1. Find a plan that works for you. 

2. Don't drastically decrease your calories. 

3. Allow for treats. 

4. Take progress photos. 

5. Wear clothes you feel comfortable in at the gym. 

6. Come up with a killer playlist. 

What are your tips for sticking to your diet? Do you follow any specific calorie plans or do you just eat what you want? 

G

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I want to start off this blog post by saying - holidays are made for trying new foods and 'indulging' just a bit more than you normally would at home. However, that doesn't mean that we need to order dessert with every meal and drink mojitos like they're going out of fashion. I do try and eat relatively well and work out 5 times a week blah blah blah so that when I do go on trips, I can eat sachertortes, pastel de belems, trudelnik and all the other wonderful desserts I've come across in Europe. That being said, I'm soon to be off galavanting Asia for two months and I don't think any number of sit ups before that trip will be able to justify me pigging out the whole trip. Here's a couple of ways to make the whole situation easier:

How many times have you been sat at dinner on holiday, full after your meal and thought 'f*ck it I'm on holiday I'll get dessert too!'. Even though you're not really feeling hungry. If you're in a city that specialises in certain meals/desserts then of course, have it. Just don't feel like you need to have a cheesecake every night because you don't at home, at the end of the day there will always be other cheesecakes. 

This might be a bit harder to do if you're staying in a resort, but in that case most resorts do come with gyms so you have no excuse! If you're travelling somewhere in Europe this is usually quite easy to do when you're sightseeing. I'm definitely that friend that says 'we can walk, it's not that far!' when it says 40 minutes on Google Maps (but that's only ok on holiday because you're exploring). 

If I'm staying somewhere more than 4 days I usually try and stay in an apartment or somewhere that at least has a fridge/microwave. Not only will you save money by doing this, but you'll also be able to a. save your calories b. actually have an appetite when you go out for dinner c. it won't feel like a chore to go out to eat again and it will feel like more of a treat. 

This doesn't mean you have to bring your protein powder, BCAAs, iron, multivitamin, probiotic and all your other usuals (unless you really want to). I often tend to skip on taking my supplements when I'm away cause it just seems like hassle (and I'm scared they might think I'm smuggling drugs at the airport). But, I do try and bring my iron tablets with me as I have anaemia and often feel fatigued so this at least keeps my energy levels moderate and I don't feel like I have to eat more/drink more coffee to feel better. 

I remember when I went to Portugal last summer my mum, sister and me all said we were gonna try and hit the gym every morning at our hotel. I think me and Alex lasted 3 days before we decided sleeping in was more appealing. Whether you're travelling with friends or family, if you have someone who's also trying to stay on track then you can motivate each other. If not, there are also certain weight loss programmes that can aid you on your journey without being focused on dieting and instead is more about changing habits and your mindset. 

So speaking of mindset, it really all depends on what you want to do on your holiday and how you want to feel after. If you go in there thinking 'I'm going to eat whatever I want, I'm on holiday!' chances are you will, but then when you arrive back home you're going to feel like crap if you find you've piled on a couple of pounds. If instead you think 'I'm going to treat myself here and there, if I feel like I really want to' you'll feel better at the end.

* This is a collaborative post but all content posted on Tea With Gi is suited to the blog and audience.

If there was a month of the year that was going to motivate me to get myself together it was going to be August. Firstly it's my birthday month and more importantly, I have a holiday to Fiji in 3 weeks so I need to be looking and feeling my best! As I was writing my goals down for this month, I was making a few bullet points of things I wanted to stick to this month. To make things more interesting for myself (and I would love if you guys took part too #FitWithGi), I thought I'd come up with a little 20 day challenge. After all, things are easier to do when you take them day by day instead of saying 'I'm going to cut out chocolate for the whole month'. So here it is, a 20 day life and fitness challenge for August. 

I could list 100 things I wish I could stick to every day. I told myself last week I was going to wake up half an hour earlier and read my self-help book to get in the right mindset for the day. I lasted two days before I decided sleep was more important. So instead of trying to do everything and failing, I'm just going to try and stick to 3, at least for the 20 days. 

Every list in the world tells you to do this to be healthier and fitter. I start off the day great by getting a litre in at the gym, and then I slowly forget about refilling my water bottle or counting the amount. Luckily, The Big Bottle Co sent me this 2.2l water bottle and now I don't need to worry about refilling anything. Just one bottle a day and all is good. I like that it has the measurements on one side so I know what I have left etc. I've been adding lemons, cucumbers and all sorts inside to make it look more interesting too. 

