The secret to a healthy lifestyle.

Okay. There is no big secret.
Most of your answers to a healthy lifestyle, to staying at a healthy weight with healthy skin, hair, teeth and nails are all pretty simple.
No fad diets. No crazy tea- drinking weight loss regimes. No vegan/gluten free diets purely for the sake of losing weight.

Most of the celebrities you see on E! News or in the magazines- celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Cameron Diaz, Angelina Jolie, etc. These celebrities have probably- as much as I hate to face up to it- have had plastic surgery. If they haven't then may I point out how much money these people are rolling in? They can afford products we will never get the chance to see. They can afford nutritionists, personal trainers, they can be shown all the best workouts and gyms and exercise classes to do and go to. They get the best of the best because what do they have more than the rest of us? Money.
Money is really what makes the world go round, what everyone seems to crave. Money is what makes all these celebrities so desirable- they can afford the best.

I have been researching a lot about what is the best for my body. I have been taking a lot of note on how the healthiest people I know personally eat. I have also looked at the way people eat in the places I travel to.

There are three main factors many forget to take note of:
1) Water- Always be grateful for the small things. Be grateful for having pure, clean water. Drink it to your heart's content. Drinking two litres of this a day will cleanse your body, keep your skin healthy and it really helps your digestive system too.
2) Exercise- My God. Something these fad diets don't teach is the importance of exercise. Slimming World and Weight Watchers for example- I have been doing a test for sometime and following many people that do these diets on Instagram. I can see they are taught what the best things are to have in their diet, to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, limit your carbs and cut down on all the those naughty snacks. However many of the people I know that exercise on these diets have done it of their own accord. These diets teach that their diet will work wonders without the ''effort'' of exercise. Effort? In order to keep your body healthy, you must keep up your strength and stamina. Do you want to be one of the first to go in a Zombie Apocalypse? I don't think so.
3) SLEEP. Now I can't really comment on sleep as I work ridiculous hours in my part-time job at Frankie and Bennys. However I am very lucky to only work part-time as I see the effect the lack of sleep has on the many colleagues I have met in the three years I have worked there. It is horrifying what people will do to earn money. People will happily hand over their soul for it. Lack of sleep makes your body crave sugar to fuel it in short bursts, it will give you a BAD attitude- you want to try telling a chef who has done five 12 hour shifts in a row that you have made a mistake and you need Penne pasta instead of Spaghetti. Jeez. My advice is to have at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night. It varies with different people but I always feel fine after having between this amount and I am a very active person. If you need to nap and you have time then take the nap- I'm not talking hours but if you can fit in a good half an hour it will refresh you completely, believe me.

