Top tips for staying healthy this Christmas

                                   

Hi guys,

Deck the halls with boughs of holly: 'Tis the season to over-indulge! Yes, Christmas is here and with it comes not only the desire to dress up in sequins and party dresses but also the temptation to eat every chocolate that passes you by, and double portions of pudding after every meal. Admit it, I know it's not just me!!

But I have some baby weight to shift, so my overindulgence needs to be reined in this Christmas. Which is why I thought it was a brilliant idea when I saw that Bupa had released the Bupa advent calendar: a daily advent calendar for the month of December. But instead of tiny little chocolates inside, you'll find daily health tips on how to stay active, healthy, and stress-free, as part of the Bupa find healthy campaign.


Here are some of my favourites:
1. Have skimmed milk in your winter warming drink. This is a good one for me because the hubby makes the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted: and when he isn't at work over Christmas, I drink a mug a day! Using semi skimmed milk will cut the calories without affecting the taste.
2. Pick your puddings sensibly: choose just one dessert not several. This tip could have been written with me in mind: puddings are my weakness, and when I'm struggling to choose between trifle or a mince pie, I quite often will just decide to have both! This one will take some will power, but I'm prepared to give it a go!

There are loads more great tips included in the calendar which provide perfect motivation, so it's well worth checking out if, like me, you’re trying to rein in your greedy instincts this Christmas!

Do you try to find healthy at Christmas? Or do you forget all about diet and exercise and just overindulge to your heart’s content? And do you have any healthy tips to share for festive restraint? I'd love to hear your thoughts and tips!


Love Tor x

*This is a sponsored post 

Do you want to play a game?

Hi guys,
Last Wednesday afternoon I had just got back to my desk from a trip to the pub (for a lunch of sticky BBQ chicken and chips) and was sitting down to check my emails and enjoy a bar of Galaxy chocolate. As a was scoffing my second square of chocolate, I opened an email that was entitled "Fancy playing Weight Watchers?"

Now I post enough outfit photos for you guys to know that I'm not a skinny girl. But I'm not plus sized either. I've always been fairly comfortable in my own skin, but I've also noticed that since the wedding I've put on a few pounds: settling into married life, and cooking super sized feasts with my husband meant that any weight I lost for the wedding is now firmly back, plus (to be honest) a bit more too!

So I responded to the email (I finished eating my chocolate bar first) and said yes. If losing weight is a game then I want to play! Weightwatchers isn't just a last resort for the morbidly obese (as I has previously, very wrongly, assumed) You can join and play along if you just want to drop a dress size, lose those last couple of pounds, or just get back into healthy eating habits.

I currently wear a size 16 (14 on a good day) and would like to be comfortably back in all of my size 14 clothes again. Not a massive target: I'm not planning to give up food and look like Kate Moss or anything. But definitely a big enough starting challenge for me, and I know dropping those pounds will make all the difference to how I feel when I get dressed in the morning.

So the upshot of all of this is that I'm going to give it a go. Try to shed a few pounds so that I feel healthier and my clothes feel better. Exercise a couple of times a week and leave the biscuit tin alone. And, if you don't mind, I will occasionally be sharing my journey with you guys. Wish me luck!

Love Tor x

Pizza express: Eat pizza, stay thin!

As I mentioned earlier in the month, I am on a health kick this year and have started watching what I eat and exercising three times a week: I don't want to be 'skinny' and don't think that anyone should be pressured to be thin, but I want to tone up!
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This should mean that pizza is off the table. So you can imagine how excited I was when Pizza Express got in touch asking if I wanted to attend an event where I can make and eat a pizza which has only 500 calories from their new Leggaria range(this is basically a pizza with a hole in the middle filled with salad) alongside a 100 calorie (!) glass of wine as well as meet a nutritionist and a life coach.



I sat with the lovely Reda and Harriet of Where is Harriet (http://www.whereisharriet.blogspot.com/) We chatted about blogging and were then joined by the nutritionalist who helped develop the leggara and the life coach respectively. They were both lovely and I learnt that it is not OK to just have a banana for breakfast (i'm now having wholegrain toast with my banana, starting this morning) and that the reason I don't feel hungry in the morning is because i'm eating too late at night. I also learnt to think positively during exercise to maintain my motivation.
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Then we went to get our hands dirty in our pizza making masterclass:

I am a terrible pizza maker but Mike (the handsome pizzaiola) was great. He taught us how to toss the dough and the secrets of the leggara: how to cut the hole in the middle, and the low fat cheese that still tastes great, but keeps the calories down. And then he let us go crazy with the toppings!
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And here is my completed pizza: yummy cheesy goodness but without the guilt!


It was a really fun and educational event, and though I still don't think we can say we're on a diet and eat pizza everyday, it's nice to know that the option is there when you want a guilt-free treat.
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Love, Tor x

New Year, New You: Power plating

I know it's a horrible cliche, and I too cringe when I hear the phrase "new year, new you" but it's true that now is the time when a lot of us are thinking about changing our diets, or getting fit and healthy.

In December I tried powerplating for the first time, and I enjoyed it so much I intend to combine twice weekly visits with a less chocolate intensive diet for a healthier happier new me.

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Powerplating is basically vibration training: the classes last just 25 minutes during which time you stand on your vibrating powerplate holding poses such as lunges and crunches. The sessions are lead by specialist instructors (mine was very nice and explained everything clearly) Your muscles contract and relax 30-50 times a second, hence the high speed training. 10 minutes on a Power Plate is worth an hour in the gym. As I got of the machine my legs were shaking and the following morning I had the comfortable ache that comes with a decent work out: but without any of the hard work (I barely broke a sweat during my session!)

If you want to give it a go then Good Vibes (the company I used) offer free trial sessions for first time users. They also have great packages (one guarentees that you'll drop a dress size!) and discounts for off peak users. It doesn't seem like going into a gym; it has a more cozy and personal feel. And the classes are a maximum of 5 people, so even the session feels intimate and you get plenty of attention from the instructor who can tell you whether you're doing it right!

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The price of powerplating is really the main con to giving it a go, as if you choose to pay as you go then each session costs £20, but when you think about how much you waste every month on gym memberships you never use, it could well pay to try it; at least then you've in control of how and when you exercise and how much it costs you as well!

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I am hoping to lose a stone and a half but i'm not rushing myself: all at my own pace! I'll let you know when I reach my target!

Love, Tor xx

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*Images taken from Good Vibes website.