Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

DW Fitness Festive Challenge – First Update

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As you know, I’m taking part in DW Fitness – Festive Challenge. This is a 12 week challenge, running from a couple of weeks ago, to right before Christmas. I posted a few weeks back, about the beginning of the process, so now I’m here for an update! If you read my last post, then you will know that I first weighed-in at 12 stone and 5 1/2 lbs. I confessed to gaining quite a lot of weight after Florida and vowed to get back on with my target of 10 stone!

Well two weeks in and it was weigh-in on Monday. I was pleased to see a weight loss, despite having spent several days ill!

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As you can see, I’m now 12 stone, 2lbs! That’s a loss of 3 and a half pounds and I’m pretty pleased with it. There are actually 12 bloggers taking part in this Fitness challenge and so every two weeks we hand in our weigh-in results and a league chart goes up. This week was obviously the first chart but I was pretty pleased to see myself in 4th position!

So as well as weighing-in every two weeks, there are topic prompts provided by DW Fitness, to get us talking about the challenge, previous diets, problems we face etc. This weeks topic was actually previous diets we’ve tried but I’m skipping ahead to the next one as its more relevant for me this week – the struggles I face (I’ll do the other one next time!).

Last week I was really really ill. It started slowly on Monday and got worse over the week. Even by the second day though, I was wanting to eat my weight in chocolate and order takeaway for dinner. It’s hard to admit, but food – and bad food at that, is definitely one of my biggest crouches. When I feel sad, angry, depressed, ill – whenever I’m down – food is my go-to pick-me-up. In fact, that’s one of the biggest reasons I put on weight after Florida, as there just didn’t seem to be much to look forward to, money was tight and my career was up in the air. However finding a better place mentally, has always been the best time to try and lose weight for me.

Anyway I was good. Mostly anyway. Monday-Friday I still tried to eat as well as I could – though I have to admit my appetite disappeared somewhat and I was barely eating at times. However by the weekend – Saturday was my worst feeling day – I did give in to temptation. Chris went out to the supermarket especially for me and bought chocolate cheesecake – 2 slices which I was good and had over two days.

It didn’t end there though. We actually had takeaway for dinner on Sunday night too. This is the first one we’ve had since I’ve been dieting and so I knew that was pretty good anyway. However I was ill, Chris was ill and both of the girls had spent the weekend feeling rough. No one really knew what they wanted and so takeaway was ordered. I wasn’t especially good or restrained over it either, though I probably didn’t eat as much as I do at times. I knew it was weigh-in the next morning but it was really all anyone fancied!

Luckily though, I’m feeling better this week and have been back on track this week. Fingers crossed for keeping the illness at bay and managing to keep losing weight as I did the last couple of weeks. I’ll check back in in a fortnight, to give you my next update!

Week 40 – Monday Round-up

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Only another 12 weeks and then I’m knocking this round up business on the head! I knew my close friends enjoy reading it but I find it such a bind and I’m sure its completely boring to the majority of my readers! Not to mention on a busy week it just feels like such a hassle and yet again I’m writing a very quick post today!

Monday-Friday was school as usual for the kids and work for Chris. Monday I started a new diet with DW Fitness and since its a 12 week challenge it will take me right up to Christmas! This first week I’ve lost 2lb and so I’m feeling fairly positive about it so far! The whole week I have been working hard on Closet Geek orders. I’m so completely busy that every moment of every day seems to be dedicated to it! I had a total of 13 orders over the weekend, 11 of which were handmade dresses and so as you can imagine it’s keeping me busy. Tuesday though I made a dress for Megan and I was really pleased with how it turned out. She even wore it over the weekend so that assures me she likes it!

Um what else? Girls were with their Dad on Monday night and stayed at my mum’s on Thursday. Oh that’s because I went to a Bloggers Event at HomeSense on Thursday night and that was really nice to get out for a change. Nat came around one day too. Think that might have been Thursday daytime! I’ve been updating the school website in what little spare time I have, plus making sure I attend the kids events at school. I went in to help school with the website on Friday afternoon too. Watched The Descendants movie with the girls at the weekend – wasn’t really what I expected but it was good in the usual Disney manner. I would say Mean Girls meets High School Musical really.

