You might remember a few months back I said I was trying to up my fitness game and especially walk a lot more during my days, by implementing the Jawbone Up Move Fitness Tracker into my daily life to keep track of my steps and sleep. Well, as of today, I’m already three months in and, yes, although I was very sceptical, I’m still keeping it going, so I figured it was about time for an update and to share the love on here!

But first, let’s delineate a little background: I, as you might know, am a freelance web designer and in particular I work from home every single day. Let’s say there’s not a lifestyle that is more sedimentary than mine really! I guess when that’s your routine, you can’t even realize how much you’re *not* moving throughout the whole day.

I was sceptical of any fitness trackers in general when thinking about implementing one in my lifestyle, because I knew it was going to be shocking once I realized how little I dedicated myself to my own health. But on the other hand I believe that is exactly what pushed me to get one, because I wanted a change, and when you have a busy life and you feel like you should be working all the time, you need someone (or something) telling you to get out of that office and do things!

The Up Move is basically the answer to all my fitness dilemmas. I am never very consistent when it comes to sports in general, I like a very small amount of activities, but still I would commit to one for a month or a little more and then favor my desk all day long day in day out until dinnertime. I got it in summertime, and that was the perfect time to get started and get me in the right mood to make a change into my lifestyle that would have stuck.

It allows you set your own fitness and health goals and keep track of them daily, steps and hours of sleep especially, being these two pretty linked together according to my Up app and the base of a healthy lifestyle in general. I remember thinking I wasn’t ever going to reach the goal daily when I firstly entered my 7000 steps per day goal! It might seem such a small goal, but for someone who stays at her desk all day, even half of it can sound a lot.

I was as shocked as I thought I would be when I discovered that I was basically doing a max of 2k steps per day, in the WHOLE day. I guess the fact that I don’t have an office to head to, lots of stairs to take or any recurrent errand that needed me to walk somewhere daily, didn’t really help either! But I must say I have took my goal very seriously ever since I got my Up Move and have been able to change it to 7.5k and then 8k steps in less than a month, without ever losing one single day!

I have come to a point now, where my daily 1h walks are my favourite part of my routine! I switch my tech off and just enjoy walking: preferring calm and peaceful paths, it really can be such a treat for the soul too! I feel a tiny bit gutted now that it’s cold outside, but that means I am finding lots of new ways to implement walking in my lifestyle that I feel are going to stick with me.

Beside the whole take-the-stairs and walk-instead-of-the-bus (which is great but not really my everyday thing being at home all the time), I loved the little suggestions in my Up app, saying to walk while talking to the phone, brushing your teeth, or stand up and take a break every now and then if you’re working from a desk.

I never really thought too much about it, although I do have had some periods when sleep was a bit difficult, but I wasn’t having some good resting at all. As soon as I started to keep track of it I realized I was waking up several times through the night and most of the times I wasn’t able to fulfill my goal of 8h of sleep per night even though, calculating the hours I’ve been in bed, it definitely looked like so!

It took a lot of time actually, to get into a routine where I feel well-rested and I can actually say I’ve slept enough, but right now I realize it makes all the difference during the day. I am more aware and my mind works better, I can get a lot more things done in less time as well, and I’m starting to believe it really is linked to the fact I’ve been walking a lot too. And beside the weight loss (that was well welcomed but not my main goal), this is the best result I have seen in my body so far!

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I also loved to keep track of the food I was eating and the calories I was consuming in the beginning, but at some point I have stopped doing that once I got an idea of what works and what doesn’t, as I never feel like I want to be too constricted in my lifestyle by counting calories at all. However it’s nice to know I can still do that if I feel like!

At the end of the day I’ve learnt a fitness tracker shouldn’t be something for the sport-lover only at all! I would totally suggest implementing one in a sedimentary routine especially, as it helps so much in seeing how much you’re not moving and how you can change that so easily!

Have you ever considered implementing a fitness tracker in your routine? x

OK so, October has been the month of my first cold, of an endless hours spent in front of my laptop wanting to cry and without knowing where to begin with work, so I’m almost happy it’s finally over, but on the other hand it has been the month of mist and yellow leaves, roasted chestnuts almost every Sunday, countless cups of tea, the first coat and the first scarf, and in general the time I rediscovered my love for Autumn… and it’s sad to think one month of my favourite season has already gone by.

