The Life of Cat: February 2017

It’s Shrove Tuesday here in Great Britain, also know as Pancake Day for anyone, anywhere else in the world. This means I’m going to make my family pancakes for breakfast but I only have five and a half minutes before everyone must go about their day. So, let me introduce you to this fool proof and healthy breakfast that is perfect for busy mummy’s, weekends and workaholics. Drum roll please for my Banana and Oat Pancakes and the best part is they are super easy, so let me tell you about my not so secret recipe…

Firstly, I start out with a cup of organic jumbo porridge oats which I pop into my blender and blend into a flour like consistency (this takes about 30 seconds). Next I add 2 free range eggs, half a teaspoon of baking powder, 1 ripe banana, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a sprinkle of mixed spice. Pop the lid back on and once again blend into a smooth batter. How easy was that?

In a small frying pan add one to two teaspoons of your favourite oil on a medium heat, I find one tablespoon of batter equates to one small pancake. You know the pancakes are ready to flip, when the little air bubbles form on top, try not to pat or press them or they will not turn out fluffy. Make sure they're golden on each side before plating them up. You could add any topping you like but I’ve gone with banana and fresh blueberries. To sweeten things up i've added a very generous drizzle of honey, you could also use maple syrup. Super easy and super yummy!

Let me tell you a little bit more. On Shrove Tuesday, we traditionally eat pancakes using my fool proof recipe that will be very simple. 'Why do we have this tradition? You may ask...Well in the past Shrove Tuesday or ''Pancake day'' was a celebration just before the start of lent. Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter and on this day people would eat all the rich foods they had in their cupboards. To resist temptation during the period of modest eating. Today we still carry on this tradition of eating pancakes. In my household we do this every year on Shrove Tuesday, it's one of my favourite traditions.

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I thought I would share some helpful tips and tricks I use to get up ridiculously early in the morning.

A picture I captured nearby where I live, in a local park walking the dog

I am a strangely excited for the crack of dawn kind of person, an early person through and through. It's like they say the early bird catches the worm. Honestly, I love getting up that little bit earlier so I can cram a few more hours into my day. I don't have any children, but I'm sure if that changes in the future, I will try and stuff every second of sleep out of my bedtime, that I can possibly get!

My bedding and all the comfy, cosy pillows to snuggle in. You can never have enough pillow, right?

If you want to wake up that little bit earlier in the morning or maybe you have an important event, flight or must get up for work purposes. Now my first tip just blatantly obvious (to say the least) go to bed early or at least earlier than normal. A decent night's sleep typically consists of 7 to 8 hours and trust me, I would recommend this for any kind of human function well at least in my case. I and my partner tend to be in bed by about 10pm every night and out like a light by half past. This routine works as I feel I've always had just enough sleep to see me through the day without any problems. Add small increments into your alarm if you're not a morning kind of person. If you get up at 8am, start by setting your alarm for 7:35 am just go gradually otherwise you may end up feeling like a zombie. Trust me been there and I have the T-shirt!

When it comes down to having to get out of the covers my advice is 'do whatever you like to do, to make you feel awake'. You could write in a journal, meditate or go for a run. Personally, I like to scroll through all social media sources on my phone or kindle. It's not the most mindful thing to do first thing in the morning, but like I said it works for me.

The top of my bedside table I keep comforting memoirs on here as you can see. I have a money plant, some precious stones and a picture of me and my partner. Along with my glasses so I can see when I wake up.

If you live somewhere cold I suggest keeping warm clothing at your bedside, like a dressing gown or a onesie. An item of warmth is great to minimize any cold time out of the sheets. You can literally roll out of bed, into something warm and cozy and another excuse you can't use to stay in bed. Have the motivation to get up , something to look forward to. A nice old cup of coffee motivates me to kick-start my day.

Both the dolce gusto coffee machine and my onesie are both necessities for me. I use them both on a daily basis they help me to function properly in the morning!

