Tea + New Flavours

Tea + drinks have had a rebrand and introduced some brand new flavours which are replacing the old ones! So T+ has become Tea+ and with a brand new super sleek packaging these guys mean business! 

The 4 new combos are-

Vitamin D- Pineapple and Mango 

Cleanse- Apple and Blackcurrant 

Defence- Orange and Blueberry 

Energy- Raspberry and Pomegranate 

They are still green tea based with all the extras included! I absolutely love their new look website which you can check out here. It is really clear and concise about what is in each tea and then has a little drop down to see why each ingredient is included, how it works and why it’s beneficial. Sometimes I think that we opt for things that we think we know are good for us but we can’t really explain why it’s good for us and this is really important when selling a product- to educate the consumer, so that’s a HUGE win in my books. 

I chose 2 of the 4 flavours to try and when I received them I was feeling that start of the year slump so I went for Energy and Vitamin D! Energy was my favourite combo which was raspberry and pomegranate and in the old style I loved Detox which was apple and blackcurrant and I think has evolved into Cleanse!

These teas are amazing for many reasons, they’re a quick and easy way of getting your intake of specific vitals which you can tailor to yourself, if you’re a tea drinker anyway why not add those vitamins? Also if you’re not really into the taste of green tea these are a great so you can feel the benefits without that taste! 

So who’s going to try the new teas?

Thanks for reading, H x

What I do to de-stress

Stress is something that all of us will encounter at points of our life, maybe a few minutes daily or an ongoing period of time either way it guaranteed to touch us all at some time and listening to your body and recognizing the signs of it being time to do something to make yourself feel relief and take care of yourself is vital to how you recover, grow and strengthen from these situations. There is only so much that any one person can take and sometimes something small like letting your brain wander to a better place for 5 minutes may be enough of a break before you go back to the grind, for others it will take longer and everyone is different. Here’s a few of the things that I do when I’m feeling stressed t reduced it in tough times but also things that I like to do as good practice in day to day life to manage and prevent any stress build up.

  • Exercise- This post isn’t a ranked list but for me for the last 5 years now this has to be my number 1 essential. For prevention and cure if I do not exercise for longer than a couple of days I feel the it very very quickly. I get a build up of nervous energy, it feel my frustrations are pent up and irritable and exercise just releases those things for me instantly. It’s always a solution for me. When I am stressed and have things on my mind its great to reduce anxiety and helps get a good night sleep too. Sometimes in those stressy times its really hard to feel motivated to get up and do something but you have to let that little voice inside you speak up and whip that head into shape and make you move and it always helps, those days its down to the will power.
  • Get outside- there’s something extremely cleansing about being in the great outdoors when you feel stressed, I’m not sure if anyone else feels this way but when you’re trapped within 4 small walls of your work and home problems can feel suffocating but when you get out into those wide open spaces I makes me feel so small in a really wonderful way and my problems even smaller in the grand scheme of the world. My favourite spots to visit are parks, woods, secluded coastline and old church and castle ruins, spoil me rotten with a splash of sunshine and i literally return home a new woman.
  • Have a de-clutter- Clear out a cupboard, sort out the fridge, streamline your wardrobe, sort out the junk draw, get rid of that pile of papers, do a bag for charity and then once you have decluttered your surrounding enjoy how cathartic it has felt and basque in your new more breathable environment. That might sound daft but trust me, theres something great about getting rid of a load of pointless materials which serve no purpose and then feeling a weight lifted and metaphorically less suffocated because of it.
  •  Get lost in your favourite hobby- for me that is cooking, I find it so relaxing, I really get in the zone when I’m having a cook up and I really switch off and barely any other thoughts slip in. What’s your escape? Drawing? Sewing? Puzzles? Computer games?
  • Have a cuddle- If you are someone lucky enough to have a dog to do this with you are envy RN but a cuddle with any loved one  helps- studies show that the positive chemistry activated by a hug is hugely stress relieving and relaxing, a pet or partner would be ideal but if I’m by myself on one of these moments I settle for a mountain of pillows and a fluffy blanket for that ultimate comfort and it seems to do the trick.
  • Give yourself the gift of time- you are your boss, are you stressed and in a situation with others and you are really affecting everyone and everything around you? Give yourself 10 minutes, no one is going to die (unless you’re a heart surgeon giving yourself this time mid surgery) and have a little pep talk with yourself, tell yourself why this situation won’t get the better of you, calm your breathing and take control and then get back on the horse. Positive mental attitude.
  • Read a book- I love reading, if I get into a good book I can lose hours into the pages. Theres is something very different for the mind that you don’t gain from TV. It more engaging for the brain, that focus and concentration and the actual engagement in the book is much deeper than any TV show where you may switch off for a few seconds here and there and keep picking up your phone and pointlessly scrolling.
  • Have a  pamper- some call it self care, some call it narcissism, I just call it taking care of ME. Whatever that looks like to you take a few hours one night every week or 2 to do what makes you feel good, I like to have a full beauty MOT, paint the fingers and toes, face mask, lotions and potions on the neglected body parts, chick flick, you know the drill. I always feel great after, it might seem conceited by some but if it makes you feel good who says self care can’t be heavily based around candles and a bath.
  • Phone a friend!- A problem shared is a problem halved! This cliche saying doesn’t exist for no reason its totally true! As you get older and gain more and more responsibility and you don’t see your friends as much as when you all know everything about each other it can sometimes feel hard to get your thoughts into words and share your worries. You may not want to be a burden or you worry about being judged but getting things off your chest helps so much and I’m sure you are on the receiving end plenty of the time. Don’t feel guilty or ashamed to share your feelings.

