4 TIPS TO THINKING POSITIVELY

Hey guys, I thought I should make use of some of the few pearls of wisdom I've picked up over the years. I have grown up with anxiety, depression and basically, being really negative about myself, my abilities and my body. I still struggle every day with all of these things, but what I am writing about today has helped me massively.

1. Tell yourself you are good enough:

This is something I really struggled with. I literally could not look in the mirror and see something I liked, or something I was proud of. Five years on, I still have trouble with this some days, but I have made myself believe that I am good enough for me.

The main thing I take from this, is that we don't need to be good enough for anyone, but ourselves! If you are feeling a bit rubbish, make yourself look in the mirror and think of something positive; ANYTHING! You will soon learn to believe the things you are telling yourself. After all, you spend the most amount of time with yourself.

2. Push out all negative thoughts:

When I was at my worst, in terms of being bullied and how I was affected by that, I used to have A LOT of negative thoughts, which led to negative behaviour. I have overcame these bad thoughts by literally, pushing them out of my head and refusing to think about them.

When you feel yourself thinking about something that makes you feel bad or upset about yourself, make yourself visualise or think about something else. I find that visualising a goal, or even a positive memory, can help to distract myself from whatever is making me feel negative.

3. Surround yourself in positivity:

It might seem harsh and horrible, but getting rid of the people that are making you feel negative about yourself is the first step to making changes for the better. Positivity is contagious, the cheery attitude and positive outlook on life will have an affect on you.

I know that this is probably the hardest step towards better mental health, especially while you're still in school, but it is the one thing that will have the biggest impact.

4. Get excited about something:

Having something to be excited to do can really help overcome negative thoughts as it can act as a distraction. Even having one thing that you look forward to can change your outlook on the day ahead. My blog is what does this for me as I know that every week I'm writing about things that excite and interest me.

I'm not saying that these things are the answer to all your problems, but thinking positively and blocking out negativity is half the battle. I hope this was of some use to you. Let me know what you do to help stay positive about yourself.

Love, Rach x

VALENTINES DATE IDEAS

Hey guys and gals! As Valentines is coming up, I thought I would do a post on some wee date ideas for you and your significant other to have some fun in the daytime, or have a romantic evening together. Me and my boyfriend, Mark, usually go out for dinner and spend the evening doing something together, depending on what we feel like doing.

Here are some of my all time favourite Valentines date ideas;

1. Go for a picnic ~ this is one of my favourite things to do because its so simple and easy, and kind of romantic.

2. Have a movie day ~ there is nothing better than cuddling up under a blanket and watching all the Harry Potter films with loads of junk food.

3. Go bowling ~ Me and Mark love getting competitive between each other, bowling is perfect for getting your game on!

4. Cook a meal for your partner ~ I love it when my boyfriend cooks me dinner, he's not the best cook, but its the thought that counts for me.

5. Go to a concert/gig/comedian tour ~ Mark is taking me to see Jack Whitehall in Belfast the week after next (how bloody exciting!). What better way to spend time together than laughing?

6. Go ice-skating ~ now this isn't for me (I broke my wrist the first, and last, time I went ice-skating) but it looks all cute and romantic.

7. Hire a tandem bike ~ team work makes the dream work, cringe!

8. Recreate a first date ~ this seems so cute! On my first date with Mark, he took me to WhetherSpoons and we had dinner, then I took him dress shopping.

9. Book a mini break ~ This obviously isn't possible for everyone, but getting a few nights away together can do the world of good!

10. Go to an arcade ~ Grab your pennies and start trying to win as many coupons as you can from the 2p machine!

These are my top 10 date ideas for Valentines, let me know if you and your partner have something you love doing!

Get out there and make some memories people!

Love, Rach x

MY BUCKET LIST 2017

I have always been an ambitious person, but I have struggled with gaining the confidence to do the things I really want to do. I am hoping that by writing my dreams and aspirations on my blog, it will finally be the kick up the bum I need to get myself out there and get stuff done this year!

