Jamie Eason's 12 Week Live Fit: Phase 1 review and progress pics

 Phase 1:

During phase 1 the program is aimed at building a foundation of muscle to boost metabolic rate (more muscle = greater calories burned at rest). I really enjoyed the workouts and completed all for the month! 

On average I burned between 150-200 calories per workout (20-30 mins), which is less than I usually would at the gym, but I wasn't doing any cardio. While doing this program I ate between 1200-2000 calories per day (eating clean most of the time). In the next phase I will be sticking to a very strict diet to attempt to reach the goals I am striving for. 

I have taken full body progress pictures, but I will not be posting those until I have completed the full 12 weeks. I really wanted to see some arm/back progress so I photographed the back of my arm before I started and when I finished the 4th week. Throughout the 1st phase my weight fluctuated, I lost 2kg one week, then gained it back. It was extremely frustrating. In the end I lost no weight whatsoever and was feeling unmotivated to continue. Luckily I took my measurements for fashion at school about a week before I started the program! I compared the measurements and I have lost 2cm from my hips (which is where the most of my body fat has accumulated). This proves to me that the scales aren't everything! I most likely have lost a little bit of fat, while putting on a little bit of muscle. 

I am excited to start phase 2 now and am hoping I will lose a few kg from adding cardio!

Start

End of phase 1

Jamie Eason's 12 Week Live Fit program

About 5 weeks ago I joined my local women's gym (again) on a 3 year contract (yep... big commitment). Now maybe I should start with my gym history. I joined the said women's gym in 2013 for 6 months....then ran out of money. I joined a 24/7  gym in 2014 when I had a bit more money for about 6 months.... yet again I could not support the weekly payments (being a student). This year there was a HUGE offer on, so I took advantage of that.

Back to the program. I watch many, many YouTubers on a daily basis. I am particularly inspired by Amynicolaox, she has documented her amazing weight loss and fitness journey. I noticed in one of her videos she mentioned something about the Jamie Eason 12 week live fit program (Bodybuilding.com). Naturally I had to find out about it. At this stage I had been a member of the gym for about a week and I really wanted some direction. I had previously followed the Kayla Itsines BBG, but wanted a guide that would have me using the gym equipment that I am paying for. (With that said the Jamie Eason program is aimed at gym goers). 

The program is split up into 3 stages (4 weeks per stage). The first stage has you go to the gym 4 times (weeks 1-2) and 5 times (weeks 3-4). Phase 1 is aimed to help build a foundation of muscle (for metabolic purposes), no cardio is performed in the 1st phase. 

I am currently finishing up week 4 and am really loving it. I will post my progress when I have finished the 1st phase completely.

Wish me luck!

-Kate

My Year 10 Formal/Prom flash back!

Hey everyone! I've gathered some photo's from my year 10 formal last year (2013). I did my own makeup and my friend Christiana's makeup. I had heaps of fun, it was an amazing night to end 4 years of school with a wonderful group of people!

Garnier Moisture Match Review!

Before I start this review I would just like to mention that I am in no way saying that everyone will have the same results as I did with these products. I have combination-normal, fair, teenage skin. I bought all of these products with my own money and these are completely my own opinions. Enjoy :)

Blue: "normal to dry skin, light softening cream"

I actually quite like this moisturiser. It isn't too heavy, but it is heavier than some moisturisers on the market.  It is dewy but not too greasy and it smells great. This one I would probably use during the night as it doesn't have any SPF. I would recommend this for people with normal to dry skin (as the bottle says). This is a good all-round moisturiser in my oppinion. It claims to have blue lotus extract in it which I researched, apparently it is an anti-inflammatory and helps neutralise free radicals. You can read more about blue lotus here.
I may repurchase this product.

Yellow: "normal skin, illuminating light lotion"

Straight up, I don't like this moisturiser. It does moisturise (when first applying it) and it is dewy (maybe a little too dewy for my liking). The thing I don't like about this is is dries out my skin throughout the day. After wearing this I have dry skin patches on my nose and near my mouth area. I tried it for a while, off and on because I thought it may have been something else causing the dryness, but no, it was the moisturiser. Now this is very disappointing as it is the only one from the range with SPF. Now this product has lemon extract. I thought this was strange as I had read on the internet that lemon is not good to put on your face during the day, because it magnifies the UV rays. I am not sure if the lemon EXTRACT it the same, but it may be worth looking into. (please note I am not a dermatologist and I don't know too much about the lemon extract, it is just something I found unusual).
I wouldn't recommend this product and I wouldn't repurchase this product.

Pink:"dry to very dry skin, ultra-rich hydrating cream"

I like this moisturiser also. It definitely is rich and very moisturising. It smells nice and has a nice consistency. I would use this as a night cream if I was having dry skin problems. I wouldn't use it every night as I have teenage skin and too much heavy moisturiser of any kind would most likely break me out. In saying that, the nights I did use this it didn't break me out (keep in mind it wasn't consecutive nights). I would recommend this for people with very dry or mature skin. It claims to have Camelia extract in it, I couldn't find anything about "Camelia" online. I could only find "Camellia sinensis" and I am not sure if it is the same thing. 
I may repurchase this product.

Green:"combination to oily skin, mattifying fresh cream"

I am on the fence about this one. When applying it, it is almost as if it is rolling up as you rub it in. This is hard to explain. Imagine you have sunburn peeling and you rub it, it would start balling up on your hand. This is sort of what it feels like when I apply it. I don't particularly like the smell, but I don't hate it either. When it is on my skin by itself it doesn't look very matte. But when it is under makeup is does make it a tad less shiny, but not a noticeable amount. It claims to have green tea extract in it, green tea has many benefits and you can read more about that here. If you have extremely oily skin this may not work for you as it isn't very matte, the same goes if you have very dry skin as it isn't as moisturising as some. I would recommend this one for people with normal skin.
I probably wouldn't repurchase this product.