I've spoken about this loads, and you can find the benefits here. Recently I've been adding two tablespoons of the ACV with Manuka Honey to boiling water and having it like a 'herbal' tea in the morning. 

Again, I've spoken about why I find intermittent fasting so useful on the blog before. I try and aim for  an eating window of 12pm - 8pm. Since I go to the gym in the morning it's easier as that's an hour and a half I'm not tempted to eat. I've been breaking my fast with a protein shake and Botanika Blends sent me a nice bundle with over 10 different protein powder flavours, protein porridge and a mushroom hot chocolate which I thought was very interesting indeed. 

All of their products are vegan, and as I've found with other vegan proteins sometimes the texture and taste can be a bit more powdery than with whey protein. The flavours I enjoyed were 'cacao mint cookies', 'golden chai latte' and I thought the 'custard filled cinnamon donut' was very unique (if only I was eating a real one). I loved that the Botanika Brekky porridge had 16.8g of protein and only 25g of carbs. The 'grandma's apple pie' flavour was my favourite and I added half a frozen banana to this to make it more substantial. 

All of these are pretty easy and don't take up a lot of time. To hold myself accountable I'm going to be posting on my Tea With Gi Instagram stories once I've done the daily challenge. If you choose to take part (or even just do a couple) tag me or use #FitwithGi so I can see! 

I hope you join me on this journey and can't wait to see what I feel like at the end of this!

G

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* This blog post contains gifted items but all words and opinions are my own *

My health and fitness has come a long way in the space of a year. Last January I was taking part in veganuary, and as much as I would have liked to attempt it again this year I like cadbury too much and my stomach doesn't agree with a diet that was 50% beans for me. Throughout 2018 I was kind of testing the waters to see what diet lifestyle worked best for me, I tried intermittent fasting, macro counting on MyFitnessPal and carb cycling. In the end I think I've implemented things from each one which I am taking on board this year. 

My winter body has been cut short this year because next month, I am moving to Australia!! So I am officially 4 weeks out from living in a swimsuit 24/7 and in a hurry to burn off all those quality streets and polvorones from the Christmas period. After a bit of trial and error, I've more or less found what works for me so here are a couple of things I'll be trying to stick to this month (and hopefully year). 

As much as I love gluttonous breakfasts when I'm travelling or eating out, I've never really been a fan of eggs in the morning or porridge and such. And so, breaking my fast at midday isn't that much of a challenge as long as I have a coffee in the morning to keep me going. In a nutshell, IF is fasting for a certain period of the day and then eating during a certain window (12pm-8pm) - if you want a bit more info on the benefits of intermittent fasting and my experience with it last year i've linked the post.

We all know that carbs aren't the enemy, and if you want to eat a plate of home-cooked pasta for dinner there is nothing wrong with that if it's within your 'recommended' daily calorie intake. I just don't like the feeling of going to bed bloated/with a full stomach so prefer to eat my carby meals at lunch time and then have proteins and healthy fats in the evening (and by 'healthy' fats I mean mayo and cheese lol). 

I've come to the conclusion that if I've gone out on the Friday evening, I am going to slip up with my eating on the Saturday. Even when I have a night in my Saturday nights consist of movie nights at my friends house who always has a fully stocked snack pantry. As you can imagine, it's pretty hard to sit through 2 movies with just a bottle of water and grapes when there is Crunchie bars, Ben & Jerry's and popcorn available. 

Because I'd rather have two after eights every night than deprive myself of chocolate and then attack a 500g bar of cadbury at the weekend. 

Like most people, I have a love hate relationship with cardio. I don't think I've ever done more than 20 minutes on the cross trainer and won't stay longer than half an hour on the treadmill. My usual plan for this month is starting off with 15 mins CT (150 kal) then weight training on a particular area and finishing off with 10 min sprints on the treadmill (another 150 kal). My holy grail for getting me through this has been using C4's Pre Workout* (I got gifted two tubs and I've continued to use it as it works great for me). 

If you're not familiar with pre workout, it is designed to give your body that extra pump of energy, focus and motivation before you hit the gym. I had mine in the flavours pink lemonade and orange burst and I think next time I'd like to try the cherry limeade. I started off using one scoop but after a while found the effects weren't as strong so I've started doubling up. I've tried several other pre workout brands before and have found that this one tastes the nicest (not like fake flavours), is the most economical and gives me the best results in the gym.

