sutton045

So let me start off by saying I am very skeptical of 'skinny' teas and 'teatox' and all that shite. I'm a firm believer in losing weight by eating right and exercising. And no cup of tea is going to change that. But I had a pack of Miss Fit Skinny Tea at home and two weeks ago I said 'sure feck it, I'll give it a go'. If it doesn't work - no biggie, at least I've tried it. So let's get straight into it, you want to know if I lost weight. And the short answer is yes, I did and I'm delighted. Long answer has a bit more to it! So after Christmas 2016 I was my heaviest I have ever been and to be honest I was quite horrified with myself. So since then I've eaten quite well (Monday - Friday anyway) and have gone to the gym about three times a week. That still is working out really well for me and I've lost about 5kg since January. But for the past few weeks my weight has plateaued and that's when I said I'd try the tea. So on t...

As you may have seen on Facebook or Snapchat, I've taken up yoga!  A new studio, called Holistic Nurture opened up near me and I was invited along to try my first ever yoga class! To be completely honest I didn't really know what yoga involved. Like, would the room be roasting hot? Is it as intense as a gym workout? Do I need to be able to twist my body into a pretzel shape?! Would I be the class eejit falling all over the place? Thankfully the answer to all of the above was no!   As I headed into the Holistic Nurture studio, on a miserable Saturday morning, I was delighted to be instantly relaxed by a clean, cosy room, dimly lit with a few strings of fairy lights and candles dotted around the room. The class started with some simple, slow movements and stretches. Not only were we moving our bodies but the instructor, Marion, also calmly and quietly reminded us that this was a time to forget about the hectic week we've had and let our bodies and minds completely relax. ...

Since the beginning of January I've been back in the gym (after a very long break), and last week Elverys gave me the extra motivation I needed by offering me some fab new gym gear from their latest collection. The items I picked out were: A Nike Pro Classic Sports Bra (yellow) A Reebok top with sports bra attached Under Armour Leggings I need to give a special shoutout to Catherine in Elverys, Blanchardstown who looked after me and was so helpful and friendly. Unfortunately the purple print sports bra wasn't available in my size but I'm keeping an eye out for it! For this collection Elverys collaborated with of my favourite fashionista's Courtney Smith , and together they are encouraging customers to #CommitToFit. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. My commitment to fitness is to continue going to the gym at least three times a week. I train at  Advanced Fitstop and mainly go to classes, which include spinning, boxercise and weight training. I also have...

For anyone who has been reading this blog for a while, you know I go in and out of gym phases. I'm either giving it my all.....or nothing at all.  At the beginning of January, along with half the country, I started going to a gym (again). This wasn't like before , it's not a six week challenge where there's a definite beginning and end. This is basically just what I do now, and hopefully will continue to do for the foreseeable future. I've been going to classes in  Advanced Fitstop , Tyrrelstown, about three times a week, just to improve my general strength and fitness (my arms are like noodles!). These 45 minute classes cover pretty much everything including spinning, weights, exercise and cardio, and I'm always trembling by end! The classes are somehow horrific but brilliant at the same time. What I notice about this gym is how I'm treated no different than anyone else, but still get personal attention when I need it. There's all sorts of people doing ...

I'm finally finished my six week challenge and have spent the whole weekend celebrating, by eating everything in sight! If you are following me on Facebook ( The Life and Style of Jen ) or on Snapchat (jenniferdevitt) you will have seen my progress throughout the weeks, but I think this picture sums it up nicely... No, I didn't lose a massive amount of weight but I've definitely lost inches and have toned up everywhere. I'm fitting into smaller clothes, I actually own size 8 clothes again, and have found myself shouting from the changing rooms of shops looking for smaller sizes. And that's exactly what I wanted to get out of this. I can't sit here and say I did everything right for the six weeks, I definitely let my diet slip more than I would have liked, but I ate extremely well 90% of the time.  I also went to the gym religiously, which of course played a big part in this. I went 4 or 5 times a week and (most of) the classes were pretty intense!  But would I r...

