Let's talk about vegetarianism

I'll start off by saying that I personally am not a vegetarian, however I recently found out some facts about vegetarianism which have made me want to cut down my meat consumption. In this post I'm just going to summarise some reasons you might not have considered for and against being vegetarian.

 

A lot of people go vegetarian for ethical reasons (they don't like animals being killed), religious reasons or just because they don't like the taste of meat. I recently discovered another good reason to go vegetarian. This document explains how our meat consumption contributes to global warming and to slow down climate change, we should become vegetarians.

 

Cattle produce up to 250L of methane everyday, plus many fields used for grazing were originally forests which would've taken in more CO2 than grass does. If we reduce our meat consumption, less cattle and other livestock will need to be kept so the land they grazed on can be used to plant trees etc.

 

On the other hand, if we didn't eat any meat, no livestock would need to be kept at all. It would be so much more rare to go for a walk in the country side and see sheep or cows. They would probably be kept in zoos. Many farmers and people involved in the production of meat would lose their jobs.

 

If you want to try and eat less meat, you could try making lentil bolognaise with pasta instead of normal spaghetti bolognaise with mince (I tried it, it's delicious!) or have a chickpea burger instead of a beef burger (I have tried this one too, and although it doesn't taste like a beef burger, it tastes really good anyway). The good thing about those two recipes is that they are still high in protein despite not containing meat. Chickpeas and lentils are very high in protein so are good for using instead of meat.

 

Thanks for reading x



What I wish I'd known when I set up my blog

I'm far from an expert on websites and ICT and whatever (despite taking GCSE IT) but now that I've set up my blog, I know some things that I wish I'd known when I was setting it up because I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out really basic things that might seem obvious to other people.

 

Firstly, you need to choose a platform for your website. I knew this before, but what it took me a while to figure out is that not all platforms can connect to bloglovin'. I wanted to create a website for free and wix.com was great for designing the whole thing from scratch and making it look great, however you can't connect a blog on Wix to bloglovin'. I would recommend Wix to anyone who wants to create a blog or website who wants to really personalise it (and you can buy custom domains too) but doesn't mind if the blog can't connect to bloglovin'.

 

I used to have a blog on Wordpress which was a good platform and I could connect it to bloglovin', but after a while I wanted to change my username and domain on it which proved to be very complicated.

 

At the moment I'm using Blogger which is very suitable for me because it can connect to bloglovin' and was simple to set up. Unfortunately I can't design my website like I could on Wix, but if I really want to make my blog look nicer I can pay for a template. Also, the Blogger app doesn't work for me so I have to blog on a computer, not a mobile device. I really like the stats and how easy it is to look at and edit my blog.

 

I hope this advice helped you, it's basic things that are good to make clear.

How to enjoy a sunny day

We're reaching the end of summer, and after months of enjoying the great weather, the days are getting as boring as they are relaxing.

 

In an attempt to prevent this boredom, I made a list of things you can do which make the most of the warmer weather and pass the time.

 

Meet up with friends

This one isn't exactly rocket science, but it is so nice to keep in touch with your friends over the summer and a day spent with your friends is so much better than a day spent on your own. To be honest, I could spend the whole day listening to my friends telling me about their holidays, so it is a good way to pass the time if you're bored.

 

 

 



Go exploring

This is especially good if you're on holiday because you're even more likely to discover new things you never knew were in your neighbourhood. But if you're not on holiday you can still take a train to a town nearby or go for a drive to look for things you never noticed before. The photo above is from when I was on Lundy Island which is a tiny island off the north coast of Devon. It was such a small island we could walk around the whole thing and see every cave, lighthouse and shop there was to see.

Try a new sport

Be it something you were inspired by in the Rio Olympics or some extreme sport that you just want to try, doing a new sport is perfect for passing the time, improving your fitness and generally making you happier. Some sports you could try are:

Slacklining

Hiking

Climbing

Kayaking

Cycling  

 

 

Another idea is to have a BBQ or a picnic. These are just so summery and fun and I think a BBQ with our friends is the perfect way to spend a long summer evening. I recently discovered chickpea burgers which I think are delicious! --->mash a can of chickpeas, add a quarter of a can of sweetcorn, a quarter to half a chopped onion, a teaspoon of lemon juice, any herbs and spices you want (I like mixed herbs and paprika), a pinch of salt and combine it all. Then add flour until it all binds together. Use your hands to mould the mixture into 4 patties. You can fry, BBQ, grill or freeze them. I slightly adapted this recipe but for the original click here

 

And my final idea is to relax! I'm sure you've been doing plenty of this already but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. Reading a book and getting tanned is one of my favourite ways to spend the summer holidays!