Beginners Green Smoothie!

If you haven't heard about the green smoothie craze then you must be living under a rock. Heaps of celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Miranda Kerr, Amanda Seyfried among many others have been seen drinking these power packed little drinks. I was very excited about trying these smoothies for myself after hearing all of the health benefits. Smoothies are like juices except instead of getting rid of the bulk of the fruit, it is blended into the drink. This keeps the fibre in your drink (just like eating the fruit/veggies instead of spitting out the skin/roughage). Now after reading all about the health benefits I was ready to give them a go! But then came the 'how do I make this'. There are many recipes online for smoothies, and a lot of them are scary. Celery? Cucumber? Capsicum? Ginger? In a smoothie? This was some pretty scary stuff. Now after trying some not so good recipes I found one I really enjoy. I call this my Beginner Green (more like purple) Smoothie.

Ingredients:

1/2c spinach 

1 banana

1c frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

250ml coconut water

Now how do I make this exactly? Well any blender will do really. Heaps of people use the bullet or nutribullet, however any blender will generally do the job. The blender I went for cost me $50 from Big W. It is called the Blitz2Go blender from Kambrook. It is basically a bottle you screw onto a chopping base and click into the blender base. I think this is a great blender, especially for the price!

Just add all the ingredients into the blender of your choice and blend away to purple deliciousness. 

When I make this I usually split it into 2 glasses and share it with my mum, but go ahead and drink the whole thing if you want! (It is really filling).  I added up the ingredients I used and it came to about 213 calories for the whole drink (this is approximate and you should check the calories of your ingredients).

I really hope you enjoy it!

Procrastinating Beauty Blogger Tag!

I was tagged to do this post by Olivia-Savannah from Olivia's Catastrophe (click her name to see her blog).

001. Name a beauty regime you rarely do?
Moisturise my whole body! Now this is probably pretty bad, but I feel like almost everyone is guilty of this. I will try to moisturise after the shower every night..... maybe.

002. Is washing your brushes something you do regularly?
Not regularly enough. I honestly probably do it every 1-2 months. I am off to clean them after this post now oops.

 003. How long will you last with chipped nail polish?
I hate having chipped nails! But then again I am too lazy to repaint them anyway.

 004. How long will you put off buying/replacing a nail polish, even if you need it?
I just buy them whenever I feel like a new colour or if mine dry up.

 005. What is your worst beauty habit?
Being too tired to wash off my makeup some nights! But lately my skin has been breaking out so I am back to washing every morning and night.

006. Name something non-beauty related you put off doing all the time?
My school work! I am so bad at starting assignments and half the time I do them the night before they are due.

007. When going somewhere, do you leave getting ready until the last minute or not?
Not really. I figure out how much time I will need and usually get ready on time.

008. Can you commit to spending bans?
No way! I have tried and tried but I am a bit of a spender :(

009. How organised is your makeup and nail polish collection?
Well my makeup is organised into a trolley and each drawer has face/eye/lips separated but the drawers are pretty messy. Same with nail polish, they are just all in a drawer.

010. What is the longest amount of time you have gone without writing a blog post?
Almost 1 month :/ oops.


I tag Shopping Obsession, LOVE JOICE, A Delicate Rosie Beauty, Hanna Rose and Susannah L
along with everyone who reads this :)

xoxoxoxo

Collective Haul!

In the past couple of weeks I have been spending money I maybe didn't need to (don't you act so innocent). This is basically a quick little insight into what I have bought recently! :)

1. Nude, by Rihanna, eau de parfum, 30 ml
I really like this perfume, in my opinion it smells floral, sweet and also of musk. It smells slightly similar to Reb'l Fleur by Rihanna. All in all this smells really good and I can still smell it towards the end of the day. 4/5

2. Chi Chi make-up set
This is a set from Chi Chi. It came with the "Rich Gems" palette, lip glosses and a blush. Firstly, the glosses smell AMAZING. Like caramel, yummy. I am not sure if these glosses can be purchased separately but if they are go and smell them! The blush is nice too, a light, sheer, shimmery pink colour. The palette is also nice, the colours are pigmented, although the formula is a tad on the chalky side (fixed when blended out).  Set 3/5

3. Garnier Moisture Match
I picked up all 4 of the new Garnier "Moisture Match" moisturisers today. I haven't tried them all out yet, I will be doing an in-depth review of all 4 next week so keep your eye out for that :)

4. Batiste dry shampoo- tropical
Now I know what you're thinking, "does she really need all that dry shampoo"? The batiste dry shampoo has to be my favourite, it does exactly what it is supposed to do and doesn't leave my hair looking white. The tropical scent is the best if you ask me. (Whoo hoo for 2-for-1 sales) ;)
4/5

5. Swisspers Organic Cotton Tips
Who doesn't need cotton tips? These were on sale for $1 so I couldn't pass them up.
5/5 for price!

6. Nivea Lip Butter- Rasberry Rose
I love the caramel and vanilla flavours of these lip butters and couldn't resist the new rasberry one! This one is great. Super moisturising and goes on sheer. Nothing bad to say at all.
4/5

7. Maybelline New York lip balm
I have never seen this type of product from Maybelline before. It was in a massive clearance bin for about $3 so I thought, why not! It is an orange shimmery shade (no name) and goes on really nicely. The colour is sheer but still makes the lips shimmery and it is very moisturising, which I was surprised about.
3/4

Thanks for reading, I hope you found this interesting/helpful in any way.
Look out for my review on the Garnier Moisture Match creams next week.

xxx