SAD, Winter Blues

It's winter time hurrah!

Hot drinks, rich foods, Halloween  parties, Bonfire night,  Christmas, lights, gifts and New Year all these things should make the dark, long cold nights almost something to relish.

With oh so many wonderful things to get excited about how can you not get excited?

Well depression. 

I know what you are thinking, "oh well that's depressing" and yes, absolutely it is depressing and for anyone who is greeted by the winter blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder every year this is not a time for excitement but dread.

I have never been formally diagnosed with SAD, I have discussed with doctors and they have told me that they are reluctant to label me as it would effect my employability and even had a mental health nurse tell that SAD doesn't exist.

My experience without a diagnosis is just that, my experience but I do feel it's a valid one.

Most winters I fall into a depression, particularity when we turn the clocks back and it can be absolutely debilitating making it almost impossible to accomplish day to day things like changing my clothes, having a shower or even wanting to be alive.

Typical symptoms include sleep problems, anxiety, panic attacks, over eating, lack of energy, concentration problems, irritability, lack of desire for intimacy, relationship problems and even hypomaina in the summer which before looking into this thought was solely the domain of bi polar.

Aside from panic attacks I tick everything on the list. 

Now  I have never been suicidal which I am eternally thankful for but wanted to look into suicide and winter, know for some light bed time reading.

Surprisingly suicide rates actually peak in late spring/ early summer which I found interesting as I was expecting them to be higher in winter , with SAD affecting 29% of the UK population  and the pressures and expectations of Christmas this was at least a small comfort in a strange sort of way.

"But what can I do about it"  I hear you plead!

There are a few things you can do to boost you mood which is pretty standard advice.

Exercise, get outside more and eat right anything that can boost your vitamin D shop go onto your shopping list like  cheese, eggs and mushrooms, perfect for an omelet.

Self care can have a big impact on how you feeling, having a shower, shave, changing your bedding anything you feel you can manage.

Now when I am depressed going to the toilet can be the crowning achievement of the day let along heading off for a brisk jog so what else can you do?

The easiest things for me are to supplement with vitamin D and open my curtains  when I am feeling up to it.

I have invested in a  sunrise alarm clock and an SAD lamp with admittedly a little expensive I find they really do help me.

 I would view them as a  necessity not a luxury to help you reconcile the price.

Of course there is also the prospect of going onto anti depressants but I consider those a last resort personally but everyone is different and go down the route is best for you.

I hope this post is helpful and I will be doing a write up for my SAD lamp and alarm clock, when I manage it will be dependant on how I am feeling. 

If you want to read a bit more on SAD the check out Dungarees and Donuts experiences with SAD by clicking here 

Burn calories and save some lives!

Oh have a drawn you in with the prospect of slimming down and getting to play super hero at the same time?

Well good, that was the plan.

I went and gave blood for the first time this week, I had gone to donate before now but I wild girl appeared and bit me the night before so I wasn't able to that time.

But what's all this about burning calories bit about? I hear you plead.

Well blood doesn't just appear from the void, your body has to use calories to make the stuff and if you donate a pint then you are buring 650kcal a time!

This is about the same as just over an hour of cardio, but this will differ from person to person with bigger people burning more when they exercise as it takes more energy to move a bigger body.

A typical recommendation for healthy weight lose is to reduce your calories by 500kcal a day to drop a pound in a week and you have just done that sat on your rump, reading this blog and, most importantly,  saving someone's life.

There are other benefits to giving blood as well, such as improving your overall cardio vascular health, you heart is going to have to work harder with a pint less blood available to carry oxygen.

Reduces your cancer risk by potentially removing excess iron from your system.

You get your blood tested for all manager of diseases such HIV and Hepatitis and let you know what your blood type is, which I have always been curious about my own but never pressed as I have a twin to harvest spare blood and organs from if the need arose.

You are saving a persons life, this could be anyone from a stranger, family, friend or even yourself if the worst happens!

There stipulations on if you can give blood, from travelling abroad, medications or drug use, your sexual preferences and those of your partner unless you are happy to abstain from certain activities for several months, if you sell sex or being bitten by a feral girl like I was.

There are more and you can find the full list by clicking here 

Men can give blood up 4 times a year and woman 3 so you are looking at a fair few calories and lives saved if you keep up with it. 

You can also just donate platelets, which you can do up to 24 times a year, I imagine this would burn fewer calories as the rest of the blood is returned to you but with the increased visits this would probably win out in the end.

There are some possibly side effects from giving blood such as nausea, weakness, feeling light headed/ dizzy and fainting however the staff will make sure you are alright and even feed you!

I actually felt sick for two days afterwards but I still managed to get to my first ever Yoga class the day after donating!

Please please please consider becoming a donor, you can call up on 0300 123 23 23 to book yourself in or check the website by clicking here

My year of gym excuses

I went back to the gym, not necessarily shocking since this is supposed to be mainly a health and fitness blog but hey ho I clever blog name should really tell you that my fitness game isn't as strong as I would like it to be.

How have since I last went I hear you demand!

Well I am going to tell you, keep your Fitletics on!

The last time I went to the gym November and I had not been for awhile since before that and there a couple of reasons to why I fell out of fitspiration lifestyle which I believe can effect anyone so are worth me talking about on here, I have managed to throw on my amazing "Do you even leviosa" vest from  Chargrilled over my 13st bulk.

