Health

2020 trend predictions

lifestyle

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2020 is finally here & as I like to be on the pulse when it comes to trends I wanted to put together a few of the trend predictions that should be on your radar in 2020.

Most of the trends have popped up in 2019 already but are really about to have their moment.

I’ve broken these down into different sections to make this easier for you to read, read all of them or just ones that are relevant to you. Take what you want & leave what you don’t but have some fun trying something new in 2020.

I’ve kept it simple with my favourite 3!

Fitness trends;

Important of rest; yes 2020 is the year of low impact and recovery training. 2019 saw PTs telling us that we need to rest at least twice a week. To help us get on board Accessories like compression boots are trending, and even recovery-focused studios and services like flotation therapy (there’s a great little floating spa in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham). Cryotherapy is up next also known as cold therapy. I’ve not actually tried this however while at Hoar Cross Hall recently I spent some time in a salt room followed by a ice cold shower with ice. I’m not going to lie I totally loved this, I mean not at the time but when I came out I felt so fresh! It was amazing! I’ve also taken to blasting the shower cold before I get out in a morning.

SURFING; although I’ve never actually been surfing I’m all for any activity that gets me into the water. There are going to be more surfing competitions, clubs not to mention it’s recently become a recognised Olympic sport! Don’t fancy getting in the open water? Or wanting to try it out without relying on the famous British summer you can also get check out new man made surf spots like The Wave in Bristol. If you’re hitting the water why not try a sustainable swimsuit made from ocean waste and reused yarn. Im in love with this one.

Wearable tech; between wearable tech and new apps there’s nothing you can’t track; sleep, heart beat, downloadable running maps etc. Information is power & according to some research having the information on our phones updating daily is keeping us motivated & on track. However be careful here & don’t get too reliant on these, they can be addictive.

Beauty & Wellness trends;

Aluminium free deodorant and I am so excited about this because I have spent the last 12 months trying to find a good aluminium free deodorant. So far I really rate the soft and gentle.

Redefining self care self care is obviously here to stay! But instead of the goal being to schedule it in I think the power of self care lies more with freeing up time & removing unnecessary pressure on yourself.

Food trends;

Plant based is here to stay! PB has grown massively in 2019 but it’s about to get bigger. Expect to see more plant based options, meat alternatives & green filled options in stores & restaurants. HOWEVER I stand by my number one rule here, you do you! Listen to your body, you don’t need to suffer for a diet trend.

Kombucha I’ve already wrote about how much I love kombucha here

Brussel sprouts yes that’s right I said SPROUTS! I’m not here this at all but the health benefits are undeniable & people are getting creative with cooking them.

So there you have it my 2020 trends, what are your predictions I’d love to hear….

Love

-Tee x

Why you should drink kombucha

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Kombucha has been around for centuries but as with many other things the western world is only just beginning to fully embrace the wonders of kombucha. I was first introduced to kombucha at the back end of 2018 after attending a yoga class followed by a vegan meal, the yoga teacher brought in some kombucha for people to pass around & try & I was hooked, almost immediately. I’m not going to lie my actual first response was eww this smells like beer but once you get past the smell it’s actually delicious.

Kevita kombucha

Just to be clear when I say I was hooked… I mean like full on addicted. My car is actually filled with kombucha bottles and my mom even added a bottle to my Christmas stocking! It’s that serious.

There’s a reason health fanatics are so pro-Kombucha and me! The fizzy drink is full of good gut bacteria that offers a natural energy boost, it’s known benefits are endless check them out:

1.} Detoxification.

2.} Joint care.

3.} Aid in digestion & gut health.

4.} Helps with constipation ( fun shit– literally ).

5.} It’s immune boosting.

6.} Aids in liver function.

7.} The tea is vegan, gluten-free, & contains no GMO

It’s so good that Deliciously Ella talks about it all the time & makes her own!

Healthy kombucha

Okay so I may get overly excited on this topic so let’s back track a little…

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented (yes fermented hence the beer like smell) tea packed with millions of good bacteria. It’s a probiotic containing both Vitamins B & C. It’s super cleansing and detoxifying and I think it’s an absolute power house of an elixir. 