Think that about sums up my week! Got to go make 9 of the same dress now so update again when I can!

Keeping Active at Work

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Now that I’m working from home, I have to admit I’ve found it a struggle keeping on top of my diet and fitness. Since coming back from Florida in April, my weight has drastically increased and it’s pretty depressing, considering how well I was doing before. However I try to remind myself that up till Christmas I was working a job that required me to be on my feet for the whole of the shift and even after that I was volunteering at the girls school which also meant plenty of hours on my feet. Now though, I sit at my computer and blog, or sit at my dinning table and sew – neither of which can be classed as active jobs unfortunately. On top of that we live a twenty minute car ride away from the girls’ school so it’s not even like I can walk with them to school.

Simplyhealth wrote this great post about fitness at work, the incentives and initiatives. It’s aimed at employers, to try and help their employees and I think if a lot of companies implemented some of these ideas, it would work out really great for people. However, since I work alone and at home, I need to find my own motivation. These are the things I’ve decided work so far.

1. Physical activity. It sounds like an obvious one really but especially for me who sits down to do work, find whatever reason you can to move about. Sometimes I turn the stereo on loud and whenever I have a pattern piece to sketch out or cut, I stand up to do it and dance around to the music while I can.

2. Take a break. This one sounds like the opposite of what we’re talking about, but really it isn’t. Every hour or so I make sure I get up and get a drink, or lunch, or even go for a loo break! Getting up every now and again just makes sure I’m always moving a little. It makes sure my bum doesn’t go numb too!

3. Walk to the post office. As I make jewellery, clothes or even sell things on Ebay, I often have a reason to go to the Post box or even the Post Office itself. While it’s super easy to jump in the car (and quicker too), I force myself to walk as it gives much needed exercise, a break from the work and also some fresh air.

4. Do the odd job that requires a few flights of stairs. Okay so I’m supposed to be working – sewing or blogging. But that doesn’t mean the washing doesn’t need doing or the dishwasher needs stacking etc. Use the opportunity to carry a load of washing upstairs, or check your upstairs rooms for dirty cups and glasses, just to use the stairs. Its quick and simply and great way to just give yourself a shake.

5. Park the car a little further away from school. As part of my day job, I’m a mum and that requires the school run twice a day. Though we live too far away to walk to school (and often we’re not up early enough anyway), when I collect the girls from school I sometimes park a little further away, meaning we get in a walk when I pick them up. Both the girls love to walk and on a nice day it can be a good excuse to call in at the park on our way back to the car. Win/win for everyone!

6. Use a pedometer or a steps app on your smartphone. I use an app called MyFitnessPal to count all my daily calories. The iPhone has a build in step counter too, motion sensored and you can tie this into the app. This is a great way of seeing how much I’ve managed to walk or how lazy I’ve been and how much more I need to do. Also if I’ve managed loads of steps, it gives me a great excuse to grab a glass of wine or a little treat after dinner!

There are loads more ways to stay active at work but these are some of the ones that work for me. The important thing to remember is that every little bit counts and once you’ve tried, its always easier to keep trying!

Week 28 – Monday Round-up

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For the most part, this week has been great. It’s been busy in parts but not to the point of feeling like you don’t have a moment to breathe! Monday started off with Chris heading out to work, taking Lily to school and then Megan and I attending an Open Morning at one of the schools she is considering for next year. It was between 10am and 12.15 but it was nearer to half past by the time we left. Megan ate her lunch in the car, we called in briefly at mum’s and then I dropped her back at school before heading home. The girls were going with their dad after school so I knew I didn’t have to turn out and get them again, meaning I got on with some work when I got home. That said I started to feel a bit rough and curled up on the sofa to watch TV and chill. When Chris got home we had takeaway and didn’t do an awful lot else!

