22

Sunday the 9th December was officially my 22nd birthday! I thought I'd tell you a bit about what I got up to and show you a few of the lovely presents I got.

First thing was a night out on Friday with my friends. Sadly not everyone could make it but I had a really amazing time with the people who could. I had a LOT to drink and had such a laugh. It was one of the best nights out I've ever had. I also managed to wear a dress I couldn't do up a month ago thanks to my weight loss so far (which is now a whole stone). 

On my actual birthday I had my family over and I opened presents and had tea and cakes. I got so many amazing things and it was so nice to spend time with my family. I also got a bit of money which I'm going to try to put towards a new phone but I'm a bit broke right now so it may have to go towards other things like new work shoes.

From my parents I got the Urban Decay Naked Cherry palette which I have wanted since it came out. All the shades are so pretty and I am happy to add it to my collection of Naked palettes. I used it on my birthday to do my eyeshadow and I am in love with it.

This was an extra present from my parents because of how well I've done with getting a job and everything, they are really proud of me. The perfume has a really beautiful quote on the front which is shown in the photo above. When they gave me this I actually cried.

This pretty bracelet was a gift from my sister which I actually picked out a couple of months ago when we were on holiday and I love it so much. I wish I could show you all the gifts I got but there's a lot more and it would take too long to take photos of them all.

I'm feeling very blessed at 22 and I am excited to see what this year holds for me. Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special, I love you all.

- Claire

My Weightloss Journey So Far

This is quite a controversial subject to discuss, but about 3 weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers, sorry WW as they have now been rebranded. I had been struggling with my weight for years and although I wasn't that unhealthy or at risk I just wasn't happy with the way I looked. So I decided I wanted to lose weight.

In the first week I lost 5lbs and that's probably more because you lose more weight in the first week of a diet. It was tough because I was used to just eating what I want when I want and I had to start tracking everything and due to the amount of points I was having much healthier food.

Luckily there are lots of zero point foods, such as fruit, vegetables, chicken, turkey, eggs and fish. So I've been having a lot of those. WW have lots of their own brand food like the soup and bruschetta pictures above. I use the app to track my food and its full of recipes and you can scan the barcode on your food to find out the points. You are also given weekly points which are extra points you can delve into if you need to so it doesn't restrict you from going out or having something nice. 

In week 2 I lost 3lbs which I was really happy with. I got my pedometer to help count my steps more accurately than my phone. I started trying to get to 10,000 steps a day, although this doesn't always happen sadly. I am doing the diet with my mum so we've been helping and encouraging each other and she's been doing recipes. I've also eaten so much more fruit on this diet because it isn't any points and I find myself looking at food and thinking, I bet that would be a lot of points.

I got my first (and only because they will no longer be doing certificates) certificate for losing half a stone just two weeks into the diet which I am so proud of and I now have it on my wall to encourage me. In week 3 I lost 2lbs which was good but I feel I could have done better because I hadn't done enough exercise that week. 

So far I've lost a total of 10lbs in 3 weeks which I'm really proud of. I'm so close to losing 5% of my original weight which is great and I'm hoping that week 4 will get me there. I will probably do another post about this further down the line.

- Claire