6. Sticking to a 45/35/20 macro ratio.

Obviously this is just a guideline and I don't think i'll ever be one of those people who weigh out their food and stuff, but sticking to a higher amount of protein, medium carb and low fat (50g) seems to work for me in that it keeps me satisfied and allows me to enjoy the foods I like (don't think I could eat my protein and veg at dinner without a teaspoon of mayo too). There are lots of tools online that can help calculate your macros depending on your current weight and what your goals are.

MY GOALS FOR THE YEAR. 

This time last year I was going to the gym 5-6 times a week, intermittent fasting and cutting the carbs at dinner time so whilst my family was indulging in meatballs and mash I'd be having mine with a side of leaves (I do love spinach though). Don't get me wrong, I never actually felt like I was totally restricting myself because I still ate pizza, chocolate and all the good things that aren't good for us but I felt like I was always counting calories to make sure they fit into my macros or daily amount. Now I think I've got to the point where I won't feel guilty for eating cake on a Tuesday or saying yes to spontaneous dinners and drinks because I 'only have 400 calories left for the day'. 

If you've been following my blog for a while or know me in person then you might know that I lost 20lbs last year and I think the hardest part is - what do you do once you reach your goal? I wouldn't even say I've reached that, but you get to a point where you don't want to lose any more weight, but could do with losing a bit of fat and gaining more muscle. We know that to gain muscle and 'grow the booty' you need to be eating more calories (and carbs) but then there's always that worry that I'm not going to stop and end up putting 10lbs back on. It's sometimes hard to find a good balance. 

That being said, I've actually become one of those people that make the gym a priority and not just try and squeeze it in when I get a chance. I've just had an operation and can't go to the gym for 3 weeks and I don't know what to do with all this extra time. I look forward to blasting Eminem and running on the treadmill like I'm training for the new Avengers movie. So that is one relationship I think has been progressing well, me and Ocean Village gym are in a good place.

I think right now my outlook on my diet is 'eat well when I can, but not to sweat it when I can't.' How many times have you been out to dinner with friends and overheard someone say that they couldn't order the Katsu Curry because it's got too many calories? It does have a lot of calories, but if you're going out to eat once that week you might as well enjoy it. If you follow me on Instagram then you've probably noticed I spend my life at the cinema, and every week I'm there with my NOCCO BCAA drink and bag of Propercorn, because it's all about balance and enjoyment!

I've got a few trips coming up this month and when I travel, there's no such thing as a diet. There's no way I'm leaving Milan without a good plate of pizza and pasta, or Belgium without drowning myself in chocolate and waffles. So as I said, my aim now is to eat my greens, hit my protein goal and eat as well as I can when possible, so when I do give in to cravings or eat a whole KFC bucket to myself, I can allow it without feeling guilty. It would also be nice to get some abs.

I think we as women (and men) are always aspiring to look better, and we are our own worst critic. I can guarantee you no one is going to notice if you put on 2lbs over the weekend because you had a pig-out with your friends. At the end of the day, it is your body so you decide how you nourish it and what you do with it. If you want to get ripped and enjoy following mean plans then that's fine, and if you like going to the gym 5 times a week but decide you want a chocolate bar after your workout, don't let anybody tell you there is anything wrong with that. 

What is your relationship with food like? Do you follow any particular diets? 

G

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When I first thought of E-Fit, I thought it meant I was either going to be strapped up like 50 Cent in his In Da Club video or that I was going to be receiving little electric shocks all over my body through a machine - luckily my experience was neither of those things and a lot more pleasant. If you're a frequent reader of my blog then you know that I'm a fan of trying new fitness and nutrition things and when I was invited along to try the new E-Fit Studio here in Gibraltar introduced by JMB Transformations, I was very intrigued and curious. I got to try first hand their cardio machine, their full body machine and also had an exclusive try of their back pain heated treatment, which came in very handy as I'd hurt my lower back doing single leg deadlifts the day before, oops. Here's the low down on what exactly E-Fit is, as well as my experience with it.