 

Have a great summer!

What I've Been Up To

Hello! So much has happened in the past few weeks that I don't know what to write about. By "so much" I mean more than going to school everyday, so don't get your hopes up.

 

So, I had my Easter holiday which lasted two weeks and that was really good. I tried lots of things for the first time including eating vegetarian meatballs and playing card games with my family in which we betted with minstrels.

 

I went to Bude in north Cornwall (south-west England) for a week. We stayed in a static caravan which proved itself to be a lot nicer than camping in a tent because we could get in from a long walk and watch TV with the heating on.

 



 

Here's me and my cousin, Amaya, loving life.

Poppy enjoyed roasting by the gas heater with her tennis ball we found on the beach (:

Basically, we spent our holiday walking, eating and exploring. It was the perfect break from school and everyday we did something new which would be fun but at the same time it would tire us out so we slept well at night.

Some of my highlights were:

We got takeaway from the takeaway place at the campsite. My pizza was delicious!

We played long jump on the beach. I won.

I had a veggie burger for the first time and I wasn't disappointed. If you've never had one before, I recommend trying a veggie burger even if you're not trying to be vegetarian (I'm not). It was just nice to try it when I'm so used to eating meat.

Of course there would be no point in going to Cornwall if we didn't have lots of cream teas, Cornish pasties and Cornish ice cream. I had some eton mess flavour ice cream which was heaven.

My amateur photography didn't capture the beauty of this pasty, but trust me when I say it's worth going back to Cornwall for.

We spent some time in the lovely village of Boscastle and I really love it there because everything is so picturesque and cute and everyone is so friendly. At this time of year it wasn't too busy either.


Everyday we walked around a different part of Cornwall, and I got all of their names mixed up so I can't tell you where they are, but I took some pretty photos anyway!

I hope you had a good Easter!
 

My workout today!

I didn't think I'd find myself writing a blog post about a workout I'd done because normally I would think it's not very interesting, but today's workout was something new that I hadn't tried before and I loved it and thought it was worth sharing.

 

The workout I did was from this blog post and it would be useful if you have a TRX band, two dumbbells, a skipping rope and a mat if you want one.

 

 

I call it an "add on workout" because you do the first exercise, then the first exercise and the second exercise, then the first exercise and the second exercise and the third exercise and so on.

 

I had never tried this structure before, I only tried circuit training, Tabata and workouts where you don't repeat the exercises at all. I think add on workouts are my new favourite!

 

I love how it made the time pass so quickly ad never got boring. I wanted to keep going so I could try the next exercise. In this workout there is the perfect balance of cardio and strength training so it will help you get stronger while burning calories.

 

Another reason I'm a fan of add on workouts is because they are so adaptable. It's not unusual for people not to have a TRX band or a set of dumbbells lying around in their house, so if you don't want to go to the gym, you can just change the exercises. For example, you could swap TRX chest press for swimmers or push ups. It's so simple, I love it.

 

Of course, the reason I loved the workout so much could've just been because I wanted to test out our TRX band which I didn't know we had. Or it could've been because I did it outside in the sunshine (I had to make the most of it while it was there!). Either way, I recommend you try this type of workout.

 

Remember to cool down and drink water after every workout you do (:

 

Now here are some pictures:

Can we just take a moment to appreciate my new leggings... I got them for half price from Nike and  I am very excited about it.



 

Shoutout to Poppy (my dog) for not attacking me while I did my workout! Also, I am aware of the state of my hair, I just can't do anything about it.



A little post workout selfie including me looking like a tomato but enjoying endorphins anyway.



Here's me doing some bicycle crunches. Lovely.



 



A fascinating photo of some of my equipment. I hope you enjoy it.



 

Bonus photo of me and Poppy. Don't be fooled, she looks like she loves me but she is probably trying to bite my nose or something.

