Hello, my fruit loops! 

Sorry for the corny title but I hope I can post as many things as I can to help people worry less. This week is some tips for dieting that has worked for me! Now, I'm obviously not professional but since these are simple things, I want to encourage everyone to try them out or incorporate them into their lifestyle if you are looking to change your lifestyle bit by bit.

I was a bit unsure on how to approach this blog post but I hope that this will be an encouragement to others in some way since some small changes can make a difference, I don't think a lot of people realize that. Now, when I say diet I mean changes to a diet to make it healthier for your body inside and out! In today's society the concept of diet can have so many different meanings for many different reasons. 

The thing is, making changes to become healthier is just as much of a mental change as well as a physical one, it takes time! If you change things bit by bit you will find yourself getting used to a healthier lifestyle bit by bit. Remember to eat healthier, not less! 
Good luck!

❤ 

I found out about this app through Wengie, another blogger, and  also strongly recommend using an app that has been my best friend with making better choices and weight loss! You input your own weight/height/goals etc and it calculates how much you should be eating each day in order to healthily lose weight.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

It has also recently added improvements to the app that tell you nutritional value of the food you are eating and reminds you of your goals: a really good encouragement!

1. Drink More Water (and drink tea when you can!)

This tip pops up almost EVERYWHERE! Drinking lots of water used to make me sick so I would drink so much cordial and other drinks instead which is just extra sugar in my system that I don't really need. I am also obsessed with tea and always had black tea with milk and sugar.

I decided that bit by bit I would drink more water until I could completely swap out cordial and other drinks for water. I also started drinking more and more green tea as it has SO many health benefits as well as speeds up the metabolism for weight loss :)

Drinking water helps your skin and your body to function properly, after all our bodies are mostly water. Also, sometimes when you think you are hungry, you are actually thirsty. So drinking water before meals or when you are hungry allows you to know how hungry you are and to control how much you eat.

2. Watch what you eat: eat foods that fill you for longer and eat less bad foods.

Another big I have tried to do is swap out a lot of what I eat with fruits and vegetables, and eating whole meal bread and rice if I am having something like that with my meals. Swapping out a bag of chips or a chocolate bar for a fruit salad or a handful of nuts can really make a difference.

Try to eat less junk food and fast food, plan out your meals and make them beforehand can help control what you eat. Trust me, I know, it's hard to avoid eating chocolate and all that all the time. But every once in a while doesn't hurt, otherwise you will go insane and eat a lot of junk to make up for it. That's not good. So it can be done in moderation.

After all, you have maybe 4 meals a day, times that by 7 and that's 28 meals a week. Having one or two a week that aren't as good is not so bad if it is unavoidable.

3. Watch portion sizes

Eating smaller meals throughout the day is something that is always recommended and it does help :) 

I used to come home from school and eat leftover food in the fridge (which is like one extra big meal) and then have dinner not long after. I stopped doing this because it was unnecessary ad just had a cup of tea with some snacks instead.

I also started using a smaller plate and putting salad on first so that it would take up most of my plate.  

4. Eat till you are 80% full

This is something else that has popped up everywhere but it has a good point. 

Chew your meals slower (about 8 times), since it takes your brain 20 minutes to realize your stomach is full.

By being completely full or overly full you put strain on your stomach and stretch it out, you need to leave room for digestion fluids, water and gas, if not then your stomach needs to expand. If you constantly do this, each time your stomach will expand, leaving more room to be filled the next time you eat. The result will be gaining unnecessary weight.

Even if you have a fast metabolism and don't gain any weight, your stomach will expand and create a stretched out belly (I now realize I had this problem).  You also won't absorb the nutrients as well.

If you start off with a little amount of food and water and are still hungry, you can have a little more if needed rather than having a big portion straight away and feeling like you have to finish it all.

❤ 

Some other tips that might help:

Make sure to finish eating a few hours before you sleep so that your good is settled before. I read somewhere some KPOP idols didn't eat after 7pm or so, and I try to do that. I'm not sure if it works.

Always eat something in the morning, even if it is something small. 

EXERCISE. Even if it is a little bit like walking or taking the stairs or stretching! I will be doing a separate post next time for exercise ideas and easy ways to be active.

❤

If you are looking to lose weight, do it for yourself and to be healthier! On the way to a healthier lifestyle, love your body and yourself always! Don't be discouraged if you don't see change immediately: your organs lose the excess fat before your body does. Don't eat less in order to see results quicker. 

Enjoy life, and good luck! If anyone has more tips, leave them in the comments below!

Nina

Hello lovelies! ♥

So! Due to recent experiences, I have been inspired to do another blog post that's a bit advice-y, more about friendship really.

High school seems to be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to friendships, especially since my circle of friends has changed quite a bit over the four-five years. Recently, I learned how important it is to speak up and be honest with what you think. I've always been sort of quiet and more of a listener/give advice person when people come to me with their problems rather than going to them directly and asking. This has been a problem for me since I need to learn to take initiative and solve the problem directly rather than waiting for the opportunity to do so.

This became clearer to me when there was some miscommunication and false rumors between my friends within my group which led to leaving people out and having tension between people in our group. I kept telling myself I should just sit everyone down and talk about it and clear everything up (since I'm always the neutral party). I spoke to the people affected to get their side of the story but it wasn't until we got some info that someone outside of the group was spreading these rumors and everything was solved very quickly.