Work/ Life Balance 

If you believe that I am happily blogging full time, despite my infrequent posts, and making any sort of money from my blog then let you me tell you my humble reader I am yet to make a penny although I am looking to change that I move to a self hosted site but more about at the time.

I was and have been doing shift work and not a simple mix of shifts but going 4am starts to a 3pm start the next day then a day off and back onto a 6am start then back onto an evening shift.

Due to this upheaval and the physical nature of my work the last thing on my mind was strapping on my trainers and hitting the gym, going for a run or a even a home workout, especially  with the prospect of dealing muscle soreness while all ready being exhausted from the lack of quality sleep.

Toxic Relationships

Urgh, I am not going into too much detail here as I wouldn't say it was particularly fair but I will say I invested a lot of time and energy at the expense of my wants and needs. 

This is not wholly the other parties fault but they were pretty demanding and all consuming in regards to emotional support and time.

Living Situation 

The last place I was living turned into an absolute nightmare, one housemate would run up and down the stairs clapping, singing and even went and bought an air horn preventing me sleeping, remember the crazy shifts I was doing?

This housemate and one of the others would stand outside my room bad mouthing me and generally being unpleasant, stealing or throwing my things away, telling lies to the neighbours. 

This came to a head when one of the housemates decided to throw a party and they decided it would be hilarious to try and break down my door while threatening violence against me and coming into my work place to verbally abuse me as well.

My landlady took no action but things did improve once I phoned the police enough and I moved out.

Mental Health

I have touched upon  this in briefly in the past and I am going to keep it short and sweet hear as well, I suffer in the winter moods with low mood and in all fairness it has not been a massive issue for me for years, certainly there but manageable.

However this last winter fit like a truck, I believe that everything above contributed to how far I fell but I dragged myself out, moved house, cut ties with toxic influences and made changes in my work life all while I wasn't particularly keen on being here anymore, not suicidal but very non nonchalant about the prospect of dying.

The irony is exercise can be just as effective as anti depressants but when you can barely change your clothes the gym is a step too far.

The other aspect of my mental  that has made me more coy about going to the gym is my potential to take things to excess. 

My mind can go become very fixated on different things where I will do something to the point of it effecting my health and well being.

 An example when I decided I was ready to get exercising again I opted to start walking, which I did to the point I walked and walked and walked to the point my feet where my feet were blistered but I carried on regardless.

Self Image 

In regards to my self imagine a couple of years back I was very much into the gym and health eating and I became fixated on having fewer and fewer calories to the point my weight dropped to 9.5st which is under weight for a man of my size but the real issue for me was that I knew this but I still thought I looked fat!

I am not going as far to as I was suffering from Body Dismorphia as I never went to the doctors about it and have never received a diagnosis.

I know this post is much more personal than anything I have done before but I do feel that there is some validity in the post, people have genuine reasons where they can not get themselves up and active, we just have to help and support them until they are ready.

There are  excuses for why I have been absent from the gym and blogging to be honest,  onward and upwards so I  shall see what I can make of the rest of the year.

What's going on with my blog?!

Not updated my blog longer than I care to contemplate but I have gathered myself enough to fill in the my legion of loyal readers, all two of them,  what da funk is happening with my blog.

Basically my mental health has been all over the place, end of post, good night.

Mmmm maybe that isn't quite the detail you were after?

I have had periods of my life where I have suffered from depression and  from what my doctor has said this has very likely been the case all through my childhood to different degrees, over looked by everyone around me due to their own personal struggles but I like to put it down to being a middle child.

Recently my issues have been more evident and it appears that I most likely have more going on than being depressed, which in it's self is an awful affliction that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

 I am waiting on a proper assessment to  see what fruity kind of crazy I am on or if I am just rubbish at life.

The breaks  I have had from my blog have been because of all this, some days I am lucky to get out of bed or have a shower let alone get the creative juices flowing to  create an easily digestible, mildly humorous product review or blog. 

The worse thing about all this is I actually think that writing my blog kept me healthier, I was getting myself out and about, going to the gym, being careful with what I ate, well apart from that awkward couple of months that I starved myself down to 9 and a half stone but rough with the smooth.

I do very much intend to get back blogging again but it is going to take some time yet.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as an attention seeking, self indulgent mental health post that seem to crop up all too often to on the hunt for sympathy and all those delicious views and shares. 

If anyone is struggling with any aspect of mental health please get in touch with your doctor or contact MIND which is a mental health charity. 

There are people and resources there to help you, please make use of them.

Grove Cafe, Vegan Take Away

You don't always feel like cooking everything from scratch and if you are like me, you don't have a tidy little bae to come home to who'll pop on a pinny and rustle up some delicious  and healthy grub.

Luckily Grove Cafe in Hyde Park, Leeds, will make you vegan pizzas, vegan burgers, vegan chocolate cakes and if you are willing to pay an extra £1 bring it straight to your door!

In the spirit of research I of course order a pizza, burger, cake and destroyed them all in one sitting on my own because that's what real men do!

First up was the pizza.

I ordered a Noon which has vegan cheese, garlic, spinach, peppers and aubergine.

I really enjoyed the pizza.

 The vegan cheese tasted exactly like mozzarella and the pizza had possibly the best base I have ever tried.

Next came the vegan cheese burger and chips.

