BLACK FRIDAY SALES!!!

Happy BLACK FRIDAY everyone!!! I don't know about you but I love a good excuse to go shopping! :P

Some great deals in my business for TODAY only.

You can contact me at ellie.cooper@flp.com
or visit my business page:

Health, Beauty & Lifestyle- Ellie Cooper

Have a great day!!! And it's Friday! :)

x

Link me in!

Hello! So I'm working on my networking, new business and all, and I've just joined Linked In.

I'd appreciate any adds on there from yourself if you're apart of it, or alternatively why not check it out?!

Cheers me dears! :)

x

My new business venture!

Hi everyone! So I've not mentioned anything about my new business venture until now. I figured I'd see how it goes for a bit before I announce it! However I'm really passionate about it and my products, and it's going well so I thought now was the time to tell you all! :)

So what is it? ...It's called Forever Living (you may have heard of it?) and it's in the health and nutrition sector, although it can wear many hats as the products also involve beauty, cosmetics, animal care and more!

Why do it? There's so many reasons people opt to join the business and I won't go into them all but for me I'm doing it primarily for a second income. Having now used the products, I've also fallen in love with the business and I'm my own best customer as it were! 

Like I say, there are tons of products and I'm yet to meet a person who doesn't want to try at least one of them. There really is something to appeal to everyone.

You can check out my online store here if you'd like to have a browse and can buy directly from there too. However I will quickly show you my top 5 products I've been enjoying recently. 

1. The Clean9 cleanse pack. You may have seen my recent posts about this detox and it's all thanks to this pack- vanilla or chocolate. If you'd like to hear what the plan entails then please read my posts (found under the #clean9 header or watch my youtube video for a day-to-day account). I cannot tell you how worthwhile I found doing this was. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

2. The Heat Lotion. I'd never used a product like this before but for those of you that are familiar with deep heat then it's used for a similar purpose but does a much better job! This is great for relaxing those tensions. Particularly effective after a stressful day at work. I like to apply some onto my shoulders and I feel the stress melt away! Also HEADACHE RELIEF! It's amazing at getting rid of tension headaches. I apply a tiny bit to my temples and TA DAH! It's like magic! Cannot live without it now.

3. The Forever Lite Ultra (Vanilla) (Chocolate available). Think of this as a milkshake. I began drinking this whilst on the Clean9 Detox and I enjoyed it that much that I've continued having it! I use this as a meal replacement. 300ml of soya milk and a scoop of this and I have breakfast on the go! I'm not a fan of lots of food in the morning and often run out of time so this is perfect for me and it's really filling! It's also great to take before or after workouts!

4. The Aloe Drinking Gels. The first one (yellow) is the Aloe Vera Gel. This is basically full of goodness and helps promote a healthy immune system and give your body the nutrients it craves. I shot 45ml of this every morning. It's not known for its pleasant taste though so I find holding the nose works a treat! It also features heavily in the Clean9 Detox...you get used to it though!

The second drinking gel is the Aloe Berry Nectar. This works similarly to the Aloe Vera Gel but has a blend of apple and cranberry making it sweeter and generally a bit nicer tasting! It is also recommended for people who suffer with urinary tract infections. Again I've been 'shotting' about 45ml in the morning. 

5. It was really hard to stop at just 5 products as there's so many more I love...but this one most definitely had to feature! It's the Aloe Deodorant Stick. Up until recently I used the typical spray deodrants: Dove, Sure etc and whilst I thought they were doing a good job I would still get BO when sweating, especially after heavy workouts. But not anymore! I've been using this for a good few weeks now and I no longer get BO. Full stop. Yes I still sweat, but there's no smelly odor attached. This deodorant allows your pores to breathe without clogging them, hence goodbye nasty smells. Honestly, if nothing else I'd say give this a try!

PLEASE NOTE: All of the Forever products come with a 60-day-money-back-guarantee! So, if you aren't impressed you can get a refund within 60 days of your purchase!

I'm really excited about my business! Wish me luck ;) && please visit my business page https://www.facebook.com/elliesforever

Thanks!

x

Day Three #Clean9detox

Hello! Today was Day Three in my nine day detox and I can tell you it has been so much easier than yesterday! AND I was very impressed with my results so far. 

Before I tell you about how my day went, I'll tell you how the plan has worked for me so far and reveal my results. 

Drum roll....