What are the benefits?

If you still need convincing Kombucha is excellent for improving gut health & gut health is on trend for 2020! For years we have all underestimated the importance of a good healthy gut even though we’ve all seen the Actimel adverts. The diet culture of reduced everything has had its day & people are turning to more raw & basic foods to reduce risk of allergies and chronic disease. No one needs the fake overly processed options anyway even if they are low fat! Kombucha packs a punch and works wonders for your internal health. (And tastes delicious with champagne)

Kombucha champagne cocktail

So what makes Kombucha such a magical drink?

The key ingredient is scoby – a miraculous piece of living organisms. Not only is it fantastic for making Kombucha but there are so many wonderful things you can do with them. I’ve read about multiple face masks you can easily make at home with scoby & a Nutribullet, blending it down and putting it on your face! I’ve not tried this yet but I’ll keep you updated on Instagram (if you don’t follow me head over to my page reali_tee ).

My favourite;

My favourite by far is Captain kombucha get the raspberry it’s insane! You can pick it up in Holland & Barrettes or Kevita in every flavour going!!!!

Captain kombucha raspberry

Kevita kombucha

Have you tried kombucha? Are you just as addicted or should I seek help?

– Tee x

How to embrace ME time

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Hey hey hey!

Sooo…. Now that I’ve moved in with my boyfriend and live a short distance from my office I’ve found myself with a lot more alone time. My boyfriend leaves before me each morning and arrives home about 2 hours after I do each evening.

This is a total 180 compared to living with my father who was always home.

At first it was kind of weird but I couldn’t actually remember the last time I had had time by self.

Alone time

So I decided to embrace this me time and make a list of ways I like to spend time alone (I love a list, really helps me organise my thoughts… I can’t be the only one doing this surely 🤷🏼‍♀️)

6 things to do alone:

1.) Go outside: this includes taking a walk/ run and using that time to listen to a podcast. There are so many little side streets and areas of Birmingham that not even I’ve explored, my favourite route is via the canal. I just find water so relaxing.

Birmingham library

2.) Cooking: Okay this I do and time so dinner is ready for when my boyfriend walks in, sounds soppy I know but honestly I don’t like to eat late! I find cooking so relaxing, again I may have a podcast on or a Netflix documentary playing on the iPad or just music while I dance around.

Homemade meals

3.) Light a candle: add a cheeky dessert maybe a bit of music playing & just chill. I’ve seriously been craving cinnamon buns lately & after I found this recipe for vegan options I just had to make them. Honestly sitting down to enjoy this in peace & quite easy pure joy & satisfaction! Most of the time sitting down and lighting a candle goes hand in hand with reading a book. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, I honestly believe it makes me a more rounded person and I love the fact you can never run out of things to read. Sitting down with a cup of tea, a good book & a candle is one of my ideas of HEAVEN.

Candlelit dessert

4.) Go to a restaurant: ALONE! Okay I’ll admit I had never actually done this until recently when I found myself waiting 3 hours for breakdown to come out and fix my car. But OMG it was life changing! Now I love it I get to go a try places that I don’t normally go to with other people and just enjoy a meal maybe a cheeky cocktail and just people watch! Also there’s no one there to pull a face at my kale salad followed by a little cheesecake! Nothing like eating alone at a restaurant : ). It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite things ever.

Eating solo

5.) Drink a cup of coffee & CHILLLLL: I loveeeee enjoying a cup of coffee l. I really savour it! & as much as I enjoy going home to meet my dad in our favourite place I do enjoy a nice stroll to a local independent by myself and doing a bit of reading. Right now I’m feeling so festive and having a moment with coconut milk, sometimes I’ll have it as a mocha and other times a dirty chia latte but ALWAYS with cinnamon. I fully zone out in a morning while enjoying my coffee, honestly the barista asked me a question the other day and actually made me jump!

Perfect coffee morning

How do you like to spend time alone?

