F I V E ; T I P S

5 things to do if your having a shite of a week !

Now, we all have them. One thing going wrong after the other.

But for the anxiety strugglers out there,  when a week goes bad.

It goes bad.

One thing an anxiety sufferer does well is catastrophising. Drama queen I hear you sigh ? I did drama at school, I was never very good. Although, honey, you should see me in a crown. (If anyone can guess where that quote is from, I will personally high five you)

So, a lovey example of catastrophising is when you realise you left your tasty chocolate protien granola in the boot of your mums car and you know you were looking forward to chowing down on that for breakfast. You then ring said mother, frantic, slightly aggressive and then become extremely miserable knowing you will not be eating that chocolate, crunchy, protein packed goodness for breakfast. That my friends is catastrophising. Or an extreme case of morning hangry. (Sorry mum).

So these are the 5 things I like to do when I can't seem to carry on, oh woe is me ...

Obviously in at number 1, FOOD and WATER.

I am a firm believer of good things in, good things out. That includes some of the naughties too. If any of you follow me on Instagram. You will know I ate a 1/3 of a chocolate cake today.

And I am not sorry. Nope. Not one bit. But I do love to cook. When I know it's healthy for me to. That's a bonus.
Something I have been lovin is a little bit of lean in 15. This cook book is amazing for quick, tasty and nutritious meals ! And I can speak for us all when I say, he is a little easy on eye too. GUILTY.

In at number 2, EXERCISE.

I may be a little bit of an exercise fanatic. But let me tell you a little bit of sweat, however way you work it, CHEEKY, can go a long way. That natural release of chemicals in the body will get you out of your funk. So get out, a walk, a run, or some Yoga with Adriene or blogliates, even buy a Fitbit. I love mine. It encourages you to just, not sit down. Or run up and down the stairs until you have reached your step goal. But whatever it is. Get your booty moving.

Number 3, SLEEP.
We are all guilty of not getting enough of this. This is so important. Sleep is key. I can be exhausted  then go to bed and be as alert as a bloody meerkat ! One tool I use, sleepin apps. Whether it's Rain sounds, meditation or one of my favourites Mindfulness. Whack it on. Reconnect with you. I can 90% guarantee you'll be fast asleep before you even reach the end.

In at 4 is YOU.
Make time for you. Whether it's that game you wanted to play, or just a bath and big glass of cider. Schedule it in and not just once. Twice. Three times even. Do it, you will feel better after. If you like to get a little crafty, crack out the crochet. But not too close to bedtime. Even that gets my brain going. Yeah, how bloody old do I sound.

And finally for 5, SUPPORT.
You need it. Everyone does. Even if you struggle with anxiety or not. Knowing you are not alone is everything. It has taken me, a long long time to get to this phase. Where I can finally seek help for my problems. This is because I am finally in a place where I feel safe enough to do so, knowing you have people to fall back on. They won't challenge your crazy, won't call you stupid, will understand when your het up and tetchy and know your working your ass off to change. For the better. You'll need that. Because anxiety and worriers, they worry about shit like that. But what do I know, I lost my marbles years ago.

And if all else fails, if these 5 TIPS don't help. I hear vodka is good. Try that.

Ta Ta for now !

XOXO

Exercise, it's a trend thing : The Apps

Exercise. It seems to be the "in thing" to do these days, heck this is one trend that I actually seem to be on board with. I have been part of this "trend" for around 4 years now. I dramatically changed my lifestyle and lost over 2 stone. Now, I try to eat healthily, I really must emphasise the word TRY here and exercise around 4-5 times a week. In the past year, I really have conquered this exercise thing. Circuit training, vibe cycling twice a week, kettlebells, ab attack, bootcamp and recently insanity. Not to mention, the occasional gym visit and home workout.

You'd think after all that i'd be buff as hell. Well, as I said, I TRY to eat healthy. DIET IS EVERYTHING. Well let's just say I aint quite there yet. It doesn't help living at home, where your mum makes the most delicious lemon drizzle cake, fridge cake and god knows what else cake. But, that's all about to change. I have a new job. And a new home. So diet will be on the up. My exercising however, that's another story. I still have two weeks till I move, and to save money, my gym membership has already been cancelled and until my money situation changes, working out from home will have to do.

To say I will miss my gym membership is an understatement. I mean, no offence mum, I think I will miss the gym more than you. I'm just kidding. She knows I am not kidding. It is going to be hard, but I lost most of my weight from working out at home. DVD's, apps, youtubers, if you know where to look, your all sorted.

First up in this blog post, apps. These have been my best friend, my pocket motivator. I am assuming most of you have heard of them but for those of you who haven't, free up some space, delete those selfies, cause your going to want to download these.

Nike Training : I lovely little app that will quite frankly, kick your ass. I have had this bad boy for years and the updates keep getting better. It has 4 different sections where you can choose what you want to achieve, get lean, get toned, get strong, get focussed. You then pick your level. Choose from a variety of workouts, ranging from 15 - 45 minutes, set your music, then prepare to sweat your butt off. Quite literally. As I said the updates, and boy, if you want a programme, this fella will do it for you. Simply create a 4 week programme and it will plan out your week of exercising. Smashing.

 

 

Nike Running : Like most running apps you have your standard, route tracking, average minutes per mile, calories. You know the deal. I like this one, I don't know why. But I just do.

  

My Fitness Pal : A calorie tracker that really does help you to monitor what you eat. Enter your height, current weight, goals if you have any and monitor what you shove in your face. And for me, it can be quite a lot. So this helps massively to control your eating habits. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with hand restraints or automatically locks your fridge/cupboard. If any of you know anything that does, other than "self control", please let me know.

So that's it for apps, DVD's, youtubers and instagrammers to come.

Ta Ta for now !

Jess, just another blogger

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