1. Get into shape for my holiday this summer ~ Me and my boyfriend are going to Malaga this July! I am determined to get into shape with my packed FITNESS ROUTINE

2. Go scuba diving ~ Hopefully we can do this on holiday this summer!

3. Go to the Niagara Falls   ~ I went on a family holiday to Canada and I absolutely loved the little boat under the falls!

4. Travel across America ~ This is number one on my travel list! I think it would be the perfect way to spend a summer.

5. Go to university ~ It has been my (nerd) dream for so, so long to go to uni to study early childhood studies and work with wee ones! I absolutely love having an influence in the early stages of life.

6. Go to a drive-thru cinema  ~ We actually done this in Canada. We seen that movie "Evan Almighty", I was nine or ten and I thought it was just magic!

7. Learn Spanish ~ I actually done GCSE Spanish but we never learnt how to speak it properly, unfortunately. So, if any of you are Spanish speakers, please help me!

8. Climb loads of mountains ~ I have recently got into hill and mountain walking. There's something about being at the top of a mountain that makes me feel like I'm at the top of the world!

9. Adrenaline activities ~ This year I have really been loving doing stuff that gets my heart pumping! I don't know about you, but lying on the edge of a 214 meter cliff kind of ticks this off the list.

10. Go stargazing ~ There is this little place in Co. Fermanagh called "Finn Lough" where you can go into these wee dome cabin's that have a glass roof. It would be my perfect night away, even if its just half an hour down the road! I've been hinting at my boyfriend for months, but I don't think it has sunk in.

Comment down below what is on your bucket list to give me some ideas to add to mine!
Love, Rach x

LALALAB PRINT OUTS

My obsession for having cute prints of all my photos have hit an all time high! Since discovering this amazing app, previously known as Polagram, a couple of years ago, I have been able to print and cherish memories, that otherwise would have used up storage space on my iPhone.

Once you have selected your photos straight from your camera roll, or from your Facebook page, you can then select which type of picture you would like. My favourite is the Vintage pictures, which are only 29p! How can you miss out on that bargain? You can also get classes, regular or the cutest new range, mini-vintage!

These are also so handy for giving as gifts! You can get a photo book, calendar and magnets which are great ways of holding memories with your friends. I love these so much! I sometimes imagine myself and my friends looking back on our memories from summer 2016. Does anyone else do that?

An extra little addition to these cute pictures, is that you have the option to type a little message in under the picture. Although, I prefer to write something in with a sharpie once I get them in the post.

Postage takes a little longer than most other things, but its so worth the wait! Mine usually take around 10-14 days after ordering, but I live in Northern Ireland so that might have an affect on the length of time. They come in the cutest pink envelope with a small origami sample, although I've never been able to make mine look like much!

My favourite thing about getting prints from Lalalab is decorating my bedroom once they come. I have covered my whole door and, my favourite way to make my room look cosy, hanging them from my fairy lights! You can get a packet of tiny wooden pegs on Amazon for less than £3.

To start you off, you can use my DISCOUNT CODE and get money off your first Lalalab order! Enter PG5D7Q2K in the promo code section, and you can get loads of prints for very little money. This is a complete bargain, and you know I can't keep away from a bargain!

Comment below or send me a picture of your print outs on twitter or on instagram and hit me up with a follow!

Love, Rach x 

JANUARY FAVOURITES!!

Well hello there! Its almost the end of January (thank god!) and I thought I would do my very first attempt at a monthly favourites post! I got loads of bits and pieces for Christmas that I have been dying to blog about!

First up is my most reoccurring purchase; the Collection concealer! I use the Lasting Perfection range, in the shade fair 1 (as I am unbelievably pale) and I absolutely love it. I would really recommend this concealer if you're looking for something at a high street price, but has a high-end products coverage. The Collection concealer has the best coverage of any of the other concealers I've tried!

On to foundations! I am a firm believer in spending as little money as possible for a good foundation. I have recently been using my two favourite Rimmel London foundations to maximise my coverage.

The first, and the one I reach for the most, is the 'Match Perfection' foundation. I am extremely pale (fulfilling the Irish stereotype, good one Rach!) so for everyday use, I am the lightest shade possible; light porcelain. This is my go-to foundation for everything from school, to work, to running errands! This would be my most recommended foundation for its great coverage and the fact that it seems to never dry out my skin.

