Wish List: High Street Active Wear

Hi All,

I know for many the new year meant resolutions to be fit and healthy so with that in mind I wanted to make a wish list of some of my favourite active wear on the high street at the moment.
Most high street brands have jumped on the fitness band wagon and are bringing out active wear left right and centre. Which is great news for us savvy bargain hunters like me, as lets be honest no one wants to pay £40 on a pair of branded leggings just to get all sticky and sweaty in.

Row 1: Missguided

Row 2: New Look

Row 3: F&F at Tesco

Row 4: Boohoo

 

Step away from the boring plain and black gym wear and stand out on the treadmill in bright, vibrant prints and fierce and funky slogans like the ones above. All super cheap and affordable.

 

 

What active wear are you loving at the moment?

 

Thanks for reading

 

Josie Xo

 



 

 

 

Get the look: Kim Kardashian

Love Kim K as much as the next girl? Want to channel her super flattering grey pencil skirt co-ord look, then Missguided have all you need. For just £70 for the whole outfit. 

Top

Skirt

Shoes

Bag

 

This is a great transitional outfit from winter to spring and the bang on trend grey colour is a welcome break from the boring blacks of winter fashion. Finish off the look with these amazing dupes of her transparent Perspex strap sandles and a quilted black clutch. Everything you need to channel your Kim K alto ego. 

 

 

What do you think of Kim K's outfit?

 

Thanks For Reading

 

Josie Xo

 

 

 

Beauty: Pamper Night In

 

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all enjoying your week so far. This post is all about my Saturday night in pampering myself. Like every girl having a night in relaxing and pampering once in a while is a dream come true.

I started off taking a lovely long hot bubble bath. While in the bath I put on my thickening hair mask. Now this hair mask is amazing, it smells lovely and I can really start to see my hair becoming thicker. For only 99p from home bargains I was quite dubious that it would actually do anything, but I have been very impressed with its quality.

Once I was all clean and dried off I turned to my good old trusted soap and glory body butter. I then did a bit of multi-tasking by applying my face mask (as lets be honest no pampering session would be complete without a face mask) and whilst waiting for that to dry I painted my nails. I used this lovely max factor glossfinity nail varnish in 120 disco pink. I personally love these nail varnishes and have started building up quite a collection. They are super glossy and are long wearing.
Once my face mask was dry it was time to peel it off, I don't know about anyone else but this is strangely quite satisfying and it left my skin feel amazingly soft.

After all this pampering it left me very tired and was ready for bed, before I went off to the land off nod I applied my new argon oil night repair serum. This was another one of my bargain finds from home bargain's and for only £1.99 it is a god send.
Lastly I applied my heel genius and endless glove by soap and glory enclosing them in the cosy soaks and gloves to let them soak up all the moisture over night.

Over all I had a really enjoying night in pampering myself and woke up feeling super refreshed in the morning.

What are your pampering  rituals and essentials?

Josie Xo

Instagram  Bloglovin

Baking: Almond Butter Cookies

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all had a lovely weekend.

I spent yesterday afternoon baking some "good for you" cookies. I brought a jar of almond butter recently having read loads online about how great it was I thought I would give it a go. I tried it and if I'm honest really didn't like it. I think maybe because I don't like peanut butter it was also unlikely that I would like almond butter.
So I searched out for a recipe to use the almond butter so it wouldn't go to waste. I found this amazing cookie recipe from Meaningful Eats.Click the link to check out the ingredients and method.

This is a really great recipe if you are trying to watch what you eat with only really the sugar and chocolate chips being the naughtiest ingredients in the recipe. The sugar is soft dark brown sugar which makes it slightly better and I got dark chocolate chips, I did unfortunately miss the note on the recipe to use dairy free chocolate chips, but the ones I got from Sainsbury's didn't seem so bad.