Surprisingly I have in fact lost 2kg in weight and even more shockingly a whole 2 inches around my waist! I was stunned at these readings because being pretty thin and toned already I wasn't really expecting to see any physical results- more just a energy boost and feeling less sluggish I guess! So yes, very happy so far!

So, what did I eat today?

I woke up at around 9am feeling very hungry. The type of hunger where you feel a bit sick! So I quickly opted for breakfast. Today this consisted of: 

2x Forever Garcinia Plus capsules (20 mins before the aloe). 

120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + min 240ml of water. 

1 scoop of Forever Lite Ultra with 300ml of soya milk (or you can do skimmed milk). 

Let me tell you I was super pleased about the addition of the vanilla shake for breakfast as I do really enjoy them. In fact I aim to continue having them after a hard gym session post finishing the clean9 plan. 

As the shake tends to do, my hunger was relieved shortly after having it and I felt fine. I did a little bit of this and that before taking my snack of 2x Bee Pollen tablets + min 240ml of water around 11ish. 

At 12 noon I decided to go for a swim. The plan recommends 20 minutes of daily light exercise such as a walk, run, cycle or swim. It is also recommended that you don't do too much exercise as this could possibly affect your results with building muscle etc. However, considering I'm referred to as a fitness freak or gym junkie...I could go on...I figured I may aswell live as I normally do and do the same exercise routine. Based on the fact I always do similar amounts of exercise each week I'm guessing aswell that I won't be shocking my body and building muscle fast, in fact I reckon I've pretty much built all the muscle I can for now! 

So, I swam for around 40 minutes. A nice leisurely lane swim and I really enjoyed it. I don't know if this is just me but whenever I go swimming I always feel starving shortly after leaving the pool. Indeed I started to get hungry and I headed home for my lunch (around 2ish), which was:

2x Forever Garcinia Plus capsules (20 mins before the shake). 

1 scoop of Forever Lite Ultra with 300ml of soya milk. 

2x Bee Pollen tablets + min 240ml of water. 

Again I really enjoyed the shake and I was pleased that there was no Aloe Vera Gel in this meal because, whilst it's good for you and a key part to the plan, it's not pleasant tasting and I have to hold my nose and shot it quickly. 

After that I was busy doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and that entertained me for a while :) Then at around 6pm it was dinner time! I was so excited! Actual FOOD! However before I could eat a proper meal I had to have:

120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + min 240ml of water, followed by

2x Forever Garcinia Plus capsules (20 mins before a meal). 

Then I could have a meal equivalent to 600 calories. *Please note that this meal should not contain processed foods. 

2x Bee Pollen tablets. 

As you probably saw above in the photo, I decided to have 2 small pork loin chops, a small baked potato, boiled carrots and boiled mushrooms. I added in a slice of honey dew melon for dessert. I calculated the calories by weighing the food and using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone to roughly work out what was what. 

Technically I could have been a little bit naughty and put on a couple of spoons of instant gravy, however I decided I wasn't that desperate and would prefer to try and follow the plan strictly. Regardless, I fully enjoyed every mouthful! It's funny how when you haven't eaten for so long it makes you appreciate food so much more. Delicious! 

Since then I've been drinking water like the plan suggests and I have to say I've remained full. It's just gone 9:25pm now and I'm getting ready to relax and catch-up on last nights' Dr Who! <3

Feeling much more positive after having had some real food today and getting some great results already! 

Day Three, done!

X

Day two #Clean9detox

Day two and alive and well! :)

*Please note that the plan for Day Two is the same as Day One's so if I speak about breakfast, lunch and dinner and you're interested in what this entails then please read Day One. 

I woke up a little hungry this morning at around 8:45am. I proceeded with breakfast and this helped to relieve the hunger, however I did have a ever so slight headache at this point. Nothing to warrant pills or anything but there was definitely a niggle there. 

I snacked on the Foever Bee Pollen tablets (x2) around 10:30am, at which point the headache seemed to go away. At 12:15pm I felt quite hungry but just drank water for a little while before helping myself to lunch. However rather than the skimmed milk I opted for unsweetened soya milk in my vanilla shake today. I really enjoyed this and liked it more than the skimmed milk as it was less sweet and not sickly at all (which I know some people complain about). 

I then went for a steady 1.5 hour walk with a friend. I felt good and it took my mind off of food. However around 4:30pm I got really hungry and had to try really hard to fight the urge to eat something. I just drank some more water and tried to distract myself. 

