Teatox complete!

I did it!!!! I've completed my very first detox!!! 

I cant believe it was so easy! And I am a little sad that its over :( just to recap with you, for the last 28 days I have been following a teatox program from a company called Skinny Mint. I added more fruit and veg to my diet and started doing regular exercise (x2 40mins Zumba a week).

I want to say that I never went on this detox to lose weight, that's not really what its for. I wanted to detox because I've been struggling with certain foods as I've gotten older. I've never been able to consume cows milk, apparently when I was a baby my Mam brought me up on goats milk. But after I left home I bought and drank cows milk as I thought it was just something I would have grown out of, until I realised that it was making me really ill. I was having awful stomach pains/cramps and I was so ridiculously bloated, sometimes it even made me feel nauseous. So I'm back on the goats milk/cheese/yoghurt and loving it. I also have trouble with white bread, white pasta and white rice. So I have switched to wholemeal/protien pasta, brown rice and only eat wholemeal bread. I gathered that making these changes and detoxing would be just what I needed.

Before the teatox I weighed myself and I was sitting at 11st 1lbs, which for my height 5"11 is where I should be. But I felt heavy and lethargic and I had heard that the morning tea really gave you a boost. So I thought with my holiday coming up in September I had nothing to lose by trying it. 

I finished my teatox on Wednesday and when I weighed myself I was astonished to see that I am now 10st 6lbs. This was just an added bonus I have to say as the teatox did what it said it would. It gave me so much more energy and I no longer felt fuzzy headed and lethargic on a morning. I also found that during the day my energy levels didn't dip like they used to. And to top it all off no more tummy troubles. 

When I had completed the teatox I really missed the morning teas so I've went ahead and ordered some more. The morning ones you can continue to drink in between detox's. They arrived this afternoon and I will be glad to get back to it tomorrow morning for sure :)

As I have already posted it on my Instagram account I just want to warn you before, that I don't normally make a habit of posting photographs of myself in a bikini and this will be the one and only time I will ever do it. I apologise to those of you who would rather not see if it, but since I'm only ever going to do it the once I feel like it may just be OK? :D

The top two are of me before and the bottom are from after. I am more than happy with the result and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to cleanse their system, feel better and more energised or just want to kick start a healthy eating regime. 

OK I have embarrased myself enough now so I'm signing off there. Thanks for taking the time to read through my progress. Other crafty news to follow :) xxx

The last for sometime

If you have caught up with my blog lately you will know that I've made the tough decision to give up making bags for the time being to pursue other things that make me happy.

It was an even tougher decision as I had just finished this custom bag for a lovely friend of mine. I have really pushed myself this year to not be afraid to dive in and try new designs and I'm proud to say I think I nailed that one. 

As always I loved making this bag and loved the brief I was set by Michele. It took longer than I anticipated but I got there in the end......

Its a little bit ridiculous that I was so scared of zippered pockets, they weren't half as difficult as I thought they were going to be and this year they have appeared in every bag I've made.

Michele was as pleased with her bag as I was with the end result. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be more bags in the future but it will be as and when I feel the need to get back in the saddle so to speak.

I feel content that I "went out with a bang" with this bag, although it did make me question my decision to stop making bags. That was until I reminded myself of all the new projects/tasks that I was looking forward to getting started on.

I'm hoping all this practice with piping will stand me in good stead to get cracking on those cushions I was planning to make over a year ago!!! :D

So I leave you with this picture........

Bagladee xxx

Colour Therapy

As I seem to be on a new road of self discovery at the moment I thought I'd give some colour therapy a go. I have heard from quite of few of my friends that this actually works. I was secretly thinking to myself that even if it didn't work I really wanted to do some colouring in!!! :D I searched on Amazon for Adult Colouring books, now I'd just like to confirm that is colouring books for Adults and not something a little bit *coughs* a-hem! h ha ha!! And these were the two that caught my eye....."Colour Therapy, an anti-stress colouring book" and "Cool cats". I also treated myself to a good set of felt tip pens. 

I chose a page from the blue section to start and since orange is the complimentary colour of blue I used golden yellow and orange accents. 

Not quite finished yet but almost there.