 

Why refusing chocolate at Easter isn't necessary

A lot of people are trying to avoid eating chocolate and sugary treats in an attempt to eat healthily. I think this is a good idea; sugary treats are generally bad for you so eating less of them is likely to make you healthier, however I don't think people should be depriving themselves of chocolate at Easter.

 

Easter is when we celebrate new life and the start of spring, so why should you have to say "no" to all of those mini eggs? Life is short, and being healthy should be something you do because you enjoy it or you think the benefits outweigh the difficulty, but you need to remember that it's absolutely fine to take breaks and eat what you want.

 

Moderation is the most important thing here. If you're trying to be healthy, you can eat whatever you want, as long as it's not excessive amounts. One good meal won't make you healthy and one bad meal won't make you unhealthy. Celebrating Easter for one weekend doesn't make you unhealthy, so just relax and enjoy your weekend!

 



My Spring Bucket List

With all of Spring to look forward to, I thought I'd make a list of things I'd like to do in the next few months and maybe you'll copy a few of my ideas (;

 

Most of these things I've done before but wouldn't hesitate to do again, and a lot of the things on the list will be ways to make the most of it being warm again (but we are in England, so warm weather might not be guaranteed).

 

Anyway, here's my list-

 

 

Buy my summer wardrobe

I love buying new clothes, and summer clothes are my favourite because it's all so cheap and easy. I have already bought some new sunglasses and tops which I know won't be worn for a few months, but I'm so excited for summer and I just want it to come sooner!

 

Celebrate Easter

I do this every year, I love it every year, I'm doing it again this year. Chocolate, spring and new life are definitely worth celebrating.

 

Go on a nice walk

I think I've written before about how much I love going for walks because of how relaxed it makes me feel, so obviously in spring I would like to go for many walks. My family are walking the South Downs Way in stretches of about 13 miles and we are doing our next stretch very soon which I'm excited for. Hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my walk with Emily, Kale and the dogs.

 

Bake something really seasonal and spring-y

 Thanks to our collection of Mary Berry cook books, I don't think I'll struggle to find a recipe. I'm thinking I might make some Easter biscuits with lots of herbs in...

 

Take some pretty photos of flowers

This should be easy, there are flowers everywhere in spring! It was a nice surprise to see some snowdrops on the side of the road when I was running. There's a walk (wow, I talk about walking a lot) that my family call "The Bluebell Walk" because it goes through a forest and at a certain time of year, there are bluebells everywhere and it's stunning.

 

Go to France again

I have some weird obsession with France, I just love everything about it, but luckily for me, I'm doing an exchange with a girl who lives near Paris so I'm very excited for that!

 

Blog a lot

As much as I'm awful at coming up with ideas and putting them into words, I love blogging and I'm planning on continuing my blog all through Spring and long after that too (:

 

Thanks for reading, and have a good Spring (or whatever season it is where you are)!



Skiing Holiday!

Hi, today's post is about my skiing holiday in France that I went on a few weeks ago.

 

If you're considering booking next year's skiing holiday, this might help you decide whether it's worth the money and effort (SPOILER ALERT: it is).

 

My family and my friend Emily's family went together in one very cramped (but I see it as cosy) seven seater car which took us all the way to the French Alps to a lovely resort called Sainte Foy Tarentaise. It's 17km from Val d'Isere.

 

Just being in the mountains was pretty exciting- the views were incredible and all around us were people skiing and it made us so jealous. Without wasting any more time, we went to get our skis, ski boots, poles and helmets from the ski hire place.

 

In my opinion, the boots are the worst part about the whole skiing holiday. First, you have to get them fitted which feels like such a chore when you just want to get outside skiing. Next, they're uncomfortable as hell. Luckily for me, my ski boots fitted me perfectly and were good for the whole week of skiing, however they were still ski boots and there is a limit to how comfortable they can be.

 

They have to be tight so that you can ski without your feet slipping around inside them but, especially if you feet are a funny shape, this can make the boot be really tight around certain pars of your foot and cause bruising. Basically, it's difficult to find some ski boots that fit your feet, and even when you do, they have far from the comfort of your soft snow boots.