If you are going to try this recipe I would definitely suggest only using 2 cups for the oats, sugar etc. rather than 3 as it does make a hell of a lot. Following this recipe was really easy and simple.
One tip I have is not to worry with how sticky the mixture is. Having baked before this felt so abnormal that the mixture was so sticky I was very tempted to add some flour or more oats to thicken it up. But what ever you do, DONT. It does not need it once they are cooked they come out in the most perfect texture. Hard on the outside and chewy on the inside, and they taste amazing. I would actually go as far to say these are the best tasting cookies I have ever had. You would have no idea that they are healthy cookies and are just as good as any cookies you buy from a bakery.
Another tip would be to divide your mixture smaller than what I have. Unless of course you want giant cookies but I think I would of prefer to make them half the size and have more!!

Overall I am very impressed with this recipe and am super happy knowing that I can enjoy a delicious snack without having to worry too much about what is in them.

Below are some pictures with how I got on and the end result.

let me know if you give this recipe a go and how you get on?
Thanks for reading

Josie XO

Hair Inspiration: Cameron Diaz/Miss Hannigan

 

 

 

 

Happy Sunday Everyone,

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

Having gone and seen Annie at the cinema the other week I was really lusting over Cameron Diaz's hair in the film. I really wanted to recreate one of the looks and have chose this one above. Using a French braid in an up do.

See how I got on below,

This hair style is super easy to do, all I used was the above, along with some hair clips.
I first started by washing my hair, I then used this amazing argon oil heat protecting spray (which was only 99p from home bargain's, yes that was 99p) before blow drying.

I then parted my hair to a side parting and separated into 3 sections. Back and 2 sides. Use your hair clips to clip the back section back so it isn't in your way.

 

Then to start braiding, I am sure you all know how to do a French braid, do not worry if it goes a bit messy, just do it roughly and keep it back so it goes in the direction of around your head. Secure with a hairband and do the same the other side.

Once this is done take the hair bands out and take all of your hair (including the braided hair) and bring to the nape of your neck. I then twisted my hair round and wrapped round into a bun. Wrap a hair band around the bun to secure and use bobby pins if needed to keep in place.

And hey presto that's it, like I said super easy, just spray with some hair spray and using a rat tail comb pull out some of the hair so it is not tight to your head. Giving a more messy laid back look.

 

To finish off the look add some big hoop earrings and you will be channelling Miss Hannigan in no time.

Thanks for reading

Oh and also if you haven't see Annie yet I would really recommend seeing it, the cast are brilliant and how they brought the story line into the modern world was so clever. A definite must see.

Josie xo

Fitness: Beginners guide to exercise classes

 

 

Image credit from google

Hi All,

Hope you are all well, are we keeping up with our new years resolutions?
If you read my last post you will know that one of my resolutions is to lose weight and get fit. To do this I have started attending more exercises classes at my gym. This week I attended 2 each night Monday to Thursday. You must be crazy I hear you say and yes it was hard work but I feel so much better for it and proud of myself for accomplishing them.
If you have recently joined the gym in the January rush and have no idea what you are doing I would highly recommend trying out some exercise classes, it's a great way of getting a proper work out without having to think too much, and will give you handy tips for things you can do inside the gym.
So carry on reading for a guide to the exercise classes I tried out this week.

Monday
Body Pump: This is a brilliant all over work out to some really great motivational high energy music. Using bar weights and working on every muscle group you will really feel it the next day, but just remember the famous saying "no pain no gain". I felt great after doing this work out and really enjoyed it. As it is a strength and toning work out you wont get out of breath and worn out like you would in a cardio work out so I found I could really go the distance in this class. I would really recommend this work out if you are looking for an easy all over work out.

Insanity: Now this was meant to be a body combat class (which I have done before and love) but unfortunately the instructor couldn't make it so it was replaced by Insanity. Be prepared to sweat if you ever try this class. This is an extremely high cardio class and fast paced, changing exercises every 30 seconds. I have to say I personally didn't like it, I found some of the moves quite odd, to be honest I can't even describe them, it was mostly just a lot of different ways of jumping haha. This is best if your looking for a quick and fast cardio class to get your heart pumping.