Feeling like a kid again, it took me back to colouring as a child. It really focused my mind and I found myself immersed in it for over an hour before I realised. Sometimes I find it really difficult to clear my mind of everything and even when I'm trying to relax my brain is going ten to the dozen. This really helps clear your mind and concentrate on one thing, making the picture look pretty with amazing colours!!!

If you're interested the two books and the pens including delivery came to £15.95, cheaper than an hour of actual therapy ;)

Feeling happy :D

Skinny Mint : Update 2

I'm gonna make this one short and sweet.....

So I'm now on day 22 and I can't believe how much of a difference I'm seeing. The bloat has gone and my belly fat has reduce significantly (with the help of exercise of course). I thought maybe the whole energised feeling would subside after a while but no, I'm still feeling awake and cleared headed every morning and just generally in a better mood.

I had a good clear out of my clothes on Friday afternoon. Now we all keep those items if clothing that we love in the hope of one day being able to "get back into them" don't we? Well some have gone and some I can actually fit back into WIN!!! I now have an organised wardrobe full of clothes that fit me.

To sum up my progress so far, I went into this teatox 11st 1lbs and when I weighed myself last night I now weigh 10st 7lbs so I have lost 8lbs so far. Again I'd like to reiterate that I have also been eating more healthier and exercising. I have 6 days remaining until the end of my teatox and cant wait to see the end result.

I'll be back at the end of the 28days to show you my end result :)

Not giving up

I feel a little bit sad writing this post but at the same time excited of what is to come. I'm just gonna come out as say it and then I feel i need to explain....

I am hanging up my bag making apron for the foreseeable future. 

There I said it, it's out there now! It was never an easy decision to make and of course nothing of this nature is ever final. It's something that has been in the background niggling at me since last Christmas. 

As I've said many times before, Bagladee for me is more of a hobby than it's ever been a business, I did it because I love to sew and I've revelled in the whole process of teaching myself new techniques and realising that I could actually make a good quality bag that could rival some of the best! Life has changed since the start of Bagladee and so have my priorities. I enjoy my day job since changing just over a year ago and everyday is unpredictable and busy which I love. I've started eating healthier and exercising regular. We still have much to do in the way of decorating our beautiful home and I just want to let go and relax and enjoy life in general with Chris (Mr.B). 

I could write a list that goes on for miles of all the things I would like to do in place of the time I would be sat making bags. I just feel that now is the perfect time to stop and take stock of everything and do more. 

I will still keep everything going in regards to my blog, Facebook, twitter, Instagram and my website. I don't want Bagladee to just disappear, you will just see a lot more things about me and my life. I'm going to spend more time developing my brand of gingerbread men as they are so popular with you all. So you can expect some new little bits in that sense. Maybe I'll even get round to making myself a bag! Ha ha.

Way, way back in 2008 I started this blog and opened my Etsy shop and since then I've had the most amazing support and encouragement from you all. For that I cant thank you enough! I never thought for one minute that Bagladee would have become such a huge part of my life and the new friends I've made along the way. As I have no idea where the road is going to take me I'm hoping that you'll join me for the ride.

I've spent the evening tidying up my studio (as always it looks like a tornado after I've finished a bag) so now its all ready to be decorated and ready for a new chapter.

Skinny Mint : Update

So I am now on day 10 of the 14 day Starter pack of the Skinny Mint teatox. I thought that I wasn't going to like it to be honest, as I said before I'm not really a 'herbal' tea drinker, I love a good cup of builders tea or you are mostly likely to see me with a cup of coffee in my hand.

I have to say that I am really enjoying the morning boost tea, I love the taste and even more so I love how energised I feel since starting the teatox.

I am definitely not a morning person, I start my day job at 7am and it always takes me about an hour and a couple of coffees to get me into some sort of cohesive state and sometimes I can be, shall we say 'a little moody' or sharp until at least mid morning. God I sound like a right moody cow....I'm not like this everyday I'd just like to add :D

My usual routine would be to get in and log into the works system then go make a coffee. I've now replaced this with the morning boost tea and boy what a difference. I've felt more awake this week than I have in quite sometime, I've also felt more cleared headed, less fuzzy and overall generally in a better mood and state of mind. So for me the morning boost tea is a winner for sure.