 

Anyway, once the ski stuff was all hired and sorted out, we went straight to the chair lift which headed right up the mountain. It took a few runs to get used to skiing again (it had been a year since we'd been last time) but before long, we got super ambitious and whenever there weren't too many people, we'd go as fast as we dared.

 

One of my favourite parts of the whole mountain was the viewpoint. This was at the very top of the mountain and the chairlift to get to it took ages, but it was so worth it. As you can probably guess by the fact that it's a viewpoint, he views were stunning. I just didn't get bored of standing there taking it all in, feeling on top of the world. I'd check the time and realise that on a normal school day I'd be sat in double geography, and that made me feel even better.

 

I have taken many photos from the viewpoint, but none of them reflect the real beauty of it.

As you can see in the photo, the ski was perfectly blue and everything looks so calm and peaceful- worlds away from work, school and the stress of normal life. You can't see it in the photo, but slightly to the right is Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe! (I think- don't quote me on that)

 

With all of the breath taking scenery, I couldn't resist using my ipod to take hundreds of photos and videos. I have a habit of making movies for all of the holidays we go on, so I was getting plenty of footage for that (I won't show you the movie because it contains members of my family who came with us and they might not want it to be on the internet, sorry).

 

An event that I found particularly exciting (in a bad way) was when I was about to take a video of my Mum, Dad and brother skiing down the mountain after me but I dropped my ipod! It started sliding down the slope and my instinctive reaction was to chase it. I had a rush of adrenalin and hormones so after skiing dangerously fast and skidding round to catch the ipod, I felt all wobbly and my heart was still beating really fast afterwards.

 

I don't know if you find that exciting, but for me I had a rush of emotions: shock, panic, fear, concentration (if that's even an emotion) and relief, so I found it pretty thrilling.

 

Despite it being a skiing holiday, we did do other things apart from skiing. One of them being snow shoeing! I'd never done this before but was very happy to because, though skiing is one of the most fun and addictive sports I've ever done, after 6 days of doing it for 6 hours each day, we just wanted to vary it a little (and I'm so glad we did).

Emily doing something (I don't know what) when we were snow shoeing

I found I could appreciate the views a lot more because I didn't have to focus so much on not falling over. We could all chat and get some exercise at the same time. The snow shoes made walking in the snow a lot easier but some of us just wore snow boots because we were walking on a path which was already quite patted down.

Every evening, we'd retreat to our little French hotel 10 minutes drive away from where we skied. It was lovely and rustic with unique paintings for sale all over the walls.

We ate in the hotel's restaurant and I had the opportunity to try lots of local dishes which were (mostly) delicious! Most nights the light was off by 10 because, trust me, skiing is EXHAUSTING, but it was still very easy to get up and go the next morning (partly because of the buffet breakfast!).

Basically, I had a great trip and I recommend skiing in France (or anywhere) to anyone considering it (:

 



Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 15

Today I want you to:

 

Relax!

 

To be honest, being healthy is exhausting. The easiest thing to do is always to just not do the workout, eat the extra chocolate bar, drive instead of walk, but every time, we made the choice to do the difficult (but best) option. All of those times we had water instead of coke and went for a run when it was raining, we resisted temptation and used our will power to reach our potential, but it was damn tiring.

 

After all of the hard work, have a break. Make yourself a hot chocolate with marshmallows, have a hot bath, use a face mask, do something nice that will just give you a bit of rest.

 

Never forget that you're trying to be healthier because you think it will make you happier, so every now and then, don't forget to do something that makes you happy, even if it won't make you any healthier (although it will make you mentally healthier because it will reduce your stress).

 

Just chill. Stop worrying. Take a break. Come back better than ever feeling motivated and ready to be a better person who is more physically and mentally healthy than they've ever been.

 

This photo is from when I went to Portugal and after dinner we went to sit on a cliff and watch the sunset. I felt so relaxed with zero stress at that moment, and I still remember it as being really special. You might not have a sunset over the sea in Portugal, but I bet you can make a damn good hot chocolate!

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 14

Today I want you to:

 

Go for a walk!

 

You'd be surprised how good this will make you feel. Having a dog, I have motivation everyday to go for a walk because if I don't Poppy (my dog) will go crazy.

 

I get into a routine where I get home from school, have my lunch and quickly get some homework done. After that, I take Poppy out for a 20 minute walk across the fields, and by the end of it, school and homework feel like days ago. It makes me feel really relaxed and all of the stresses from the day are miles away.

