My Fitness Journey...todate.

Well I went on Vacation in May after getting down to 153 pound I gained about 8 pounds will I was away which was more than I was expecting but I did have a great time which is the important thing....isn't that what Holidays all about?
So I worked at it slowly plodding away and I managed to get those 8 pounds of plus a bit extra so I got down to 146 pounds and then went away to visit my family in Holland only to gain 4 pounds so I'm holding at 150 pounds which is around 10 stone 7 pound.And that's ok but I want to get those last 7 pounds of so I'm still plodding away at it.The swimming has fallen to the wayside due to being busy with family stuff but I'm going to contact my swimming partner to see if she wants to go again at some point....I'll get there in the end but I'm not in any hurry.
My Smart Watch that I was sent to review well I lost it out walking Speedy so I got a new one with monitors your heart rate and does a few extra things so at some point I'll post all about it....but I like it so far!

So I'll leave you with some photos of my main holiday to the caribbean and from some of my other trips away that I have had since that one in May...

the view from my hotel room..

From my trip to Ilfracombe.....

The clock tower in Bergen Op Zoom....

Well see on the next post but in the meantime enjoy life...
                                     xx Rach

My Fitness Journey

Well its been a few weeks since I last posted.....who am I kidding its been a month!On a previous post I talked about the fact I had gotten a fitness tracker/smart watch and that I could stand to lose a few Pounds.Well I kick started things off with a very low calorie diet of 800 calories a day for the first week and yes I lost 4 or 5 lbs that week but it was tough I felt hungry all the time so I upped the calories to 900 a day that was better.That extra 100 calories made a difference to feeling starving hungry all the time to just being peckish from time to time....and that I can live with.The weight lose was then just a couple pounds a week and by the time 3 weeks came I had lost 8.6 pounds.....not bad I thought.
In that time I have also started going swimming twice a week and on my days off I have been going for a 2 mile early morning walk as well so that means I can up my steps target on my smart watch as I am regularly  going over that now....great!Each time I go swimming I increase my distance as well so everything is going well.
This morning I weighed my self and I lost another 8 pounds or so and when I worked it out I have now lost 15 pounds....just over a stone in a month!How did I manage to lose half a stone (8lbs) in a week?God knows except I have been eating a lot of melon and cantaloupe after my meals and when I feel peckish which is only 36 calories per 100g but I also read that its one fruit that actually helps with weight loss.....is this a secret weapon for those who want to lose weight?Who the hell knows....all I know is I wanted to lose a stone before I went on my holiday.I have gone from 12 stone to 10.9 stone which is from 168 pounds to 153 pounds and I still have 6 days to go to lose a bit more.
The question you're all going to ask is am I going to be good on Holiday the answers is I am going to keep to the same portion size and I will do lots of walking and swimming but if I feel like having a treat or a drink then I will and I'm not going to beat my self up over it and as long as my weight stays either the same when I weigh my self before I go or if I only gain a couple of pounds then I'll be happy with that after all I can continue to work towards my goal when I get back....Holidays are after all for enjoying your self!
                                             Till next time
                                                   Rach

Perfumes.....Classics

At Christmas I was treated to a bottle of Vintage Must De Cartier Eau De Toilette by the old man.Now this wasn't a full bottle because vintage bottles that are unused are rare to get hold of and extremely expensive and the 100ml bottle that he acquired was a in-store tester bottle.But when you compare the fragrance to the modern reformulated version you can understand why.The original formulation has top notes of: Bergamot,Tangerine,lemon,peach,Mandarin,rose wood,Galbanum,Neroli with the Middle notes:Jasmine,Leather,Carnation,Ylang Ylang,Orris,Orchid,Rose,Narcissus and the base notes of:Musk,Amber,Vanilla,Sandalwood,Vetiver,Tonka bean,Civet,Benzion which give the scent a luxurious mix of citrus flowers,leathery spicy warm musky aroma, the modern version that you buy today is a citrus scent to start which then becomes the more vanilla spicy aroma that doesn't seem to last like the original.And the musk has gone too.....

this photo shows a 50ml bottle the one I have is a 100 ml bottle which was about Half full and now has about 40ml left in it.

This perfume is not something that I would wear everyday its one that I would wear as the mood takes me when I fancy something different.

But I did treat my self to a 100ml bottle of Calvin Klein's Obsession Eau de Parfum this week which does have some similar notes to the Must de Cartier.The top notes are: Mandarin,Vanillin,Bergamot and subtle green nuances ,the middle notes are: Jasmin, Orange Blossom,Sandalwood ,Vetiver, and Exotic spices while the base notes are: Amber, Oakmoss, Incense and Musk. As I said the Obsession does have a similar smell to the fragrance but not quite so complex, it is a little more spicy and a little more earthy but is still a warm sensual fragrance and it does last quite well.and the price I got it for it would be one that I would wear quite often.