Don't forget to feel a sense of achievement when you get everything done before lunchtime like a pro. I know getting up early isn't for everyone, but I can feel the rewards reaping in when it gets to noon and I'm done for the day. I can put my feet up with a nice cuppa coffee and watch Netflix or go out with my friends. It's well worth it!

Putting my feet up and chilling with one of our cats (bumble). She a very beautiful feline!

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The problem

Throughout pretty much the entirety of secondary school I had breakout galore. The worst areas were my forehead, between my eyebrows, my chin and another problem area where my cheek bones are. They were the main problem areas, but I would get breakouts over the whole of my face.

Me back when i really suffered with acne (the only picture i could find). I didn't like to take too many pictures of myself back then I hated the way my acne made me look.

To this day, I still can't quite figure it out, I had a normal healthy diet and I’ve always drunk plenty of water. So, it wasn't like I was just sitting around all day drinking coke and eating loads of fatty foods. I had a good diet and i just didn't know what was wrong with my skin.

Nothing was helping it just wouldn't clear

I tried all the skincare products I could get my hands on, I would spend so much money on more expensive brands thinking it was going to work, but still it got me nowhere. Looking back now I think what caused the breakout was my hormones. It was throughout secondary school, my teenage years. I was obviously at the age where I was hitting puberty. I just don't think my body could keep up with the hormone levels. Nothing I could buy in high street stores like Boots or Superdrug had the right ingredients to control it.

Professional help

My skin only cleared up when I decided it was time to go to the doctors. He gave me a medicated treatment. This was the first time that anything had ever worked! The first time I put it on my face I awoke the next morning to find the majority of problematic breakouts had cleared overnight. I'd never had a product work that well or that quickly on my skin before. I felt like all my dreams were wrapped up in this tiny little tube. I found that you only needed a little bit of product on whatever problem areas you have, as whatever the doctor can prescribe you is going to be 10x stronger and more effective than anything you can buy over the counter. I think if you are struggling with acne then maybe you should pay a visit to your local GP as he can probably give you the best advice on how to clear it up.

Me now my skin is 100% better and I feel very confident in my skin.

I now have a daily skincare routine to ensure my skin is less prone to any breakouts. The products that I use now are products that work on my already clear skin. I will be doing another blog post on my skincare routine for anyone who may be interested.

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Firstly, this bath bomb looks amazing as you can see from the image above!

The bath bomb itself looks like a previously launched bath bomb called shoot for the stars which was discontinued a while back. However, they may look similar but they are absolutely worlds apart. Shoot for the stars shared the scent of honey I washed the kids (another lush product), Intergalactic is a peppermint scented bath bomb. This product contains peppermint oil, vetivert oil, cedarwood oil and grapefruit oil. It has an interesting, fresh and minty fragrance, although the grapefruit peeks through and gives it that zingy citrus twist.

As soon as it was popped into the water, explosions of colour started to appear. Reminded me a little of fireworks. Such beautiful colours they are, it makes me feel relaxed just looking at the pastel array.

The cedarwood and vetivert add a very understated and woody aroma, but at the same time, it's very muted and understated. The peppermint and the grapefruit play the main role in this bath bomb. This bath bomb, as well as all lush products, are vegan, natural and cruelty-free which is another reason I love to support the company. The bath bomb retails for £3.95 and is now a personal favourite. It is perfect for the current season as it's a fresh summery fragrance.

I didn't want to get out of this bath, it was just such a beautiful shade of midnight blue with a gold shimmer.

The peppermint oil is cooling, refreshing and invigorating. the grapefruit has a sweet citrus aroma, it is uplifting and refreshing (very good for toning the skin). Now the vetivert is soothing, grounded and relaxing. While the bath bomb is good for making, you feel grounded it's also a great one for a little uplift and a burst of energy. However, I would say take caution with the glitter as there is a lot. I was amazed how much they had packed inside. The best way to describe this bomb is ''a night’s sky with golden stars shimmering all the way through it''. It was just out of this world (no pun intended).

