Yesterday was far from a happy day. I had to let go of two very dear pets.

I've been looking for a fitness related challenge for the past week or so. I just feel like I need the motivation boost from something like that to keep me going right now, as I've really struggled for a good while now. Most of the challenges I ran into are quite specific - for example the 30 day <insert muscle group here> challenges are littered across the wonderful world of the internet. But I wanted something more detailed to keep me interested.

I was looking into taking part to one of the DietBet challenges, but the thought of investing a lot of money into something that isn't guaranteed (especially at my stage, where losing weight is becoming quite difficult) just put me off slightly. I mean I might think about the DietBet10 as it gets closer to the start date, but for now that's not something I'm looking into.

Then I found something perfect at work when I was organising our magazine shelves. Women's Health has come up with a 6-week plan called Look Better Naked. It's a very detailed plan that includes both meal and exercise plans. It's only £7.99 and there's nothing bad that can happen as a result of this, so I went and bought it!


It's a lot more than just the plans, it actually talks a lot about nutrition and how to boost your confidence as well. Being comfortable in your own skin has to start from between the ears, it doesn't matter what your body is like if you don't like and appreciate it. It's definitely something I need to work on personally.

The meal plan is absolutely fantastic. All the ingredients you need are very basic, you can get them from any supermarket and won't break your bank. When I was doing Body Revolution I actually ignored the meal plan as it was full of organic and speciality ingredients I couldn't afford to buy or just simply couldn't get from Tesco. And I can quite happily say that I'm feeling full, it's not a plan that forces you to live on leaves. I did have to alter the lunch today as I don't have a lunch box I could take to uni with me and had to make a slight adjustment to dinner as the Co-op around the corner had very limited stock last night, but it was healthy substitutions so I'm happy. :)


Very much looking forward to starting with the exercises as well, but that'll have to wait til tomorrow. It's actually only four workouts a week and each workout is less than half an hour, so it's definitely something anyone can manage.

I've definitely got a good feeling about this!

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, it's been a combination of being too busy with uni and wanting a small creative break from writing. Should have plenty of things to talk about in the coming six weeks, more about that later.

I'm actually quite surprised about the weigh in. Obviously happy about the result but I just don't see how it was possible! Next to no exercise, two takeaway dinners and going out to a restaurant last night + some chocolate and sweets at the cinema. Not complaining obviously, but it just makes so little sense! :D

Oh hello plateau. I was wondering when the first one would really hit me. When I did Weight Watchers everyone on the forums would just say that at least it's not a gain so I should be happy. While that statement is true, I'm not doing this to just sit at this number and be pleased about it. Need to figure out how to mix things up a little again.

I'm finally getting into the final design of our first project. I was really struggling with ideas for such a long time and the stuff I came up with was so boring, that I was ready to give up. Then it just kinda hit me when I was playing games one night (see, it's not a bad hobby!) - I want to make a journal of someone's journey from having it all, slowly losing it, facing the reality of thousands of homeless people and then working their way out of it with the help of a charity worker.

And this idea came from Alice: Madness Returns. It's a really funky version of Alice in Wonderland, basically Alice lost her family in a fire and created Wonderland to keep herself sane. Something is corrputing Wonderland and making it a very f'd up place, getting more and more insane as the story goes on. In the end Alice finds the thing corrupting Wonderland and gets rid of it - maybe the person writing this journal will also discover something similar? Maybe money and luxury isn't what keeps people happy?

I want to make this magazine / booklet as shocking as it can be. It will be aimed at people who think they are safe behind all their money and luxuries, but don't realise how fragile that safety net really is. I'm hoping that it will have a big impact on everyone who reads it.

And as it's a journal, I actually bought a nice journal yesterday so I can completely destroy it and make it look like it's been on the streets for a while (I can then scan it in and retouch it with Photoshop etc). I've done so much to it today - burn it, throw it in dirt, pour tea and coffee all over it, tear the pages, crunch it up, bend the covers, squish some leaves between the pages.... Such a fun thing to do. And a result the pages started looking like a Flake. :D

... it's a bit worrying how I connect something so random to chocolate.