On Tuesday I took both the kids to school (and Lily’s tardis that we made over the weekend!) and then came home again. It ended up as a busy morning, picking up parcels, doing some shopping, calling to see Chris’ Gran and getting my sewing machine serviced. We managed to grab lunch and a few hours to ourselves before heading out to get the girls from school and going out for dinner. After that we dropped Lily off with her Grandma and headed back to school as Megan was in her school play. Chris and I watched and thoroughly enjoyed it, before picking Megan up, collecting Lily and then heading home and putting the girls to bed. By that point I was exhausted and yet again, didn’t get an awful lot done that evening! I took a bath and read some of my latest book.

Wednesday was Sports Day and so I headed out to school with the girls. Lily went first in the morning, participating in 4 races, though as every KS1 group took part, it took all morning. The weather was dull and it even rained a few times, but it turned out okay, despite being cold. Lily and I then had lunch together (along with my mum) and eventually Megan joined us too. In the afternoon it was Megan’s turn and there was a Kingball Tournament for all the KS2 kids. This took all afternoon too and though my mum bailed on us, Grandma turned up to support and keep me company as well. We managed to leave school about 10 minutes early but it did make a difference when we came home and collapsed! We had takeaway for dinner and then Nat came around in the evening.

On Thursday I decided to really try hard with my diet. On Wednesday I’d had a nasty shock when getting on the scales and it was just the kick I needed to make me try again. After taking the girls to school and then popping to mum’s to drop off their stuff (they were staying the night), I came home and emerged myself in wrapping parcels and going to the post office, all just to keep busy. I was good for lunch and good for dinner and I felt so much better for it. I also remembered how much I love jacket potatoes! In the evening Amy and I collaborated to book our Inside Out cinema tickets for when she comes down to visit in a few weeks time. We booked with Vue which means we get Disney Store vouchers each and since we’re buying Tsum Tsums on a monthly basis at the moment, it all comes in handy!

The girls had stayed at mum’s on Thursday night as it was school disco and her having them saved me a lot of hassle, however I still needed to get up on Friday morning and head to school as Lily was in shine assembly. This was the last one of the year and I was so proud of her for being in twice (she was originally in it at the beginning of the year). No surprise but I cried when she was up at the front – I’m such an emotional mess when it comes to the kids! Afterwards I came home and set myself to sewing. I challenged myself to three dresses over three days and I’m happy to say I managed it! I made a dress for Amy’s daughter Liv on Friday, which took majority of the afternoon and a little into the evening. Once that was finished I started on Lily’s, cutting out the pieces that evening. I obviously picked the girls up from school at the right time, had dinner etc. but the majority of the day was spent sewing!

On Saturday I got up and began to sew again. I started on Lily’s dress and worked on till after lunch. At that point the girls and I headed into town as we needed a few bits of food and also some material/elastic/zips from Boyes. When we came back I continued to sew but I did take a break here and there – especially when Megan wanted to make brownies. However I got Lily’s dress finished by the evening and even started to cut out Megan’s pattern pieces. Megan made her brownies into Minecraft Blocks as she’s a nerd like that, but they tasted amazing and looked pretty cool too.

Finally on Sunday I got up and had to take Chris to work, so the girls had to come too. We packed our swimming stuff as I promised we’d go swimming over the weekend and so once Chris was dropped off, we went to the leisure centre. We spent an hour or so there, had showers and got changed. We then had to pop into Tesco again on the way home, where the girls decided they wanted to make their own version of Subway subs. We then came home, made lunch and did some bits around the house, before I settled down to sew. I sewed all afternoon and into the evening, stopping to make food for the kids, help with homework etc. and of course feed myself and Chris. However by about 10pm Megan’s dress was finished too and I was really pleased with them all!

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So that was pretty much my week, I don’t think I missed anything! It’s been a good week but I have to admit things are always so busy at the end of term – I look forward to the holidays. As of today, the girls have a week and a half left of school and I have at least 5 things penciled into my diary that I still need to do with regards to school. That said, it’s nothing too hectic so it should be a good coming week! Hope you’re all having good weeks too, I’m off to sew again!