Another Favourite of mine is Calvin Klein's Euphoria,its different from a lot of fragrances that I wear as it is a more floral and fruitier scent which I normally stay away from simply because they tend to smell like cheap soap on me or they go sour but with this one I don't get that problem.I put that down to the fact it has a woody base that grounds it and gives just that little bit of warmth.The Top notes are: Pomegranate and Persimmon with the middle notes of: Dewy Lotus Blossom,Champaca Flower,and Black Orchid and the base notes of Amber ,Black Violet , and Mahogany Wood.The Mix of these notes gives it a floral and fruity with a tropical warm woody sensual fragrance that is quite delightful and lasts well.

And then we come to my all time favourite Joop Femme its and Oriental woody scent with its top notes that are: Aldehydes,Coriander,Fruity notes, Lemon and Bergamot, the Middle notes are: Orange Blossom,Jasmine,Lily of the Valley and Rose ,The Base Notes are: Sandalwood,Tonka bean, Amber, Patchouli, Musk,Civet,Oakmoss,Vanilla and Cedar. This creates a wonderful array on the nose that is just pure heaven to me, a scent that is like no other.

This is just a part of my collection and I will cover the rest another time.I hope you enjoy the start of my journey through perfumes.
                                                    Until next time
                                                        Rach

My New Smart Watch Fitness Tracker.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the seller to review this Toobar Smart Fitness watch from On Amazon.co.uk and I thought why not try it out.After all if I didn't like it would be no loss to me.

When  it arrived I put it on charge for an hour by plugging it into one of the USB ports on my PC but I also use the charger for my smart phone too which is handy some times.The Watch Monitors how many steps you take,the distance you have covered,It has a running mode,stop watch mode and calories you have burned mode plus and extra mode for exercise.And at night it monitors your sleep patterns too.and on the plus side it has a waterproof rating of IP67 which means its water proof to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

Then I down loaded the the VeryFitPro app from the google play store and synced the watch to my phone via Bluetooth which set the date and time on the watch.

I then went in to the App and set my targets for steps and sleep,call alerts,and text alerts.

Now there are other alerts you can set and an alarm but I didn't set those because I don't want to be woken up every time I get other messages from social media.I found the call alert and text message alert useful though as I quite often keep my phone on mute so I don't miss important calls this way.The App keeps a record of your activity and sleep each week and daily targets so you can go back over previous weeks to see how you are doing.In the user section of the app you can set your weight and height and some other bits as well.

I like this watch as its slim style is comfortable to wear,you really don't know that you have it on,even at night.The only down point if I was to get one again I wouldn't get the pink strap as it gets dirty easily.I also like that it vibrates and alert when you have reached your targets and the vibrate alerts for phone calls and text messages.And the main thing I like it the price which is currently at around £16.98 which is great value for something that actually works and does exactly as described.I definitely recommend this if you are some one who wants something like this but doesn't want to spend a fortune on it.

Now for goals data that I have collected.I have my target set at 5000 steps at the moment which I can do easily on the days I work but struggle sometimes on my days off.I will be increasing the target as I go along but only once I know I'm reaching my target each day consistently.....
Week 1:I walked 51856 steps distance in miles 23.43 with 1563 calories burned.
Week 2:I walked 33227 steps distance in miles 14.86 with 1002 calories burned.I was on week off from work that week.
Week 3:I walked 48568 steps distance in miles 21.72 with 1464 calories burned.
Week 4:I walked 58316 steps distance in miles 26.08 with 1758 calories burned.

I still miss my target on odd days but I am working on that so I will do a weekly up date on that and any other goals for myself.
                                                       Until next time
                                                             Rach

Disclaimer:I was Not paid for this review but received this product free of charge and my Opinions are my own.

A new Year and a New look

I know we are already in to March but I've been looking at my blogs that I have over than the one Speedy has and well this one is tired and I feel it needs a new direction or I get rid of this one and start a new one.So it is a New Year and a New Look for this blog and a New Name "Life Style....This is Me!"

The New Direction is going to cover all sorts of things whilst including the arts and crafts,the cooking and poetry and the best photos that I take.

But it will now cover travel and a few other things like products that I either get asked to review or I decide to try out for my self like clothes ,beauty products,house hold gadgets ,Plus trying things to get my self more active and yes a bit fitter....I'm not embarrassed to say that I could stand to loose a few pounds that I have put on over that last year so with that in mind my next post will be Checking out a Smart watch Fitness Track that I was asked to review on Amazon as part of my bid to get a little fitter.