Not as good as the pizza but still enjoyable. I was disappointed that the vegan cheese was melted on the burger, as a result the burger was a touch cold. The chips were great.

Now the most important course, the vegan chocolate cake!

This was my first time trying a vegan cake and I was not disappointed in the least!

The cake was incredibly rich and moist and I would of had no idea that it was vegan.

Sadly this review does have some negative points, the main one being that Grove Cafe not only sells meat along side it's vegan and vegetarian option but the meat is Halal.

Now before I am accused of Islamaphobia  my issue with Halal meat is that, although there is no kind way to murder an animal, the way meat is made halal is one of the worst ways that animals are slaughtered, religious beliefs don't come in to it for me.

Although I do eat meat I do avoid Halal as much as I can.

Maybe it's hypocritical of me but for me personally Halal isn't something I want to indulge in the same can be said with Veal or Foie Gras.

Whether this will impact your decision to order from there is down to you but I feel if I am writing a review you should have all the information.
 I will continue ordering their delicious vegan options and avoid any Halal.

Now that awkward point is out of way let's talk about the price.

Your money is not going to go as far at Grove Cafe.
 Not only are the prices slighter higher but the portion sizes are smaller than what I am used to for the same price.

I don't think that is a bad thing though.

Take aways should be a treat, vegan or not and a smaller portion size isn't going to kill anyone and if it's a product or company I really like I am happy to pay a bit more.

I really like Grove Cafe and they have a regular customer in me.

January 2017 Progress!

Well this will be a fairly short post!

Not a lot of progress was made physique or diet wise since my last post, this post is 22 days late as it is so no big well done to me.

The back end of 2016 had quite a bit of upheaval for me, a big shake up at work, strengthening friendships and removing toxic influences from my life.

All for the better but it does take a toll on you at the time.

 You can't put a price on how much your life is enriched when you identify the aspects of  you want to grow and nurture and the parts you want to lop off and burn.

Gym wise I think I went once in the last 4 months and my blog posts came down to a snails pace.

Don't get me wrong my fitness and my blog are parts of my life I want to keep going but I had to prioritise other areas last year so both took a massive back step.

That all being sad 2017 is looking to be my best year yet!

 I am feeling the happiest I have ever been!

 I have got myself down to that London and hit the Vegan Life Live Expo, got loads of exciting brands to work with and generally more energised.

 Now if only I can start hitting the gym three times a week like i was a couple of years back!

Volunteering at the Leeds Dental Hospital

For about 10 years I had not been to see a dentists, partly because of waiting lists, the actual cost and the fact that I don't really have any problems with my teeth.

When I moved to the city and found out I could volunteer at the dental hospital and not only get free treatment but also help the students master their chosen profession, win win in my eyes!

I signed up and then forgot all about it!

About a year and a half later I got a letter through my door saying I had an appointment to be assessed to see if I fit the needs of the students.

I was seen by a fully qualified dentist and then went home to play the waiting game again, not for as long this time and had my first appointment a couple of months later.

Not exactly a Hollywood smile!

Basically my teeth are over crowded, part of the reason I try not smile much, as a result I also struggle to brush/ floss the more over crowed area so I had a build up of calculus on my teeth.

Calculus is the build up you can get on your teeth from not brushing properly and it can start to form within 24 hours so make sure you are brushing twice a day kids.

Other than that I mouth health was really good, a bit of bleeding in the over crowed areas but no cavities, abscesses, rotten teeth or bad breath!

I had my teeth scaled and polished and given general advice on how to look after my teeth better with some being more obvious than others such as avoiding sugary and carbonated drinks or only having more acid drinks like orange juice with meals as the extra saliva helps protect your teeth.

Other tips given were not rinsing your mouth after brushing, not using mouth wash straight away after brushing, to floss before brushing, not to use Corsodyl daily everyday and to brush my teeth for at least two minutes.

If you are gums are bleed then it's an early sign that something is a miss and you should go to your dentist and to diagnose the issue before you lose your pearly whites.

However if you are a smoker then your gums may not bleed because nicotine constricts the blood vessels.

This means your gum health could be in the gutter without you knowing it so if you haven't been to the dentist in the last six months it might be worth booking an appointment even if it's just remind them of what you look like.

With smoking and gum disease having strong links to heart disease you should make looking after your mouth health a priority, that and quitting smoking of course!

I have had a really positive experience volunteering with the Leeds Dental Hospital and would recommend anyone to sign up as a volunteer, not only are you doing something good for yourself but also for the students.

My Progress Jul-Sep 2016

The title of this post is misleading I'm afraid.

I have barely made any progress at all in the last three months, due to constant illness everything has pretty much gone a bit poo, I haven't completed any events with Tough Mudder and Primal Stampede both having to be cancelled, plus the very mention of the gym gives guilt pangs not to mention I have not updated my blog in almost two months.

Crikey, I really need to get my finger out of my bottom and finish this year on a good note!

But it isn't hasn't been a total flop, I started my youtube channel and have been gathering products and ideas for new blog posts in the coming months.

My health has improved to the point I can start putting in the hours again on my blog and properly get into the youtube world. 

With the nature of my blog I do have to do a certain amount of research for most of the posts that I write, as much as I would like to market myself as an encyclopedia of all things health and fitness related it simply isn't the case.

A typical post will take at the very least a couple of hours, at the end of the day I don't want to look like a tart my posting information that isn't correct at the time of writing, so when I get ill the blog does go onto the back burner.

