Health...

I follow so many Instagram users, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that promote healthy lifestyles. I scroll down my news feeds and it is full of healthy recipes, 5 ways to get abs, how to get a better bum, what not to drink, and so on...

Recently, I have started looking at these posts and thinking, hmm, maybe I should be living a healthier life. I went to America in the summer to work and when I got back I had definitely put on weight! To be honest I started looking at all these 'Health' posts and thinking, I need to start exercising and eating healthier.

As a student it is so hard to exercise, especially in such a small area of living space and being on a such a low budget means it is very hard to get healthy food because it is so expensive.

Being a student also means lying in bed all day watching Netflix and stress eating because you know exactly how much work you have yet to do and haven't even attempted to start an assignment because you find something else you want to watch. Or you decide to go for a quick 20 minutes power nap, which ends up being a good 4 hours, even though you woke up at 12pm.  I think it's pretty obvious that my lifestyle isn't very 'healthy'.

I constantly complain about my photo's, "Ew look at my belly", "Why is my face so fat", "Why do I look Pregnant?" "Maybe if I do a couple of sit ups before going out, I will magically get a flat stomach?"

So I am writing this blog post and will carry on writing on my blog about my change of lifestyle. I am aiming to exercise more and eat healthier (In the hope to loose a little weight) but at the same time having cheat days too.

I feel like writing on my blog about what I do each day, may remind me that I am doing this for a reason and to maybe show those of you out there (maybe like my 1 reader) that even those of us who hate exercising, eating healthy and are in fact quite lazy (myself) that it is possible to get off our bums and do something about it.

Fingers Crossed!

Gaby xo

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How to stay fit while sitting at your desk.

Sitting at your desk for hours at a time for eight hours a day means it is difficult to stay fit while at work.

After working a typical nine to five job the last thing you want to do is go to the gym to stay fit. To tackle this problem there are a few things you can do to improve your fitness while at work. Including these tips into your daily work routine will allow you to lead a healthier life.

Drink plenty of water.

Switch your daily cups of coffee and tea to an occasional glass of water. You don’t have to completely stop drinking your hot drinks, just switch it up a little during your day at work. Drinking plenty of water each day at work will allow you to keep hydrated and alert throughout the day. Instead of getting your colleague to get you a glass of water, get up and walk to the water machine yourself to get you up and out of your chair.

Change you’re snacking.

Bring some healthy snacks to work instead of using the vending machine or brining chocolate and crisps to snack on. A couple of healthy snacks include apples, dried fruit and low calorie nuts. Bringing your own snacks will also allow you to save money and stop you buying unhealthy snacks on your lunch break.

Prepare your Lunch.

Prepare your own lunch and bring it to work instead of going out for lunch with your work colleagues every day or getting unhealthy foods from the shop. This doesn’t mean you can’t go for the occasional lunch date with your colleague, just cut down on the number of times that you go and bring your own lunch to work. This will also allow you to make a healthier lunch, as you are controlling what goes in it and it will save you a lot of money. It will also give you the extra time to take a walk on your lunch break. 

Stay Active.

If you drive to work try parking further away so you have to walk that little bit extra to your workplace, giving yourself more exercise than you would get if you parked closer to your workplace. If your work is in a walkable distance and you drive, try switching some days up and walk to work instead. If you use public transportation to get to work try getting up earlier and walking to a stop that is further away than the one you use.

Instead of sitting at your chair for a couple of hours at a time each day, try walking around the office while you’re talking to a colleague or speaking to a client on the phone.  If you use the elevator at work try taking the stairs to include another bit of exercise into your work day.

At lunch go for a little walk instead of just sitting at your desk for the full length of your break. This will allow you to stay fitter but will also allow you to get some fresh air, that you may not get sat in your office all day.

If possible, try standing up to do some desk work as a replacement of sitting on your chair all day.

When sat at the desk try making sure you keep good posture. Sit with your back straight and your shoulders back instead of hunching your back all day. Try doing a few stretches while you’re sat at your desk; roll your ankles and wrists every so often to keep the circulation going through your body.

You can work on your gluteus muscles while sat down at your desk by squeezing them together and releasing for a couple of minutes.  Or try keeping your feet flat on the floor and then straightening one of your legs about two to three inches above the ground and tighten, repeating this a couple of times each day will allow you to work on your quadriceps.

 Gaby xo

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Placement Blog Post

As part of my university degree I have to complete 20 working days of placement, this is so we get to experience what it is like in the industry. I study Media and Journalism and I have just finished my second year, so fingers crossed that I pass! This means my placements need to be something to do with media and journalism, obviously.