At about 6:30pm I had my dinner/tea and surprisingly felt quite full after having this. A few hours later I took my final dose of the Aloe Gel along with more water. 

Now at 11:20pm I feel quite good. I'm quite tired but I'm glad I didn't feel the need to nap today. Maybe if I'd have been at home then I might have had a little sleep but because I stayed busy it wasn't a problem. 

I would guess at this point that Day Two is quite possibly the hardest of all the nine days because on

Day One you had eaten real food the day before and it's new and exciting and in Day Three you get to eat a 600cal meal of real food again. So Day Two is hard because you're hungry from Day One and you're missing the concept of eating food, chewing and tasting etc. 

Bring on Day Three! :D

X

Day one #Clean9detox

Hello. So I've made it through day one and it hasn't been too bad! :)

I woke up feeling really positive about the detox but a little scared I'd be too hungry and have to give in and eat something. BUT I managed to follow the plan to a tea today so if you're interested in what Day One looks like then keep reading!

For breakfast (8:45am) I had 2 of the Forever Garcinia Plus capsules. It recommends you take these 20 minutes before the next step, so I got myself ready for the day before taking 120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + 240ml of water. (Let me tell you, the gel isn't very pleasant tasting at all so I held my nose and drank it fast which seemed to work pretty well!) 

It then says to incorporate 20 minutes of exercise. As I went to show rehearsals (I'm in a musical) I counted that as my exercise. 

Around 11am I went ahead and had my allowed snack of 2x Forever Bee Pollen tablets + 240ml of water- the water is a minimum recommendation btw, so I've been drinking 250ml bottles each time. 

At about 12 noon I started to feel a bit peckish. This slight hunger continued until 1pm when I went for lunch/dinner, whatever you call it! For this I had 2x Forever Garcinia Plus capsules 20 mins prior to another helping of 120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + 240ml of water. I was then very pleased to have a vanilla shake (you get a choice of chocolate or vanilla when you order the plan). The shake was made up of one scoop of powder and 300ml of skimmed milk. This was like heaven. It tasted so nice after not having had any food and only drinking water and was the closest thing to a meal I guess. I then took 2x Forever Bee Pollen tablets. 

After lunch I felt a lot more revived and not hungry at all. I then set off for a dentist appointment and after leaving the practice at around 2:30pm I did start to feel a bit tired. The long drive home didn't help and I felt really sleepy by the time I got in. Often I'll have a power nap if I have chance, so taking a nap wasn't something I did specially because of the plan. However I did sleep for around 2 hours- a little longer than I would usually!

For dinner/tea (6:30ish) I took 2x Forever Garcinia Plus capsules 20 mins prior to another helping of 120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + 240ml of water. Then I had 2 more Forever Bee Pollen tablets, before leaving for a pamper party. 

Whilst at the party I had a really good time trying beauty products etc and didn't even think about food. I just drank water which wasn't a issue because I was driving anyway. 

I arrived home at around 10:30pm and had my final dose of 120ml of the Aloe Vera Gel + 240ml of water. 

Now it's 11:15pm and I'm feeling fine. Perhaps a little bit peckish but I'll be off to bed shortly so tomorrow is a new day! My friends who have done the Clean9 plan said the first two days were the hardest but by day three you can have real food again! Looking forward to Day three haha :)

Wish me luck! 

X

Morning LBT in Nike Shorts

Good morning! Nothing better than to start off the week with a good workout! :)

So having just devoured my post-workout breakfast after a good LBT (legs, bums and tums) class, I thought I'd share with you my current favourite gym shorts. 

They're Nike branded and my particular ones are black with a stamp of bright coral. The colours are actually the first thing that stood out to me. Another cool feature is the Lycra material built into the shorts, so essentially shorts within shorts.

The Lycra means that putting the shorts on is uber soft, comfortable and they fit tight like a glove. I'm guessing this feature is designed to help with sweat control and chaffing, and I have to say I've never had any aggravation whilst wearing them. 

I also like the writing on the waistband that says 'just do it' ...I do like my fitness motos :)

I've worn them many a time now to different classes. I even wear them to boot camp which often involves a fair amount of running and they've still remained comfortable.

I have a feeling I paid a little more than £20 but you can get them here for that price. So, if you're looking into getting some new gym shorts, or thinking of being brave and actually buying your first pair of shorts to workout in, I'd recommend these with their great support system and comfort. 