Everything could have been solved straight away of we were all honest about our feelings and no misunderstandings would have been created. 

This is why it is important to speak up when something feels wrong - when I heard these rumors I straight away though "There is no way she would done that." 

It is most likely better to get your feelings out and argue about it than have everything kept a secret and being angry/upset in secret. Then you'll solve the issue, or at least know that someone is angry and why, rather than treat someone badly or leaving them out and they don't know why. That's a much worse feeling - not knowing why.

As my friend said herself, she just wanted to know what she did wrong to make people leave we out, especially since it turns out to be nothing. 

Everyone, lets treasure the people close to us and open up to them but by bit! We are never alone in this world and sometimes some things can't be done on our own :) If you open up and argue a bit - that's something to overcome and make the friendship stronger. We need to be kinder to each other in this world. Lets do our best! ^^

Nina ♥ 

It's winter here and it feels like everywhere else is summer :') I deal really badly with the cold, I even get cold in summer. At least I can wear all my sweaters, stockings and boots that I have haha!

I have two weeks of holidays from school and so far I have rested a little too much ._. I went to see Blended on Thursday last week with my friends, and omg, I didn't think it'd that good. I was a bit skeptical, but it's a pretty good movie! I also had more sweets than I should have. I need to eat better now that it's the holidays, I will keep to my healthier lifestyle now that I've started months ago. My parents bought me lots of fruit so I need to finish it all :')

I got some new earrings, I'm so excited! I lost one of my opal ones last year at camp and I was so upset, no one understood >:

It's my best friend's birthday at the end of the week, I'm so excited! I got her earrings too, I hope she'll like them. Before that, we are going for lunch tommorow with everyone. I'm pretty excited :)

I'll post again soon~  Take care!

Nina

Hiya everyone, I hope you're well~

So I had my formal on Thursday (prom) and the whole experience is kind of ... weird for me. I don't know why I'm writing about this but I kind of need it out of my system.

Formal is something some girls in my grade planned half a year or more in advance and then there were some who bought dresses a week or so before. I left my planning a little late because I'm seriously so shy I was afraid of asking around to plan hair and make up etc. But, I had this vision of the kind of dress and found what I wanted online but didn't want to risk it. I ended up getting a beautiful Jovani dress, the same brand I was looking at online, and the store said no one from my school has come. Turns out I had the same dress as a friend of mine but a different colour. And the whole time I was hoping to stand out and be unique.

I did get the basic things organised but because the dress cost a lot I didn't want to go all out with nails and accessories, but I felt like I was missing out because of this. I wasn't feeling the hype everyone was feeling: counting down the days till formal, making plans and everything. Even the lady who was doing my hair noticed how chilled I was. A few hours before the actual event I had this feeling that I didn't want to go anymore. The day was so stressful since I needed last minute alterations and my makeup was done later than expected so I couldn't take as many photos and rushed outside without being completely ready.

Everyone was so beautiful that night and arriving was fun. I got an award for the neatest handwriting, woop woop! Everyone was taking photos with family and all their friends, but I realised that I was kind of just there. I sound like I have no friends, I do xD I arrived with my closest friends who I had already taken photos with (I didn't have a date :3). But I still felt as though I was more involved with other friendship circles throughout the year, I guess I was wrong.

Throughout the night and then afterwards when the photos and partying had ended, (I looked so bad in them it was like I was forcing a smile). It's like my confidence flew out the window when formal is meant to do the opposite. I've come to realize a few things, I haven't gone into detail about the formal because right now it depresses me, and I know why I didn't feel the hype, it was just leading me to feeling like this.

I'm usually not like this, I'm usually so positive and happy but I'm feeling the 'post-formal depression' in a different way from everyone else. After this year, it seems like everyone can easily forget me and I don't want that. I try my hardest to be kind and helpful to everyone, but I end up alone. I don't want to feel like this because I've become the person who is so confident and happy that people look to me to be reassured, to be cheered up and that I can bear anyone's problems and help them. I'm fine with being single, I'll help you through your relationships. I'm fine with how I look, I'll help you feel better. So much more. I can't afford  to feel like this, I love to help people, but why do I feel so insignificant? Is that all I can do, help bring people up and then end up like this after a night where we should all feel special and worthy? D: 

I don't know how I got from talking about my formal to this, it's just... I don't know. I don't want to keep it inside so I'll just post it, I'm sorry :') Has anyone ever felt like this? High school is only one part of our lives, but right now it's the part I'm living and it's over in less than 6 months. I want to try harder to make myself known and to keep my friends close.

I will forever continue to make people happy because it's a belief of mine that one day, somehow, I'll find happiness too through these actions. I watched as half my grade got drunk and those who I thought were innocent were doing who knows what, and felt like I was so innocent and didn't want to grow up anymore. I'm so behind. But I can't just change who I am. At the very least maybe I'll be remembered for being nice.

This is my second blog post and it's not helpful whatsoever, well done Nina :')  But I will hopefully post something that is more cheerful and my usual self!

Remember, if you're reading this, enjoy life and make every moment count!

                                                                            Nina