New M&S Dress & H&M knitwear

 

Hiya everyone

 

Well if you saw one of my previous posts about the Oasis Bow Print shift dress I purchased last weekend well that same weekend I also purchased this Heart Print dress in M&S.

 

This dress was £39.50...quite dear for me but I love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never shop in M&S but as I was walking through I spotted it in the Petite section.  I have seen a few heart print dresses around but they always seem to be just black and white or the hearts are too big for me!  I love this as the hearts are small and I love the fact they are not plain white and have the bit of pink in them...so cute!

 

Also in H&M I purchased this cream longline cardigan, lovely and warm for when it gets colder.

 

 

and this peachy pink fitted jumper.  I am going to wear this under a pinafore dress for work and also with my work skirts.

 

 

 

Hope you have all had a nice weekend

 

Lisa-Jane

xx

 

Diamonique is a girls best friend!

Hiya

 

If any of you ever watch the shopping channel QVC you will know that they sell a range called Diamonique which is mean to be as close to real diamonds as you can get for a fraction of the cost.
 

I was dubious, being honest very dubious that they would look great but after reading reviews on QVC's website thought I would purchase a ring.

I loved the pretty box it came in. 

This ring cost me just over £20 with the postage and I must say when I opened the box a 'WOW' came from my mouth. It is stunning and sparkles like a proper diamond.

I was trying to capture how much it sparkles but the photo just does not do it justice.

I have been wearing it everyday and a few people have commented on how gorgeous it is.  I am thinking of getting some Diamonique earrings.

Have you ever bought anything from the Diamonique range or from QVC?

Lisa-Jane

xx

Things I have discovered since going Gluten Free & losing Weight

Hello everyone

I was sat in bed the other morning thinking about the last few months and I realised how much I have changed my diet and changed within myself since going Gluten Free and also since losing weight.

Chocoholics cold turkey!

I don't need chocolate, I was and always had been a chocoholic.  In honesty I would eat quite a lot of chocolate every day, although I was in denial at the time. I thought that because I ate snack size bars I was ok but in reality I was eating more than one a day! Since going Gluten Free I know I can still eat chocolate but I have just cut down a lot.  I now buy a chocolate bar called Kinnerton Luxury Dark Chocolate, its nut free, dairy free, egg free and of course GF.  Its not as high in calories or fat. So now if I have a day where I really need chocolate then to satisfy my chocolate craving I will have 1-2 squares.  It works out at 132 calories and 7g fat for 6 squares so you can tell its quite low for chocolate!
 

I must admit I no longer crave chocolate like I used to, some days  I can go all day without chocolate.  I could never have done that last year!  I think sometimes we crave things but we don't really need them, its all in the mind.  You can train your body to not crave things like chocolate and cake etc.  

 

 

Gluten free cake/biscuits are not low fat............

 

 

This is a popular misconception...in fact a lot of gluten free food is higher in fat and sugar that's why I tend to stay away from GF cake and GF biscuits...I only have them as a treat.   I rarely eat cake now even GF cake/puddings.  Tesco do a pack of Free From Chocolate Digestives which are so yummy and they are only 2.6g fat and around 60 cals so not so bad but still I don't eat them every day like I used to eat biscuits.

No Carbs before Marbs........................

I know they say 'no carbs before marbs' ha ha and I used to think what rubbish how can bread be bad!  But actually bread is not good at all especially not for me anyway as I have an intolerance to wheat/gluten which was making me ill.  I used to eat a lot of bread. Also Gluten Free bread can be higher in fat although I tend to buy the lower fat bread which is about 99 calories and 1g fat per slice which is the same as normal bread.  GF bread is extremely expensive. Its between £1.50-£2.50 for a small loaf so I tend to not eat too much of it anyway.


Fruit is fab............

I have discovered a love of fruit...I cannot go a day without eating fruit and I my new craving is blackberries!  Never ever thought I would say that!!!  I eat loads more fruit than ever before.  People say fruit is high in sugar...ok so it may be but its still 100 times better than eating sweet/cakes.  Before I cut down I found fruit boring...that was because I mainly force fed myself bananas and apples...what I call 'boring fruit'!  I have discovered delicious fruit like Kiwi, Pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blackberries in fact any berries!