Battling the junk food

Hello :)

What I don't understand is why on earth it is so hard to be healthy whilst in student digs?! I go from being the most motivated fit person at home to a health disaster at my uni house.

A typical example was half term last week... I went home, temporarily signed up to my local gym and got back into loosely following the Weight Watchers plan. Piece of cake! Or shall I say no cake!

I felt motivated, in good shape, healthy and I still was able to enjoy a big meal out at the end of the week. In fact I ended up losing a lb or 2, just from cleaning myself back up.

 

I head back to uni, determined to carry on a good regime and what not, and even bring back a new exercise mat that I bought whilst home. I get back on the Saturday and do pretty well. Sunday I didn't make the gym but I do some floor workouts so all is well. Monday I'm doing really well and attend a Zumba class plus a short gym sess...

And then it takes a downhill path!

After a large meal on Tuesday, I decide to head down to my local Tesco's and buy a large tub of cookie dough ice cream. And if that wasn't enough, I then grab a bar of galaxy chocolate for good measure!

Funny thing is, I don't reckon to have a massive sweet tooth but obviously I did on this night. I eat a quarter of the tub, feel like that is enough but then piece by piece devour the galaxy bar and then return to the freezer for another quarter helping of ice cream. Then of course I feel sick and think why did I do that?! Was there any need?

The next day my stomach feels gross, it isn't used to such crap I guess, and I tell my housemate she can eat the remainder of my cookie dough ice cream...I did not what that screaming at me to finish it!

At this point I'm annoyed at myself because I've woke up feeling guilty and yucky on a day that is supposed to be a treat.

It was my friend's birthday and we were heading to Nando's for tea, watching Dirty Dancing the musical and then grabbing drinks at a local Wetherspoons. Thankfully I felt OK by the time she arrived and I was relieved that I was actually hungry for chicken, rice and creamy mash (my standard there), instead of feeling sick!

But I have to think to myself...why did I still binge on junk knowing full well I would be eating something yummy the following day? Failed on self control for sure!

I guess there's still that little part of me that has the junk food addiction! Sure, I've come a long way from being known as the 'Takeaway Queen' in second and third years of uni, but I still have many moments of weakness.

The worst part is that I don't even particularly enjoy the junk food. I mean sure it tastes nice at the time but often it upsets my stomach and I feel sick more times than not afterwards...either from eating too much or just from pure grease!

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to fully curb my junk food cravings, but I do take solace in the fact I associate home with being healthy.

I think the environment in which you're in makes a massive difference. At home, for example, most of my immediate family are pretty health conscious and this means the food shopping usually consists of fruit, veg and the likes. At uni, on the other hand, takeaways can be a regular occurrence... I mean at home I'd never dream of getting a menu out and ordering food randomly (for perhaps just me), but at uni it's a easy option...which is a dangerous thing!

Then there's the alcohol. At home I rarely touch a drop...To be honest I don't massively like the taste of it and drinking at home seems a bit odd to me if I'm not going out. There's also the issue of it bringing on insane hunger. Alcohol always equals food for me, no matter what.

Uni, of course, usually means big nights out at least every fortnight. I can never get drunk without following it with food...McDonalds, burgers, chips, pizza...standard. Unfortunately this usually carries on into the next day and a takeaway is my hangover cure.

At home I'm also quite lucky in that I seem to have inadvertently passed on the fitness bug to my  sister, who is now an avid gym go-er. This is good for me because it generates the motivation that I sometimes lack in actually getting up and going to workout.

Gym buddies are a good thing! But make sure it's someone you work well with...no point just going for a chat! At uni I have a few friends that occasionally go to the gym but it's not often enough to make an impact on my motivation :P

It's just hard to be healthy at uni...whereas at home, it's almost handed on a plate...a healthy one! Junk food is too easily obtained at uni...It's true what they say, if you remove all temptation then you won't be tempted.

I guess I'll just try my best for now and then go home in summer and live as I really want to live...healthily!

I reckon a takeaway is on the cards this evening...so I think a good gym session might be called for this afternoon...you know, in an attempt to limit the damage!

A chocolate alternative...

Hey again. Can't keep away of late can I! But I've stumbled across something that might be of interest to those of you with a bit of a sweet tooth.

Previous to doing Weight Watcher's, I wasn't someone who was overly mad on chocolate or the likes. I was more of a savory gal. However after enrolling on the plan I somehow started craving sugar, A LOT. I guess I wasn't getting my usual greasy fixes of chips and what not, so sugar became more of a priority?!