 

Not only is it relaxing, it's physically good because it is exercise and gives you some fresh air. I find that when I get back I feel refreshed and not stressed at all so I can just relax for the evening. It's lovely.

 

Your walk could be 5 minutes to the coffee shop or an all day hike up a mountain. I live in the middle of nowhere in the countryside so my options for walking are always wet and muddy, but quiet and peaceful too. When I go a walk, it's just me and my dog and I have 20 minutes to just clear my mind and think for a bit.

 

I'm assuming you've gone for a walk before, but just for fun, go for another one today, you might enjoy it as much as I like walking.

Does anyone else find it really cute when dogs try and carry a stick that's bigger than them?

 

 

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 13

Today I want you to:

 

Make a new meal you've never made before!

 

There have been a few food related habits to try so far, so I don't know if there's much for me to explain that I haven't mentioned before.

 

This new meal could be a new pancake recipe to a ratatouille good enough for the Queen, I don't mind, as long as you've never made it before.

 

Hopefully you'll be a bit of a better cook after doing this challenge, and hopefully you'll have discovered some new ingredients/foods that you like.

 

Remember that it's meant to be fun, so go ahead and get someone to cook the meal with you. Whether it's a disaster or your new favourite recipe, it should be fun to try!

 

If you can't think of anything to make, there are hundreds of blogs on the internet that just make recipes and meal ideas for you to try so have a look.

 

Personally, I love the look of this soup so that's what I'll be making!

 

 

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 12

Today I want you to:

 

Try intense cardio!

 

This means you need to get a sweat on...

 

Intense cardio is things like:

 

Running

HIIT (high intensity interval training)

Swimming

Anything that makes your heart beat fast and a drip come down your forehead

 

Cardio will help you lose weight (because it burns a hell of a lot of calories) but also if you do endurance training like long distance running, it will make your heart stronger.

 

This means that your resting heart rate will become lower because your heart can pump more blood with less beats because it's so strong. I used to do a lot of cross country and my resting heart rate was 43 beats per minute, but I stopped cross country races a while ago so it's probably risen quite a lot.

 

Not only is cardio is good for your health, I find it fun! You work really hard but the endorphins afterwards are great. When you have your second portion of pudding, you feel like you've earned it.

 

You could make your own cardio workout by doing some of these exercises (or others):

 

Burpees

Jump Lunges

Skipping  Rope

Jumping Jacks

Skater Hops

Mountain Climbers (fast)

High knees

 

If you don't want to do that, there are plenty of workouts on youtube, pinterest or anywhere on the internet if you search "cardio workout"

 

Good luck! If you are in the middle of the workout and you're finding it hard, remember that the harder you work, the better it will feel afterwards (:

Sorry, this is the least blurry photo we had. Thanks Juliette for skipping rope so photogenically!

 

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 11

Today I want you to:

 

Be a vegetarian for the day!

 

If you're already a vegetarian or vegan, lucky you! This one should be easy.

 

Otherwise, this is something that won't necessarily make you healthier, but it will just give you a chance to cook without meat and use other substitutes instead.

 

Everyone is different- some people might really benefit from being a vegetarian, other people might not, but it's worth a try.

 

Some studies show that vegetarianism can reduce risk of cancer and other diseases, but on the other hand, there are millions of people who are perfectly healthy who eat meat.

 

Being a vegetarian for the day will encourage you to use some different recipes and ingredients.

 

I mentioned them before, but Food 52 have loads of delicious looking recipes including plenty for vegetarians.

 

You might find it fun to be a vegetarian, and who knows, you might convert to be one!

 

Good luck!

 

A picture of a vegetarian quinoa salad from the Food 52 blog



Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 10

Today I want you to:

 

Keep off your phone 30 minutes before going to bed!

 

You might know this already, but the blue light from phone/laptop/TV/any screen is like sunlight which releases a chemical in your brain to tell your body to wake up, or something like that.

 

Basically, light from screens will give you worse quality sleep if you use them late at night just before you go to bed.

 

In a previous post I explained how sleep is important and how getting enough sleep is really good for you, but it's about quantity AND quality, so it's a good idea to try and stay off screens for a while before you go to sleep.