Keeping with foundations, I have been trying out the Rimmel London 'Finish' foundation, in the shade 103 true ivory. I picked this up recently and have been really loving it! I normally use this as a 'going out' foundation, and I got it in a slightly darker shade as I would wear it with tan on. I was seriously impressed with how easily it blends (using my much loved Real Techniques expert face brush) onto my face and how the coverage keeps up throughout the night. In comparing the two foundations, I would say that lasting coverage is better in the 'Finish', rather than the 'Match Perfection', although both give it a fair go!

If you're looking for a great high street foundation, these two are your best friends! I picked these two up in Superdrug in a 2 for £10 deal! How can you resist that absolute bargain?

Going on to brushes, I have only recently bought myself the Real Techniques Concealer Brush, and I'm still experimenting with it, so I'm not overly sure about it yet to be very honest. I think it takes me a while to 'warm up' to brushes, so I thought I wouldn't leave it out of the first monthly favourites of the year. The bristles are quite compact, so I find it really good for applying the concealer, but I've found myself reaching for my expert face brush to blend it out. Am I the only one that does this?

This next purchase was a complete blogger influence! Aimee wrote about the Garnier, Skin Active, Moisture Bomb face mask and it has now bumped its way up to my ultimate favourite face product! This face mask is quite a bit heavier than any others I've tried, but it works so much better than the rest. While I have a nice, relaxing 15 minutes with the mask on, I can feel a very slight tingling sensation of it working its magic!

I'm hopefully going to be making this a monthly thing on my blog! Tell me in the comments or on my Twitter (https://twitter.com/livingasrach) if you have had any similar experiences with these products, or if you know of something I should try for next month!

I also have INSTAGRAM now! Hit me up over there so we can be fwiends!
(@livingasrach)

Love, Rach x

MY FITNESS ROUTINE!!

Last year, I, very optimistically, decided that I was going to get into shape and stick to a fitness and healthy eating routine. But, as usual I had no motivation or real desire to stick to my, probably over-ambitious goals.

Going into 2017, after hitting many road blocks last year, I have decided to keep it simple and set myself realistic targets for this year. Another change I've made is giving myself something to motive me; my first abroad holiday! Myself and my boyfriend are going to Malaga in July this year. This will make sure that I stick to my fitness and eating routine as I want to feel super confident in a bikini in six months!

	GYM	COUCH TO 5K	SWIMMING	CLASSES
MONDAY	ABS WORKOUT	YES	-------------------------
TUESDAY	-----------------------	---------------------	YES	JIVING
WEDNESDAY	LEG WORKOUT	YES	-------------------------
THURSDAY	ARMS WORKOUT	---------------------	-------------------------	ZUMBA
FRIDAY	FULL BODY	---------------------	YES
SATURDAY	-----------------------	YES	-------------------------
SUNDAY	-----------------------	---------------------	-------------------------

MONDAY

I begin my week with a short walk/run using my Couch to 5K app before I head to school. This usually lasts for about 20-30 minutes. Its such a great way to start the morning as I find it really energises me, by having intervals between walking and running. I'm only on my second week, but so far so good! The app allows you to listen to instructions on when to walk and when to start running, while listening to your own music. As I am currently on my second week of using the app, I start off with a brisk 5 minute walk to warm up, then switch between 90 seconds of running and two minutes of walking. This allows my heart rate to rise, but also to recover before the next running section - and it feels great!

After school, I head to my local gym and do an abs workout. I have a couple of (hopefully) ab sculpting workouts that I've found that I like the most, so I just do my own thing to be honest! I mostly go for side crunches, planks, ballet-twists, basic crunches, right/left oblique crunches, bicycle crunches, and my favourite, seated Russian twists. I sometimes use an exercise ball or dumbbell.

TUESDAY

After school on a Tuesday, I go to my local swimming pool and go for a few lengths. Depending on buses and my families work arrangements, I try to spent at least an hour in the pool. Sometimes, on good days, I spend around 90 minutes of doing various water based exercises which help my all round fitness. I usually do lengths for as long as a feel like it, which comes to also an hour. Then I go into water resistance, which is walking/running (usually a jog for me, oops!) in the swallow end, then I tread water for a couple of minutes. I do these kinds of exercises until I can feel my stomach muscles starting to weaken.

