Finding a routine in the gym is one thing but finding a routine in the kitchen is a whole different ball game, especially when you’ve chosen to have a lifestyle change.  

Health starts in the kitchen and proceeds to the gym, if your lifestyle out of gym is out of wack so will your lifestyle in the gym.

I don’t necessary label my sort of “diet” but if I had to, I would call myself a Flexitarian – I eat what I want, when I want. I give my body what it needs to strive on and not the opposite. Of course I crave the odd cheat meal here and there but over these past few weeks i’ve come to realise that you can replace almost every unhealthy thing with a healthier alternative and still enjoy it!

I believe that humans weren’t created to diet. Our bodies will do whatever it can to survive, our bodies need calories, nutrients and energy! But I am just a little white girl living in a little neighbourhood trying to help people make the best decisions for themselves.

This past week I decided to take a day and document what I eat. It’s a very real depiction of my every day eating, nothing fancy just nutritious food that my body needs to give me the energy for the day ahead.

Also remember that everyone’s bodies are different and what my body needs can be completely different to what your body needs come the time of day, I just hope to ignite those creative juices and help you get inspired in the kitchen!

BREAKFAST:

Normally every morning I will wake up and make myself a herbal tea and a smoothie.

I find that when I wake up i’m either extremely starving or not hungry at all – there’s no inbetween but I make sure to always put something in my body before I go and exercise so my body has some energy to work off.

Quick side note: If you’d like to see what goes into my meals you can watch my first ever YouTube video, I give you a run down of the ingredients that go into every meal and snack, the video is at the end of the post. (p.s your support would be greatly appreciated!)

MORNING SNACK:

Because on this day I didn’t go to gym, it was my day off I didn’t find myself scratching in the kitchen as often as I do when I do train so I just a simple snack like apples and peanut butter did me well.

LUNCH:

Salads are my be all and end all. If I could have salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner I probably would. Infact, I almost do – so there’s that answered. Usually for my lunches I have whatever we had the night before and in this instance we had roast chicken and veg so I made a chicken salad with an ice cold glass of water and lemon.

AFTERNOON SNACK:

Usually around 4PM my body wakes up and realises how hungry it actually is and I find myself needing to eat almost everything in sight so I like to eat something that I know will sustain me but won’t make me too full for dinner – Avo is a big part of my diet (and feta, feta is life) and I find that eating healthy fats around this time tend to leave me feeling fuller for longer rather than eating starch like toast. So I decided to have avo on a rice cake with some feta sprinkled over – YUM.

DINNER:

Dinner is hands down my most favourite meal of the day, it just leaves me feeling SO satisfied and also because my parents are great cooks so I think that counts too. We had my brother and his girlfriend come round for dinner so we decided on a good old Cape Town braai with salad, veg and some rice.

I don’t count calories, I don’t judge people who do but I am not a fan of it – If I had one piece of advice to give I would say listen to your body. Drink water often, when you feel hungry nourish your body with nutrients not junk food. Take note of what foods make you feel good and what doesn’t and use that as a guide to help you understand your body better.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way an expert on nutrition and this post should not be taken too seriously. I am purely documenting my own habits and not advising anyone to do as I do. It’s all for fun.

I hope you enjoyed the post and the video! If so please share, like and subscribe and let me know if you’d like to see more of these!

Lots of love, Jeanna x

If there is one thing I have come to know about Cape Town, it’s the seasons. Sometimes we will have Summer in Winter and Spring in Autumn and if we are REALLY lucky we will get all 4 seasons in one day!

Which is the exact reason I thought it was fitting to write up a post on my 3 homemade body scrubs for when my skin isn’t feeling so hot no matter what season it is that day!

Although it is admittedly a tedious task, exfoliating is an essential part of any skin care routine, whether it be for the face or the body. It’s so important to stimulate circulation through your skin and get the blood flowing.

I do sometimes use body scrubs bought from a supermarket or a beauty store, the one thing I love about making my own is that there is full control over what goes into the scrubs and onto my skin. It can be tailored to your skin type, It’s a cost-effective hobby and also reduces the amount of chemical build up onto your skin which is a bonus!

In my previous skincare post (Prepping for a special event) I mentioned that I enjoy using my homemade body scrub to exfoliate my skin when it’s feeling a bit poor or when I want my skin to look and feel extra good for an event. Here are some of the easy body scrubs I make:

Soothing peppermint scrub:

1 Cup | Granulated sugar/Brown Sugar

4 Spoons | Refined coconut oil

10 Drops | Peppermint oil

Refreshing lemon scrub:

2 Cups | Granulated sugar/Brown Sugar

¼ Cup | Almond oil

10 Drops | Lemon oil

Once all your ingredients are out, mix your oil and sugar until you get the desired consistency that you are looking for then add the essential oil drops.

Once you are happy with the consistency and all the ingredients are combined well, store it in a cute little jar or container and use for your feet or body.

I absolutely love these scrubs (not only because they smells like peppermint chocolate and sweets) but also for getting rid of those dead skin cells around the elbow, knee and foot area. My skin feels so nourished and moisturized after I use them.

Handy tip: Sugar is not always the best thing for your health and to put inside your body but it can be an amazing exfoliant for your skin.

I would recommend using the peppermint and lemon body scrub in the shower or bath just because once the skin is damp the scrub sticks to the skin more making the whole exfoliating process easier as opposed to dry body brushing then hopping into the shower – also less of a messy situation.

Photographer / Ashley Tapsell

Design & Layout / Jeanna Kenchington

Exfoliating and moisturising hand treatment:

2 Tbsp | Sunflower oil

2 Tbsp | Lemon juice

3 Tbsp | Brown sugar

Mix the ingredients equally and leave on for 10 – 15 minutes then rinse and moisturize with your favorite hand cream. How easy was that?

The only difference between brown and granulated sugar is that brown sugar is a bit softer for use on the skin.

The best part about these homemade scrubs is not only do they benefit your skin but you can also tailor them to your skin type. You can change the essential oils or add something extra, it’s completely up to you. Make it to how you like it! Consider this a base to your creation.

It’s always important to stay cautious of what you are putting on your skin, Remember the skin is the body’s biggest organ that leads into the bloodstream. You wouldnt rub chemicals on your liver so why would you rub it onto your skin? Just some food for thought.

If you make any of your own homemade body scrubs, comment the recipe or tweet me pics. I’d love to see!

Photographer / Ashley Tapsell 

Having always been shorter than most girls and a bit more petite around the bust (ahem, thanks mom) it has never been the easiest thing for me to wear dresses or at least find dresses to wear that compliment/shape my body the way i’d prefer rather than do the complete opposite.

When it comes to special occasions and important events, I love dressing up and making myself feel and look as good as I possibly could. As I’m sure everyone else does. That’s why we are always willing to go that extra mile to ensure that the big event has no disappointments, including ourselves!

But before you can enjoy not having any setbacks, It is important to understand how to prevent those from happening. It starts from within and it then proceeds to the exterior. That’s why I am here to share my prepping routine with you so our skin is perfect and our belly’s are flat and not bloated!

Estee Lauder has always been one of the make up brands that I found myself constantly going back to when I had finished certain makeup products.

Mid year in 2013, I fell quite sick and discovered myself at home quite a bit of the time – completely bored out of my mind so I tried to keep myself as preoccupied as possible but that didn’t always work. I got cabin fever so quickly and couldn’t spend more than a few hours in the house. So to take up my time I watched YouTube makeup tutorials and tried to duplicate what they did on their face, onto mine. (emphasis on tried) but with that I found a new admiration for make up.