Claire

Trying the Dietbon 7-Day Meal Plan

When it comes to diets and healthy eating, I’ve tried my fair share of weird regimes. Unfortunately in the past, these included meal replacement shake diets and detox teas, two things I’d never recommend now I’m older and wiser(ish). These days, I follow a fairly simple, fad-free diet that consists of a lot of soup, stir frys, and every Quorn product I can get my little sausage fingers on during the week.

Over the weekend, though, my indulgences can be disGUSTingly mammoth (who really shares sharer bags of Malteasers after all? Freaks, that’s who). I’m therefore still interested in anything that can keep me on track during the week, while also allowing me to eat food that I can, y’know, chew. So when Dietbon got in touch earlier this year and offered me a week’s trial run of their weight loss plan, I was intrigued to give it a go. View Full Post

Claire

Health & Fitness Haul: Gracechurch Centre

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

With the ‘new year, new me’ mantra of January firmly behind us, and the revelation that it’s actually new year, same old nap-loving, pizza-scoffing me, I recently found myself in need of some fresh motivation. And by motivation, I of course mean a kick up the un-toned booty to get myself back on the health and fitness wagon.

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Claire

7 Things I’ve Learned Since I Stopped Eating Meat

Vanity Claire blog

Yes lads and lasses, you read that title right: I, the self-proclaimed chicken nugget queen and girl who once had a reputation at work for eating pork pie for breakfast (one time might I add, but some reps just stick with you), have stopped eating meat. It was a change I’d been slo-o-o-wly moving towards for a while, but for the last couple of months I’ve gone cold tofu and kicked my meat habit.

Okay, I can almost hear the eye-rolls from here. But I’ll kick off by saying that this isn’t intended to be a preachy post where I try to urge you all to start milking almonds – instead, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve noticed since making the change from meat-eater to things-that-are-shaped-like-meat-eater. View Full Post

Claire

Holiday Diet Review: GoNutrition, Eat Water & Nakd Bars

Ahoy there pals! So we have something a little different for you today, as I’m going to blabbering on about the recent diet that I’ve been on in preparation for my holiday. I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or hot water and lemon if we’re being really healthy), but I’ve been using a few products that I for one was really interested in prior to my diet so I thought I’d share my experiences of them in case others are curious too.

I have a few disclaimers as I know this can be a bit of a controversial subject, but in the interest of not boring you to death in the first few minutes, I have popped these at the bottom of the entry for y’all. Now that I feel comfortable enough that nobody is going to sue me, here is a breakdown of what I’ve been eating on a typical day:

Eating 1

Breakfast: Protein Shake

Okay, if you’re anything like me then you’re probably sick to death of hearing the word ‘protein’, as every single gym bore on your Twitter probably harps on about it at least 8 times a day (as a side note, people, STOP UPLOADING PHOTOS OF YOUR SHAKERS. Nobody – I repeat, nobody – cares). With that being said though, protein shakes are something I’ve been enjoying for around 18 months now. I initially started off having them after the gym as they’re most commonly used, but I then moved to having them for breakfast occasionally too. Some protein shakes can be crazily high in calories for those who are trying to bulk, but if you get a diet option then these can be around 100-250 calories per serving.

I’ve previously used one by a brand called PhD, but GoNutrition recently sent me their Go Diet Whey* to try out so that’s what I’ve been having lately. I have the Triple Chocolate flavour which is honestly delicious – very smooth and creamy when mixed with water. You can use milk if you want your shake to be a bit thicker, or add oats to really bulk it up. I find it just fine with water though.

GoNutrition also sent me a host of other goodies as you can see in that picture too – they stock everything from protein mousse and protein cookies to protein balls (ooer)(they’re actually crunchy snacks, minds out of the gutter people). I also wolfed these down over a couple of days, which wasn’t strictly great for my low calorie plan as they’re not diet products – but who can resist protein balls?!

Eating 2Lunch & Dinner: Eat Water’s Slim Pasta, Rice and Noodles

I’ve been wanting to try the Eat Water range for AGES. For those who haven’t heard of it before, the range – that includes noodles, pasta and rice – is made from none of those things really, but actually from “Juroat, a secret recipe made from a blend of Konjac flour and special oat fibre”. They’re essentially fake noodles/pasta/rice that have a teeny tiny amount of the calories of the real stuff.

