lifestyle – realiTEE

How to kickstart #projectcomeback

Published on October 20, 2019 by realiTEELeave a comment

Hhhheeeyyy, so I’m back after a short break and the truth is I haven’t been consistent lately because I’ve been in a weird ass FUNK. For the past couple of weeks I’ve not really felt 100% Tee, & for no apparent reason. I’ve been completely unmotivated, second guessing myself, increased self doubt and just not as much fun to be around.

Hands up if you’ve ever had a week or two like this 🙋🏼‍♀️

I hate weeks like this because I don’t feel very me and it’s probably not helped by the fact I had a sty which meant no contact lenses & no make up… while on holiday.

Fortunately for me I have two incredible people in my life that have been so great & I can officially say I’m over the funk (well we’re getting there & remaining positive).

I said there was no apparent reason to this mood dip but I do think lack of sleep and I have been a bit slack on cooking my own food lately (week leading up to my holiday I ate zero home cooked meal…)

We all know that food and exercise have a impact on your health and mood but they’re also soooo much more than that. You are what you eat and chemicals, salt and sugar is not a good combination. Part of the reason I’ve struggled so much to feel like me was partly feeling drained & partly looking drained and my skin was so dull – food plays a big part in BOTH of these aspects.

So #projectcomeback …. it’s all about finding my balance again and I’ve broken it down into 5 key areas

Sweat it out- now I’m back to studying my workouts have got to be AM which is harder for me in the winter because the lack of sunlight messes with my head. Fortunately I have a sunrise alarm to brighten up my room and tell my brain it’s morning. LETS GO GO GO…… sweating it out is a great way to get out of a funk mood because it boosts the good chemicals in your brain. I’ve been so unmotivated that when I have worked out it’s been half hearted. This morning I decided on swimming something I love and as soon as I got my swimsuit on I was buzzing to get in the pool. (All oiled up of course following the tips I talked about here)

Hydration – do I ever write a post without my favourite H word? Hydrated skin is plump and glowy!

Sleep- I really believe in a good nights sleep it’s a great way to help you reset. I wrote more about it here.

Fresh air – get outside even if it’s just for half an hour. Even on miserable days the UV rays still come through and that’s what helps you produce D3 so you’re still getting some vitamins in. I love going for a walk especially if it means exploring a new city!

GUT HEALTH

SO here’s what I really want to get talking about, but health. I’m so passionate about healthy gut as I really believe it’s the basis for glowing clear skin, strong healthy hair & nails, as well as mental clarity.

As a child I was always told to eat vegetables and fruit and all the usual healthy diet stuff. However, as a curious child when I asked why I was given old wives tales as answers.

‘Why should I eat carrots?’ You’ll be able to see in the dark- when I was watching cartoons where people could change the weather (Storm from the x-men was always my favourite because I hate the cold wet weather!) seeing in the dark didn’t seem like a super power I wanted.

Maybe it was the lack of google but no one seemed to have a real answer as to why we should do & eat certain things. We just should. Well this didn’t cut it for me & I rebelled against health advice.

Now I know that the best version of me is full of energy & completely switched on. That’s why I love eating foods that feed my gut, please do not think these are boring things at all.

Currently my favourite snack is a fruit bowl here’s what I put in and why;

BLUEBERRIES- we’ve all heard that blueberries are full of antioxidants, but why are these so important? Antioxidants shield the skin against harmful free radicals that can damage the collagen that keeps your skin firm.

RASPBERRIES- still packed with antioxidants but also come with ellagic acid which can keep the skin healthy and rejuvenate it. Our bodies have a natural UV protection built in (still use sun screen!) and raspberries actually help boost this which is a added bonus if you do a lot of outdoor activities.

ALMONDS- I love adding in some healthy fats such as almonds because they’re great for promoting clear acne free skin.

COCONUT FLAKES- coconut anything is good for us we know this, however I’m going to do a full blog post on all its different uses!

YOGURT- I add soy yogurt which has benefits of its own such as containing phytoestrogens that boost the production of estrogen in the body and help reduce the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles. However dairy yogurt (if you eat diary) contains lactic acid, an organic compound that aids in diminishing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines by tightening and shrinking pores. Just do you here….

It’s okay to not be bubbly & vibrant all the time as long as you address the cause.

Favourite beauty food?

How to start your day faster & still look good.

Published on June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 by realiTEELeave a comment

Happy National Rosé Day. Surely this should be a bank holiday weekend right? We should be allowed an extra day off work to enjoy a nice chilled glass of rosé, although the British weather right now isn’t exactly screaming summer vibes. Okay I’m going off on a tangent here, lets circle back…

I don’t know about you but I am not one of those girls that can spend 3 hours + getting ready for a night out, if I’m going out I want to be out out! The whole, shower, wash my hair, blow dry, style, prime face etc etc just gets boring to me. I’m a one hour girl at most. I’d much rather be out drinking the rosé than reapplying my eyeliner for the 3rd time because the flick wasn’t right.

I’m an extrovert get me out of here…

My point is whether I’m going from the gym to the office, or from bed to the coffee shop or more importantly heading to a bar I want to be getting to where I need to be, not messing about with three different shades of blusher. But of course I ALWAYS have to look presentable, it’s just nice to take some pride in yourself right. So (no surprises here) but I have a routine, and I have this down to 45 minutes. It doesn’t matter if I’m getting ready at the gym or in my bedroom I know what products I need where they’ll be and I’m good to go.

Here are a 3 hacks I do to make sure my mornings start off right, if anything throws me off course too early it changes the whole tone of my day and I find that it will just throw me off, anyone else?