The last thing I want to be doing well I am praying for a solid turd or fighting a migraine is to be sat staring at a computer screen researching the wonders of avocado, that being said I do enjoy writing my blog but since I don't make an income from it I can pick it up and drop it if needed. 

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who reads my posts and all the brands that I have worked with and the brands that I am currently writing reviews for.

With all that out of the way I suppose I should unveil my dad bod  picture, try not to vom on your screen!

My diet has been an absolute mess, while I have been ill have been cycling between barely eating anything to eating everything I can get my paws on, I have stayed fairly active as I still need to get out and earn some dollar to carry on paying for my lemonade lifestyle.

Well that's about it, hopefully the wait between now and my next post won't be so long.

Mar - Jun 2016 Progress

This is going to echo my last progress post  but hey ho, what are you going to do about it?

Well I suppose I could knuckle down and start achieving the goals I have set for myself but we shall see about that.

I have been putting off writing this post for as long as I felt I could but I guess I need to bite the bullet and get on with it.

April was the month of my first event of the year, a 5K Bubble Rush.

Nothing major but something to panic a bit over when you realise the furthest you have jogged this year is the perilous journey from your bed to the bathroom at 4:30am.

The Bubble Rush did me a lot of good physically and mentally, it gave me the idea to start reviewing parks in the Leeds area, with Kirkstall Abbey and Roundhay Park being the best known and generally give me a kick up the rump!

May mirrored January in most ways.

My fire for exercise, eating and blogging was well and truly lit, in fact I  churned out the most blog posts in one month than I ever have.
 Hopefully the quality of the posts are fairly consistent and to add to that,I hope the quality is high to start with because my posts are poo then I hope the consistently isn't quite there!

And if you manged to get your head around that last paragraph then you deserve a congratulatory pat on the head!

You will of course have to go ask someone nearby to administer it because I am far too busy trying to lead the life of one of those instabitches who spend their lives on beaches sipping their detox teas and looking incredibly basic.

I went to my first bloggers event of year at The Lighthouse Store which was put on to help increase awareness of people living with Autism and their employability.

I also attended the The Body Power Expo in Birmingham, sadly I wasn't invited and had to pay but maybe one day guys!
 The ticket price was worth it just to see some Ex on the beach stars in the flesh because I am a sucker for trashy tv!

I continued with my park tour which included the Leeds/Liverpool Canal and the Killer Armley Steps.

I made some ice cream with the Muscle Mousse  I was sent.

 The main reason I am mentioning this as a point of worth is because Muscle Mousse liked it enough to post it on their instagram!

I would say the main talking point of May was the 2 week Banana Cleanse and also went Gluten Free for 2 weeks.

June was a real let down after my mammoth May, I really let myself down.

I went Dairy Free for 2 weeks, explored some Milk Alternatives and made a Cricket Cake, that was about it.

 I guess it's time for the progress picture!

How have Calvin Klein not snapped me up yet?

Not a massive change but I have lost fat, terrible results for 3 months!

 If you check my Forza Raspberry K2  then you can see a comparison of my condition this time last year and now.

 In the mean time I need to concentrate on getting into the gym regularly to get hench as funk!

Fit Shaming

No you didn't misread the title, since I wrote a post on Fat Shaming I thought it would only be fair to write about Fit Shaming.

I am sure I am not the only one who has encountered this.

 Basically the negative reaction people give you when you want to do something "fit" and no I am not talking about that fine little thing at the other end the bar!

The other day me and a friend went off for a run but before we set off one of my neighbours asked what we were up to and once we had said we were off for a run her face turned to that of almost disgust!

When I was trying to get people get people to join me on my first Tough Mudder people would give me negative reactions like " why would you want to do that"?

Not  said with a tone of curiosity but with an air of bewilderment and again almost disgust.

Well Shannon why do you want to snort a line of coke off a bouncer's cock every Saturday night? 

I don't actually ask her, that would be rude and if that's how she wants to get her trills that's up to her.

This seems to be acceptable than if anyone says they are going to spend their Saturday night in the gym, you get looked at like you are possessed by the devil.

A Devil with rock hard abs and glutes you could crack an egg on!

The fact is that 67% of men and 57% of women in England are classed as obese, people should be exercising more.

Not only will you be more likely to live longer, healthier lives but you won't be left wondering if this is the cream cake that will cost you your vision from your self induced diabetes.

If the #Fitfam isn't for you doesn't mean that you should discourage anyone who is trying to make positive changes in their life style, consciously or subconsciously.

OK so it's not so much shaming, when you are rocking your summer body while poor flabby Shannon sits in her over sized tee shirt you are fairly going to feel ashamed.

But this negativity toward people who want to be healthier isn't helping anyone, I know loads of people that like the idea of getting fitter but lack the confidence and need a boost.

They do not need to hear "why would you want to go for a run"? 

Yes you can justify yourself by saying I want to get fitter, I want to lose my belly, I want to look like a goddess when I am naked but some people just do not have the fight or the drive and will give up.

Next time you hear someone say I am off for a run, remember coke head Shannon and wish them a good time.

2 Week Challenge: Going Dairy Free

For my latest 2 week challenge I decided to go dairy free so no milk or products containing milk for me!

Normally I would keep a brief food dairy as I have done with my 2 weeks challenges going veggie and going gluten free but with dairy there wasn't really anything interesting to write about and not really any interesting products to try out.