As I said, I’d always been intrigued but had been put off by the price tag (one packet can cost you over £2 at Holland and Barrett and you only get 1-2 servings out of that). Eventually though, I decided I just needed it in my life and so I placed an order from Amazon which worked out slightly cheaper – they do mixed packs like this one that contains a variety for you to try.

Personally I am a FULL convert to Eat Water. The pasta is probably the one I like least – there’s nothing unpleasant about the taste, but the texture is a bit rubbery so you know you’re not eating pasta. However, if you always have it on your fork along with the tuna or quorn or whatever you’re eating it with, as well as a healthy dose of your chosen sauce, then it’s absolutely fine. The rice and noodles I both liked a LOT. The rice just basically tastes of nothing, which I also find true of real rice, but helps to bulk up a boring bit of chicken substantially. And the noodles are also absolutely fine in stir fries. All three felt just like regular carbs to me and kept me as full. WIN.

Snacks: Fruit & Nakd bars

I’m a snacker and need to eat at least every 3 hours before I start gnawing at my own hand. Between meals I’ve been munching on fruit (bananas, strawberries and blueberries if you’re super curious) and my new obsession, Nakd bars. These are gluten free bars just made up of mushed up fruits and nuts. One of my friends tried them and said they tasted like cardboard, but I disagree – maybe I just like cardboard, who knows?

And thus concludes the overview of my recent holiday diet. I have to be completely useless now and say that I don’t own any scales so have no idea if I’ve actually lost any weight, but lowering my carb intake before my holiday has definitely got me feeling a bit happier about braving the bikini!

Have any of you tried any of these products? What are your holiday diet tips? Let me know in the comments below!

(Now onto those boring disclaimers…)

  • Firstly, I’ve purposely used the word ‘diet’ here as opposed to dressing it up as ‘healthy eating’ or anything like that – this is because my main focus the last few weeks has been cutting my calories down and limiting my carb intake in preparation for my holiday. I’m therefore aware it’s a little extreme for long-term use and it’s not what a lot of people would deem ‘healthy’ or would want to promote.
  • Secondly, this is simply what works for me and I’m not able to say whether it would work for others.
  • It’s also worth noting that I’m smaller than your average homosapian, being only round 5’2, plus lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle (read: I sit on my butt a lot) so generally I need fewer calories than the average person anyway.
  • Don’t sue me, fanks!
Claire

Outfit of the Day: NEU Apparel Gymwear

NEU Apparel Collage 1Crop top: Primark / Leggings: c/o NEU Apparel / Trainers: Adidas

Alright there lads and ladettes!

So, recently my gym game has been seriously weak and I’ve somehow ended up replacing planks for pizza and crunches for Crunchies… I was therefore SO pleased to be kindly sent a few bits to try from UK women’s gymwear brand NEU Apparel’s new summer range.

I know some people think it’s lame-o but I really think feeling good at the gym helps you to do a better workout  – surely I’m not the only one who has stropped out in a “FORGET THIS, I’M FAT AND GOING HOME TO BE MORE FAT” rage before? Oh what’s that, I am? Oh okay. Anyway, for me having nice gym gear is definitely part of that feeling good mentality, so brands like NEU Apparel that focus on fashion as well as practicality get a huge thumbs up from me.

NEU Apparel Collage 2(Sorry about the butt pic. Have I made everyone uncomfortable?)

I was in love with these neon printed leggings when they arrived, but was a little bit anxious about them being grey. Grey leggings are notoriously unforgiving when it comes to showing off sweat, and usually I steer clear as I don’t particularly want people in my gym to think I wee myself with excitement at the thought of a squat. However I’m so pleased to report that the sweat didn’t show up in these at ALL. Three cheers for merry England!

NEU Apparel Collage 3I was also sent this mesh panel boyfriend t-shirt which is honestly the most comfortable gym top I’ve ever worn. The mesh sides keep you FEELING cool, while the rolled sleeve and neon lettering keep you LOOKING cool. I hope y’all appreciate the cheesiness of that sentence; maybe NEU Apparel will want to buy it off me as their new slogan?

Overall I love the fit and style of these pieces and would definitely recommend the brand if you too like to combine your fitness and fashion. You can have a look at the full collection here while I set about getting my gym game firmly back on track in time for my holiday in July. I’ve recently ordered a few packs of Slim Pasta to try out, so let me know if anyone would like that reviewing once I’ve given it a whirl for a few weeks!

What do you all think of NEU Apparel?