E-Fit uses a machine with electrodes to make you feel like you've done a week worth of workouts in one. You're given a set of leggings and a long sleeved shirt to wear and then depending on what machine you're using, get given a suit with pads on it that will transfer the electrodes into your muscles. If you've ever wanted to feel like Black Widow then now is your chance because you look like you're there to kick ass in this suit. Before we get any further, it doesn't hurt.  The machine allows you to adjust the impulse depth, frequency and intensity depending on your personal needs and your body type, age, gender and level of fitness. Unlike your regular workouts, this machine gives you over 36,000 muscle contractions during your workout so you know you're going to feel the after effects and that you're going to maximise your results. 

The good thing about this is that each workout is tailored to you specifically, it's not a one size fits all kind of thing. Your trainer will ask you what your goals are and then will modify the workout depending on what they are. Whether you're looking to burn fat, build muscle, tone up, get abs or even target cellulite these electro-fitness machines can do that.

I go to the gym 4-5 times a week so I'd say I am relatively fit, I mean I probably can't run a marathon yet but we're getting there. Even though the E-Fit sessions are a lot shorter than my usual workouts, I was sweating just as much or if not more than I would be at the gym. On my first session I went for the full body workout (Whole Body EMS Medical Device), which comprises of a 5 minute warm up, 15 minute workout (this part can be tailored to your needs depending on what areas you want to work on - for me it's always about growing the booty so she incorporated more squats and glute exercises), followed by an ab circuit and then finally you get to lay down on the mat for a nice relaxing massage using the machine. Once you're connected, your E-Fit trainer will go turning up the impulse until you're comfortable and then go raising the impulse on individual areas - it definitely wasn't easy throwing punches whilst my arms were 'vibrating' so I knew double the amount of work was going in. 

The cardio session was somewhat easier in that you control the machine yourself, and you obviously decide how fast you want to go on the cross-trainer/bicycle. The machine will do the work for you, but obviously if you put in the effort to you're going to see even better results. Out of both I think I preferred the full body device as it's more versatile and you really feel it where you want to feel it. I woke up two days later feeling like I'd been hit by a bus (in a good way). 

The great thing about the E-Fit studio here is that you don't need to fuss about with a gym bag or anything and can have your session done in your lunch hour. It's conveniently placed in the middle of Main Street, they have a shower and provide you with towels and even a protein shake if you don't have time to grab your lunch before heading back to work.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have spotted some of my photos/videos from my session on my story. I had a couple of people slide into my DMs asking what E-Fit was and I told them, watch this space for my post! The studio currently has an August offer where you can buy a bundle of 8 cardio sessions for £109. If you'd rather test it out first, then there are no contracts so you could go per session and pay £25. Or if you'd just like to pop in for a trial they are offering this for £9.99. More information on their prices and offers can be found on their Facebook page. 

Of course, since this is a collaboration and I don't write about anything that I wouldn't use myself, we've got a deal on for you guys were you can get 10% off their membership saver package which usually retails at £50. This includes membership, training kit and a loyalty card, simply quote 'EFITWITHGI' or just say you're here because of Giana's blog if you'd rather not quote a random word to them!  

Have you ever tried or heard of E-Fit before? Do you prefer going to a gym or have you tried other unconventional styles of training? 

G

I want to start this post by stating that, you shouldn't go on holiday to stick to a diet because you're on holiday and you're there to enjoy yourself and try new foods and not worry about macros. Instead, being mindful of the things you eat and do can mean you can indulge but also not ruin all the hard work you've put in in the weeks coming up to your holiday. I've just returned from a week in Portugal, and by some miracle I've come back weighing the same as when I left, and I definitely haven't been skipping any meals and was being ruthless with my ice-cream intake. When I go on a city break for a couple of days like Copenhagen or Barcelona, I don't watch what I eat at all because I spend so much time walking that it all balances out, and in my head I'm just imagining that all the extra fat is going to my butt. However on slightly longer trips, if I'm eating burgers everyday I end up feeling bloated, lethargic and bleh. Here are some of my tips for staying relatively on track whilst on holiday/vacation and what to do after you've returned if things haven't gone to plan.

It's all well and good to tell yourself you're not going to eat after 9pm, or only have 1 ice cream in the whole trip, but when everyone else around you is doing the opposite it's the last thing you're going to want to do. Chances are you will gain a bit of body fat and you will slip up, but know that in the same way you didn't get to where you are now in a day you're not going to undo all your hard work by eating 1 Oreo cheesecake. Have a good time, make healthy choices where you can and know you can solve any slip ups when you get back home. 