Last week I completed my first week of experience, this was at a PR company in Leeds, I decided to do one of my weeks in PR because one of my third year modules is PR and I have been told that PR would be great to get into. Before I started my placement I had no idea what PR was and luckily for me one of my days I was given a full break down on what is expected in a PR company, which I haven't learnt yet, so this was very helpful!

Throughout the week I was given various jobs to do, one being writing blog posts for different company's and one of the blog posts that I had wrote was supposed to be based on technology, however I hadn't realised this and had wrote a general blog post instead (oops).

Anyway I haven't been posting recently on my blog because I have had assignments and exams to do then my placement was about an hours drive from home so I haven't had any time to write anything on my own blog. So because this blog post wasn't right and I produced a new one that could be used I thought I'd put this one on my own blog. It isn't very relevant to what I usually write but content is content so sorry if it's not very interesting.

The blog post will be attached as a new post rather than attaching it to this one, so go check it out and you never know it might help you out!

Gaby xo

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Tv Programmes to watch on Netflix.

Netflix is my lifesaver, I have to say I spend most of my life on Netflix, watching TV series or films, so I thought, what a brilliant idea to do a post on what series I personally like. Those that are absolutely worth watching. If you don't have Netflix it is definitely worth paying for, £5.99 for a month of being able to watch a huge variety of films and TV Programmes, is in my opinion fantastic. The best thing is that Netflix is starting to get a lot more of a selection of film and TV Programmes that you can watch, so even better!

Pretty Little Liars

This is one of my favourites tv shows of all time. Pretty Little Liars is about a group of 4 girls who are blackmailed by an unknown blackmailer. A dark storyline but still has the typical teenage girl theme.

Orange is the new Black

Hilarious, this programme is an emmy-winning, original Netflix serious and is based on a women who lives the high life, who ends up in prison, when a past crime she has committed is brought back in her life.

 The Vampire Diaries

When two teenage vampires Stephan and Damon (both gorgeous!) fall in love with the same girl, Elena. Once I had started the first season I was hooked and the great thing is 5 seasons are on Netflix.

House of Cards

I have only just started this series and loving it so far! This emmy-winning series is based on Congressman Frank Underwood, who wants to overpower Washington D.C. 

Suits

When a college dropout persuades a big time lawyer to hire him, even though he has never studied law in his life. I have only just recently started loving tv programmes to do with law, this is one which isn't just about the serious side of law it has other story lines in also.

The Tomorrow People

At the moment The Tomorrow People doesn't have may seasons out, however I was hooked when I started watching it!! This series is all about a young group, that have special powers but also has a fantastic story line.

Homeland

Love, love, love this series; Homeland. Hooked. Brody, a returner from war is suspected by a CIA of being turned into a secret terrorist against his own country by Al Qaeda.

Continuum
I had only just found this series recently, which is all about a police officer who ends up traveling back to 2012 with a group of terrorists. With this series you do have to concentrate to understand what is happening but it is very good.

Prison Break
All time favourite. I have to admit this is one of my favourite series of all time! I only watched this about a year ago, finding it on Netflix I just couldn't stop watching. There are a lot of episodes to get through but I managed it very quickly I was that hooked. The title pretty much sums up the idea of the series, just go watch it... you have to.

Gossip Girl

If your a girly girl you will absolutely love this series. This is all about an anonymous blogger that tell's the story of young teenagers in New York City. Again this has a lot of episodes but definitely worth the watch. Personally I loved this.

90210

Loved it that much I still have the box set! When brother and sister, Dixon and Annie move to a different high school, their lives turn in to non stop romances and drama. 90210 is one of the older programmes but is still very good.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul 

Breaking Bad was a huge hit and a recent one. It's easy to say nearly everyone I know has watched this series. A teacher who finds out he is terminally ill decided to start making crystal meth with an old student he used to teach, so if he died he could give his family enough money to live off. Some of the episodes do get a bit boring but then they pick up again. Then very recently the TV series, Better Call Saul, started which is based from Breaking Bad, so if you enjoy Breaking Bad, this is a series to watch which is linked.

White Collar

Another favourite of mine, a former prisoner, decided to work with an FBI agent to help solve other white collar crimes, instead of spending another 4 years in prison. Again I love this series because it's not all serious it has humour to it too. 

This blog post is just a random one, as one of my favourite things to do is watch TV!(Being a student and all ) 

So I thought I would insight you all on those that I personally like, I guess you know a bit more about me, well my TV taste. (Which is very wide)

Gaby xo

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Cheltenham Races

At the beginning of this month I was given the opportunity to go to Cheltenham Races free of charge. However unfortunately for me that would have meant a 4 hour train journey, right in the middle of my assignment period. So I had to decline the offer. I did however get asked to write a post about what I would wear if I were to go. Therefore I am writing this blog post on a couple of outfits I would wear not only to the Cheltenham races but also to any races.

