Things I Learnt In January
So basically, I'm shit at sticking to monthly posts but I do really like picking up this blog post when I've got plenty to share and recommend. It's only a week or so late but here's the things I learnt in January...
The last week of January is too late to wish anyone a "Happy New Year". I thought it was polite and a bit of a conversation starter with clients that I'd not spoken to since before Christmas but most of them were a little taken aback at my late attempt of etiquette. When do you stop saying it?
Mo Farah's weekly training schedule is nothing short of amazing. I normally write about running stuff on a dedicated blog post (you can read the January Run Down here) but when I saw Mo Farah's typical weekly training regime, I thought you might like to have a look. I'm exhausted just reading how many hours and miles he clocks up but it is his job, after all!
Retro is all the rage! I absolutely remember the first perfume that I owned. My mum bought it for me from one of those 80s 'perfume parties' that sold copies of well known scents for a fraction of the price. Mine was a dupe of an Oscar de la Renta fragrance and I'm sure it's shaped my choice in perfume ever since. So I was really pleased to see that Aqua Manda creator, Christopher Collins has acted as an advisor on the relaunch of two of their original scents - Aqua Citra (a citrus & spicy aroma) and Aqua Manda (a citrus and floral smell). And whilst they do have undertones of a 70s vibe (you had to be there.... trust me) they also smell very fresh and new. Give them a try!
Losing weight and keeping it off is harder than expected. I'm not about to slip into a yo-yo diet routine because I worked too hard to lose two stone last year but, after putting a few pounds back on over Christmas, I've plateaued a bit and found it harder to get my head back in the game for the consistent losses that I was achieving a few months ago. I did think about supplements like these white label african mango capsules, which help with weight loss and also have been shown to be beneficial for gastrointestinal and liver conditions, but I found that what's really helped (apart from making sure I actually attend my Slimming World classes) is two things:
- Drinking XLS Medical Tea which is the UK's first clinically proven tea to help with weight loss and has a low caffeine content. Now, I'm not usually a fan of 'faddy foods and drinks' that promise the earth but with limited results but this 'weight loss tea' includes Litramine which binds up to 28% of the dietary fats in the stomach, contains no laxatives and no preservatives. The recommendation is to drink it three times a day (after meals) but I'm sticking to twice a day due to needing to a variety of flavours throughout the day.
- Listening to my Thinking Slimmer 'pod' - I've been a fan of neurolinguistic programming for a long time and Thinking Slimmer is exactly this, coupled with unconscious persuasion, neuroscience, modern psychology and behavioural science to help retrain the brain to think differently about food and dieting in general. I've found it has also massively helped with my confidence and (without giving away too many spoilers), I've been interviewed by founder, Sandra Roycroft-Davis, which can be seen in a video soon and we've been plotting away behind the scenes to set up a challenge to help with goal setting. I'm really excited about it all!
I'm still enjoying receiving my Birchbox each month. Each time I share an photo of my monthly treat I have to put "hashtag not sponsored" because I don't want my friends to think I'm being paid or bribed to share what I'm receiving. I really love getting the monthly treats through the door and it gives me the opportunity to try out new products that I wouldn't normally have bought. Every time someone uses my referral code to sign up, they receive £5 off their first box and I receive a £5 voucher for the Birchbox store so this month I've bought some Dr Paw Paw lip balm and some Beautaniq Beauty brow gel. Six months ago, I was oblivious to either of these two products and now I have no idea how I managed without them! (PS, if you want to use my Birchbox code to sign up then click here).
You never forget how good Yazoo are/were. I spotted this tweet a while back praising Alison Moyet's voice on a old John Peel session from 1982.
I need to hear this - where can I listen?— #nickiepedia (@nickieohara) August 11, 2018
and this query led me to this YouTube video... and it's amazing! It's worth 16 minutes of your time!
Finally, I'm in the process of relaunching my Facebook page. It's a bit of mish-mash of content at the moment but I'm going to use it as an extension of this blog - so a bit of a mind-overspill of blog content I love, memes, videos and everything else... Follow me on Facebook here (ignore the name - it's undergoing a change)
It'd be good to hear what you've learnt or tried out over the past few weeks. Drop your tips and discoveries in the comments or give me a shout on Twitter!