Trying to decide whether to Run or Dye

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I have a confession to make. You know how I was trying really hard to lose weight and get fit? Well right now I’m struggling. For the last year, going to Florida has been my motivation and now that’s passed, I’m finding it really hard to get back on track. I started my weight loss journey at 13 stone and 3 lb, getting down to 11 stone and 2lb before I went away. I promised myself that when I got back from holiday, I’d get right back to it – but it’s just not happening.

For the last four weeks, I’ve really struggled to eat well. The first week – excuse no. 1: Lily was poorly. Second week – excuse no. 2: I was poorly. Third week – excuse no. 3: let’s face it, I’m just not motivated again yet. Fourth week – excuse no. 4 – I’m going to eat so badly and then get back on with it next week….

So I’ve come up with a plan… train for a marathon!

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It might seem a little crazy and even a bit extreme, but I think it’s what I need to motivate myself again. I absolutely hate exercise and I’ve really struggled to get out and run/jog, but maybe a summer of preparing for this, is just what I need!

Run or Dye is not just a 5K run for charity, its also a ridiculous amount of fun. Throughout the course, every 1K, you get covered in dye and your body becomes a canvas – an artwork. I hate getting messy so again this is quite extreme for me, but there is just something about it that seems so exciting.

Living in Lincolnshire, the best options for me are either North Yorkshire or Derbyshire. Both options give me plenty of time to train and also to continue losing weight. However if you’re interested in participating, there are locations all around the country. Also, if you’re interested – there is a discount code available (KISDISCOUNT) that will give you £3 off per person.

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Although I want to get myself fit and hope to run this marathon, I also know that it doesn’t matter how long you take and ultimately you can walk it if you like. I think ultimately this makes the decision to participate a lot easier and hopefully a lot less daunting. I definitely recommend you check out the website and think about doing Run or Dye. I’ve always fancied doing something like this and now I think it’s just the motivation I need.

Get Fit Friday – round up

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When I get back from Florida, I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing with Get Fit Friday or finding a different way/day to track my weight. However today is the last Friday before I go away so it seemed like a good idea to do a round up of sorts.

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It was almost a whole year ago since I started this particular weight loss journey. Nat and I, over at Twice the Mum, came up with the idea of Weight Loss Wednesday and together we motivated each other to try and lose weight. At the end of the year, I moved the feature over to my own blog as Nat wasn’t trying to lose weight any more for a while. I started at 13st 3lb and got down to 11st 1lb – that was a loss of 30lb (2st, 2lb). However that was 2 weeks ago and in my heart of heart I knew I had given up a little as Florida neared. As much as I wanted to be the thinnest and lightest I could be, I also knew I was about to put a whole load of weight back on. I didn’t stop trying completely but I knew I just wasn’t trying as hard as before – you may have noticed there was no Get Fit Friday post this time last week. However I braved the scales one last time this morning, so I had an accurate figure of my weight-loss before Florida. I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Start weight: 13st 3lb
Last weigh in: 11st 1lb
Current weight: 11st 2lb
Change: +1lb
Total Loss: 29lb (2 st, 1lb)

This week I put on weight but it was only a pound and honestly I am okay with that. As I head off to Florida next week I’m sure I’ll be stuffing my face and enjoying my holiday, so it’s likely I’ll come back weighing at least a half stone more! I’m not going to worry about that for now though – but when I get back I’ll definitely be back to weight loss. 10 stone is still my target and even if it takes till the end of Summer to achieve it, I’ll hopefully still get there.

Thanks very much for joining me on this weight loss journey so far. I’ve appreciated everyone’s comments and advice. Good luck to anyone who is currently trying to lose weight – I know it’s not an easy adventure to take!

Guest Post – Fat, Sick but not dead thanks to Joe Cross

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This is my personal story on how Netflix changed my life for the better, yes TV made me fitter.

I was 32 years old at the time and worked in an office all day. Little time for exercise but plenty of excuses why I couldn’t go to the gym or lose weight. I had eaten my way through too many of life’s indulgencies and was fast approaching the 18 stone barrier. I’m a tall chap but still 18 stone wow how did that happen?