I know this post is a bit late as the Cheltenham races was actually today but I have been very busy with university work, but I thought writing the post would be useful for anyone who doesn’t know what to wear to the next races they may go to.

 There are a variety of looks some not too expensive! I love these looks as they all come across as smart, which I believe is the look for the races!

You could pair these outfits up with a nice pair of colourful heels and a nice clutch, and as usually seen you could add a hat or a nice headband with something fancy on!


Gaby xo

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The Botanist, Newcastle

This year I celebrated Valentines Day with my boyfriend a bit later on in the month, being at university sometimes means we don’t get the chance to go out for food. So for my late valentines gift from my boyfriend he had booked a table at the new restaurant in Newcastle, The Botanist.

Now before going I had heard so many good things about this restaurant and how popular it was. How on a current occasion certain celebrities to visit and how generally how busy it is all the time. Even though it had just opened I couldn’t believe how much people talked about it, so I was eager to go.

The Botanist is pretty much booked up in advance and most weekends are fully booked, however we had managed to book a table on a Friday at a decent time of 7pm.

The restaurant is situated above Jamie Oliver’s Italian near the Monument and to get into the restaurant, there is a side door down the street. Now I have to warn you, there are so so so many stairs to climb to eventually reach the restaurant. I mean there was a lift but being 19 years old I felt it would make more sense to use the stairs (While I’m young and can actually get up them). However after getting half way I was knackered! It was like a workout, I definitely deserved my meal after the amount of stairs there was.

Once you get to the top the restaurant décor is so beautiful, the ceiling of the restaurant is in a dome and in that dome are cute little fairy lights! The interior was garden like, which I loved! And there was a huge bar! We were seated on a high table with quirky high chairs, which for me was a total nightmare getting on and off the chair as I’m only a small girl!

Before going to The Botanist I had previously looked at the menu to see what options there was, so I pretty much had made up my mind as to what I was going to have before I even got there.  The service from being seated to being asked for our drinks orders was pretty quick. I ordered a large coke, which in fact was Pepsi and my boyfriend ordered a Budweiser. Once our drinks came our food order was taken now it was a Valentines gift so I was definitely going to go for my 3 course meal, what can I say I love food!

For our starters we had both ordered the same, which was the pan-fried garlic mushroom. This starter was absolutely delicious!! There was just the right amount of garlic not too much and some caramelised onions came at the bottom of the mushrooms! The crusty bread that also came with the mushrooms was very nice and tasted very fresh, which for me I loved. The pan-fried mushroom came in a cute little garden spade, which added to the look of the restaurant.

Next time for my starter although I loved the mushrooms, the pork scratching caught my eye, so I definitely have to give that one a try!!

Once we had finished our starter our plates (well shovels) were taken away quickly and our main course arrived not long after. For my main I had decided to go with the half chicken (peri peri), there was the option of bbq chicken but I decided on the piri peri sauce. My half chicken came in a wooden box, with a side of seasoned fries and a little glass bottle with piri piri sauce in. The chicken was very tender and I loved the seasoned fries. I would absolutely recommend the chicken to all the chicken lovers in the world.

My boyfriend ordered the deli board, with the deli board you can choose 4 toppings from a list and then any more than 4 you are charged an extra fee of £2.75. On the deli board he had chose the Mustard seed and red cabbage coleslaw, Caesar salad, Cured Parma ham and Roast ham. Which looked tasty, if you wanted a smaller meal than this would be a fantastic option. This one I think I would try if I was to go again or the Hanging Kebabs, which looked very popular, and there are a few options as to what kebab you could choose for example chicken, beef or halloumi.

I was determined to get the desserts, as this has to be my favourite part of any meal, I am obsessed with desserts. I ordered the sticky toffee pudding, usually I'm a fan of the hot chocolate fudge cake, but recently I have started going for the sticky toffee puddings if that is an option on the menu. This sticky toffee pudding came with a scoop of ice cream and it was like a spoonful of heaven, it was the perfect way to end my meal. I would definitely recommend the sticky toffee it is lovely.  It also comes on a cute little antique plate!

Chocolate fudge cake was what my boyfriend had ordered, which I did try and that was also very nice, which I would probably want to have the next time I go, so if you’re a chocolate fan, that is your best option.

While we were eating there was in fact a live singer too, which went so nicely with the atmosphere of the restaurant and was a nice little touch rather than the usual background music played from a CD player like most restaurants.

I will most definitely be going back to The Botanist, if I can ever manage to book a table in time! I would honestly recommend it and if you live near one, I would recommend you to give it a try I know that there are other Botanist restaurant in Leeds, Manchester, Chester, Birmingham and Alderley Edge.

Gaby xo

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