I have no idea how I have managed this but this is my 600th published blog post!
I want to thank everyone who has ever read a post, retweeted a tweet, liked a Facebook status, left a comment, repinned a pin, shared a link and recommended a friend.
Here’s to the next 600 posts!
I turned 26 today and have taken it surprisingly well. Although, I do appear to have temporarily taken leave of my senses and decided to take on the ridiculous task of hiking the three tallest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in 24hrs on 5th July. This is an expedition with my new company, the Walkabout Foundation. We raise money for research into finding a cure for paralysis as well as to donate wheelchairs to people in need across the world. We are currently working on projects in Haiti as well as other countries in Latin America and Africa. So whilst I’m working out how to train and get through this extravaganza, please take a second to read about the trip below.
The intinerary for the trip is below, but you can find more about it here.
Fly to Glasgow, Scotland early Friday
- 3 hour journey to Fort William
- 24hrs begins: 6 hour ascent and descent of Ben Nevis
- 6 hour overnight drive to Lake District, England
- 4.5 hour ascent and descent of Scafell Pike
- 5 hour drive to Snowdon, Wales
- 2.5 hour ascent to summit of Snowdon where you will finish the challenge – 24hrs complete
- 1.5 hour descent to Llanberis and collapse at hotel, I’m sure.
Train back to London on Sunday morning.
I’d really appreciate anything that you can do to help! You can donate to the cause here… and follow my progress on Twitter and Facebook nearer the time.
In between my two jobs, I took a little trip to Italy for six days. We spent three nights and four days in Sicily, staying in Palermo but with a car to explore all of the surrounding areas before heading to Rome for two days.
On our first full day in Sicily (the previous day had been spent napping and getting lost in random backstreet markets), we got in the car and headed for San Vito lo Capo. I had heard many wondrous things about this place from friends and online and was pretty excited to go and check it out for myself.
The drive was about two hours and absolutely stunning. The thing about driving on an island between coastal towns is that you spend most of the time on the coast with some pretty amazing views. We got to San Vito around 12, found parking relatively easily (and cheaply) and headed for a drink before hitting the beach.
San Vito is a small touristic beach town in the province of Trapani. The beach is long and thin and full of chairs and parasols and overlooked by a big rock jutting out to sea. It’s really pretty. After months of freezing weather in the UK, it was so lovely to get my (albeit very white) legs out and feel the sun and sea breeze on my face. We bought a beach bat and ball, read a little, dipped our toes in the water (nearly as cold as a British winter…) and just generally enjoyed ourselves before wandering around the front part of the town looking at restaurants and little shops. We finally decided to just get a coffee and a crepe from one of the simple beach bars on the front – Nutella overload, but make sure you add gelato – before heading back to the city for a shower before dinner.
It was a lovely day, I really recommend the town as a fun day trip if you are ever around Palermo.
I mentioned in my last post that May was a big turning point for me. That’s because at the end of April, I accepted a new job and handed in my notice for my old one. A position that I had not been happy in for a long time.
On Monday I start a new job and I’m excited and ready for this month to be one of the best yet. Plus, I’m finally on top of my blogging schedule. (Hope you guys have noticed. 
)
It is also my birthday month. I’ve never really looked forward to 26, yet it’s happening to me on Thursday, so I’d better get ready. To me, it’s a bit too grown up and boring. However, I always expected 25 to be big for me, but I could never have predicted how much my life has changed since my last birthday. I’m starting a new job, I’m in a new relationship and I have tons of friends in London and across the world who really care and want to spend time with me and I’m just happier than I have been in a very long time. That is an amazing thing for me to say.
I have also taken a turn for the better in terms of fitness. I’ve got a whole new kit and have signed up to Get Yummy Fitness for the end of the month for a month-long boot camp kick start. However in the meantime, I have been running and doing yoga and the aforementioned fat-burning Pilates on YouTube. I feel strong and free and happy.
Plus, the sun is out. And that always helps.
Enjoy your month guys!
May has been a huge turning point for me. I’ve done so much and come so far in so many aspects of my life that I felt that a round-up post would be a great idea.
So, if you’ve missed any posts from me this month, here you go:
I went to Texas, where I ate at Austin Food Park. I also went to Italy.
We had a big Eurovision party!
I finally reviewed my Clean and Lean 14lbs weight loss experience, plus I let you guys know about this awesome fat-burning pilates workout on Youtube.