Do what is best for your body!
Everyone is different, everyone works different jobs, everyone can afford different things, everyone requires different amounts of things to fuel their body. It is the beauty of being individuals.
For me, I am a student. I work a part-time job which requires me to work probably between 20 to 30 hours a week in which I'm running round a restaurant like a headless chicken, keeping this active means my body needs a decent amount of food to maintain the energy to keep me going throughout these long shifts. I also do a lot of workouts, I workout during the summer 5-6 days a week if I can and throughout University term time I do 4-5 days a week. Whether this be a body pump class, using a barbell through a variety of exercises such as squats, lunges etc. To doing bootcamp which is an intense class putting you through different sets of exercises that require high intensity bursts such as burpees, jumping lunges, weighted exercises followed by running or sprinting, etc. To even zumba toning classes, dancing for a full 45 minutes to an hour to set routines using weights and switching it up between dancing, squats, lunges, leg lifts, etc.
I have found that for me the best thing is consistency. I used to have really bad mood swings and I can get quite irritated now however I've found that by doing a lot of exercise has really made me a lot happier. The endorphins released in exercise naturally puts you in a better mood and makes you feel more energetic without any ridiculous energy drinks. I have found that the more I do intense exercise the better my body feels but I am happy to try anything. I have also found that time really does help. The more I work on doing an exercise class such as bootcamp or doing something I used to hate such as running the easier I find it to push through each time I go. I used to drink a lot of fizzy drinks when I was younger but now I hardly ever drink any fizzy drinks apart from the odd blackcurrant cordial and soda at work if I feel really drained I feel it gives me a better boost than any can of coke ever could. I don't drink much other than water, tea, smoothies and the odd coffee from work or iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks (this is a treat!!!). I rarely eat chocolate any more as I used to have a lot of headaches and a guy at work told me he cut out chocolate and it stopped his headaches, after trying this I have found it actually helps. I don't gorge on biscuits or crisps like I used to when I was younger however who doesn't love a good treat of a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits to dip in every so often? I am very guilty of dipping tortilla chips in my favourite- houmous on the off occasion. I don't eat fast food- McDonald's, KFC, etc and I can't stand food from a chip shop, the grease completely turns my stomach. However at Uni I found myself eating more chinese and dominoes than I usually would but it didn't make me feel great at all.
I find that the more fresh your food is the better you feel. Who doesn't feel good after eating a salad? I find that eating too many carbs makes you feel really bunged up but I don't believe you should have a carb-free diet especially if you're as active as I am.
As a Uni student who hasn't allowed themselves an overdraft I am required to eat on a budget however I have just finished my first year and a pot noodle or packet noodles or pasta or anything of that sort has passed my lips. I barely touch tinned food either. One of my flatmates would eat the cheapest foods as possible- constantly in competition with himself to save all of his money...on what I don't know but the majority of his food didn't look appetizing.
I cook my food in olive oil only. Olive oil is really good for your skin and hair and it is has many benefits for your heart. The Mediterranean diet uses a lot of olive oil and they have the lowest incidence of heart disease. Who wants heart problems? Not me.
I also don't eat processed food such as ham and meats alike to this. I mostly eat chicken and occasionally I have bacon or beef. My Mum used to say I was silly for eating peanut butter if I'm trying to eat healthily but nuts, nut butters, houmous, avocado all have the best fats and are really good for your diet.
I have always had a sweet tooth and I believe that treating yourself to that Peanut butter and dark chocolate cheesecake for dessert is very well deserved (you'll find these at the Vintage Inn pubs-incredible!) but I don't think shoving unhealthy foods down your throat every day makes them very tasteful. Too much of anything is never a good thing.
I have seen a lot of girls my age taking up the bad habit of smoking as it suppresses your appetite. This is so so bad for your health and for your teeth and skin. I don't want to put a downer on all you party animals but seriously smoking really isn't cool and it doesn't benefit you in any way.
Drinking alcohol- I found at Uni I didn't gain weight apart from the odd occasion where I'd gain a couple of pounds during a week where I'd drank a lot. It made me feel groggy, made me crave crappy food and it made me not want to move out of bed to which I'd feel incredibly guilty for missing my workouts and then once I did workout I'd find it so much harder. Cut down on your alcohol intake but don't cut yourself off from socialising.
A girl I know lost a dramatic amount of weight by becoming a vegan. She didn't need to beome a vegan. She just wanted to limit the foods she could consume to basically become more and more thin. Ladies and Gentlemen this is very unhealthy if you are a carnivore then eat your meat as long as its lean its healthy, if you are a veggie then make sure you get your protein in somehow but for christ's sake don't become something just for the sake of it. It is silly and wrong.
Stay away from the scales. I mean it if your body feels good with the food you're eating, you are active and you feel like you have enough energy then you're healthy. Congratulations. None of you need a fucking number to brag about, it doesn't matter.
Models like Kendall Jenner and Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham are increasingly in the spotlight and their bodies have become a major desire for young girls along with the Victoria Secret models. Did many of you know that the model industry is responsible for many eating disorders? Many of them smoke? Many of them take drugs? Do you still want to be this unhealthy that your blood pressure is probably beneath the floor? Do you want to miss breakfast, lunch and possibly eat a carrot stick for dinner? Post your one meal a day on instagram so the whole world can see how healthy you are? Yes, many models have wonderful bodies but so do many average people. Don't desire something that won't make you healthy.

NO EXCUSES- I have seen this posted in a lot of gyms and it is actually often very true. Apologies to my mum for bringing her into this but my mum has always been unhappy with her body. My mum doesn't frequently exercise and she hasn't always had the best diet. May I point out this doesn't define my mum as a person and I am by no means criticising her, she is a beautiful woman inside and out regardless to weight and diet, however she will agree with me that she probably regrets not keeping herself active and healthy as it has in some ways damaged her body, she has problems with her back and legs which make her struggle to do exercise now however I believe if she had consistently exercised then this problem probably wouldn't have occurred. My mum has started her journey of eating much healthier and her and my stepdad have made many culinary beauties in the past few months and my mum feels and looks so much healthier for it which just proves my theory-consistency is key. Just to point out how proud I am of her for this.
Another piece of proof in this- my Auntie rarely checks the scales, is consistently active and eats as healthy as she can. Consistency is key guys it is all very simple.

Your body is a temple if you want to destroy then keep attacking it but if you want it to maintain its healthy structure then be consistent. Never deny yourself a treat. Some weeks are harder than others. We change how we eat and the amount we exercise when we are busy or on a budget or travelling but there are still many ways to keep yourself healthy if you stay focused. Don't obsess over the scales, they don't define who you are as a person. I don't care if you're 6 stone or 15 stone, if you're a bitch, you are a bitch.
I hope my post has helped many of you. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me- hannahmacdonald8@hotmail.co.uk.
XO