And lastly on the back of all this remember, it’s ok to no be ok!

I hope this post helps even if 1 person has a bit of a light bulb moment, stress can be so toxic so do what you need to do to feel good!

Thanks for reading, Hx

Les Mills Body Balance

So you’re thinking of doing a Body Balance class and have come across this post looking for some insights on what to expect and what’s its all about! I’m new to Body Balance myself having been more of an avid attendee for more high intensity classes to ensure maximum calorie burn but starting at the turn of 2019 I decided to introduce more exercise that is promotes flexibility, core strength, relaxation and stretching.

Primarily Body Balance combines a range of moves and techniques inspired by yoga, pilates and tai-chi. The class is done to music and is broken into ‘tracks’ like all other Les Mills classes. The class is done bare foot or in yoga socks and you have a mat for the floor work part of the class. I’m not sure if its the case every time but each class I have done starts with the strength work and the second section is relaxation based and finishes with meditation. When I say strength BTW these are all body weight and core exercises no actual weights are used. If you are brand new to any of these types of movements I would suggest that you position yourself somewhere that you can see the instructor so that you can really understand the technique that you should be performing and gage the posture.

As someone who likes to have that energy burn I love this class with the mixture of strength and relaxation as sometimes on days just doing a yoga class I feel the need to work out too but this class does allow you to feel the exertion of a workout and you leave feeling relaxed as yoga!

It’s a great class, don’t be scared or intimidated. It’s appealing for a number of reasons and to suit all needs and attracts a totally mixed clientele so I would highly recommend it! Go along, have a go and enjoy!

Thanks for reading, H x

Nims Edible Teas

The lovely people over at Nims Fruit Crisps sent me over a selection of their products as a gift in exchange for a review of their brand new edible fruit teas.

Many of you may have already heard of Nims fruit crisps, they are a 1 ingredient fruit and vegetable crisp and leaders on the market in this category, experimenting with more crisps than just the root vegetable ones you’ll regularly see on the shelves at the supermarket- although they do those too and they’re great! Their fruit crisps are particularly delicious and the crisping process has really enhanced the flavours of the fruit and they’re low calorie as well.

Recently Nims have released a range of 3 flavours of edible fruit tea with a great concept… you infuse your loose fruit and then once the tea is brewed you then take the rehydrated fruit out and eat it. So today I tried the parsnip, beetroot and pineapple tea (the other two flavours are pineapple and kiwi and parsnip and beetroot), my first thoughts were how much easier this whole brewing process would be if I had one of those fancy glass infuser teapots to capture my fruit pieces, I kind of had to awkwardly decant the brewed tea and strain it with a sieve and then transfer over to another cup. It created quite a lot of washing up so to enjoy these I think that the teapot is a must, this does make the product a little restrictive for the masses and could be a good idea for Nims to launch their own teapot or perhaps collaborate with a 3rd party that sells them to link up. If you are keen to try these teas or just like the sound of a super fancy clear teapot I’ve linked the best value one that I could find on eBay and actually coming in at under a fiver its not exactly a huge investment. Check it our here !!

Flavour wise the pineapple and kiwi was my favorite to drink, all of them were quite pleasant to eat, I used them as a porridge topping which worked so well and suited me with the the timing of breakfast and having a cuppa too. I’m not 100% on the flavour of drinking the parsnip and beetroot tea and think that if they launched more flavours in just fruit that it would appeal to more people as a drink.