I also have some other gadgets I want to really try out like my new air fryer and learn how to use it properly and cook all sorts of low fat recipes that I can share with you.Maybe you can join me in getting fitter too and enjoy some healthy recipes along the way.

So Life Style....This is Me! is a journey too,I hope you will all join me as we travel along this road!

See you Soon,xx Rach

Some new places

This is Bradley Manor dates to the 14th century

and this is the coast line at Tintagel

Today's photography adventure

This is Colton Fishacre House A filter was applied to this one to bring out the colours a bit more

This one was taken a bit further away with no filter this is an arts and craft period house and of course we have to have one of Speedy

Speedy enjoying the garden.

Photography....Architecture

Just a little project for mummy to work on

Just a little Thanksgiving Project for you all to make!

Hello everyone,it's been awhile since I last posted here but I thought you would like to try this or give it your children to make too.Its  a Thanksgiving card though it could be just a happy autumn card.
What you will need is A5 size sheet of pale yellow paper,a sheet of A4 size white card folded in half,some brown paper,green paper,orange paper,an A5 size envelope a black pen and some pva glue or a glue stick.You will then need to print out the templates in the picture below with the thanksgiving banner on it on to A4 sheet of paper....

Cut out the shapes and the thanksgiving banner,save the banner for later.use the templates to trace out the shapes on to your orange,brown and green paper and cut them out so that you have these shapes like in the picture below....

Then arrange and stick the pieces onto your A4 folded in half card like in the photo below....

Then using a black pen draw the lines on the pumpkin,and the eye and detail on the bunny!You now have a cute Thanksgiving card ready to write your message in!Hope you have fun making this card!

MAGIC

Another little something that popped in to my head...
MAGIC:
He's watching her creating a morsel to consume,
like a witch creating some magical spell,
she smiles as she creates perfection,
offering him a taste of what's to come,
the oven closes,he wraps his arms around her,
she turns to meet his gaze,
a temptress,a witch,the spell is cast,
lips meet,passion ignites,
A different magic burns bright...

SHE

SHE :
She walks into the club dressed in black,
wearing a mysterious smile,
picking her path through the crowd,
toward the dance floor she sees him,
seductively she brushes past him giving him a smile,
he turns toward her as she starts to dance,
losing herself to the latin beat,
her hips sway as she slowly starts to strip,
her dress falls,
never taking her eyes off him,
his eyes on her as he moves towards her,
taking her in that fateful embrace,
their lips touch and she awakes......

Just a little something that popped into my head

My latest piece of work!

Here is my latest monochrome portrait,of my Cousin Jennifer,only pencil and oil on canvas as the pastel just wouldn't go right this time.

Just a little project

Last week I did a little Project.A portrait of a friend of mine.I don't normally do this type of thing but I think it turned out pretty well.I did it in pencil,then pastel,then in oils,its in black and white/monochrome look.

A Bunny Rock

What do you think a bunny rock to send home with Bashful!Say hello to Speedy Rock

Its taken a while but my curtain project is done!

It took a while to do but I finally finished this little project.

My New curtains for the back bedroom,and the reason the took so long ,they are all hand stitched by my own fair hands....no sewing machine in this house!And I have never made any thing like this before,even the tie back is hand made strips of fabric then braided with a loop on each end.

Cupcake Recipe

I thought it was time to share the recipe for my cupcakes.

The Buns:
100g/4oz caster sugar
100g/4oz of softened butter
2 eggs
100g/4oz self raising flour
100g/4oz of mixed dried fruit
50g/2oz of glace cherries chopped in to 1/4's
Cream the sugar and butter together until light and creamy beat in the eggs one at a time adding a tablespoon of the flour with each.Slowly fold in the rest of the flour followed by the dried fruit and cherries,then spoon the mixture evenly in to bun cases or muffin cases (I use Muffin case as we like them a bit bigger)
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180c/350f/gas mark 4 for 20 to 25 mins until golden brown.leave to cool on a rack before decorating with butter cream frosting.
Butter cream frosting:
100g/4oz butter softened
225g/8oz icing sugar(in the US confectioners sugar)sifted
2 tablespoons of milk
Beat the butter until really soft and creamy slow beat in the icing(confectioner's)sugar,alternately with the milk.Continue to beat until light and fluffy.You can add flavourings and a drop of food colouring to the milk to make a different taste mine was strawberry and light pink topped with sugar ball pearls and rice paper flowers.

Just a little Baking day!

Friday I did a little baking for the hubby for valentines day,some fruit and cherry cup cakes with strawberry frosting.

Then I made some mini cheese scones and mini fruit scones.

And yesterday 3 granary baguettes.done the old fashioned way from scratch.