2. Choose lower calorie ice-creams.

So that way, you can still have two a day and not feel an ounce of guilt. If I fancied one during the day then I can always count on Solero! They had this peach flavoured one in Portugal with like a jelly centre that was only 50 calories and tasted delicious. The evenings were another story, there were chocolate orange, honeycomb and after eight milkshakes all round. 

Aside from helping the environment, you'll be a lot less tempted to buy other drinks if you've got water already on you! Just make sure to check the quality of the tap water first. I bought an aluminium water bottle off amazon and they're so great because you don't have to worry about keeping it in the shade as it keeps your water nice and cool (or hot if you want to make a cuppa at the beach). 

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm on holiday we end up having dinner at 9pm and then if it's a heavy one wake up feeling bloated and like a boulder. A lot of the time for dinner I opted for piri piri chicken, fresh fish or any sort or protein with veg and potatoes. Bearing in mind that lots of places in Albufeira were offering 12 euro menus which included wine, soup, salad, bread, your main and a dessert. I've got a massive sweet tooth so I'd rather eat healthier starters/mains and then indulge a bit more later. 

Admittedly, we didn't do much walking on this trip but there were a hell of a lot of steps to get to one of the beaches. But when travelling through Europe, it's very easy to walk around most places so you can feel less guilty about everything you're consuming and you get to explore as well. A 40 minute walk at home is a lot more boring than when you're in new surroundings and it goes by a lot quicker.

6. Buy healthy snacks. 

So me and my sister started off the week really motivated, and were at the hotel gym by 10am ready for our 30 second sprints on the treadmill. Sadly the treadmill had other plans and every time you took your feet off the belt it stopped. It was humid as it was next to the indoor pool so after day 2 we kinda gave up. Instead, we went and did water aerobics woo! 

It's perfectly normal to go on holiday and come back a bit plumper or with a different body composition to when you left. As I said, in the same way you didn't get to where you are in a week you're not going to lose all your hard work in a week either. Most likely you'll be back where you left off after a week or two of adjusting your diet. 

If you're feeling bloated and heavier then you probably are, but a bit of ignorance is bliss. Weighing yourself straight away will just piss you off and you're probably carrying a lot of water weight that will disappear once you start eating clean again. Stick to low sodium meals and drink plenty of H20, moving on to my next point. 

If you've had one too many mojitos or G&Ts then getting your 8 glasses in a day is vital now to rehydrate your body and flush out all that alcohol (and regrets). 

Sometimes your body needs a break to eat whatever you want to claim back your sanity and then come back pumped and ready to get into it again. Take some time to plan out your workout schedule for the week and your eating plan. If you want to find out a bit more about intermittent fasting and how it can work for you head over to my post. Additionally, you may want to use all those extra carbs you've consumed to implement a carb cycling routine. The key here is to eat cleaner, work out what your maintenance calorie intake is and then subtract 200 or so if you're looking to lose the weight.

Summer is round the corner, meaning you have probably been bombarded with articles and sponsored media about getting in shape for summer and what your body should look like for you to be 'allowed' to be in a bikini. It's a problem when magazines and the media tell us what we should be doing with our bodies, BUT it is perfectly fine for you to want to look your best and be confident when it comes to getting semi-naked (depending on the beach) in the hotter months. Now with that little disclaimer out of the way, I want to talk to you guys about body confidence, living a balanced lifestyle, and having a healthy diet without compromising on all the good stuff.  

So to backtrack a bit, this time last year I was coming to the end of my university degree and even looking back at my 4 years at university my eating habits changed a lot from first to final year. My flatmates can tell you that during freshers fortnight my diet consisted of crackers with jam, cereal and ready meals. I did attempt to make some home comforts such as Rosto and Paella, but for me I think it was I didn't like cooking in a crowded kitchen and well, couldn't be bothered. Luckily by final year it was just me and my friend Meg, so I enjoyed cooking dinner whilst drinking a glass of wine in my  silk robe with my records playing pretending I was a 50s housewife. Even though my eating habits got better, I still took various trips to Lidl every week to stock up on prawn crackers, ready meal mac n cheese and kinder buenos. When my sister came to visit in the beginning of June we decided we were going to embark on our healthy diet so we'd look less flabby in time for our return back to Gibraltar. We quickly found out eating healthier was more expensive, at least if you want to have avocados and salmon often - but we'll leave that debate for another blog post. 