Week two of my six week challenge is done and dusted and I'm so glad to see the back of it! I did five classes this week, one a day since Wednesday and it has left me a broken woman!! Every single part of my body aches and I just want to sleep for days!! During the week I got a bit disheartened because I was really struggling to keep up with some of the classes, as well as seeing absolutely no movement on the scales. It was so hard not to throw in the (sweaty) towel and say what's the point, this is getting me nowhere! But a few things have lifted my spirit, and it's those things that keep me going.  First of all, my River Island sale delivery arrived and half of the clothes were too big! I'm kinda raging because some of the stuff was so nice and so cheap but I'm also delighted that I'm going down a size! As well as that, a few hours ago I bought a pair of my white Penneys jeans, in black, but in a size smaller! It's so hard not to focus in on what the scale...

Well I've survived my first week!! I only managed to go to the gym three times, as I had a very busy week celebrating my exam results and my birthday! But before I get into things, let's go back to this day last week, before the challenge had even started.... I got weighed and measured in the gym and was 61.6kg. That for me is a bit heavy (emphasis on the for me , we're all different here). A year ago I would have been delighted to see that number, but I can do better and I know that weight is just from too many bottles of cool Corona, delicious spice bags and an awful lot of sweet.....sweet chocolate......* drooling.     So what have I been doing for my challenge? I did two classes of Boxercise and one class of Strength & Conditioning, and Christ on a bike they were tough!! I nearly fainted in my first class! I knew it wasn't going to be a piece of cake (can't stop thinking about food) but after one class I could hardly lift my arms to brush my h...

Thanks for the interest in my healthy chilli burritos over on Facebook :) So as requested, here's the recipe..... Ingredients: 400g of mince beef or a pack that would make 2-3 decent burgers Tin of chopped tomatoes (400g tin) 2x garlic cloves 1 fresh chilli deseeded and chopped 1 teaspoon of chilli powder (add more later if it's not spicy enough) 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric 1 heaped teaspoon of paprika 1 cup of brown rice (optional) 1 beef stock cube mixed with 350ml of hot water Cos lettuce leaves Fresh Pepper Coconut Oil *Takes about an hour to make Method: 1. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pot. Once melted add the chopped garlic and chilli and let simmer without burning, then add your chilli powder, turmeric and paprika. Mix it all together to make a paste. If your paste is looking a bit thick and sticking to the pot add some hot water. But remember it's a paste, not a sauce! 2. Once your paste is mixed together add the mince and let it br...

Even writing this gives me the fear !!!! As you may have guessed from the title, I'm going back to the gym, and when I say going back , I mean since this time last year! The only exercise I've done in the last twelve months is the odd jog around the block and then lifting....food into my mouth. At the minute, my arms are so weak that I even struggle to open heavy doors! You may have read last year that I did a six week challenge in my local gym and got fantastic results. I lost 10 lbs over the six weeks, as well as a good few inches from here and there, and a loss of 9% body fat! So I'm going to do it all over again! I cringe everytime I see this photo!   Since last year, I've done well to keep the weight off, but it's not just about the number on the scales, it's also about how you look & feel! Like I've said I've kept the weight off but my figure isn't as nice as it used to be! I really need to tone up pretty much everywhere, and of course I w...

I'm sitting here on my sofa, with wet hair, in my onesie.... absolutely shattered!! As you can tell from the title of this post, I completed the Run A Muck challenge today! I'm sure you've heard of it before, but if not, it's exactly what it sounds like, running through muck. A 5k obstacle course of muck! And as you'll see by our faces, there was no shortage of muck! This picture was obviously before I started :)  In the weeks leading up to the challenge I had watched videos about it on YouTube and looked at the course map just to see what I was getting myself in for! There's me thinking I'd do a few obstacles and have a nice little run as well! I may have slightly underestimated how much muck was involved! The course was wet, mucky and then wet some more! I was flinging my body over bales of hay, climbing on top of tyre hills, just to slide back down into a wet mucky ditch and even tredging through deep ponds and under dark tunnels. There was tarzan ropes t...