I buy Pure a dairy free sunflower spread for when I wanted  something butteresque and I bought in some milk alternatives, Alpro Soy Desserts and dairy free protein flap jacks but no where near enough products to warrant a food dairy.

Now the products I couldn't have include whey protein, cheese, milk chocolate, yogurts and ice cream so my calories were reduced, I don't tend to do low fat anything as it tends to upset me greatly.

I didn't find giving any of these things up hard at all.

I don't know whether this was because I knew many of the dairy products would be back on the menu once my 2 weeks were up or if my will power is just simply incredible incredible!

With cheese being apparently comparable to cocaine in regards to it's addictiveness I am going to bask in my 2 weeks cold turkey.

I am not really aware of any positive or negative impacts on my health other than weight loss and feeling quite cleansed and positive.

 I will say that once I had finished my 2 weeks I treated myself to that Northern delicacy the mighty Parmo and felt sick for the next 24 hours.

 Maybe too much too soon for my body to readjust to.

I did also get a bit of stick.
People telling they can't see the point in even attempting to give up dairy, a chorus of "but cheese though"

If you are interested in giving up dairy then check out my post on why should you go dairy free.

Like any major change in your lifestyle you should consult your doctor before undertaking anything.

I am currently reviewing some raspberry ketones and after I have completed my review on them I will be reviewing a 2 week weight loss program.

Why should you go dairy free?

For my latest 2 week challenge I am going dairy free, but why should you give it a go in the first place?

 Loose weight. 

A lot of dairy has a lot of fat in it.
 With fat being more calorific than carbs or protein  ditching the cow juice and butter may have your scales going in the right direction.

Improve your skin.

There are links to dairy and acne saying no to some mature cheddar might give you a clearer complexion!

 Get rid of your bloating.

Apparently a lot of people are lactose intolerant, just like hedgehogs and cats!

You can have an intolerance without knowing it so keep a food diary for your dairy to see if you bloat or get extra gassy after that frothy coffee that cost you £4.

If you have tried going gluten free and still getting bloated this may be the cause.

Reduce nasal congestion.

If you suffer from nasal congestion then it may be due to dairy inflaming your nasal lining, with hay fever season upon us it might be worth ditching the cows milk for some almond, rice, soy or coconut alternatives.

May reduce your risk of certain diseases.

Giving up dairy may decrease your risk of certain cancer, particularly ovarian and prostate, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Help protect the environment.

Livestock take up a lot of room and resources to grow, not to mention the CO2 cows produce by opting out of dairy consumption you are reducing the demand for dairy and reducing the amount of animals needed to provide people with milk. This reduces the amount of land, feed and water needed to grow the animals.

You stop supporting a cruel industry.

I am not going to go on and on about how cruel the dairy industry is, it would make me very hypocritical to do so with me not being  vegan or even vegetarian however I would recommend checking out the on Bite Sized Vegan and her youtube channel.

She doesn't force the vegan message down your throat like some of the more excitable vegan youtubers do click here for her channel

I would love to say I am giving up dairy for the animals but that would be a side benefit, the main reason is to see the impact on my health and if the animals suffer less from it the it's win win in my eyes.

I'd like to say I am more noble but alas I am not.

Banana Island Cleanse

I decided instead of trying a 2 week  challenge like going veggie or gluten free that I would give a one week cleanse a try.

Now I have seen a lot of water based cleanses and to be honest they do not interest me from a blogging prospective.

What? You lost 2 stone by drinking nothing but lemon water and not eating for 2 weeks?

Well who would of thought that starving yourself would do that to you!

This is one of the reasons Banana Island appealed to me.

Not only the supposed benefits like more energy, better digestion, better skin hair and nails, more alertness, natural weight loss, more balance mood and better sleep but you can have unlimited calories as long as they come from bananas.

The rules are you can eat as many bananas as you want and drink as much water as you want.

Day1:

I felt some of the benefits almost straight away, energy levels high, feeling focused and had the best poo I have had in months. I went to work, went to the gym and felt really energised all day.

I can't top weeing though, I am drinking a lot of water partly because my mind is focused on detoxifying my body that and bananas are around 75% water. Oh well better out than in!

 I only managed 18 bananas which is about 1900 which is quite a bit of a calories short fall from the recommended daily calories for a man at 2500kcal. If I keep this up I certainly will lose weight!

Day 2:

Struggled to get out of bed, to be fair it was 5am but I can't help but wonder if it was because of the increased melotonin from all those bananas. I didn't feel refreshed as if I had slept well and deep.

I made the decision to stray off the cleanse and eat something else.

I had started to dread meal times and this is only the second day..

I still had the benefits from the day before, increased energy and focus but the thought of gorging on more bananas actually had an effect on me emotionally so I ate a chicken sandwich.
I have had a bad relationship with food in the past and I don't want anything like that to start up again.

I am still going to continue as best as I can with the cleanse, however I am not doing this cleanse to punish myself, I am doing this cleanse to see if it lives up to it's promises.

If I feel the need to eat other foods I am going to be honest about, in case you were wondering I didn't even feel better for eating it, I just felt guilty.

I feel that I would done better with the cleanse if I had been vegetarian for a sustained period of time, but hey ho lets not dwell on my chicken sandwich eating shame and move on with our lives.

