Back on Slimming World - Week 1 Update

I've mentioned weight loss on this blog a few times but just to recap, I lost almost 3 stones (42 lbs) from around January 2014 until September 2015 on Slimming World. I was more dedicated for the first few months then I sort of kept losing some and putting a bit back on. Nothing too drastic though and then I got really focused when I decided fairly last minute (around 6 months before) to book a wedding. After that was over, I felt like there wasn't much to look forward to anymore having turned 30, bought my house and got married in a short space of time so I turned to food, massively! Like, 1 and a half stone (21 lbs) gain kinda crazy!

I finally decided enough is enough and I'm back on it properly but doing it online this time, instead of going to group. I decided to do this update post so you can see what kind of foods I've been eating etc and I might make it a regular thing but probably not weekly as things will probably get repetitive.

Staying on track - week 1:

• I tried to look at meals I used to have, such as those on this blog post, to get inspiration and ideas of how I lost weight in the past.
• Focused on what I can eat, not what I can't. So I try to make my meals syn-free or very low syn so that I can still have my chocolate. When there were treats at work, I decided that I was allowed a little bit of those and I had 4 syn hot chocolates at home as my evening sweet treat. This way I managed to have mini cookies and caramel shortbread, as well as chocolate cake, last week at work. I also had cups of sugary tea and penguin bars when visiting my parents! I was then still able to have Options hot chocolate with light squirty cream and marshmallows after dinner!
• Went clothes shopping because I was absolutely sick of not fitting into my clothes and needed a few bits to get me by until I've lost some weight over the next few months. It was depressing trying on clothes and feeling big, compared to how I was in the summer but I decided to use this as motivation for getting back to how good I felt when I could pick up the majority of clothes I liked and feel pretty good trying them on.

Meals I ate last week:

Breakfasts:

• Alpen Light Bars
• Soft Boiled Eggs and Toast
• Fried Egg Toastie

Lunches:

• Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese
• Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta
• Leftover dinners
• Nando's!

Dinners:

• Spicy Tomato and Mozzarella Penne
• Nacho-Style Feast (recipe here)
• Sweet Chilli Chicken (recipe here), Rice and Veg
• Stir-fry Rice and Veg
• Chinese Fakeaway
• Tomato and Mushroom Pasta (recipe here)
• Cheesy Chorizo Pasta 

Weigh-in results: 

I lost 2.5 lbs! Not bad for eating lots of my favourite foods like pasta, chocolate, cake, chorizo and cheese, eh?! That's why I love Slimming World!

Here's to a good second week! If I make anything worth showing, I'll probably put it on instagram so make sure you're following me @suzyheartsbeauty!

Are you on a weight loss journey? 

What are your favourite healthy meals?

New to my makeup stash

If you've read any of my 2016 goals posts, you'll know that I've been trying to cut down on my spending. I never said I was going to do a total ban so I'm happy with the level I've cut down to and thought I'd share with you the makeup I've purchased so far this year. If you're following my instagram, you'll know this is a massively cut down amount compared to normal!

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette (£35 at Debenhams)

The Gwen Stefani collection with Urban Decay is an exciting one so after purchasing the eyeshadow palette to receive from my husband for Christmas, I was desperate to get my hands on some of the new releases in January. The most exciting product from the collection is the blush palette. Especially since the shades are more tailored towards lighter skin tones. Thanks Gwen! I haven't experimented with all of the shades yet but they are all so beautiful and I think this palette has a great selection of colours.

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Lipstick in Firebird (£16 at Debenhams)

I knew I needed to try some of the lip products too so I picked up the lipstick shade that appealed to me most. Firebird is a gorgeous fuchsia shade that complements my colouring perfectly. For some reason, lipsticks with a hint of purple just look amazing with my pale skin, green eyes and blonde hair! This is a satin finish and it feels so comfortable on the lips. I haven't worn it outside of the house yet as I'm waiting for a night out. It's not the kind of colour I would wear during the day!

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Gwen Stefani Lip Pencils (£14 at Debenhams)

I'm steadily building up a little collection of lip pencils so having not previously tried an Urban Decay one, I thought this was a good opportunity to get one. I obviously went for the matching shade for my lipstick. Such a beauty! This is a very creamy and pigmented formula. I'm definitely going to pair these two products together on my next night out!

Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in Incandescent Light (£34 at SpaceNK)
Another exciting launch this year has been the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders. They are on to a winning formula with all of these variants of Ambient Lighting Powders aren't they?! I took full advantage of a £15 off voucher code with SpaceNK, combined with £20 worth of points to spend, to pick up a few bits I'd had my eye on.

Incandescent Light is a gorgeous light pink, pearly shade that is amazing for pale skin tones. It adds a subtle sheen to the cheekbones that doesn't look out of place in the daytime. It does have a small amount of shimmer but nothing too glittery. It's a great addition to my ever-growing highlighter collection!



NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (£19.50 at SpaceNK)
I haven't really used a proper eye primer for ages, having been used to using MAC Paint Pots in their place, however I really fancied giving the NARS one a go. I've really been enjoying this primer for massively extending the wear time of my eyeshadows, much more so than the MAC Paint Pots. I'm so glad I tried this as it's definitely worth the money.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly (£22.50 at SpaceNK)
This is my fourth or fifth tube of this concealer now! I honestly love it that much! It's the perfect concealer that covers up dark circles, redness and blemishes without drying out already dry/dehydrated skin. It goes on so smoothly and the coverage is amazing. I generally cover most of my face in this on a daily basis where I don't usually wear foundation. Just dab this all over, blend it with my BeautyBlender and away I go!