At the minute, I also attend jiving lessons in my local town with my sister. Jiving is a moderate intensity type of dancing that keeps the heart rate going. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks, and am really enjoying it. I love that its another way of incorporating exercise into my week, without it feeling like exercising!

WEDNESDAY

Before school, usually at around 7.15am, I head out to do my 20 minute walk/run using Couch to 5K app. Again, this helps me energise and feel good about myself during the middle of the week, when I'm so tempted to call in sick and have a duvet day!

I head to the gym after school on a Wednesday to do my leg workout. This is my least favourite workout, so I really have to force motivate myself to actually go. This workout is usually quite short as I can never motivate myself to stay longer than 45 minutes. My leg workout usually consists of side leg right/left lifts, hamstring curls, quad lifts, right/left lunges, forward right/left extensions and my most hated, deep squats. Sometimes, I use two 3kg dumbbells during my workouts.

THURSDAY

Time to hit the gym again! Thursdays are arm days. This lasts about an hour and again, I kind of do what I like the most. I usually do overhead presses, bicep curls, right/left triceps' extensions, bent over rows, front raises, reverse bridge dips, hammer curls, lateral raises, one arm push ups, hi-lo planks, chest presses and half push ups (I can't do a full one yet). I don't always do everything every time I have an arm workout, but just what I feel motivated to do.

On a Thursday night, I attend my favourite class; Zumba! I go to this with my friend Hollie, as without her, I wouldn't last the entire class. Zumba has got so many benefits, the number one being weight loss! I find that I burn 600-1000 calories in a 90 minute session. I love my Zumba classes mostly because it never feels like exercise (at the time, the next day is a killer) and its so much fun dancing and moving to music. I would seriously recommend joining a Zumba class to anyone!

FRIDAY

Even though its the end of the week and I'm exhausted, I sometimes manage to motivate myself to go to the gym for my full body workout. I try to spend about an hour doing this. I try to do a little bit of everything in my full body workouts; kind of like a 'best bits' of my entire workouts throughout the week and adding wee bits in to keep me going! In addition to what I've already listed from my Monday, Wednesday and Thursday workouts, I do deadlifts, glute drops, jump ropes, ski hops (one of my fav's!) and jumping lunges.  

After this, or sometimes in the morning before school (if I can fall out of bed time in), I head to the pool for an hour. After doing a full body work out, I sometimes just feel up to doing lengths for an hour. There is something really relaxing about swimming; I feel like I'm in a wee world of my own when I'm concentrating on my strokes or the way my body moves. Sometimes I go to the pool just to think, its not necessarily all about the exercise for me.

SATURDAY

As a full time A-Level student, I don't work much during the week, so on Saturdays and Sundays, I work in my local shop. This in itself can be a workout sometimes! My 9am-6pm shift done, I head home to do my Couch to 5K walk/run. This can be a great destressor after a long day working with the, sometimes infuriating, public.

SUNDAY

Finally, a REST! (From workouts, not work unfortunately) I usually spend my Sunday evenings catching up with homework, or doing something with my family. This is my favourite day of the week, and sometimes the most important. The rest allows my body to recover and recuperate from the long week of activities.  

Hopefully with a more goal orientated week of workouts, I can stick to my routine a little longer than I did in 2016! If you know of any good workout music that you love, make sure and let me know in the comments; I'm always looking for new ways to reinvent my exercises and keep interested.

Throughout the week, I use My Fitness Pal - its a great app that can be downloaded for free onto any android or iPhone. It helps me track not only what I eat, but what exercise I do and how much water I drink! It also has a target setter that lets me enter my weight on a weekly basis, which really helps me stay focused and determined.


Let me know what you think down in the comments
Love, Rach x

NEWBIE BLOGGER

Hi guys! This is my brand spanking new blog, where I am hoping I will become less prone to procrastinating, and more to writing about my experiences and feelings. I absolutely LOVE exploring and walking and photography. I want to become inspired by something and let my passions show through my writing.

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https://twitter.com/livingasrach