Feel free to leave me any comments down below and I hope you enjoyed this review. Intergalactic Bath Bomb - https://uk.lush.com/products/intergalactic

Lush Website - https://uk.lush.com/

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Hello guys, so welcome to my What I ate Wednesday, yes, I know it's not original but I've seen other people do this and I also wanted to jump on to the bandwagon... So, I’m going to take photos of everything that I consume, people have requested me to do this for so long! Silly old me kept forgetting but I’m finally getting there. So, if you like these then please don't forget to leave a comment down below, maybe I will make these a weekly segment, but we will see ...

Ginger porridge? Yes, you heard me right! It's become a favourite of mine and I discovered it by accident. One day I went to sprinkle cinnamon in my porridge but instead I picked up ginger. Ever since that incident it's been a daily yummy!

I add half a cup of Flahavan's organic jumbo porridge oats, into a small saucepan. I then add 1 whole cup of a milk, my choice is either semi-skimmed or coconut milk. I let it simmer until it becomes a thick and creamy consistency and sprinkle in 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. I then add in a generous squeeze of honey to the mix and stir it well. Once I’ve spooned the porridge into the bowl i chop up a banana and drizzle a little more honey onto the top. Bob's your uncle we have ginger and honey porridge. Please someone tell me I'm not alone on this one, or I have I invented a new thing? No matter which one It's a new found favourite of mine.

Yes, I am a massive coffee lover, some call me the coffee connoisseur. I just take my coffee very seriously It must always be strong and taste smooth. Other coffee lover out there will understand me, I'm sure. Most days I have a coffee between breakfast and lunch., sometimes with breakfast. It all just depends on how I'm feeling.

Throughout my day, I always try to guzzle as much water as possible (the more I drink, the better I feel). It's always important to drink water as it has so many benefits; keeps you hydrated (nothing worse than having a headache), speeds up your digestion, kick-starts your metabolism and helps keeps your skin clear. There are so many more benefits but, they were the few I could think off from the top of my head. I always find two litres is a good target to strive for.

Sorry for the photo It seems to have come out quite dark, but it's better than nothing. It was a really yummy wrap though. It was never intended to be a wrap but I didn't have enough spinach for a salad bowl. You can't have a salad bowl without lashings of baby spinach, right? If you haven't guessed by now I LOVE food!

For lunch, instead of a salad I opted for a wrap, I took a large whole wheat tortilla wrap and added one small can of drained tuna in brine, I then added the very few baby spinach leaves I had left over and a dollop of light mayonnaise. Now I know mayonnaise probably isn't the healthiest option to choose but occasionally, you've just got to walk on the wild side. On the side of my plate I chopped up half an avocado (my favourite food of all time) and plopped on 5 organic cherry tomatoes. They were so sweet they tasted like candy. That was then all washed down with a large glass of water.

This one was just made at home so it doesn't look as fancy as the last coffee photo but It was still good coffee. I always feel like coffee gives me just enough of a boost, to complete the tasks I have left to do in the day. Sometimes it feels like there is not enough hours in the day so, you must try and cram in what you can.

After eating lunch, I fell fast asleep for 6 hours (oops), I had been feeling under the weather. Instead of having another full meal I decided to have a cup of black coffee and a sweet treat of 3 chocolate digestive biscuits. I don't normally do this but today I fancied a change. It was too late to eat a large meal anyway.

So that’s everything I hope you all enjoyed this, What I ate Wednesday. Let me know if you would like to see this as a weekly post on a Wednesday, in the comments below.

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I'm going to be talking about the ways I like to stay positive and the tips and tricks I could possibly give to you guys that will help you all become a little bit more positive as well. I have not always been the most positive person! I mean during my early teen years right up until my late teens I went through a heck of a lot (those years were an emotional hurricane and turned me into an emotionally unstable and depressed gremlin!) This definitely shaped me as a person and moulded my thinking into a particular way. I always used to say to myself why did these things happen to me? I thought I was a good person? Why me? There were so many emotions and so many thoughts and things that happened when I was going through all of that. It made me become quite a negative person.