Collection Eyes Uncovered in Nude Rose (£2.99 at Boots)
I've heard FleurDeForce rave about one of these eyeshadow palettes before and when Gabby featured this shade in a recent PO Box haul, I got excited about the launch of this and kept my eye out for it in store. This week I finally got my hands on it and the shades are so beautiful. I can't wait to use it!



Essie Nail Polish in Bikini with a Martini (£5.99 at Boots)
I love a good Essie nail polish as you may be able to tell from this photo of my current nail polish collection, so when I spotted that they've relaunched some retro shades I was quite excited to see them. Trying not to be too spendy, I only picked my favourite and it's a pretty shimmery, pearlescent pink. It's so nice!

What makeup have you purchased recently?

Charlotte Tilbury Skincare

For the last month or so, I've really been loving some Charlotte Tilbury skincare that I have, so I thought I'd let you know about them.

Charlotte's Magic Cream (£70 at CharlotteTilbury.com)

Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream had me intrigued when I saw it on her YouTube channel yet I didn't really want to fork out the £70 to find out if it was any good or not. I'd heard mixed reviews about it too! I decided to push my luck a little during this massive Charlotte Tilbury haul and managed to get myself this very generous sample! 

This is quite a thick cream that is deeply moisturising on the skin. You don't need a lot of it so I guess the tub would last a very long time. I reckon this product is definitely most suited to dry skin as it can be a little greasy and heavy on the skin until it has absorbed properly. This makes my makeup go on so much better so I don't mind it. I do think I will want to switch to something a bit lighter in the summer though. 

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Night Rescue Cream (£100 from CharlotteTilbury.com) 

I managed to get this tub of the Magic Night Cream from The Book of Magic Makeup (£150 at CharlotteTilbury.com) and I'm really glad I did, as I wouldn't have paid the £100 to try the full size without trying a sample first!

I find this to be quite unique in its texture. It's like an oily gel-cream that feels so luxurious on the skin. Just like the day cream, it's quite heavy and super moisturising so I'm not sure how oily skins will feel about it but I love it on my skin. It stays quite wet looking (and feeling!) for ages so definitely suited to night time use only. I wake up with incredibly soft skin after using this so I will be sad when this pot runs out, however it does take a long time to use up.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Eye Rescue (£40 at CharlotteTilbury.com)

As soon as Charlotte's eye cream launched, I wanted it! It took my husband telling me that it looked like I needed to apply more cream around my eyes for me to take the plunge. He doesn't normally make those kind of comments so I thought things must be getting bad! 

This product almost feels like a mixture of Charlotte's Magic Cream and Magic Night Cream. It's sort of creamy but sort of like a gel. Even the colour of it looks like I've mixed those two products together! This is one of the best, if not the best eye cream I've ever used. I need something very moisturising under my eyes as they get so dry and it can make concealer application tricky. This creates the perfect base for concealer as well as keeping the skin hydrated all day. I use this cream at night too.

I would definitely recommend these products if you've got dry/dehydrated skin and like me, have reached your 30's and feel like you need to step up your skincare game a bit. They are also ideal for the cold winter days, giving you a much needed boost of moisture. If you're quite a bit younger or have oily skin, you may want to try and get a small sample of these or test them in-store as I'm not sure they will be suited to your skin!

Whilst browsing the Charlotte Tilbury website, I noticed you can buy all three of these products as a gift set called The Magic Skin Trilogy for £195 here, which does offer a bit of a saving if you want all three.

Have you tried any Charlotte Tilbury skincare?

2016 Goals: progress so far...

At the beginning of the year I posted my 2016 Goals so I thought I'd do a little update post to report on how I'm getting on. Hopefully it will motivate me to blast the things I'm falling behind on...

1) Weight loss - Ok, this one isn't going too well. I started The Body Coach plan and hated it. Got a post on that here! Then I went back to doing Slimming World and lost 4 lbs in a week. Due to personal circumstances, I wasn't able to have on-plan meals the next week and I haven't made much progress since then. I've mostly been eating Slimming World friendly meals but then totally overdoing it on the snacks. I don't know why I can't stick to plan at the minute. I looked back at an old Slimming World post I did here and saw that in my first 10 weigh-ins, I managed to lose 20 lbs. That's an amazing achievement and I'd love to do that again. I really need to get my head back into it. I'm absolutely sick of not being able to wear the clothes I want and feeling big all of the time.

2) Learning to drive - I'm happy to report that I've actually had 3 driving lessons now. At least I'm achieving something so far this year! I'm absolutely terrified every week and can't really feel happy that it's the weekend until the lesson is over but I'm glad that I'm doing it!

3) Cut down on shopping - I've actually managed to stick to this one too! I honestly don't know how I'm managing it! I've only went shopping for makeup twice this year and that adds up to around £100! I could easily spend that in one shop (...and then do that multiple times per week!) so I think I'm doing good. It's hard and I often end up feeling sorry for myself that I can't go shopping but I'm trying my best.

4) Learn to be happy - Hmm I wouldn't say I'm doing too well with this one. I haven't had any of the bubble baths and relaxation time I mentioned in my post. I'm still dreading work. I still get anxious. I spend a lot of the weekend worrying that I should be doing something but I can't quite bring myself to do anything either. I could be putting my mind to blogging or something but I just can't. I get lets of blogging ideas throughout the week but by the time it's the weekend, I just don't feel like it. Happiness is something I'll have to work on.

So in summary, I'm managing to stick to two out of the four goals up to now. Not too bad but I desperately need to lose the weight. I think that will also contribute to feeling happier! I feel it is quite hard to keep all of the plates spinning, as I like to put it. I feel like I have quite a lot to do at once and feel a lot of pressure to do it all.

Be positive, Suzy. If you want it, you can do it...

Are you managing to stick to your resolutions/goals for 2016?

New blog sale!

It's blog sale time again! If you fancy a little shopping, please check out my blog sale here :)