I had become oblivious to my appearance and poor lifestyle choices it was all second nature by then. Takeaways were a daily option and I never really did anything but eat what was put in front of me. Even the buffet joints were scared to see me (I wish I was joking).

Joe Cross Changed my life

A friend, a really good friend told me about this documentary by a guy called Joe Cross on Netflix  who had been in a similar situation to me and had changed his life by juicing for 30 days.
So with little to stop me watching it I logged in to my Netflix account and started watching it. Straight away I had a bond with this Joe guy, he had a disease too but other than that our lives had seemed to take very similar paths. He was a businessman I was a businessman, he’d over-indulged, so had I.


Joe went on to explain the power of juicing and I had tried every fad diet there was but it all comes back eventually so after watching it I went and made my first juice.

It tasted ok, I didn’t rely on a recipe so the balance was a bit off, lots of kale will do that for you (ughhh)

So my journey in to juicing started

I quickly found some great juicing recipes online and bookmarked a website called Vitality4Life just because they had everything I needed. I was quickly becoming addicted to juicing. I did a full reboot for 2 weeks to begin with and astonishingly in just 3 days I had already dropped a massive and unbelievable 15lbs. I’ve never lost that much weight so quickly, not ever! Over the next 2 weeks I was done to less than 16 stone, 2 stone gone that’s like a small child or medium sized dog.

Unfortunately after 2 weeks of juicing 4-5 times a day my poor old 1980’s hand-me-down Kenwood juicer/blender died. I was gutted she had become my best friend, because of her I had lost all this weight.

I started to do some research online and on that Vitality4Life website found a juicer comparison video.

I hadn’t known there was such a thing as a cold press juicer but after watching the video and doing some more research realized this was the juicer for me. I ordered the Oscar NEO 1000 cold press juicer from their website which arrived the following day.

What a difference a cold press juicer made

It’s not just sick looking it’s a belter of a juicer. It makes juicing easier too. Dead simple to clean afterwards and is a lot quieter to my beloved Kenwood (RIP).

Nearly 12 months on and I am now 13 stone or just under depending on my week (still have the odd takeaway) so that’s 5 stone I’m free of. To put that in perspective that’s the equivalent of a dining room table, solid oak front door or your entire collection of pots and pans.

I’m rebooting when I need such as after Christmas or before I go on holiday but really as long as I keep juicing pretty much daily the weight stays off. I still eat but just less junk and I’m not yo-yoing all over the place.

I hope that you find this blog inspiring, juicing really isn’t a fad and I owe it all to Joe Cross, my friend who recommended his documentary and Netflix, oh and my two juicers.

Get Fit Friday – Week 10

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This week I’m making a super quick post because it’s actually got to 11pm and this is the first moment I’ve found all day! As of this morning I had lost 2lb – though a murder mystery later and that might not be the case in the morning! (Not that I’ll check!!). It’s been a pretty busy week and although I wouldn’t say I’ve been good with what I’ve eaten, I’ve definitely tried to be aware of what and how much I’m eating. With less than 3 weeks to go before we jet off to Florida, I know I’m not going to make my target but that’s okay. Instead I’d just like to get below the 11 stone mark and into the 10’s and when I get back I’ll be trying again to pick up where I left off (and with whatever I’ve put on!)

Start weight: 13st 3lb
Last weigh in: 11st 3lb
Current weight: 11st 1lb
Change: -2lb
Total Loss: 30lb (2 st, 2lb)

Get Fit Friday – Week 5

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Well it’s Week 5 of my Get Fit Friday series and already I’m looking to make some changes! As you may know, this weigh-in linkup originated from Twice the Mum and our Weight Loss Wednesday series. When I pulled the linkup over to my own blog, I changed it from Wednesday to Friday (obviously) and gave it a new name (obviously again!). However after only 4-5 short weeks, I’ve decided the linkup isn’t really working for me. I love the sense of community and supporting other bloggers on their journey, but there are so many linkups for weight loss that really we’re all just linking up in a loop. As such, while I will be continuing on with my Get Fit Friday series, it will no longer be a linkup. I would love for people to still feel free to comment and share their links or even just their results, but I just won’t be adding the linkup component. Instead I will be looking for other linkups that I can leave my link with and of course following everyone else’s journey and offering support!

