can make mistakes. If you fall off the band wagon.. get up..brush yourself down- put two fingers up to the people who laugh at you and carry on where you set off.
What I'm trying to say is you're allowed a burger or chocolate bar every now and again! Just remember how far you've come and make it a lifestyle choice, not a 'diet'.
My resolution this year will be to a) put me first, because you can only make others happy if you are happy in yourself and b) to choose to have a healthier lifestyle, make it a routine instead of an 'effort' that lasts all of three months.
To me it will be about being realistic, if I want to do some baking- that's fine! I'll just make a 'better for you' version. I'll try and eat less but more often throughout the day and if I'm hungry try and fill up on protein rather than carbs. Little steps, but sometimes you need to walk before you run.

Which leads me to exercise- which is all part of a healthy lifestyle. I used to hate, hate, hate with a passion, exercising. Not because of the actual exercise, I actually enjoy sport, but because of the way it made me look. It isn't because I'm vein, it was to do with what other people thought of me. When I went for a run, I would be totally out of breath, bright red, sweaty and wanting to stop after 5 minutes. I would be constantly thinking about people looking at me, wondering if they were thinking how unfit I was, how disgusting I looked and I just felt so embarrassed.
BUT everyone has to start somewhere. I decided to start putting myself first, persevere, and I'm slowly starting to be able to run longer.. I still feel embarrassed and totally aware of myself when I workout but I just keep reminding myself that this is the whole reason I workout- and if I'm looking like this then it just shows I'm working hard.

So what I guess I'm saying is try and make a new years resolution that you will stick to and if you really want it to happen, you can make it happen.

Let me know what your realistic resolutions are? Are you going to put yourself first?

Love you all and lets hope this new year brings happiness to us all.
Love Claudia xx

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