 

Instead of scrolling through Instagram and texting your friends or whatever you normally do, you could try reading, writing or just relaxing in the bath.

 

You might notice you feel more well rested in the morning because you got a better nights sleep or you might not notice a difference because you do this anyway, just try it and see what happens. 

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 9

Today I want you to:

 

Write down everything you eat!

 

I've never tried this before, but I know that it will make you more aware of what you put in your body, and you'll think twice about whether you want to eat it or not.

 

This will help you eat more healthily because, even if you don't show it to anyone, that page with everything you wrote on it is proof that you ate healthily/unhealthily. I feel like we get into the mind-set that if we eat something unhealthy, it doesn't really matter- it's just one thing and we can move on. If we write down everything we eat, we will know exactly how much healthy/unhealthy food we eat, so we might think a bit more about eating something unhealthy because we can't just move on- we will write it down and read it later.

 

Sometimes we mindlessly snack, but knowing if you eat something you have to write it down might make you think that it's not worth the effort.

 

You might find this really tedious and boring, while some of you might find it helpful, but I want you to try it anyway and see if it's useful.

Thank you Kale for the photo!



Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 8

Today I want you to:

 

Try yoga!

 

This is something I've never tried but want to because I know that there are great health benefits like it improves flexibility, improves strength, improves posture, betters your bone health, makes you happier and helps you focus. Those are just a few!

 

If, like me you don't really know any yoga poses or how to do it, Yoga With Adriene is a really good youtube channel with loads of different yoga videos to try for any ability, plus Adriene is a really nice person!

 

Personally, I think yoga seems boring, but Ella Denton inspires me to give it a go because her view of life is so refreshing and simple, and if I can do something to be more like her (she does a lot of yoga), it's worth a try.

 

A good thing about yoga is you don't need any equipment (except for a mat if you want, but it's not essential if you have soft carpets) so there are NO EXCUSES, go for it!

 

 

 

Neither of us had done yoga before but this pose looked very yoga-y. Who did it best?

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 7

Today I want you to:

 

Drink a glass of water before every meal!

Not only will this keep you hydrated but it will also stop you from mistaking thirst for hunger (because you can't be thirsty if you've just drunk loads of water) which can prevent you eating loads of food because you think you're hungry and then feeling really bloated and full afterwards.

If losing weight is your goal, this would be a great thing to try because it will make you feel less hungry and control your appetite so you won't have to resist eating too much- you just won't want any more food.

Even if losing weight isn't your goal, staying hydrated should be so drinking a glass of water will just make sure you always have enough water and don't get dehydrated.

This is just a little habit to have a go at, but if you're happy with your weight and are normally hydrated, there might not be many benefits of drinking any extra water, either way, I recommend you give it a go anyway.

Thank you Kale for the photo!

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 6

Today I want you to:

 

Try strength training!

 

Now, before you completely refuse, can I just clarify that this doesn't mean you have to go to the gym and lift weights next to a sweaty man three times your size.

 

Strength training can be done anywhere, from the gym to your sofa.

 

Some exercises using no equipment include:

Squats

Lunges

Push ups

Triceps dips

Sit ups

Plank

 

 

There are hundreds of different exercises and variations using no equipment, but you can also use weights for all sorts of different exercises to work different body parts.

 

You might think that to lose weight you have to do cardio, but strength training plays a big part in helping you lose weight too. This is because muscle tissue burns calories more quickly than fatty tissue, so the more muscle you have, the more quickly you burn calories.

 

I personally really enjoy strength training, especially when I'm working my abs. It's a great thing to try and if you enjoy it, it can become part of your routine.

 

If you are unsure of how to do it, there are so many youtube videos that will give you a ready made workout that you just have to follow along to, so you don't have to be a professional to get involved!

 

Tip: if you don't have any weights but want some, you can use household items like water bottles, bottles full of sand, anything you can find. You could even use your dog like I did!

 

 

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 5

Today I want you to:

 

Get at least 8 hours of sleep!

 

It's kind of obvious that this includes either doing what you always do (if you always get 8 hours of sleep), waking up later or going to bed earlier.

 

I know for a lot of people it's a lot easier said than done because it's much easier to stay up, but when you do finally make yourself turn your light off that bit earlier, you can't get to sleep for another hour. It's so frustrating.

