Bikini Series 2015 - Week 1 Roundup

I have decided to take part in the Tone It Up Bikini Series again this year and thought I would weekly review my experience with it this time around. If you're not sure what the Bikini Series is, pop over to the Tone It Up website, have a little read and if you like, sign up and join in on it with me!

I'm not following the nutrition plan but I've still been stocking up on lots of fruits, veggies and greens to keep on track throughout the week. I'm pretty sure I would find it hard to stick to the plan - I'm not really keen on the idea of having each meal set out for me because I've never really planned my meals in advance in this way and tend to decide what I want to eat right before I make it. I'm also a very picky eater. I still plan to try some of the TIU recipes though and have started picking up random ingredients for them here and there. I've always been buying things I have never tried before like chia seeds, flaxseed and coconut oil..

Although not on the 8 week nutrition plan, I have decided to try out one 'TIU approved' recipe each week. This first week's recipe was for the chocolate peanut butter cookies (click here for the recipe). These are made with just maple syrup (or honey), peanut butter, chocolate chunks, an egg, almond extract and baking powder. If they turned out well I thought they would be perfect for when I needed something sweet. My mixture was incredibly runny, not at all like what you'd expect a cookie dough texture to be so I didn't hold out much hope for them. I was surprised though because they turned out really well. I would never think to put almond extract in something like this but I love the little hint of almond it gives and they're just sweet enough, they're actually really very yummy!

What I love most about the TIU Bikini Series is the community. When I'm feeling a little less motivated to get up and work out or struggling to make healthy food choices, I just have to go over to Instagram, see everyone else doing it and it picks me right back up to stay on track. During this first week of the series I've managed to stick to what has been scheduled really well and have been really enjoying the workouts and I'm currently at 14 miles of my 100 by summer.

If you are doing the Bikini Series this year too and post your check ins on Instagram, please follow me and let me know down below so that I can follow you back! I'd love to see how you've been doing. I'd also love to know how many miles you have ticked off so far?

I hope you have all had an amazing first week!

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Friday Favourites!

Happy Friday! I haven't done a Friday Favourites in quite some time even though there have been lots of products that I have been really loving lately, so I thought I would share a few of them today.

I've been wanting to try out The Body Shop scrubs for the longest time now but they are particularly pricey (£13!) and I just haven't been able to justify spending the money. For my birthday last year though, my cousin gave me the mango gift set which included a body scrub along with a tub of mango body butter. This scrub has a pretty thick consistency (do they still sell them like this? Newer ones I have had are much runnier) and is full of lovely gritty, scrubby bits. I'm fussy when it comes to a scrub; I want it to stay gritty and not melt off into the water right away so I can really get a good scrub out of it and this one does just that. It has an almost artificial smell to me but it smells good none the less and although I really enjoyed using this but I still wouldn't fork out the full price. 

I can not believe I haven't already included this in a FF, I had to go back and check to make sure but it doesn't look like I have. I LOVE this stuff. I love how it smells, I love how it lathers and I love how it makes my hair feel. It's a bit pricey at £12.95 a tub but I just use it a couple times a week to really give my hair a deep clean and one tub lasts a decently long time. Does it make my hair 'big'? Eh, I don't really notice a big enough different to say that it does but as a general clarifying shampoo, it's amazing. The smell also transfers onto your hair really well and after I've used this, I just want to keep sniffing it! 

I've recently started using a few of the products from the Baylis & Harding Beauticology range, including this Marshmallow Frosting body butter. It smells to me like cherry yoghurts which I actually quite like but what impressed me the most about this body butter was it's drying time. It dries on your skin super quickly and doesn't leave it feeling greasy at all. Some of their products are also paraben free which has drawn me to the brand even more (although, check before you buy as it seems not all of their products are!)

Finally is Ultraviolet Bubblebar from Lush. I really like the colours of this one but the smell of this bubblebar is just amazing. The violet scent is really strong and I can't get enough of it. I've since bought a couple more of these because they are part of the Mother's Day collection so I know they won't be around for much longer! 

What products have you been enjoying recently?

I hope you all have a lovely Easter!

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