Life of Jana

Tristan got me a present last year to celebrate my new job - a Fitbit Charge HR. I ' ve been going to the gym more often lately ; when the weather is bad I prefer to run indoors on a treadmill . M y job is office based and I 'm not very active throughout the day . Tristan thought this w ristband would help me stay motivated. There are 4 colo u rs to choose from - black, purple, blue and orange. I picked purple as it ' s feminine but still quite subtle.  The m aterial is soft, flexible and feels like rubber. It's comfortable on the wrist although at first it felt a bit unfamiliar and stiff, as the screen is not very flexible. It took me a couple of days to get used to it. The w ristband is sweat and rain-proof but it can't be worn when swimming or having a shower. It's very easy to clean. After each workout, I take it off my wrist and wipe it with a damp paper towel. Fitbit h as a touchscreen and a side button to check hea...

It has been almost two months since I last blogegd and I've been missing it a lot! The beginning of the year has been quite hectic for me. I will share more about the year so far later but at the moment I want to share an amazing cupcake recipe I came up with recently!  You will all know by now that I am trying to eat as clean as possible, so I'm always trying to invent something new with healthy ingredients I find in my kitchen. I usually have some small jars of nut butters laying around in the cupboard, just because they are super easy to use in baking. I've noticed that they make muffins and cupcakes moist and soft, so they work as a good substitute for regular dairy butter. Ingredients: 2 eggs  1 cup unsweetened apple sauce  1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk  1/4 cup Greek yogurt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract  4 tablespoons almond butter  2 cups self raising flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar  1 teaspoon baking soda...

Tristan got me this beautiful Shea Butter Gift Set from L'Occitane for Christmas. I always complain about my dry skin, especially in the winter, so this was an amazing present for this time of the year. The set included Milk Shea Butter Extra Gentle Soap, Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion, Shea Butter Hand Cream, Shea Butter Foot Cream and a make up bag. Shea Butter Hand Cream  - 75ml *Contains 20% Shea Butter, honey, almond extracts and coconut oil  *Lovely light smell of jasmine and ylang-ylang essences *Has a rich texture but absorbs immediately *Leaves hands soft and smooth with no oily traces Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion - 75ml *Contains 15% Shea Butter, honey and sweet almond extracts *Nourishes and protects dry skin  *Has a lovely subtle scent *This lotion includes calendula extract for a soothing effect *Absorbs nicely and doesn't leave the skin sticky Shea Butter Foot Cream - 30ml *Contains 15% Shea Butter, lavender essential oi...

I recently bought a ROO'BAR Super Mix Box which contains 16 bars: 4x Goji Berry, 4x Cacao Nibs, 4x Maca Cranberry and 4x Chia Coconut. These are 50g bars, making them perfect for little snacks between meals. They are also raw, organic, gluten free and suitable for vegans.  Maca Cranberry contains Maca powder, cranberries, dates, almonds and maca powder. This bar is full of antioxidants from cranberries and it has a nutty taste. Cacao Nibs contains almonds, Peruvian cacao nibs, cacao powder and dates. I like the smooth, sweet taste and nutty flavour. The cacao nibs make this bar crunchy. It is definitely my favourite and actually tastes like a real chocolate bar. Chia Coconut contains dates, desiccated coconut, crispy chia seeds and lemon oil. This bar has a very strong taste which I am not a massive fan of. I'm usually a big fan of chia seeds but in raw bars they are not my favourite. Goji Berry contains Goji berries, dried coconut and raw cacao powder. I love Go...

It is time to set another 9 goals I would like to achieve by the end of 2016. My resolutions in 2015 were pretty good, hopefully I'll be as successful this year. Save money - I need to get serious about money. This is my main goal for 2016 and to achieve it I have to get super organised. Maybe it's time to download a good budget app on my tablet? Exercise at least 6 times a week - Last year my goal was to ''get fit'' but I don't think I fully understood the meaning of it. This time I am going to approach it a bit differently. Instead of getting stressed with ''I have to get fit'', I am going to concentrate more being strong and healthy. To make my workouts more fun, I might try things like dancing, yoga, pilates or even trampoline fitness. Come up with healthy recipes - I eat healthy most of the time but once I get bored with the same recipes, I start craving bad foods (donuts and McDonald's). I've decided to keep track of wha...

The last theme in the Photo Blogging Challenge for 2015 was Holidays . I got very excited to take pictures, as it is one of my favourite times of the year and it was such an easy theme to follow. I went for a walk with my camera a couple of times and took some Christmasy shots around Manchester. It made me quite inspired again - I would love to take more photos outside! Snowflake bauble Christmas decorations Christmas Markets    How cute are these ''Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer'' slippers? It's not Christmas without hot chocolate

I can 't bel ieve 2015 is almost over! At the b eginning of the year I wrote down 9 goals I wanted to achieve, so here 's a quick review of how I've done this year . Get a better job ✓ This was one of the main goals I really wanted to achieve in 2015 . I am so happy I did i t ! Continue my Russian studies ✗ I d idn't realise how ha ving a full time job would leave me with so little time to do anything else. I haven't had the chance to continue my studies at college but I have been trying to learn more on my own. Spend more time with my friends and family ✓ I spent such a great week in Estonia with my family and also had the chance to ca t ch up with some old friends. Tristan and I also ke pt in conta ct with both sides of our famil ies and talked with the m almost every day . Eat healthy   ✓ ✗ I 've been eating quite health ily throughout the year and have made improvements but I know I can do better.    Get fit ✓ ✗ I 've...