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Anyway, onto this week. Overall its been a great week! After the disaster of feeling massively under-motivated last week, I’m pleased to report it was very different this week. I’ve stuck to my calories every day and I’ve been so careful and so much more aware than I usually am. I also went shopping twice this week, walking around town for a couple of hours on both occasions. Since the shopping was mostly window shopping, I saved money and still lost pounds (see what I did there?). In fact, I wrote about my top three healthy habits and both walking and watching my calories were in there – two things that have massively helped me this week.

So how have I got on? Look and see!

Start weight: 13st 3lb
Last weigh in: 11st 6lb
Current weight: 11st 4lb
Change: -2lb
Total Loss: 27lb (1 stone 13lb)

I’m so pleased with the results this week. I was talking to the girls about my weight loss before school this morning and one of the things that really give me a boost is just how pleased they are for me as well. Megan pointed out that if I could still manage to lose 2lb a week till we go, I would lose 1 more stone. This would leave me at 10 st 4 lb by the time we go and I would be more than happy with that. To be honest, I’d be happy at 10 st 7lb.

This week has been great motivation and proved to me that if I just try hard, I can do it. I’ll be sticking with it very much this week and fingers crossed for another good loss next week!

Top Three Healthy Habits

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Simplyhealth recently published an article about how healthy habits aren’t just for January. It got me to thinking about my goals for this year and the things I’ve changed fundamentally, not just temporarily. While my short term goal is to lose weight in time for my holiday to Florida in April, I know that ultimately I want to maintain that weight loss. Ever since my first marriage I’ve had somewhat of a yoyo history with weight loss and weight gain and if I could find a way to keep on track, that would be great.

These are the three main changes I’ve made this year, with the hope to maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

1. Keep track of what you eat
Since being on a “diet”, I’ve been using My Fitness Pal app to track what I eat. I currently have 1200 calorie allowance, this is with the hope of a 2lb weight loss each week. That said, I don’t always stick to it but being conscious of what I’m putting in my mouth (and accountable) then I make much better decisions as to what I eat. Currently I avoid eating chocolate, takeaway, biscuits etc. However this is only while I’m actually “dieting”. Once I’m back to normal I aim to keep using the app, even if its just to be aware and keep track of what I’m eating – even on the bad days.

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2. Walk every day
As we live 12 miles away from where the girls go to school, we have no option but to drive to and from school every morning. When I was working, I spent plenty of time on my feet during the day, working solidly from 9.30am till 2.30pm but now I have a bad tendency to come home and sit on my sofa for majority of the day. However each and every day, I try to make a reason to walk somewhere. Down to Aldi is only 0.3 miles, into town is about 0.8. Though its not very much, it at least gives me some exercise each day, as well as cleaning and tidying around the house. At least once a week I also aim to go shopping (usually window shopping) for a couple of hours. This gives me a steady build up of steps (usually tracked on my iphone) and makes sure I get out and about.

3. Get lots of sleep
A few years ago, when I separated from my ex, I had a very different lifestyle from what I have now. I stayed up till all hours of the night and barely got 4-5 hours of sleep a day. A part of it was liberating, a need to make my own decisions instead of being dictated to by a partner, but partly it was because of a chatroom I was part of and friends I communicated with in different time zones. However since meeting Chris, this changed pretty rapidly. We’ve always loved our late nights and lay-ins, but its always under much more sensible circumstances. This year I’ve vowed to always get a good night sleep – between 7 to 8 hours a night. We very rarely head to bed later than midnight and on nights when one of us has to be up the next day, we usually head up nearer to 11. I feel much better for it overall, lots more energy and a lot less lethargic. When I get up in a morning I feel like I tackle the day ahead, instead of dragging myself around to get the minimum done.

What would your top tips for a healthier life be?