I ate 19 bananas, still not enough calories. I am finding that eating greener banana is easier for me as they are no where near sweet and have more bite to them.

Had loads of energy and went along to a Out Door Fitness UK session near Kirkstall Abbey but this will of just created an even bigger calorie deficit!

Day 3:

Slept really well last night but woke up full of energy but not wanting to eat anything, after being up 3 hours I decided I had to get something inside me so I smashed in 5 bananas.

Smashed another 5 bananas before heading to a speed friending event to help raise awareness for Autistic Spectrum Disorder, full of energy, feeling alert and positive and even received compliment on how fresh I looked, although that might just of been my newly loped off mullet.

 It's seems the bananas have given me massive diarrhoea, how embarrassing!

I am going to see how I am tomorrow, if I haven't improved by tomorrow then I will sadly have to stop the cleanse. So 10 banana in total today.

Day 4:

I have still have the trots so that is the end of my cleanse!

 I decided before I began that I would stop if I had any ill effects on my health and I feel being to scared to trump in case you pebble dash your Calvin Kleins as a ill effect

Even though I am I haven't eaten any bananas today I am still in am amazing mood, in spite of having to stay with 100 metres of a toilet I might add!

I find myself singing to myself, smiling at silly things and generally being an absolute delight to everyone I encounter.


So would I take a trip to banana island again?

To be honest probably not and the main reason is I either didn't need to ween myself off my addiction to high calorie fatty foods or break my emotional attachment to certain foods, cliches like eating chocolate when you are feel sad etc.

At no point in the cleanse did I feel like I was starving myself, I didn't feel hungry but I didn't feel satisfied either, like I am not hungry but I could eat as long as it didn't mean more bananas!

Will I eat bananas again?

Yes I will, for a start I have a shed load left over from this cleanse and my mother did not raise me to waste food, I just need to wait for my bowels to calm the funk the down!

My attitude towards food has shifted as well, I have had issues with seasonal effected disorder in the past and I think instead of sitting in the dark and listening to Dido I will see if grabbing some bananas will boost my mood and get me out of my funk.

I am not saying bananas are a cure for depression, I am no where near qualified to make a claim like that but for me my bouts of SAD have vastly improved since I started making positive changes in my lifestyle through diet, exercise and taking inspiration from the people in my life so banana may well help me get through the darker months.

My thoughts on the actual cleanse are if you love bananas give it go and see how you feel.

 I did terrible in comparison to other people who I have read about/

They had upwards of 25 bananas in their first day, admittedly they were making 10 banana smoothies for breakfast but the thought of that makes want to throw up a little.

The other people who I have read about doing the banana island cleanse were vegan which is probably why they didn't start pooing out for internal organs.

If you decide to undertake a cleanse such as this please consult your doctor first and do your research.

I had countless people telling me how bad bananas are for you and that I will have a heart attack from all of the potassium

 For starters I was probably quite deficient in potassium and from what I have read you would either have to eat over 300 bananas in 30 seconds or have serious issues with your liver/kidneys for that to happen.

There is about 1g of protein in a banana and almost no fat so if you are trying to build muscle this isn't going to do you any favours unless you can getting those bananas smashed in without throwing up.

Cleanses are no substitute for a healthy lifestyle, it is your choice whether or not you attempt a cleanse but they are not sustainable in the long term and any weight loss etc will soon disappear once you come off them if you return to your old eating habits and lifestyle.

So to finish this post I
would like you all to pray for me to have a solid poo!

Out Door Fitness UK

I have been meaning to check out Out Door Fitness Uk for a while and since they emailed me a free 7 day pass and the sun definitely had his hat on so I went down to Kirkstall Abbey.

I am not really a fan of group exercise so I took a friend along with me for moral support, what can I say? Flash backs from awful experiences in P.E at school.

We assumed the class was taking place at the actual Abbey but it was in the field over the road so we missed half of the boxercise class in our confusion.

We sat and watched the boxercise class as that ended and at one point retreated to the car because it was a bit windy, I had to convince myself to bite the bullet and get stuck in!

The instructor Paul was really friendly, welcoming and  made a point to remember our names which is always a nice touch.

The session it's self was supposed to ViPRS and Kettlebells but I think either everyone was having too much fun swinging the ViPRS around their heads, time just ran away with it's self or the plan for the session was changed on the fly.

Started with a good warm up then straight into a body weight circuit of jumping jacks, press ups, burpees and reverse crunches, regressions of the exercises and alternatives to suit the different ability levels.

Although on the third run through when I opted to do half press ups I was called out on it, it's good to motivate individuals in classes but it doesn't do anything for me and one of the reasons I am shy away from group exercise classes.

To be honest I was a being cocky, I had been to the gym the night before and completed 120 press ups as part of my 30 day press up challenge, fuelled on mainly water an bananas before of my cleanse and add that when I am nervous I tend to be even more extroverted and let my mouth run away with it's self to compensate so I was bound to be in trouble!

On to the ViPRs!

Lots of squat presses, spinning the ViPR around our heads, lunges, running and some core exercises thrown in for good measure as well.

The session ended with a cool down of stretches and giving more tailored stretches to those with specific complaints about tight muscles.

All in all I enjoyed the class as much as I can enjoy group exercise anyway.

I should get more into it particularly to make work muscle groups I tend to neglect, such as my core.
I hate core work out ever so much!