I also noticed a funny thing when I was going out for a walk this morning. My body shape is really starting to change now that I've lost so much weight. I've always been a very curvy hourglass, but lately it looks like I'm turning into a pear. I don't really mind it as I do quite like the pear shape, but then again I wouldn't mind staying an hourglass either. Oh well, it's a win win situation in a way, hah.

My face was far from photogenic in the left side picture, ignore the scribble. ;)


I've recently started following Fitspiration on Facebook. They posted this amazing quote earlier today and it really made me appreciate Jennifer Lawrence even more. As an actress she's quite unknown to me, I don't think I've seen any of her films apart from X-Men: First Class. But as a person she's always fascinated me, she's so down to earth and doesn't make a massive deal out of being famous. But the fact that she wants to be a healthy role model to young girls is just incredible. This is definitely the kind of thin I want to be like - have my head screwed on instead of going absolutely mental and try to achieve the size 0. Looking healthy beats looking skinny any day. Virtual high five Jennifer!

When I got home from work last night I had three parcels waiting for me in our office; my friend's birthday present (a slightly rude thing so I will not post about it :D), new remotes for our TVs (how exciting, right?) and my brand new Skullcandy headphones!


They're gorgeous! ♥ I've had Skullcandy Lowriders before, but my trusty old ones finally gave up after nearly four years of loyal service. Got some pictures of the old ones here. :) These headphones aren't ridiculously expensive but it does tell you something when they last for years instead of a couple of months like all the other headphones I've bought before.

And I coloured my hair as well last night! It did go a bit darker than I wanted but nevermind, it'll fade in a few washes. :) I do like it though, I didn't feel like having a meltdown last night when I saw the result! :D


As I've made it very clear over the past month, I've really struggled with sticking to good eating habits and exercising enough lately and it did really show on the scales this morning. Didn't lose anything and my measurements weren't that brilliant either, but that's just given me more motivation to stick to this two month plan. I've had to take it easy this week because of my ankle, but it seems to have healed again so it'll be full steam ahead again. ;)

Arms: 30cm (30cm)
Bust: 99m (101cm)
Waist: 72,5cm (73,5cm)
Belly: 90,5cm (91cm)
Thighs: 57cm (57,5cm)
Weight: 72kg (72,6kg)

My two month plan is in full swing already! I came up with a very quick plan last night and it is something that I should be able to stick to, no matter what my schedule is like during the week. Until the Christmas holidays I've divided my week into two rest days, two resistance training days and three walks. This way I get all my muscle groups working and also get the cardio in. When we finish uni for the year on 20th December I'm probably going to be working until we go back start of January, so I have left those weeks open for now.

I'm going to use Body Revolution for the resistance training. While I'm not doing a full week of BR, I'm using the same pattern with it - a separate day for front and back muscles and swap the workouts every two weeks. I'm hoping that this way I won't plateau during these two months. I'm obviously going to carry on after this plan comes to an end, but I don't like planning too far ahead. :)


And as diet is a huge part of weight loss, I am going to try my hardest to stick to a clean diet. I have been having way too many takeaways for the past month and it's time to stop it. I actually got to test my will power today when I went for lunch with my uni friends, I had a vegetable burger instead of the high fat options on the menu. And my friends being typical guys, I instantly got the "Oh my god you gone vegetarian now?!" treatment when the food arrived... :D

I think I really overdid my walk on Sunday, as my left ankle has been playing up since yesterday. It just aches and stings every time I move my foot or put any weight on the ankle. Argh. I actually skipped my workout yesterday because of it as I was worried that I'll just make it worse by jumping around, but I was just so full of energy tonight that I wanted to do something. I decided to stick to my plan and did a back workout tonight and I'm just going to replace tomorrow's walk with the front workout.

As you all probably know by now, I love posting before & after pictures every now and then. I've nearly been on this journey for a year now and I think it's a good time to compare some pictures! :) So close to the finish line now.