I let you all know about The Wet Fish Cafe in West Hampstead. Oh, and also about the Transatlantic WiFi on the new American Airlines planes.
Plus, I let you in on a couple of little beauty secrets, such as my re-discovery of this. I’ve been loving my healthy hair, thanks to Schwarzkopf BC Fibre Force. More photos here!
And FINALLY, I hit 200 likes on my Facebook Page!
May was amazing. I’m so excited for June! Come back this weekend to find out what I’ve got in store.
Just got back from Italy! More blogs to come, but I hope you’ve all been following me on Twitter and Instagram for all of the updates!
I’ve got the girls round tonight for cheese, wine and a catch up and then tomorrow, I’m planning on working out, eating clean (until dinner and a trip to The Albertine) and writing, as well as the usual flat-cleaning and post-trip laundry.
Hope you’ve had a great weekend! Mine was the best!
If there’s one thing I look for above anything else on a flight, it’s leg room and the new American Airlines Boeing 777 has that in bucket loads. The photo above shows my normal economy seat on my flight from London Heathrow to Dallas, Texas (flight AA51) for my friends’ wedding at the beginning of May. At 5’10″, getting a seat like this was a real luxury.
The second thing I like to check for is good entertainment. American Airlines did well there too. The new planes have in-flight transatlantic wifi and a whole host of films, including relatively new releases. Did I watch many movies or did I spend 5 hours on Facebook chatting to people about how awesome it was to have wifi on this flight? It’s obvious, isn’t it?!
The new flights also include more alcoholic drinks. Always a plus. I don’t personally like to drink on planes because it dehydrates me, but for those who enjoy a glass of wine with their dinner, they no longer have to charge $5 to their credit cards for the pleasure.
It was a really good flight, just what I was looking for when I was faced with a 9 hour journey.
This is no joke. I lost 14lbs in 14days on this programme. I went from 199.3lbs to 185.2lbs in 2 weeks. I also lost inches around my waist and improved my overall health and wellbeing just by getting clean and lean.
I have long since coveted a supermodel body. I do not know who hasn’t, so if that isn’t a great selling point for James Duigan’s Clean and Lean Diet, then I do not know what is. However, it wasn’t just the fact that he trains Elle MacPherson and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, but also the fact that it isn’t a diet. You don’t just do it and move on. It is a simple lifestyle change. Essentially, stop eating rubbish. Start eating naturally. Get your body clean and feel much better about yourself. Simples.
I initially found it a lot easier than I thought to cut dairy, sugar, alcohol and carbs from my diet. My eating was mainly made up of eggs, lots of green vegetables, nuts and lean meat. As I mentioned in my half way blog here, I loved the fact that I could have a steak and vegetables when out with friends on a Friday, but I did miss having a glass of red with it. And I really enjoy greek yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, neither of which were part of the kickstarter programme.
However, when you see the results coming so quickly, you can’t help but just keep going. After the first week, I had dropped the water weight after a heavy weekend and also lost about 5lbs of real weight. My stomach was flatter than I had ever seen it and I felt proud and healthy.
One of the biggest changes to my lifestyle was the amazing feeling that I had when waking up every morning. I just jumped out of bed ready for the day. The energy that I felt whilst eating this way had me totally convinced that this is the way to live. I learnt so much in just a small space of time as I spent most of my time reading and re-reading the Clean and Lean book.
It’s a total lifestyle change for me now. Even though, I’ve had a couple of holidays this month and a few parties, I love the fact that I just eat clean the rest of the time. Being able to reintroduce fruit and yoghurt as well as other simple, natural foods (yes, and a glass of wine and a couple of squares of organic chocolate!) has made my diet so much more plentiful and I feel balanced and healthy. I think I’ll be clean and lean for life.
There is a rather huge tradition amongst language students, girls and gays alike to get together and celebrate the awesome cheese-fest that is The Eurovision Song Contest. For my non-European readers out there, Eurovision is a huge singing and entertainment extravanganza where countries compete to be the host of the following year’s show.
This year it was in Sweden (hence the meatballs at our viewing party) and next year Denmark will take it, as they won on Saturday. The UK are notoriously bad at this – the voting tends to be political and we don’t have a lot of European friends and neighbours. However, if you fancy a camp evening watching some crazy Europop and insane costumes, then this is for you.
I went round to my best friend’s house to drink some wine, eat some cheese and watch some crazy pop. It was a a lot of fun. Next year I’m hoping to expand it and have someone representing every country. That would be immense!