– Tee, xx

Why your skin deserves healthy fats post swim.

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So for my birthday last week my cousin brought me this really cute fun t-shirt that lets everyone know my favourite food!

Guac T-shirt

I honestly don’t need an excuse to eat avocados. At any given opportunity I’m ordering them (my order usually goes something like this… can I get x no cheese with avocado thanks 😊)

I probably eat avocado at least 5 times a week. You know when people say if you were on a island and only had one meal for the rest of your life what would it be… EGGS & AVO! Every time…. Call me basic if you like but I’m obsessed.

Grind breakfast London

Although I was obsessed way before it became trendy as I loved guacamole and always got my mom to ask for it on the side of her dish so I could get extra when we went for Mexican food!

Anyway these days there are more than enough articles that encourage you to consume ‘healthy fats’ and avoid going fat free!

We all know by now that we need to be consuming good, healthy unsaturated fats found in nuts, avocado, olive oils etc…

Main benefits of these foods;

• Reduce sugar cravings (honestly I grew up thinking I have a sweet tooth however that’s changed with my diet, not going to lie I still llloooovvveeee chocolate)

• Increase energy levels

• Keep you fuller for longer

• Lower the risk of heart disease

• Aid the body in absorption of vitamins and minerals

But here’s my favourite thing about healthy fats… they’re amazing for your skin!

One of my all time favourite activities is swimming, it’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was a child, it works the whole body and allows you to completely disconnect. No phone = no social media and no beep beep beep. Just you and your thoughts, it’s perfect thinking time.

Here’s why fatty foods help your skin if you swim:

The effects of chlorine on skin (and hair) can put people off the activity especially if like me you have sensitive skin with conditions such as eczema.

If you fill your diet with radiance-boosting glow enhancing essential fatty foods and omega-3 you’ll nourish your skin from within.

Swimmers skin

Some of my favourites include:

• Avocado and eggs… did I mention this already?

• Salmon with or without avocado

• Nut butters (I love some nut butter on a rice cracker with a banana and cinnamon)

• Sprinkle of chia seeds.

Eggs avo & salmon

Why you should avoid trans fats; trans fats ( often listed under the names ‘hydrogenated oil’ or ‘hydrogenated vegetable fat’ ), are usually found in many packaged and processed foods. These are known to be extremely toxic AND have no health benefits.

Join the avocado debate… do you love them or hate them?

Comment below.

Love

Tee

x

Gym hair don’t care!

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I’m so protective over my hair it’s unreal. I can be like nooo my hair! But with good reason, I damaged it so badly a few years back with no stop bleach and heat that it was actually frizzled at the front. The only solution was to cut my hair into a lob, not like this made much difference considering it kept splitting anyway. So now I do everything to keep it long and healthy to the point where I just don’t wash it. It’s effort and I don’t particularly enjoy it. If you’re a regular gym goer than you know the struggle is real, because you’re most likely going to work up a sweat tomorrow so what’s the point. Gym hair, don’t care! I’ve also learnt is not smart to train arms the day you wash your hair because holding the hairdryer for so long will come back to bite you! Anyway it’s so much more fun to style dirty hair. What can I say washing my hair is not for me. However if you do a LOT of cardio you probably need to wash your hair at least twice a week to help your scalp.

I’ve recently stretched my washes out to once a week, and quickly learnt the dirtier the better. Anyway who has the time to wash their hair everyday? I’ve got this down to swimming once a week and then washing my hair straight away.

Gym hair wash

Here’s why I don’t wash my hair;

1) I pay for my colour, why wash it straight out? It’s true blondes have more fun but the more you wash your hair the more you wash out the colour. I’ve never been able to keep ashy silver tones in my hair because it naturally has a red tint (thanks dad) but since I started to wash it weekly and switched to Charles Worthington toning shampoo the colour has never been better. Exactly what I wanted, and that’s still the case 8 weeks later. When I do wash my hair I always opt for sulphate free shampoo, this one is currently still my favourite. (Added bonus shampoo and conditioner lasts sooo much longer when you use it less often)

2) It strips out your natural oils, it’s the oils in your hair that make it look shiny and healthy. Isn’t that what everyone wants? So why strip them out, makes no sense to me. You can also end up causing your scalp to produce more oils to try and replace what you’ve washed out, leaving your hair more greasy and you end up in a vicious wash cycle.