I've seen these posts in several blogs lately, so I decided to give it a go and see if I can hit 50. :D

1. I grew up in a small town in eastern Finland, relatively close to the Russian border. I'm a farm girl as well, we used to have cows until I was maybe 10 or so. I had a love/hate relationship with my home town. I really loved the countryside as it is so incredibly beautiful and peaceful, but at the same time there's absolutely nothing to do around there. It takes about 15 minutes to drive to the town centre and the closest city is an hour away.



2. I've loved photography for as long as I remember. My first own camera was a Canon Ixus 30, then I moved on to Olympus SP-510UZ. While about 99% of the pictures I took with these cameras are absolutely horrible, it was definitely amazing practise and it's always nice to see the progress you've made along the years. ;) After the Olympus I bought my first proper camera, a Nikon D40. I currently own a Nikon D3200 and a AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED lens.


6. I come from a family of four - mum, dad and an older brother.

7. My brother got me into gaming when I was little (at the age when I could barely understand English). We have daily geek conversations.
20. I have a habit of growing my hair to about shoulder length and then cut it short. I've always done this but this time I'm determined to let my hair grow long. I'm just a really impatient person sometimes so I need the change! Thankfully I think my face is too round for short hair though.

27. I love white roses.

28. Before coming to England I had never had curry. Now it's my favourite food and I'd probably have it every single day if it wasn't so unhealthy and expensive. :D

29. I really want to go to Chernobyl. I was planning a road trip with my friend a while ago, but we'll see if that ever happens! I just think it'd be so cool to see the place and take pictures, some photo galleries I've seen are breathtaking. Pripyat is absolutely stunning in it's weird, haunted way.

30. I want to travel a lot during my life and experience different cultures. I really think we are destroying our planet at such a fast rate that it might be too late to see some of the most beautiful places on Earth in 20-30 years time.

31. I really suck at small talk. I've never been a conversation starter and unless I actually get to talk to someone who shares my views in everything, I really really feel awkward.

32. I like to step back and just listen if I'm in a bigger group of people. Sometimes I might have a really cool thing to say but because other people are louder than me / speak over others, I just never get a chance to say what I want and then feel annoyed when the moment has passed.

33. I love going to zoos and taking pictures of the animals there. Animal photography in general is absolutely my passion, it's just so much more rewarding than taking pictures of people. And besides, animals won't annoy you with small talk.

I was going to post a separate weigh in rant but as I only lost 100g it would've just contained swear words and such. So yeah, thought that it's better to wait a bit and post other stuff in the same thing. :)

At least I'm in even figures now - 12kg lost. I keep saying that I will get back on top of it but now that it's the end of my half term and the winter term is starting tomorrow, I'm actually going to draft a plan for myself for the rest of the year and stick to it, no matter what. It'll go on the wall next to my computer, so it'll stare at me all the time when I'm doing something.

Someone moved my coffee table! I haven't posted any exercise outfit pics for ages (mainly because I haven't had the need to wear any...) and now that I actually went for a long, fast paced walk and wore the approriate clothing, the coffee table was gone! It is in the lounge but I'm too weak to move it to it's original place, so you'll just have to put up with this temporarily.


The weather was so odd today. It was pretty windy and chilly, but when I hit a sunny patch it was so warm that I wanted to take my hoodie off. Then again I've been feeling a bit under the weather for a few days so I could've just made it worse by taking it off.



And now to the exciting bit! THOOOOOOOOOR! I've been so excited about this film for ages! Tom Hiddleston and Kat Dennings are some of my favourite actors and as I am a geek, all kinds of superheroes are exactly my kind of thing. ;) When I watch Marvel's films I keep thinking that I should start reading the comics to really get into the lore of it all. That's what I really love about fantasy / sci-fi, there's just so much room for history, small details and other things you just can't come up with when dealing with real stuff.

Sometimes I do come up with short background stories for characters, but I never end up writing them down. I think I'd have about a book's worth of characters written down by now if I did. Well, maybe not a book. But just for my own entertainment and something to read back to when I'm bored.


Ok I'm just going to stop letting the geek out and start planning this exercise schedule. ;)