Today we are not going to be talking about that we are going to talk about my personal 10 favourite ways I have tried, tested and that I love doing on a day-to-day basis. These basically just help me feel more positive, happy and empowered.

Whatever you think will happen!

First and foremost I love to start off every day with a positive empowering thought or message about myself or the day. It can literally be anything, something as simple as ''I am strong'' or ''I am beautiful'' or ''today is a great day''. You want to make sure everything you are affirming is positive in your life, you want to be saying that in the present tense. You don't want to be in the past or future tense it has to right now, you've got to almost be living, eating and breathing that feeling in the moment. Saying affirmations like that being the first thing you do when you wake up, really sets the tone for the day. One more thing that I would like to add is that thoughts become things. So if your thinking ''today is going to be a stressful day, it's going to be so bad I don't know how I'm going to do this'' Then 9 times out of 10 that will be a very stressful day and you probably won't get everything done. So you want to make sure that your thoughts are very positive, because whatever you think will happen. If you have ever read The Secret then you may know what I'm talking about. I am talking about The Law of Attraction again I will leave some links at the bottom of the post, but that has definitely changed my life!

Always look on the bright side of life

Looking on the bright side of things has definitely been something that I struggled with and still do struggle with now. I want you to all know that ''I am not positive 100% of the time'' I am human I have my up days, I have my down days and I have my in the middle days. The most important thing about any of these days is your mind you've got to make sure that your thinking is in check. You want to make sure that you are trying to find good in everything that happens to you. Whether that's something like me for example; a couple of months ago I got myself into a very sticky situation and I'm not going to lie, I was quite stressed out and just very emotional about the whole situation. I didn't know what to do. I had to pull myself out of that situation take deep breaths and think to myself at least I have what I have, at least I am fine and here and alive! You've got to try and twist every single situation that may happen to you that is negative or if somethings not as you hoped it to be. You have to put a positive spin on it!

Keep positive things around you at all times

One of my favourite thing to do is follow positive accounts on social media. I love scrolling through pictures of makeup but I love seeing in between all of that some positive, inspiring and empowering messages. Things like this on a day-to-day basis will literally uplift you and help you with your way of thinking. They're just a little reminder in the day to think more positive. I know there are times where it can be really difficult to stay positive, that's why it's so important for me. I definitely know a lot of other people out there to have those daily positive reminders which will help them be more positive, think more positive and feel more positive.

Listen to music and binural beats

One of my favourite ways to instantly uplift me is by listening to music. Now this could be my Spotify playlist, or it could be something I just want to have a boogie to in my room and forget about anything that's happening for the next 5 minutes. It really does bring your energy levels up and it does help you. There is a specific type of music or sound I like to listen to are binural beats. Now I don't know the science behind binural beats as such (I will leave all the information I can find on it at the bottom of the post) but what I do know is that it positively affects your mind. So for these beats I listen to them whether I'm working, cleaning my room, I could literally be doing anything where I just want something in the background. It's really on a sub-conscious level and it helps to just lift your energy. However I do love listening to music and especially binural beats whenever I do want my spirits lifted.

Meditate and relax your mind

Seeing as we're on the subject of music and sounds one thing that I've been trying out recently is meditation. Again I am not an expert in meditation. There are so many different ways you can meditate you can use apps which there are quite a few, there are even youtube videos you can watch or listen to and they will all help you mediate. I for one switch things around sometimes I'll use an app and sometimes I'll listen to youtube music. Sometimes I will just sit on my bed, close my eyes and turn all my electronics on aeroplane mode and just concentrate on my breathing for 10 minutes. It sounds really strange and I'm not going to lie it's difficult to just switch off like that. I've struggled so much with it I tried meditating last year and I just couldn't do it but It'd taken me some time to be able to switch off for just 5 minutes, just concentrate on my breathing and empty my mind. It's helped me to become calmer and rid me off a lot of anxiety, doubts and negative feelings I've had within me (reduced them). I would highly recommend you just take 5 or 10 minutes out of your day just to clear your mind, it had done wonders for me.