Tuesday
Circuits: This class I go to regularly and I absolutely love it. This is a mix of cardio and strength work so is really great if you don't have time to spend ages in the gym to get both. The class I go to you don't move round to different stations you stick to your own space, using bar weights and a step. I prefer it this way but everyone is different and going round an actual circuit may suit you better, I would imagine the work out would go quicker that way. The exercises differ every week but the usual culprits that make a reoccurring appearance are burpees, press ups, step ups, squats, lungs.

Yoga: This was the very first time I tried Yoga, and if I am completely honest I didn't get that excited about it. The stretching was good, especially after my circuits class, but actually you will be surprised with how hard some of the moves are, this is a real core work out. I personally think the reason I couldn't get into it was that I couldn't relax properly and was just constantly thinking about everyone around me. I would recommend giving it a go as like I said it is a good work out, for body and mind, but I think I may try finding a good yoga DVD and giving it another go in the comfort of my own home.

Wednesday
Body Combat: Again this is a class I go to regularly and is one of my favourites. Like body pump using some really great motivational, upbeat music it mixes cardio with power tracks getting you to work super hard. It is also a great beginners guide to self defence, showing different punches, kicks and how to block. This is by no means a self defence class it is all about fitness. I really love this class as well because it focuses on your arms a lot which I have to admit I do neglect and is one area I am never sure what to do to give them a good work out.

Zumba: Now I may upset quite a lot of people when I say this as I know this is a huge craze, but I personally did not like this class. I don't know if it had something to do with the instructor (who I am not criticizing at all) who was an older lady, so I felt the class was aimed at the older generation, it wasn't very energetic and the moves were very simple. Meaning that I just couldn't get into it and get a proper work out. I would suggest giving Zumba a go as you may find it completely different at your gym but this one just wasn't for me unfortunately.

Thursday
HIIT: High intense interval training. Just the name of this class scared me but actually this was really good. Using many of the moves in circuits just with out the weights or steps and with only 20 minutes breaks in-between each set, this is a real heart pumper and you will be dripping with sweat just from the warm up. Don't let that put you off though like I said its really good and you are safe in the knowledge knowing you have had one of the best work outs you could have. Definitely a must try.

LBT: Legs, Bums and tums. You will most definitely feel the burn the next day with this class, but if you want a booty like Kim K give it a go as it works every muscle in your lower body. Think squats, lungs, sit ups, planks and much much more. I cant rave about this class enough it is my all time favourite even if I am walking slightly odd the next day.

So there you go, that was all the classes I did this week, some new and challenging, some just getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas break.
I hope this has help some of you with a small insight into all of them and gives you motivation to give some of them a go.

Let me know if you do try any of them and how you get on?
Are there any classes that you currently do that you love?

Thanks for reading

Josie xo

New Year Resolutions

 

Happy 2015 Everybody!!

I hope you all had a lovely New Year's. Now that we are a few days into the new year I want to share with you some changes and "resolutions" I will be making. I want these resolutions to be positive changes in my life.

So lets get to it

1. To live a more healthier and active lifestyle - I have constantly battled with my weight and really want to achieve a noticeable weight loss in 2015. To achieve this I do not want to just diet but change my lifestyle from having a healthy, natural diet to exercising as regular as possible to get fitter. From changing my lifestyle I hope to then challenge myself to maybe doing some 5k or even 10k runs to really push myself and feel that I have accomplish something. So carry on reading as I will be taking you all along on my weight loss journey to showing you what I am eating to new workout routines I learn on the way.
2. To work on this blog more - when I originally started this blog I wanted it all to be about fashion, what I was wearing and things I was loving. having give it ago I realised I did not always have the time, money and facilities to keep up with regular outfit post. My new aim in 2015 is to carry on blogger, but my post will be of a wider content now. I want to carry on featuring fashion posts along with beauty posts. showing cheap high street finds, reviews etc. I will also being doing lots of lifestyle posts such as baking, cooking, fitness, activities and travels. So I hope there will be something for everybody, showing you a small insight into my life.

These are my main goals for 2015 which I hope to accomplish, Do you have any resolutions? If so share in the comments below what they are, hopefully we can motivate each other :)

Thanks for reading

Josie
Xo