Th group of people that were there were all friendly with different fitness levels, including a very pregnant lady, so what excuse do you have not to go along?

Paul had a good rapport with the group and everyone seemed to really get a lot out of the session.

Out Door Fitness have classes all over Yorkshire and go out in all weathers so no cancelled classes because of a bit of snow or rain.

I did get a good workout from the session but feel I could of gotten a lot more out of it if I hadn't been to the gym the night before or been up since 5am!

My friend did tell me the next day for glutes were in pieces, but you don't need to know what she gets up to in private!

You can check them out on Facebook by clicking here, their twitter here

Get in touch with them and head to one of their many sessions a go, especially with the heat wave coming!

Fat Shaming

I keep coming across news articles where people are being fat shamed.

 Those in the articles either lose loads of weight because they have been fat shamed or overweight people are being applauded for standing up to bullies and maintaining their unhealthy lifestyle.

So what are your supposed to do?

Bullying people into what is perceived to be a healthy size when you are more likely to be causing self harm and eating disorders?

 Or leave them to their own devices and let them increase their likelihood of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnoea etc 

If I am honest if you don't know that person it is really any of your business, besides the increased resources it takes to fuel an over weight persons lifestyle but I feel that is too big of a picture for this post,

 you are not fat shaming out of kindness.

If you care for someone with a weight issue then you need to be supportive, ask if they will go to the gym with you, commit to healthier eating together, you could do some do something as simple of starting to go for evening walks.

Having a food addiction or a bad relationship with food is a very difficult thing to face, you can give up smoking or boozing, you don't need those to live but you are going to have to sooner or later eat something.

The next time you see an overweight person try to think about what they might be going through or where they have been.

Maybe they were twice the size last year and worked hard to get to where they are today?

 Maybe they just like cake?

You don't know and it's not down to you to go up to them and tell them they are too fat.

 It is down to their friends, family and health care professionals to air their concerns about their health not yours.

It takes a lot to get started on your fitness journey and hopefully by reading this blog you are taking a good first step.

If you are struggling with your weight please don't be ashamed to go to the gym or to clean up your diet, it's something you should want to do for yourself and be proud that you are making the decision to improve your health and hopefully extend your life.

As the famous quote goes "Take care of your body.It's the only place you have to live."

Crystal One Day Contact Lens

I was selected to review Crystal One Day Contact Lens and I happily accepted the opportunity.

The main reason I was so eager to give these contact lens a go is because I have been burned by contact lens in the past, not literally but a contact slipping round to the back of your eye while on a run isn't going to be ideal!

The lens are a little thicker and bigger than the ones I normally get from my opticians so I was a little worried, in this case bigger doesn't always mean better.

I needn't of worried! 

I got the lens in easy enough and after some slight discomfort, which I have had with every contact I have used in the past to different degrees, I was off!

These lens are absolutely perfect for the gym, I actually forgot I had them in and unlike my glasses can't slip down my nose!

Running in heavy rain was no problem either, running in heavy rain with glasses on is out of the question for me, well until someone invents little lens wipers anyway.

Exercise and Crystal One Day contact lens are perfect together but please remember to stay hydrated.

Not only will your body thank you, your eyes will too.

Dry eyes equals dry contact lens and that is when you will remember you have them in.

I broke a cardinal rule of contact lens and fell asleep in them!

I forgot they were in and off I went to the land of Nod.

Other than thinking Jesus had come to heal me in my sleep they weren't any problems in the morning with taking them out.

Sleep in contacts is never a good idea as it can damage your eyes, if you do end do it then make sure you get hydrated first so the lens are easier to take out.

I the longest amount of time I wore the lens for was 12 hours on the day of the Body Power Expo and other than my eyes being tired I still barely noticed that I had lens in.

I highly recommend these lens to anyone who is sick of glasses holding you back in your fitness goals or just want to try clearer, more comfortable lens, just click the link here

I personally feel glasses do stop me enjoying aspects of my life to their fullest, there are only so many times you can rotate between Harry Potter and Wally for  Halloween.

Sunglasses and goggles are out of the question and I feel they do detract from my appearance, plus I am in the 2% of the population with green eyes and I let the people see them!

To order your contacts you will need an up to date prescription which you will have to go to your opticians for, you should have regular eye check ups anyone and this should give you one more reason to get checked.

2 Week Challenge: Gluten Free

Now that it's a new month I though I would start up my two challenges again, after completing the 2 week Water Challenge and Going Veggie way back in January I thought I'd see how easy it is to go gluten  free!
If you want to read about how gluten can effect your body click here to read my post on it.

Day 1

I failed on my first day!

I thought I was doing really well by dodging my oatso simple porridge which may contain gluten, even though I wanted it, I have chosen the gluten free life so I had some sausage and egg instead.

Later in the day was out and about and  looking for a snack to have, I was in a rush, I panicked!

I grabbed some Mattesson's Fridge raiders without reading the label I inhaled the packet then read that they are not gluten free, I also had fish and chips for my dinner.
 It completely slipped the mind that the fish is battered using flour!

Having been feasting on Top Herd's excellent gluten free jerky range last week I was surprised that Mattessons are not gluten free.

Day ruined.

Tomorrow is a new day so hopefully that will be my only slip up!

Day 2

I am thinking starting this challenge on a bank holiday was a mistake, my cupboards were simply not prepared the effort it takes to find gluten free foods, particularly food on the go.

