February Recap & March Goals

February has been such a good month! I feel like I've done pretty well with my goals, my mood has generally been better than previously - although I was a bit "off" for a week. I even got to enjoy the snow! Valentines Day was lovely too, we spent the day playing Animal Crossing together, baked brownies and then I suckered Josh into watching Scott Pilgrim VS The World for the first time. Ha!

Lipstick in Lockdown; Is There Any Point?!

One thing I see being talked about over the various lockdowns is lipstick. Is there any point wearing it? If we do wear it, are we really wearing it for men if they can't see it (answer: absolutely not.)

Seven Days of Exercise

Inspired by Peshy's blog post The Time I Tried Working Out for One Week Straight, I decided to get myself moving seven days straight too! I really struggle to be consistent with working out, so I decided to switch up the rules to suit me. Any form of exercise counts, including walking, yoga and dancing if I felt like it! As long as I was moving, I was burning calories, and working towards my goal.

Day One

I was, once again, waiting for Monday to start my daily exercise regime. However, the snow started to fall Sunday morning and by the afternoon, we were itching to get out in it. Myself, Josh and Charlie went for a lovely Winter Walk in the snow. It was only a short walk, but snow is so hard to walk in! Plus we live at the top of a hill, so walking back up that was fun! Thank god it was fresh snow, so it hadn't had a chance to get icy and slippery yet. Steps; 3,600

Day Two

Another day, more snow and another walk! We went without Charlie this time as he was at nursery, so we were free to walk a bit further this time. Unfortunately some of the pavement was starting to ice over, so I really had to concentrate on where I was stepping this time! I was wearing snow boots, but that didn't mean I trusted them. Especially going up the hill again, that's hard on a normal day but I was so scared I was going to slip all the way back down it again! My calves were definitely feeling the workout though, and I did over 9,100 steps that day.

Day Three

None of us felt like going for another winter walk so I decided to do some yoga instead. I followed Yoga with Adrienne's Yoga for Weight Loss; Fat Burning Workout. Boy, was it hard. Five minutes in and I was sweating! I actually really struggled with it and couldn't do the full 40(ish) minutes, but I still felt like I achieved something! My thighs were screaming.

Day Four

My ankles and abs were feeling pretty sore Wednesday morning, so I decided to work on my arms. I followed this TikTok I found on Pinterest, and used my new resistance bands for the first time! I decided to go with the medium band. I wasn't sure how I was going to get on with using it but I actually loved it! Definitely felt the burn, and was hooked on using them. But I only did one set of 25 reps.

Day Five

Day five I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, so I did the same workout as the previous day. However, this time I did two sets of 30 reps so I felt the burn a little more!

I wasn't seeing any difference in my body yet, but I was definitely looking forward to working out every day. I was aiming for at least ten minutes of movement per day, and it was so easy to motivate myself! I'm starting to think that the manifesting I had done the previous week was working! Yes, I literally asked the Universe for help with motivation for fitness/weight loss and it seems to be working!

Day Six

I woke up feeling so tired and weak today, I thought I wasn't going to be able to do anything! But once I got myself up and hydrated, I was ready and raring to go. I decided to get on Ring Fit Adventure for the first time since Josh brought it home! I also decided to wear my posture corrector while I worked out. I went hard. I was not messing about today and I was sweating two minutes in! I also leveled up three times in fifteen minutes! I had genuinely forgotten how good Ring Fit is, and I definitely want to start using it more often! If you haven't got it, I highly recommend.

I also noticed a difference in my body today! I'm actually getting really close to my milestone body image, and I'm wishing I'd taken a "before" photo at the beginning of the week.

Day Seven

Wooo, one week straight of intentional movement!! I honestly nearly didn't make it. I ended up having a really busy Saturday, and then I napped for an hour. Just before I bed, I decided to whip the resistance band out again, and did some rows. Unfortunately Josh started talking to me so I lost count, so I have no idea how many reps I did! But at least I did it.

I'm honestly feeling so proud of myself for consistently doing some form of exercise every day! I also spent the week trying to eat better and I'm feeling miles better in myself. I definitely want to keep it up - I'm so inspired! Huge thank you to Peshy for inspiring me to get moving.

Until next time,

Saph x

Fawkes & Baxter | Trilogy Review

4 Long-term Ways I'm Saving Money in 2021

As you probably well know by now, I am attempting a spending ban this year. As you should also know, it didn't go brilliantly in January. Admittedly it could have been a lot worse! But I do really want to make a proper go of saving money, and I've made some changes to how I'll be doing it this year. 

January Spending Ban Haul

A haul? For a spending ban? Yup.

The first few weeks of the spending ban are always the hardest. If I get bored or upset my first instinct is to buy something. I was back in isolation and bored as hell. The first few days were okay, as I'd bought myself some games for my DS (old school, I know) back in December but it wasn't long before I didn't want to play anything. 

3 Ways to Replace Cotton Pads

It's official, 2021 is going to be the year I finally start being more eco-friendly. I made a start last year, by starting to use Body Shop bath and body products, who are striving towards becoming 100% zero waste with their packaging! But there's always more I can do.

One of my bugbears is cotton pads/rounds. There's just something about buying a product just to chuck straight in the bin that really annoys me, and these are one of the easiest things to replace with eco-friendly and reusable options! So here are the three ways I'm replacing cotton pads in 2021.

February 2021 Goals | Be More Me

Hello February! Did January drag for anyone else? I always find that if I'm ahead with my blogging schedule, I always think I'm closer to the end of the month than I actually am - January has been two weeks longer for me!

Also, my pageviews were off the charts in January and I can't explain how grateful I am to everyone who reads and comments! Thank you all so much, it means the world to me.