The night cleanse tea however, I still cannot get away with the taste, I'm not saying its awful its just not my thing. its very gingery and has peppermint in it too, I really don't like peppermint tea :( but I've been persevering with it to see what the results are. It does make you feel really relaxed and sleepy which was a nice bonus, its really helping me wind down before bed.

Please remember that while doing this teatox I am exercising too, I try to fit in x2 40min sessions of Zumba a week but I'm not dieting I'm just trying to eat a little more fruit and veg. I have been losing a teeny bit of weight here and there over the last couple of months but when I weighed myself this week I had actually lost 2lbs!!! Am I seeing any difference though? YES!! I am no longer feeling bloated and have lost an inch or so from my waist and I have noticed my muffin top has reduced. And one of my work colleagues asked me today "Have you lost weight?". So this evening I have gone ahead and ordered another of the 14 day pack to complete the full 28 day teatox. I'm interested to see what difference doing the whole course will be.

They only recommend that you detox 3 times a year with a break in between each detox but you can however still carry on drinking the morning boost tea. If I find that after I complete the teatox I'm starting to become lethargic again I think I will invest in a pack of just the morning boost.

I've even managed to persuade my Mam to try it too, so it will be interesting to see what results it has for her. I will pop back in a few more days or so and let you know how I'm getting on. Would you be interested in seeing some before/after photos or not? 

Oh yes and I would just like to also add there has been some sewing going on here at Bagladee HQ but I will tell you ball about that later. 

Skinny Mint

I don't usually post about this sort of stuff but since we have booked our Summer holiday to Portugal I have been more concious of how unhealthy and unfit I had become over the last couple of years. I used to be really active when I was younger going to dance class and competing in competitions and even though I stopped competing at twenty I still kept active with aerobics and running.

Life came along and got in the way....moving house, busy making bags, busy changing jobs at work, decorating....well I could go on. I'm going to put my hand up now and say for the last 4 year approx I have done not one ounce of exercise, nope nada nothing!!!! Which would be OK if I watched what I ate....I didn't and ended up a stone and half heavier. Now to some that wont sound very much, but I've always been slim and I felt heavy. Its all about the way we feel rather than what we weigh right?!?

So.....I started back on Zumba on my WII twice a week and started trying to eat a little healthier. I started to read about different types of detox regimes on the internet, and was almost ready to try "those wraps" (very expensive) I'm sure you know which ones I mean until I read up about Skinny Mint. Skinny Mint is a 2 step Teatox which you drink for 28 days. There is a morning boost tea which you drink every morning before breakfast and then a Night cleanse which you drink every other night after your last meal.

The 28 day teatox is £32.90, I know sounds expensive for tea right, yeah thats what I thought, but I read some of the testimonials and thought I'm gonna give it a go. There is a 14 day starter pack which retails for £17.90 which is the one that I went for, I was a little dubious that I would like the taste of it so the starter pack seemed like a good way to go.

Here goes......

My pack arrived on Monday so my first day started on Tuesday. I had one of the morning boost teas as soon as I got to work on Tuesday morning, the tea bag itself smelt gorgeous and I was pleasantly surprised that I really liked the tea. I'm not normally a fan of fruit teas but this seemed really easy to drink. I then had one of the night cleanse teas just before going to bed, this one was very different, I couldn't really tell what the tea smelled of, it kinda smelled a little pepperminty. My other half complained that he thought it smelled awful but then he says that about most things lol anyway I did drink it and it was fine, I could taste peppermint and ginger, both of which I don't mind, the tea was palatable but I have to say I preferred the morning boost. So its now my third day and I have to say that I've felt a lot more awake since drinking the tea, my mood has improved on a morning (I'm usually a right grumpy sod) and feel like I have more energy. As I have only had one of the night cleanse teas I cant really comment if it does have an effect. Although it made me really relaxed for bed and I found myself drifting off to sleep the moment I put my head on the pillow. So far, so good.

I'm just about to go and make a night cleanse tea now so I'll end my post here. I'll come back in a couple of days and let you know how I'm getting on.

There are some links in this post to the Skinny Mint website, they're also currently having a sale on if you were thinking of trying it.

Night my lovelies.....x