Friday, 27 November 2015

Fitness Friday: #Fitmas Week Two

It's Fitness Friday so I wanted to update you on Week Two of Slimmed Cartree's Fitmas challenge. In short? It's been rubbish!


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Last week in Week 1, I was really pleased with my positive start to Fitmas. Despite some busy days, I managed to fit the four workouts into my week and I was excited to get going with Week 2. 

This week, I have less to update. I had planned where I wanted to fit in my workouts and they just....didn't happen. I managed to squeeze my arms workout and abs workout during my break at work but I didn't complete the legs set or optional workout. I know that two workouts (although this was back to back on one day) isn't awful, but I feel pretty disappointed after such a positive start. The only positive is that I did superset some of the exercises in Corinne's arms workout, in order to increase the difficulty. 

I still have the weekend before the week ends, so I'm planning on completing the legs workout on Sunday. Keep an eye on my Twitter to see if I succeed or not!

I've planned my workouts for next week and hopefully this week, I will stick to them! Have you been taking part in #Fitmas? How was your second week?

Jess
Bloglovin Twitter . Instagram -

Monday, 23 November 2015

OOTD: Roll With It

Oh I do love this season! Roll-neck jumpers under dresses are one of my favourite looks and today I'm sharing exactly that, shot by the lovely Skinned Cartree in Leeds:




Dungaree dress: New Look* Jumper: Primark. Boots: Clarks. Necklace: Etsy. Rings: Primark.

I spotted this dungaree dress whilst shopping in the Manchester Arndale after my wonderful stay at Premier Inn for the Sleep WellShop Well event. I think New Look is offering some fantastic clothes at the moment and I keep finding myself gravitating towards them whenever I want something new yet affordable for my wardrobe. As soon as I spotted this dungaree dress I picked it up and headed straight to the changing room. I initially was unsure whether the style would suit me but I love it, even if I feel slightly like a five year old!

I love this colour for Autumn and Winter and the dungaree style is perfect for layering. Today, I added a simple beige turtleneck which cost just £6 from Primark – it’s warm and chic, and ideal for wearing underneath my summer dresses with thick black tights. Although I talk about my ‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ wardrobe, really I just buy clothes which I can wear bare legged in the summer, then without tights and lots of jumpers in the winter. This dress is a cord-like fabric which feels much studier than some of my more summery dress, so it’s a step towards a proper winter wardrobe.


What do you think of this outfit? What have you bought recently from New Look?

Jess
Bloglovin Twitter . Instagram -

Sunday, 22 November 2015

#Fitmas: Week One

If you follow me on Twitter, you will have seen me talk about a blogger challenge I am taking part in – the #Fitmas Blogger Fitness Challenge, created by Slimmed Cartree. Corinne is a huge inspiration of mine when it comes to working out; she lives one of the busiest lives I know, posts on her main blog daily as well as running two other blogs and still finds times to work out. She is also a huge believer in making changes ‘now not later’ so when a couple of us mentioned we were feeling demotivated in the gym, she devised a fitness challenge and turned it into a positive event.


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As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been struggling with my consistency in the gym recently and I couldn’t wait to start the challenge. I will be updating you weekly how I get on, including my successes and failures (I’m sure there will be some!) For me, my main challenge is to complete all, or as many, workouts as possible. I want to prove to myself that I do have time to work out three or four times a week, regardless of my job, travelling or other commitments. I know it’s possible and this challenge is the perfect way to prove it!

So how did my first week go?

Workout 1
5 sets x 10 reps squats with 20kg
5 sets x 12 reps straight leg deadlifts with 20kg
5 sets x 12 reps vertical traction machine 20kg
5 sets x 12 reps downward row 6.25kg

I wanted to start the challenge with an all-body workout to cover all the bases. I intentionally chose lighter weights than I normally train with as I didn’t want to leave myself with heavy DOMS which would ruin the rest of the week. As a result, I was pleased with how hard I worked – whilst still being able to walk the next day!

Workout 2 and 3
30 mins uphill walk
Abs day workout
Leg day workout (no weights)

Because I missed my planned workout on Tuesday, I had to double up on Wednesday to keep up with the challenge. This was a huge step for me, as if I didn’t have my fellow bloggers motivating me I would probably have missed the workout completely and have already been one step closer to stopping!

Workout 4
Arm day workout, combo of machines and dumbbells

I squeezed this workout in-between getting my hair cut and heading to London for a day of events. Again, this was a really positive step for me – I would have normally completely written off this day as a day to workout but in order to hit the four workouts target I had to make time, and it was surprisingly easy to do.

I’m really pleased with how this week went. I was also pleasantly surprised how working out without weights or with light weights still left me feeling sore and happy with my workout. I am still a big fan of weights and will be introducing the bar and dumbbells to my workouts as the weeks progress, but I definitely still felt the burn! Overall I felt it was a really positive start and I’m excited to complete the weekly challenge at the end of the week before starting Week 2!


Are you taking part in Fitmas? How did you find Week 1?

Jess
Bloglovin Twitter . Instagram -
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