Fast forward a year I've actually stuck to that and lost between 10kg-12kg and managed to keep it off, bar the odd fluctuation whenever I go travelling and can't say no to anything. For me, once I'd reached my goal weight it was the case of how do I stay like this but lose fat/build muscle? I became a bit worried with the fact that if I increased my calories back to 1800 or so I'd balloon back within a week. Obviously, that hasn't been the case, and I can say I still manage to sneak in chocolate in to my diet pretty much every day and remain in shape. Do I eat salads everyday? no. Do I drink coke and a packet of crisps every afternoon? no. The key is to find a happy medium that's actually sustainable beyond your 'diet' period. Here are just some of tips for the way achieving a balanced healthy lifestyle.

Be realistic with your goals.

Having a salad for dinner every night might work for you for a few days, but if that was me I'd be satisfied for an hour and then be raiding the Oreos. If your goal is to lose weight, then just because you've lost 2lbs the first week doesn't mean it's going to happen every week (for a number of factors). MyFitnessPal loves to tell me that if 'everyday were like today I'd weigh X in 5 weeks', but in reality there are going to be things that get in the way and probably a bit of backtracking. Don't let this be disheartening and instead give yourself adequate time to reach your goals. 

Follow a diet that you can stick to long-term. 

The military diet, Atkins etc are all plans that can work for you if you're trying to lose a couple of pounds for an occasion, but most of the time the plans won't stick after. Something like 'intermittent fasting' is a great lifestyle to adopt because you're essentially just changing when you eat and not so much what you eat. It works because your body isn't constantly working to process your food so when you're not eating for a period of time it actually goes off to target your fat. 

Prepare for your 'cheat' meals.

I'm a bit of a spreadsheet freak, so yes I do have a chart to plan what I'm going to eat most of the week. Firstly, because it makes grocery shopping a lot easier and secondly I can plan for meals out and the 6 Gin & Tonics I consume on Friday nights. In doing so I can try and eat relatively well before/after the occasion to not make a massive dent in my fitness/food regime. In a perfect world, I would also exercise on my cheat day but this usually falls on a Saturday and the last thing I want to do when I'm hangover is head to the gym. 

Enjoy the exercise you do.

Going to the gym 5 times a week isn't for everyone, I've got to the point where I enjoy going because I can have uninterrupted youtube time on the treadmill or unleash my built up anger (kidding, kinda). I tried going to gym classes and found I didn't really like following people and I am rather uncoordinated and prefer to do my own thing. 

Don't deprive yourself of anything. 

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean you have to say no to everything that has refined sugars forever. You're more likely to fail if you think that you're never going to be able to enjoy pizza again or a bar of Galaxy. As I said, I eat quite well during the week and then on Friday's and Saturdays allow myself to be a bit more lenient with myself, and that keeps me motivated. The same with eating out, I'm the kind of person that won't say no to chocolate cake if it's offered even if I'm meant to be on a diet (oops) but it's not like I get offered double chocolate Nutella filled cake everyday!

Have a routine. 

It's easier to stick to something if you incorporate it into your daily routine (and you're less likely to avoid it). When I first started going to the gym i'd use any excuse to not go, whereas now I jot down in my day planner when I'm going and what I'm doing, so I'm not wasting my time there either. It's important not to try and be superwoman either, I once tried to fit in 5 sessions into a very busy week and found myself arriving at the gym tipsy after meeting a friend for 'one' drink, bad idea that is not to be encouraged.

Be comfortable in your own skin (and clothing). 

Last but not least, is whatever you are doing in your life, in general and body wise, make sure you are comfortable in what you're doing and that you are aiming towards your own goals, not what Bella Hadid's are or the ones Glamour sets for you. On the topic of comfort, I'd like to talk to you guys about a brand called BoudaVida who I have collaborated with on this post.

BoudaVida are a fitness clothing brand that supply everything you need to run, kick, stretch and lounge in. What's best is that every time you buy something from Boudavida they donate 5% to female athletes, charities, clubs and projects. So your purchase 'not only makes you feel great, it means you are helping more women and girls get active and improve their health and wellbeing'.

This spirit crop (now £25) and zoom leggings (now £40) are the perfect duo for pretty much any sort of activity. The best thing for me is that it has an elastic waistband which means I can run on the treadmill without pulling them up every 2 minutes! I also checked to see it was squat proof, and ladies it passed the test. I'm small chested so I don't requite a lot of support, but it definitely keeps everything in place either way.