3) It’s so much easier to style. Yep, probably helped by the amount of dry shampoo I use but my hair has so much more texture and thickness to it that when I style it it actually does what I wanted, most of the time.

Hair style curls

Here’s some tips for keeping it healthy;

1) The sleep bun, doesn’t need to be a bun but keep it up/ tied back. Buns are great and I use these great crocodile clips which don’t leave a mark in my hair but braids work just as well. I’ve honestly noticed a huge difference in my hair since sleeping with it up more, when I sleep with it down it’s noticeable greasy the day after. Last time I slept with it down my boyfriend rolled onto it in the night and I was trapped, lesson learnt.

Sleep bun

2) Hair mask, we all love a good hair mask but my hair is always so much nicer after a hair mask and gym session. Yes that’s right a hair mask and gym session, I heat from my workout helps the hair mask and it’s more efficient instead of sitting around waiting to wash it out. I will comb my favourite mask through my hair from root to ends and then tie it up, completely out of my face so no product touches my skin.

3) Grapefruit oil, I have a little spray bottle with a concoction of water and grapefruit oil. Post workout I spray a little water on my roots and blow dry them for thickness the spray a little grapefruit to make it smell nice. And I’m good to go.

Hair care

It’s so much fun to get creative with your hair when it’s dirt, here’s a few of my favourite styles;

Up down do

Double buns

Vintage wrap

When it comes to washing your hair I’m definitely a less is more girl.

What about you? Hair secrets accepted below.

Love

Tee

x

Ps: nothing in this post was sponsored or gifted just products and things I’ve tried and liked.

Accountability & how to do it.

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I can’t be the only person that seems to be living life at 1000 WTF’s an hour right?

Honestly, life is a juggling act right now, please don’t think for one moment I’m complaining because I know I asked for this to come into my life and therefore I’ve fully accepted it. However it’s still a lot of plates to keep spinning all at once, and I know I’m not alone.

Work work work

You’ve seen the people posting gym pictures, flashing abs like ‘Hey look at me I just spent 1.5 hours in the gym and now I’m going to eat pizza!’ For those people that’s great and yes you deserve pizza but for the remainder of us, those with kids they have to pick up after being at work all day then entertain and clean up after, or if like me you work full time, study and write a blog or maybe you work two jobs (double hustle) maybe you commute across the country, or you’re just so slammed at work right now under staffed and passionate about what you do that you’re willing to work 50 hours + All of this while keeping on top of the everyday life expectancies of us all such as maintaining social lives, eating, and yes you know it… WORKING OUT.

It’s freaking hard work!!!

For all of us!

That’s why I wanted to talk about not only intention, but how I hold myself accountable. FOCUS GOES WHERE ENERGY FLOWS

Last year my job was not demanding at all, and I wasn’t studying. I had the luxury of going to bed at night sleeping for 8 hours feeling refreshed waking up going to the gym doing my 9-5 job heading home cleaning and food prepping. It was so easy it was boring, that said when I went on holiday last year, I honestly looked the best I’d ever looked.

Now my job is so much more demanding but engaging and fun, I’m studying a minimum of two hours a day, looking after a house hold and still trying to balance my meals and workouts, and honestly some times I just don’t want to go to the gym!

Now to give you an idea my weekly workouts include the below:

• 3/ 4 x weight training

• 3 x lunch time runs

• 2 x Pilates

• 1 x yoga

Exactly… no surprise it’s rare I actually successfully accomplish all of this a week, but that’s all changed!