I perhaps still can't identify with the major chocoholics of this world, but I am partial to the odd bar or two :)

Weight Watcher's taught me to eat smaller meals but then to treat myself with low cal sweet snacks afterwards...like their mini chocolate cake bites! So, in turn I grew a bit of a sweet tooth and recently I've found it hard to resist buying a chocolate bar after my Uni lunch or snacking on sweet fixes! 

Anyway... the other night, after coming home for half-term, I got given one of these...

Introducing the Sharon fruit!

I don't know about you, but I've never heard of these before! My dad and sister are doing this thing at the moment where each week they are trying a new fruit/vegetable. A good idea actually. Healthy and exciting all in one :)

I've come to love fruit and veg...you can teach yourself, honest! So I was looking forward to giving this a try.

To be honest I wasn't all that sure what to expect. It kind of looks like a cross between a tomato and an orange, but it's skin has a fairly waxy feel about it. 

Following the instructions, you eat it like I would do a kiwi...slice the top off and use a spoon to scoop out the contents. Apparently my sister thought that you ate it like an apple so has been eating skin and all!...She's still here to tell the tale but I personally wouldn't eat the outer shell :P

It's a weird taste to describe but the thing that hit me first was how sweet it was! Literally sweeter than sugar if that is at all possible?! The insides were similar to that of a passion fruit minus the seeds and the texture reminded me of a plum.

Quite an odd but rather enjoyable experience all the same. 

The good thing about this fruit is that it's SO sweet that it literally takes away any chocolate/sweet cravings that you might have had before! Prior to eating this I was considering a bar of Cadbury's, but a couple of spoonfuls into the Sharon fruit and there was no way I wanted chocolate or any dessert whatsoever. You could have put my favourite sponge pudding and custard in front of me and I wouldn't have eaten it! Says a lot, trust me! 

So my advice...if you're struggling to keep your sweet tooth at bay, give a Sharon fruit a try!

Ellie x

Twitter: @ellie1989

Feeling hungry?...Graze box!

Hello! Hope you are all well.

So, you may have seen Graze boxes being advertised on the TV (they are plugging it a lot lately!) but I thought I'd share with you my experience of them.

How does it work? Well you basically sign up online at graze.com with the idea that a box full of yummy delights arrive at your door each week. You can select what day you'd like to receive your box but it doesn't require a signature, it is letterbox sized and comes along with your royal mail post so there is no inconvenience there.

How much does it cost? This can apparently depend on the time of when you started ordering the boxes but mine should be £3.89 each week so I'll go with that. However, as I've been a graze customer before (I stopped my orders last time as I didn't really have the money), they've given me 3 half price boxes which is one of the reasons I started the orders back up.

Food? I really like the kinds of food the boxes contain as they are often nutrition in some way and provide a great healthier snack option, rather than grabbing that chocolate bar! Seeds, dried fruit, nuts, cake, dips, popcorn and bread are just some of the things that may appear in your box. You aren't 100% sure what will be in your box but you do have a certain amount of control over what you don't want to be sent. There's a rating option where you can choose to bin items whereby they'll never send it you. Then there's the options of try, like and love and a send soon. Perhaps self-explanatory but they'll try to send you the things in send soon first!

You can cancel at any time, providing it's not on the day you have a scheduled box! There's also an option to postpone boxes, say you were going on holiday or just wanted a break or something.

Here's my box that arrived this morning. I already knew what to expect as Graze email you the night before to tell you what you have in your box, if you want to peek. I personally can never resist!

Inside...

I've had this one before and really enjoyed the chopped dates, yum! I'm a pretty big fan of seeds and nuts too so this is a nice treat for me.

Really excited to try this...tea and cake are a new addition to the graze boxes. I love carrot cake but usually avoid it because of the fat content. However this is only a tiny piece and at 88 calories, I'm sure I'll be fine! :)

Another new addition to the graze boxes. I love microwave popcorn!

And finally...yum yum yum. I love the graze dips and I couldn't resist these breadsticks and dip for long. I really enjoyed this as a little lunchtime snack! The dip was delicious.

If you want to try Graze but you're unsure about whether it would be your thing or put-off by the cost, why not try one for free?! Just enter this code, 3CTZKFGT and receive a free box. Just remember to cancel after you receive it to avoid a weekly charge if you don't want to continue it!

Let me know what you think if you try it, or you've tried it! Comment here or Tweet me: @ellie1989