There just seems to be nothing on offer but bread and pasta
I had to settle for fruit, I could of gone for sushi but my opinion on  sushi is that it would be much nicer if it were cooked!

For my dinner I ventured into my local Asda and had a skeg at there gluten free range.

I picked up some gluten free spaghetti and a pack of Belgium chocolate wafers.

Day 3

Same sort of foods today, fruits, eggs meat and I treated myself to ilumi snack pot, basically a gluten free pot noodle.

For my dinner I went for a nice Tikka Masala, read the post I have written to find out why made me so angry!

Day 4

I gave Perk!er Gluten Free Porridge a whirl today, I ate it because I had paid for it, not because I enjoyed it.

I treated myself to another gluten free scandal in the shape of gluten free chocolate buttons and tried gluten free wraps for my evening meal.


Day 5

I had a chicken wrap for breakfast from the night before and snacked on some Nakd bars along with fruit.
I  tried out Daura, gluten free beer, well it is a Friday after all, I also made use of my Muscle Mousse and made some Muscle Mousse Ice Cream with it!

Day 6

Lots of fruit, yoghurt, chicken and beef, I didn't try anything that was made specifically gluten free.

Day 7

Treated myself to a Magnum seen as the weather was so hot, I was tempted to order a takeaway but soon gave up thanks to the lack of gluten free options so I had Jacket Potatoes instead.

Day 8

Treated myself to some Flourless Pancakes and took myself out to eat which was surprisingly easy as the restaurant had a list of all the menu items that contain gluten.

Day 9

Nothing mind blowing today, I did have salmon, chilli, whole grain rice and peas for my evening meal.

Day 10

Again nothing mind blowing. I used the last of the gluten free spaghetti in my evening meal.

Day 11

Chili con carne for my evening meal with rice and spinach.

Day 12

I went out to eat at the Bridge Water Arms which was surprising easy as they kind showed me there allergen list to help me ensure my meal was gluten free, this information is also on their website, I highly recommend popping in if you are ever in Leeds.

Day 13

Pretty dull day food wise, had chicken, broccoli and sweet potato with far too much garlic for dinner.

Day 14

The day of the Body Power Expo!
Lots of fruit, salad and meats then a pizza at midnight!

I really feel that cutting out gluten made a real difference to how I feel day to day, although the increased energy may be a partially due to the brighter days but I definitely don't feel heavy and sluggish after eating and no horrendous bloating!

I found the hardest part of going gluten free the lack of on the go foods, when you are caught hungry and out in the wild you are very limited in what you can eat, sandwiches, wraps and pasta seem to be the main things on offer, you can get snack food but they are not very satisfying and you can only eat so much fruit.

I will continue to reduce my gluten in my diet, I feel much better without it apart but could do without the supermarket tricksters taking advantage of people leading a gluten free life.


I am taking a week off from a diet challenge because I am attempting a week long cleanse, you'll have to come back at the end of the month to see which kind and how well I do.

Body Power Expo 2016

I have been wanting to hit the Body Power Expo in Birmingham for a few years now and finally bit the bullet and made the 200 round trip journey and it didn't disappoint!

A ticket costs you around £30 for a standard day pass but you need to factor in travel, £12 for parking and the food there is quite expensive although you shop around to find something to meet your budget and dietary requirements.

The Body Power Expo is the biggest in Europe and attracts fitness professions and body builders from all over the world so don't worry about having to acquire a taste for the very regal sounding Brummie accent.

You can meet big names in the fitness industry like Steve Cook and even reality TV stars like Rogan O'Connor who is a body builder in his own right, and they were more than happy to have pictures taken.

 I was a bit too shy though so I didn't get any, but I will next time! 

I did find the Expo quite over whelming, not only am I seeing people who are my "fitspiration" in the flesh and seeing that they are genuinely nice people but also the sheer size of the event, the amount of things to look at, try and the amount of people there.

Customer service varied greatly from company to company with the guys at Quest Nutrition, Muscle Mousse and the many vegan and ethical retailers that were there, which I will revisit in the future.

I am not going to name and shame the companies that didn't really shine for me, it's a 3 day expo and I went on the Sunday so I will cut them some slack but when Rogan is out partying the night before and is still such a funking delight you can all sink some pre work out samples and rock this mother!

There are samples everywhere and surprisingly there were loads that were gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan so you are bound to be able to give something ago.

There are also competitions everywhere and a lot of companies give out free merchandise, hats, tee shirts, pre workout and protein. Maxi gave me a 2.5kg bag of whey protein to get my chops on!

My favourite purchase has to be my Jazz Apples, they are the crunchiest and most delicious apples I have ever tasted.

Body Power also hold there own physique competition and I managed to catch some of the ladies strutting their stuff, it was interesting to see to say the least.

Cap and Tee Shirt haul.

Being on my last day of going gluten free I was worried about what I would be able to eat, luckily I came to Heck, they said they stocked gluten free bread but they had sold out, disaster!

To make up for it they gave me more meat for my salad which I wasn't going to argue with.

There are loads of talks from experts, interviews with fitness models and athletes from across the globe, strength competitions, fights and demonstrations.

There is so much going on it's impossible to describe the magnitude of the experience.

To say the least I will be back again, hopefully in better condition so I don't feel so morbidly obese next to all of the super ripped guys and girls.

If you get the chance to go then take it, you won't regret it.