 

All in all I love the idea, I hate wasting food and throwing away anything unnecessarily so I like how resourceful it is to waste nothing, the flavours could use some extras in the range or development to the current ones to suit different tastes and they either need to link a teapot on their site or develop a solution to maybe encase the fruit in a biodegradable bag that could be opened after infusing so they can be used in a traditional ‘kettle, bag, mug, brew’ method which is really easy for all!

 

Thanks so much for reading my review, if this sounds your cup of tea (no pun intended) head over to the Nims site here and check out what they have to offer!

H x

Top Tips For A Good Nights Sleep

I wanted to write a post on one of my things and something I’ve sadly not been doing enough of lately.

Sleep.

Sleep is so important for all aspects of life, for mental and physical development and repair amongst thousands of other functions of the brain and the body and sometimes when life sends it’s trials it’s not as easy to get the sleep quality you want. I’m someone who’s sleep gets very affected when I have stuff playing on my mind and I struggle to switch off. Do you ever lie there and start to feel so anxious because you aren’t asleep? Then you start to count down how many hours until you have to get up and then how many hours sleep that will be, THEN comes the justification thoughts to try and mentally reassure you to not freak out of “it’ll be fine, I’ve gone to work on much less sleep after going out and I won’t be hungover”, then the birds start singing and the irritation REALLY sets in. I’ve been there. Countless times. So in the last few months I’ve done and tried everything possible to promote a good nights sleep, mainly so I keep my sanity and thought I would share with you in case anyone else is finding themselves in a similar situation! In no particular order of preference of effectiveness……

  • My first thing I try is a chamomile tea before bed. To promote relaxation and calm, there’s plenty of lovely premium tea brands around but I went for the Aldi option for a tiny 39p to give it a go as I had never tried it before. The taste takes a little getting used to but it certainly helps take the edge off the pre sleep jitters. It’s no myth, this stuff definitely does work!
  • Using your scent is a timeless known way to relax so you could try opting for a pillow spray, there are a few out there and my favourite is the award winning Deep Sleep Pillow spray by This Works, it’s got a really good depth of scent and helps get the senses to start to switch off.

  • Similarly to the above I love the Tisserand pulse point oils to aid in slowing the breathing and moving into the relaxed state to nod off

 

  • Sometimes nothing is doing the job so I grab out my gifted Bedtime Bliss eye mask which came with ear plugs to drown out the background sounds and lights. The earplugs really make a difference if you can’t switch off from what’s going on around you and the darkness is great if you don’t have black out blinds in the summer months when the sun comes up earlier. Not everyones cup of tea for at home but a travel essential! Buy your for under a tenner on Amazon here

  • Making sure you’re comfortable in bed, so pyjamas in the right cut, thickness, fabric, etc. So you are comfy, a good temperature, not going to get static or itchy or whatever else. Comfortable bed clothes whatever floats your boat is a must. I love nice cotton pj’s personally! Currently living for my piped edge pj’s from Primark. I have them in grey and black 🙂
  • Also a decent pair of bed socks is a must in the winter because feet like blocks of ice can stop you sleeping AND wake you up especially now we had hit the winter sub zero temperatures! My mum bought me a lovely pair of cashmere blend socks for when I’m feeling super fancy but any fluffy numbers will warm the tootsies! Or reach for a hot water bottle.

 

  • Breathing exercises to slow and calm the breathing, there are tonnes of different types but for sleep I like the 4-7-8 technique- step by step below!
  • Reading a book. This is such a sure way of using up some mental energy and making you start to drift off. Ditch the smart phone and swap it for a book. It’ll be one of the best choices you make!

 

  • A little added luxury, I treated myself and my mum at Xmas to a silk pillow case, it doesn’t necessarily help you sleep but it certainly gives you a premium bed experience! Bought from Lilysilk. Buy one get one half price and an introductory 10% off! Huge variety of colours! Check out the site here

 

  • Lastly, failing all those or in addition to, in periods of prolonged anxiety I go for Kalms night. The valerian formula is all natural and plant based so no nasty chemicals and no morning after grogginess but a lifesaver for periods of increased anxiety. I grab mine from Holland and Barrett just make sure you read the directions, don’t rely on these and remember it is a short term solution, 

I hope these tips help you! Bedtime is such a ritual that these things singularly and collectively are little live savers! Sleep is essential to function healthily so maybe just one or two of these may improve you current sleep quality like it did for me! I hope it helps! 

Thanks for reading!

H x