A New Start...

So...

The last time you heard from me I was engaged, living with my fiancée, planning a wedding and complaining about being asked when we were going to have kids. A lot has changed for me since then, some good and some bad.

The last six months have been a roller coaster of emotions for me. I had been wrestling with some personal demons and it all peaked for me in July (had been going on for a while before then, not entirely sure when it started) and then me and my fiancée broke up in August. It's not something I'm going to go into right now, I may do at a later date but I'm not sure yet.

So at 25 I moved back in with my parents, I love being back home (although sometimes feel like I get a bit in the way, mainly with how much stuff I have haha) but I'm hoping to get my own place within the next year or two. I know I want to move away, not entirely sure where to or even how far away but it's something I'm looking into.

I started my own business, selling Younique cosmetics and skin care products, it's going remarkably well, better than I could have imagined and I can't wait to see where I am in just a year with it! Through it I have met some amazing and inspirational people and I can't wait to spend more time with them all. My confidence has grown tenfold and I now wear make-up daily and am dressing a lot nicer.

My weight has increased, I was doing very well with my weight loss and Slimming World but have lost my way with it. I am still going to the meetings, I fear that if I stopped completely then my weight would just balloon and I'd lose interest completely. Currently it doesn't bother me too much that I have put weight on but I don't want to get much bigger really.

As can be expected when going through a big life change I go through periods of heightened emotions, both good and bad. Most days are good but I still get really bad days, days when all I want to do is lock myself away and sleep. I feel that I am a lot more emotional now, I certainly cry more which is not a bad thing.

The last week has been very hard. We had some bad news in the family last Tuesday and since then my head has just been a wreck. It's brought a lot of bad memories and thoughts to the surface for me and through that I've had a lot to think about.

I think going through stuff like that does that to you though, makes you re-evaluate, consider where you are in your life and what things you really want in the future. It certainly has with me. Spent a lot of time thinking about the future and what I want for myself, it's scary and exciting having no idea where you're life might be in a year or two. Plus I'm an over thinker which never helps!

Anyway, bit of a long post but a lot to cover! Thanks for reading!

xXx

April Favorites 2015!

Hello!

This year is flying over, I can't believe it's May already! I thought I would do a post detailing a few items that I have enjoyed using a lot this month, as I didn't start the blog that long ago I'm just going to do three items for this month, so here they are:

1 - Food Diary

I purchased this food diary from eBay, you can get food diary sheets from Slimming World for free but I am getting closer to my target and wanted to have them all in one place so I can look back on them. The main reason for this is once I'm at my target I can keep a record of the weeks that I've maintained my weight and what I did food and exercise wise that week. 

The diary I got is not an official one but it is laid out for people following SW, so it has space for your healthy extras, syns and free foods, as well as exercise and notes for the week; each week also features a menu planner and a weekly summary for the end of the week, which I love! In the front of the book there are pages for tracking your weight every week, body magic (exercise) awards, monthly measurements, before and after pictures and pages for your favorite recipes! I'm in love with it and have been filling it in religiously! This one will last a full year and I will definitely be purchasing one for next year!

2 - Sprinkle of Chatter

Sprinkle of Chatter is Louise Pentland's vlog channel and her secondary channel on YouTube, her primary channel is Sprinkle of Glitter which I also love, but lately I have found myself just watching my way through all of her old vlogs.

I find they're just easy to watch and it's been lovely watching her little girl going to Disney World and such as well as just seeing what Louise does day to day.

3 - Journal

I'd recently read "20 Things To Do When You're 30 That Will Make Life Better At 50" now I'm only 24 but after reading it I realised a lot of them were changed I was currently trying to make in my life anyway. One thing stuck out to me thought which was no. 18 Keep a Journal. It's something I've always wanted to do but I would normally start one and then only write in it once or twice and then just stop. When I was in TK Maxx at the weekend (haul post will follow soon!) for some home and wedding bits and I saw this lovely note book in amongst the book shelves.

After having a little look at the layout inside I decided it would be the perfect book to start my journal in. I've been doing well with it so far and it's nice to have a  private place to write your thoughts and just to vent when you feel like it!

Anyway that is my favorites for April! Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the comment section below!

xXx

Slimming World

Hello!

So for my first proper post I thought I would talk about Slimming World, it's something that has been a big part of my life and so I thought I'd share my journey with you and let you know what it's all about, for anyone who's not quite sure. 

The first thing about it that I think is very important and that you should definitely know about SW is that it is not a diet, it is not some easy fix to lose weight quickly without effort. It is a lifestyle change that teaches you about the importance of balanced nutrition that helps you to lose weight and then maintain to your target weight. 

Now, weight is something I have struggled with for a long time, this isn't the first time that I have been a member of SW but I'm hoping it's the last.  The first time I joined I did very well, I got all the way to my club 10 award (which is losing 10% of your body weight) and then, for various reasons, I ended up putting it all back on. I then joined on and off for a few years but really my heart wasn't in it and I think I thought that if I joined I'd be motivated to follow it properly but, of course, that didn't happen. 

I'd been having some tests done on my liver and my doctor mentioned that it could be fatty liver disease, which shocked me and I made the decision then and there to go back to SW but this time I was determined not to let anything stop me. My health should be a priority and that was back in June 2014.

 Since then I have lost 2 stone and I'm feeling much better within myself and have even started being more active. I'm feeling more confident and have started wearing makeup and nicer clothes!

The plan itself is very easy to follow, I'm not going to go into loads of detail as I'm not a SW consultant and you can find a lot of the basic information (as well as some sample menu plans) on their website, so go and check that out if you want to see what it's all about! :)

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my day for group, which I love, I thrive on the group support and don't think I'd be doing as well if I was doing it alone; my consultant is amazing and I don't know where I'd be without her! I am getting closer to my target weight and will update as I go. Let me know if you'd be interested in a post about some of the different meals and snacks I have, as that might be something to do in the future!

Thanks for reading!

xXx

A little bit about me and an introduction to this blog!

Hello all!

I'm Jess and welcome to my blog! I don't know if this will be of any interest to anyone but it's something I've always wanted to do and have decided yo just go for it! Writing is something that has always interested me but I've never been very good at it so I hope this isn't to bad!!! So I thought as an introduction I'd tell you a bit about myself (hopefully without too much rambling!) and just take it from there.

I am 24, work full-time with my father; me and my partner have been together for almost 9 years and recently (9 months ago) got engaged and so we're currently planning our wedding, so I will be posting updates on that. We moved into our first home almost 2 years ago, unfortunately there is still a lot to do in the house so I'll be posting about the house and garden.

I am also doing Slimming World and am getting close to my target so you can expect updates on that and soon will be going through all my clothes and replacing them with a new wardrobe (obviously a little bit at a time!) so there will be posts about clothes, make up, hauls etc. too.

I think that seems like enough for an introduction, thank you for reading and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!

xXx