Multiple workouts

Here are a few of my tips that have helped me stay accountable for my workouts:

1. Schedule it in! Yes that’s right I’ve started to schedule in my diary when I’m working out, not only that but I get specific, real specific. If I have to think about my workout and start to make decisions it’s easy to talk myself out of it. What do I want to train today? Well not really anything so I won’t bother. Where do I want to run to today? Maybe JQ, or Mailbox or JQ or Mailbox… Oh I don’t have time now I was too busy deciding…. Take the decision making out of the equation! My diary already has my workouts scheduled in and what I’m doing, where and when. Added bonus it means I can make sure I’ve got the right meals planned to help recovery. Run days I make sure I have plenty of carbs to come back to, whether it’s my favourite ‘sausage’ and pasta dish or my home made Vietnamese ‘chicken’ vegetables and rice.

Daily plan

2. Buddy up! 100% unless I genuinely feel awful I’m not going to let a friend down when it comes to a session. If you agree to train with a friend you’re holding each other accountable and helping one another. Don’t make some wishy washy plan, like ‘errm yea maybe. I’ll be there for like 7ish?’ NO! Set a time, agree a workout. Now somebody else has had to ensure they align their leg day with yours, it’s just rude to let them down now.

3. Tell the world! Okay you don’t have to announce it on social media, but if you can’t get a buddy for a day tell a friend what you’re doing and when. My cousin and I do this sometimes, I’ll message her and say ‘hey I’m training legs nice and early tomorrow!’ Every time she’ll text me around 8, ‘how was your leg session?’ Checking in with someone helps hold you accountable.

I hope you enjoyed these few tips, they’ve really helped me especially since hitting the books again. What do you do to ensure you stick to your workout? All motivation tips accepted here!

Comment below.

Love

Tee

x

I got stitch… duh!

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Hi again, it’s been a while since I’ve done a full blog post so if you haven’t seen on my Instagram I have recently signed up to run the Birmingham half marathon. Yes I know it’s not until October but I thought while the motivation was fresh I’d start some basic training and get myself into running, fortunately for me there’s a small group of people in my office that do this for fun at lunch. Madness I know running instead of eating but I’m actually starting to enjoy it 🙋🏼‍♀️

From one everything girl to another… You know that rule ‘thou shall not eat an hour before you go swimming’ (or something like that)? Well turns out it applies to running also!

I’ve recently started running at lunch with a small group of people in my office and also seem to get a stitch. Turns out it’s that pre-run snack I’ve been munching down me, 15 minutes before I head out!

Life hack: you should leave a large meal for up to four hours to digest before you go running and a snack 1-2 hours.

Lesson learnt…when running I need blood in my legs not still digesting my food. The body is an amazing thing but it still has limitations. I  love food so planning my workouts around my food plan is my idea of fun (yes I know I’m a nutrition geek!), getting in the kitchen cooking/ experimenting and knowing what food best to help recover after I train is an additional benefit.

Pre-run snack try and aim for slow releasing carbs to keep your body going we all know oats are a great source of energy and for anyone that says ‘I don’t like oats?’  I don’t believe you! There are so many fun delicious ways to eat oats you just have not found a way you enjoy yet.

My cousin Sara became a porridge connoisseur last year with a multitude of fun ideas and each bowl was a work of art.

Personally, my favourite part about my run, post run meal! Running uses up so much energy it’s important to get your carbs in post run to provide your body with a new energy source along with some protein.

Post run (or any work out) meal of the week:

• Red lentil pasta (you can get this in most super markets).

• Chicken sausages (I’m currently on a two week vegan challenge & have switched these for vegan friendly Linda McCartney sausages and they taste just as good!)

• Garlic

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (I like the one with the herbs infused)

• 1 chilli

• Mushrooms

• Paprika.

This is such an easy meal prep idea the night before and a great refuel meal!

Simply cook your pasta and sausages to the instructions. I fry off the mushrooms until brown then add in all the other ingredients, once cooked stir in pasta and chopped up sausages. 

Not a fan of pasta? Noodles work just as well as you can see. I use Myprotein zero noodles they’re great when you’re high on carbs already that day.

What’s your favourite post work out meal?