Throughout my teenage years and early twenties (and thanks to TOWIE), I was let to believe that carbs were the enemy. I'm not saying that eating a pizza or bowl of pasta every night is good for you, because it's not and you will notice your junk getting bigger progressively. However, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to follow a 'no carbs before Marbs' diet just to get your body looking it's best. The truth is there is not one plan that fits everyone, as everyone's body is different. For me I've found a combination of intermittent fasting and carb cycling work for me, whereas I know others who practice keto (high fat/no carb) and find that works for them. To put it simply, carb cycling is well, cycling your carbs. If you want to find out more about carb cycling, how I do and examples of carb cycling keep reading my bread loving friends.

Carb cycling is essentially 'cycling' the amount of carbs you eat on a particular day. So on certain days you will be getting a higher amount of your macros from carbohydrates than on others. I tend to keep my protein levels at the same amount (130-135g) and raise my fat levels slightly on my lower carb days. It's important to know that you shouldn't be filling yourself with simple carbs and cakes just because you 'can' as you probably won't get the results you're looking for and will be disappointed. 

Carb cycling works because it keeps your body guessing and it doesn't get used to pulling energy from one source and more importantly, doesn't stall your metabolism. When on a low carb diet, your insulin sensitivity increases which can help with burning body fat instead of energy. When eating high carb, you produce more of the hormone leptin which keeps you fuller for longer, and therefore you are less likely to binge eat.

The problem with following a low or no carb diet for a long period is that a. your body starts to get used to this and stops burning fat, your metabolism slows down, and eventually you're going to be so deprived of carbs that you're going to walk past a cake shop and run for everything and then need to run for the Gaviscon after. 

There are different approaches to creating your carb cycling plan. Some people change the amount of calories they consume in the day and may also change their fat/protein levels accordingly. Some people strictly do high carb days and days where they consume 0 net carbs. I try and keep things as simple as possible. 

The first thing you want to do is calculate your normal macros to either lose, maintain or gain weight/muscle. This calculator does a pretty good job of working it out for you. 

My protein levels always remain at 1g of protein per lb of body weight so I try to aim for 132g of protein daily. 

According to the IIFYM calculator, my daily fat intake should be 56g of fat. 

The rest of my calories I will get from carbs which tends to be around 129g of carbs. 

In terms of calories, I will try and aim for 1400kal. 

How my macros/calories change on lower/high carb days. 

I split my cycle in to 3 amounts - low, medium and high carb days. My macros for my medium carb days usually look like the above, or I try to aim for 100g of carbs. I plan my high carb days (twice a week) when I'm going to be lifting heavier weights and working on the booty (because we want that to keep growing) and on those days I will slightly increase my carbs and lower my fat so my macros look like this:

Protein: 132g

Fats: 25g

Carbs: 150g - 175g 

On my lower carb days, I aim for upper body workouts and cardio. I actually feel more lethargic when I eat larger amounts of carbohydrates so find I have higher endurance levels with these macros. My macros for these usually look like this:

Protein: 132g

Fats: 65g

Carbs: 50g 

In a week my typical week split may look something like this:

MONDAY: HIGH CARB | GLUTES & LEGS

TUESDAY: MED CARB | UPPER BODY

WEDNESDAY: LOW CARB | CARDIO & CORE

THURSDAY: HIGH CARB | GLUTES & LEGS

FRIDAY: LOW CARB | REST

SATURDAY: MED CARB | REST

SUNDAY: MED CARB | FULL BODY CIRCUIT

I know what you're probably thinking, this seems like a lot of work and calculations G. Which is why I don't follow it religiously and there are weeks where I don't follow it at all. I just try and plan ahead roughly whether I'll be having a H/M/L carb day and factor in foods that fit those macros. For example if I know I'm going out for pizza with my friends on Saturday, I'll make that my high carb day & leg day, because I'm deffo gonna be consuming over 150g of carbs ya get me?

I found this has been a good system for fat loss and curving cravings as I know I don't have to say goodbye to pasta, toast / mayo and cheese and such for good. I do find it's a good plan that fits with my fitness regime and will allow me to maximise my results. I am hoping to do this for a month continuously and cut down on the cardio just to see what my 'gainz' are.