Good vibes only - remove yourself from negative things

As you guys all know I'm all about the good vibes. One thing that I have struggled with growing up is that I used to be involved in situations or be around people, be around things that were very negative. That had a negative effect on me as a person, on my mind and in so many different aspects of my life. It wasn't until I slowly removed myself from that is when I started feeling more positive and better within myslef. I felt like a whole load of weight had been dropped from my shoulders, it made me feel so good. So I know there will be certain situations and certain times where things will be very hard and very negative. It's quite difficult to distance yourself but I not saying to drop people at the click of your fingers. Take your time, you want to work at a pace that suits you but you definitely want to be around people, things and places that are positive and that are good for you.

Positive people - energies from people are contagious

Speaking of positive people, this is something I struggled with growing up. I did hang around with people who were very negative at times. It didn't do any good for me! Now it wasn't until I slowly removed myself from any negative people around me that I again started feeling so much better. If you hang around or are with people who are negative there energy is bound to rub off on you. On the other hand, if you are going to be spending your time with positive people there energy is definitely going to be rubbing off on you. So you want to choose the people that you are around with very carefully. I know this is really difficult especially if you're at school or even in the workplace it can be difficult to distance yourself. Your mind is very powerful try and affirm some positive things and it will help you. again I'm not saying this is easy it's no way easy! It's a long process and it's taken me years to be at the place I am now and I'm still learning. I'm still becoming better, so don't feel like you have to become this positive person like right this second as it's a learning process. So start off small and work your way up to bigger things and it will help you in the long run.

Let go of situations or things you can't control

Just as Elsa said ''let it go''. It's so important to let go of the situations that you cannot control. This is something I try to work on a day to day basis. There are certain situations which really wind me up, which get me so irritated that I've just got to be like; breath and let it go. There is nothing that I can do about it and there's nothing I can change. I'm not only talking about things that are happening in the present but also about things that have happened in the past. You've just got to let it go and the more you do it the easier it becomes. You've needed to form a habit because once you have a habit of just letting things go , things will be so much easier. You can't just flick a switch in your brain and just start thinking positive and get rid of all of that and do this and that. It is a process that takes time. Try as much as you possibly can to let go of the situations that you cannot control.

Self-love is the best love

I'm still learning to love myself more and more every day but there is a saying that I'm sure most of you have heard before ''if you don't love yourself then you can't expect others to love you''. Self-love personally for me is being able to give myself that time and energy and love that I need. whether that's emotional, physically or mentally. Giving myself that metaphorical hug that I need. It's so important to love yourself as a person if you are able to love yourself and to accept yourself you will be so much more accepting of others and their situations.It helps you become so calm. Self-love is all about knowing what your worth there are so many people out there who will not know and that is absolutely fine. Just make sure your not one of those people who are not knowing your own worth because you deserve the love, the respect, the time and energy you should give yourself. If you don't give it to yourself you can't expect it from other people. So always remember to love yourself!

Smiling is the best accessory

Last but not least is my favourite accessory and that is smiling! Smiling does wonders for me even when I know I'm not having a particularly good day. I will just smile even if I'm just smiling on my walk home from work by myself or passers-by in the street, it just uplifts everyone's mood and energy. There were studies where people who were feeling down were told to smile and they found it does help improve your mood. Smiling is definitely one of those things that you can do just reading this blog or just doing you daily tasks. It will not only help you feel better but everyone else to.

So there you have it there are my top tips for feeling tip top and positively positive! They help me to lead a positive lifestyle, I really hope that this can help some of you out there. Even if it helps just 2 people I will still be so happy because this is a subject wich is very dear to me and that I feel very passionately about. Please make sure you check ou the links below because there will be some more information down there as well.

The law of attraction - http://www.bonvitastyle.com/law-of-attraction-101-everything-you-need-to-know