 

Whether you find it easy or not, I want you to at least make it so it's possible for you to get 8 hours of sleep, so if you have an alarm set for 7 am, start trying to get to sleep at 10:40 or earlier, that way you have 20 minutes to get to sleep.

 

Sleep is so important for your health because basically, as you may have guessed, it's your body recharging. Lack of sleep can cause depression and can make you gain weight because the energy you don't get from sleeping you have to get from eating instead.

 

Besides banishing under eye circles and putting you in a better mood, getting enough sleep improves your memory, keeps your heart healthy, reduces stress (I think we could all use a bit of that), makes you more alert and improves your immunity so you're less likely to catch bugs and viruses.

 

Hopefully all of you can do this, good luck anyway!

 



Healty Habits Challenge: Day 4

Today I want you to:

 

Make all of your meals from scratch for the day!

 

This means that you don't buy any ready meals or eat anything that you don't know what's in it.

 

This is good for your health because processed foods are a massive cause for people to be overweight because there is so much hidden sugar and preservatives and other nasty things in them, so by making your own meals, you are avoiding this completely.

 

As well as this, cooking can be fun! You can choose exactly what you eat and how it's made, and how much of it there is. It will also help you become a better cook if you practise.

 

Some of you might do this already, but if you don't just give it a try for one day.

 

Good luck!

I tried this, and on second thought, I realised that bran flakes aren't really made from scratch by me- all I do is pour a bit of milk on them. Either way, I ate them and they were delicious.

A different breakfast which I love to make (and is definitely from scratch) is a smoothie because they taste so delicious and sweet, don't take long to make and are healthy (but not healthy for your teeth so make sure you have some water afterwards!).

A smoothie that I make a lot contains a banana, some frozen raspberries and other berries like blackberries and blueberries and milk. It's so quick and easy so I recommend you try it.

I think I'll do a post full of some smoothie recipe ideas because I can think of so much that I want to write about...

Luckily for me, my school finishes at 2:20 so I get home by 3. Normally I'd make a salad or sandwich and eat at school but yesterday I tried eating lunch when I got home so I could make an exciting (this is exciting for me) lunch.

It was a quick omelette containing broccoli, tomato and a cheeky bit of grated cheese. I think I'll make a post about lunch recipes and ideas because I love reading them and seeing what other people have for lunch (even though for me it is sometimes just lettuce with tuna which isn't very interesting).

If you're short of ideas of what to make for dinner, go an look at the recipes on Food 52, they look delicious, different and not too difficult! I'll definitely be having a go at lots of their recipes.




Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 3

Today I want you to:

 

Do a youtube workout!

 

No matter what your age, gender or goal is, there will be a workout on youtube that will be great for you. They don't require much space but can really be effective and difficult.

 

It could only take 3 minutes if you want, or you could go for it and try an hour long workout, either way, I want you to try it and if you don't like it, that's fine, but if you're anything like me, these workouts are the perfect thing for when it's too cold to go running.

 

Personally, I love Blogilates, Rebecca-Louise Fitness, Popsugar Fitness and Carly Rowena. When I wake up in the morning I like to do a quick 3 minute workout which is intense but over in no time.

 

Some other good fitness channels are Fitness Blender, BeFit and Tone it Up.

 

Give it a go, good luck!

This is Cassey from Blogilates, she's so happy that it's impossible to not enjoy the workout!

Healthy Habits Challenge: Day 2

Today I want you to:

 

Meditate for 5 minutes (or longer)!

 

I have never managed to meditate for more than 2 minutes because I get bored, but I have a feeling that if I stick with it (I'm not sure if 5 minutes is long enough, though), I will feel really relaxed and calm.

 

Meditation is good for you because it reduces stress and it is suggested to improve immunity and make you more likely to avoid arthritis, joint pain and high blood pressure.

 

5 minutes just to try meditation is just a way for us to have a go, and if we enjoy it or feel better because of it, we can carry on.

 

You could meditate when you wake up, before you go to bed or any time in between, just make sure you do because it could be something you really love. Surely 5 minutes of sitting still and relaxing isn't too much to ask?

 

Have fun! 

Thanks Juliette for posing!