But there’s Christmas around the corner, so I’m not complaining! In the meanwhile here are my October favourites…

. F O O D .

This has been the first month when the wheather outside was chilly enough to properly enjoy a cup of tea, and with that, I decided it was about time that I tried out some new flavours. Turns out, I did buy a new tea, still the notes are always the same! What can I say? I’m such a lover of lavender, chamomile and lemon balm – put them all into one single blend, add cute packagings like only Clipper can do, and I’m sold!

I love sweet teas and this Snore & Peace number is almost already perfect for me without the addition of extra sugar (but I’d still add one teaspoon just in case, you know!). It’s basically the perfect nighttime infusion, but I still do enjoy it in the afternoon too… so relaxing and calming in front of a huge pile of work, you know…

On a different note, in the last week of September and throughout all the month of October, I’ve been loving this coconut jam from Coconut Merchant (my trusty retailer of huge bottles of coconut oil, if you’re wondering). It’s made of 100% organic coconut and tastes quite a bit like coconut sugar (that is amazing to me!). I guess it’s a bit of a healthier alternative to processed-sugared jams or Nutella (although it does not taste like that at all) – and I love it on my toasts in the morning! Yes, I’ve already gone through two jars all by own…

. B E A U T Y .

I don’t know if it’s just me, but my makeup products seem to finish up all at the same time! And October was that time for me. While repurchasing some old favourites, I thought I’d give a new foundation a go this round…

I tried a sample of this Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation back in May and I loved the texture and the finish so much. The only thing I’m always a bit put off by is the price of high end foundations, but this month I decided to finally bite the bullet and buy it. I know I’m super late on the bandwagon, but I’d suggest this to anyone with oily skin wanting a nice and natural but not super matte look that doesn’t feel heavy on the skin and last all day!

This is 100% a new favourite!

. S T Y L E .

Talking of favourites, ahhh… I can’t explain how much I love my new Nike Juvenate Sneakers at words! I have been raving about them all time on social media!

You might remember I talked a bit about getting into exercising a little more and especially walking a lot more back in August: I have been after investing in a nice and comfy pair of sneakers ever since, looking in particular for some shoes I could actually also wear on a daily basis (so yes, I wanted them to be cute!). I had some pretty hard time, I can assure you, but then I found these in lilac on Zalando, super discounted, and in my size… that’s how you know it’s meant to be.

And they are indeed the most comfortable shoes to walk in – maybe not the best in the rain, but I actually never really go out for a walk when it rains, so..!

This month I was also able to finally fit into this Zara mom jeans I’ve been after for a while, and so I bought them after a quick happy dance in the changing room. Needless to say I’ve been wearing them non-stop from that very minute throughout the whole month… and I’ve also purchased that beauty of a H&M pastel scarf: so snuggly and cosy! You know I love my pastels!

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But that’s about it for my October favourites!
Would love to know what you’ve loved this month! x

I can’t really express how excited I am about Autumn this year! I have been looking forward to the season of chesnut-picking hikes, orange leaves everywhere, cosy blankets and sweaters and countless cup of tea so very much recently that I might or might not started being a bit impatient for the weather to get chillier, while it still feels too warm for tea at the moment around here.

And with the change of season, I’ve been wanting to invest in some nice new high quality pieces for my wardrobe and home, because, let’s be honest, there’s nothing I love more than autumnal shopping – only second to Christmas shopping, for sure! I surely am not wanting to exclude any candles or new mugs from the party, but I guess I need to admit I might have already built quite the collection on both the two fronts!

But I’ve eyed up a couple of beautiful soft cashmere pieces as well as some woods themed kitchenware this season, and I am surely also into health and fitness a lot more recently, hence why the cookbook and leggings picks couldn’t be left out of this Autumn wishlist of mine!

. L I N K S .
01. Oysho Floral Pyjamas Set ;
02. Peony Marble Print Leggings ;
03. Eat Smart: What to Eat in a Day – Every Day ;
04. Anthropologie Hedgehog Measuring Cups ;
05. ASOS White Cashmere Funnel Neck Sweater ;
06. Aurora’s Shoe Co. Women’s North Pacific ;

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What’s on your Autumn wishlist this year? x