1) Sort it out the night before. Yes I’m hyper organised and if being a PA paid more I’d probably do that just for the enjoyment of organising peoples lives, but here’s what I do. I prep EVERYTHING the night before, & I mean EVERYTHING. Even the underwear I’m wearing. Because I think sleep is so important I like to get every last second I can in bed so all my meals will be prepped the night before, if I’m going to the gym my gym bag is packed all toiletries in the bag and gym clothes laid out on my chair so I can literally get out of bed, wash my face drink some water, brush my teeth get a peppermint tea to go and head straight out. This can result ion carrying about 10 different bags but it just makes life easier. I’ll also make an iced coffee the night before. I really try to limit how much money I spend on coffee a month and since I started getting coffee pods from Grind delivered (this is totally on point today as all their branding is pink, just like rosé) my home made coffees are just better. Sorry coffee shops but it’s true, I get the best London coffee straight out of my Birmingham home. Anyway, bags are packed food is ready and coffee is good to go. I’m out the door in 15 minutes.

2) Keep your stuff together. I feel like everyone is on the tidying hype lately with the likes of Mrs Hinch & Marie Kondo all over social media that organisation is in fashion. With fashion comes loads of cute boxes & storage options. I have two little boxes one for AM & one for PM (these are actually the boxes that my Grind orders arrived in, no plug I promise but they’re the perfect size, pink & really cute). As I’ve mentioned before I love to buy stuff in sample sizes because it’s just more gym bag friendly. This makes life so much easier when getting ready because I know exactly where my stuff is so I can just grab & go. Ironically there are three things I ALWAYS lose… headphones (I forget which pocket of which jeans/ coat/ bag I was wearing) glasses (which is annoying once I’ve taken my lenses out, now I need glasses to find my glasses) & keys…

3) Keep the makeup looking simple. Call me a basic bitch but I’m not a fan of a heavy made up face. I like to look like me, and if it’s a day I plan to go running at lunch or to the gym after work I really don’t want to spend ages removing layers and layers of makeup. Honestly once the skin care is done, I can keep it as simple as 4 products. IT Cosmetics CC cream, clear brow gel to brush my brows into place, bit of mascara (honestly I can live without this some days especially if I’m wearing my glasses, big glasses are great to hide behind) & Lanolips 101 ointment, 100% natural multi-balm for your lips. I love this product so much. You only need a little but it really softens the lips smells great and leaves a classy shine.

There you have it, my 3 little hacks to getting out the house and ordering that rosé so much quicker.

As usual nothing mention in this posted was gifted or sponsored but things I love and the options are my own, but I want to know yours.

What do you do on the go? Any top secrets on how to look completely put together in under an hour?

I want to know…

Love,

Tee

Gym hair don’t care!

Published on May 11, 2019May 12, 2019 by realiTEELeave a comment

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.

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.

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.

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

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

What about you? Hair secrets accepted below.

Love

Tee

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

I got stitch… duh!

Published on March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 by realiTEE3 Comments

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?

Importance of coffee

Published on February 17, 2019February 18, 2019 by realiTEELeave a comment

Hey guys, this week I want to share with you one of the most important things in my life, and why I’m obsessed with it and I’d put money on the fact you are also well. Coffee!

I didn’t even like coffee a few years back, Sara (my cousin, best friend and unofficial theorist) Strongly recommend I got myself an iced latter when I hit a major wall at work after a day trip to Copenhagen. Prior to my caffeine addiction I had always loved coffee shops, the fast paced lives of coffee to go meeting the slow it right down and enjoy with a slice of cake. The atmosphere, the experience had always appealed to me. They had everything a everything girl could ask for.

Earlier this week Sara and I were discussing coffee and her opinion that it’s all about the taste, whereas I consider so many more benefits to what I’m consuming. Yes I may be addicted but I’m very conscious about what I’m consuming and what the effects are to my body- good and bad.

Glam Up

Published on February 7, 2019March 28, 2019 by realiTEELeave a comment

Glam Up Bobbie Brown

Hi again! The weekend is quickly approaching and if you’re a everything girl like me you want to nail your ‘out out’ look without getting stressed over your flick not being perfect (side note it may never be even, we talk about that below).

You may have seen on Instagram that a day I had planned to spend in Cologne all went Pete Tong when our flights were drastically disrupted by the bad weather. However refusing to be a negative Nancy and let this ruin our mother daughter day out I put my passport back into my bag and headed over to customer services challenging my inner girlboss, with my mom in chasing behind me and after 20 minutes waiting in a detention area we were escorted out of the airport and headed off to sunny (be it very cold) London.

Now to turn this day around without leaving the country even though we had both been up since 4am(after not arriving at the hotel until midnight thanks to my mother forgetting her passport… stress levels were HIGH) we were both in need of some serious pampering. I knew just the place!

Bobbie Brown to the rescue for a much needed make over, and the team there were amazing. I asked soooo many questions like ‘why use a brush and not a sponge?’ ‘Why only put the foundation to the chin?’ ‘What colours should I avoid?’ etc etc… and I learned so much and got to leave with a flawless face not looking at all tired.

So whether you’re heading out to meet the girls for brunch, it’s date night or you just want to look fabulous for you, here are some tips and tricks on how to ‘Glam Up!’

Please note as always the opinions expressed are my own, and a lot of makeup techniques are personal preference, you may think ‘Oh hey I’ll try that thanks’ (& I hope you do) but you may also think ‘Oh hell no that does not work!)

Click below and see for yourself….