I don't need my cake and eat it...................

I have trained my body to not want cake.  On the team I work on one of the ladies makes incredible cakes, I have tasted them before I was GF and they were so amazing!  I just look at them now and think how amazing they look but I never want a slice.  I know it will give me a stomach ache anyway but also I don't really want a piece, its like I know I don't need it now.  On a Saturday my treat would always be a fresh cream cake or a slice of some sort of cake.  My Saturday afternoon treat now is a slice of Gluten Free bread toasted with blackcurrant jam...I know jam is high in sugar but like I said its a lot better than having a cake and you have to have some treats in life. When we were in Devon I had a Gluten Free Fruit Scone with cream and jam and my gosh it was amazing I actually thought it tasted nice than normal scones.  However, I won't buy or make them a home because I don't want to get into a trap of eating things like that all the time.  I suppose I have more willpower now than previously. 

Saturday Night No Takeaway

I don't eat takeaways at all!! I am the first to admit I loved takeaways.  Chinese curry & egg fried rice, pie and chips I loved it all.  I am not going to lie and say I don't miss them as in all honesty I do miss a chinese curry and chips/rice. The thing is I look on it like this..........

A) it will give me a tummy ache or could make me ill

B) After I ate them in past I always felt greasy and unhealthy 

C) I can have egg and chips at home.  Or I can make my own curry with rice.  Mccain oven chips are lush and I do love eggs so there is an alternative! You can also have GF pizza.  Pizza Hut now do GF pizza and I admit Mike and I often go to Bella Italia,  They do GF pizza and pasta.....yummy.

The greatest achievement for me is ................

 

I feel better about my body and ultimately this is one hell of a achievement for me as I am hard on myself about how I look and always have been.  I admit I do have some sort of body dysmorphia as people have always been very positive about how I look but I don't think I will ever love myself, however losing weight has definitely helped how I feel.  I am not saying that everyone who is a size 10 will be happier but for me it does mean that I can look in the mirror in just my bra and pants (something I avoided before) and I can see positives. I also love being able to go into a shop picking up a size 10 and knowing 9 times out of 10 it will fit.  I am going out now without a cardigan, something I never did before as I hated my arms plus I hated my back fat.  I do feel a lot more confident and I will never go back to my old weight. 

I have some photos I took of me in my old dresses and you can see how loose they are.  I may post these some time soon so I look at what I have achieved

Anyway I hope this post has been interesting its certainly made me realise how much I have changed.

Lisa-Jane

xx

Bowtastic! My new Oasis dress :)

Hiya everyone

Yesterday I purchased this gorgeous dress in Oasis.  I love this dress so much, its navy blue with a mustard bow print all over.  I love the way it fits like a shift dress but then kicks out at the bottom.  

In the photo I paired it with my black bow waist belt but I am thinking a cute mustard/tan belt would look better.

This dress was £45.00 which is more expensive for me but as you know with Oasis the quality is lovely and its just so different, a real stand out dress.  Mike said it looked so nice on me. 

I managed to get a size 10 too....but to be honest I could have got an 8 on the bottom half as its slightly baggy at the waist its just I needed a 10 for my chest!  

I think will be fab for winter with opaques and boots too.

We did a bit more shopping and I bought another dress in M&S of all places.  M&S have actually got some quite trendy things in now.  Will post about that another time as I need to take photos and I also bought a cardi and jumper in H&M. Afterwards Mike treated me to lunch in Pizza Hut (a little treat) and they do Gluten Free pizza now! yummy.  As I cannot eat as much as I did before I ended up having to take some home, still it was nice to eat cold pizza for tea. 

Bow Java Shift Dress

The weightloss has been going well, I weighed myself yesterday and I am losing roughly a 1lb a week.  I am now a size 10 and happier with my body than I have been in a long time.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend

Lisa-Jane

xx

High Street Haul - H&M, New Look, Primark and Asda

Hello everyone

Yesterday Mike had to work again for a few hours so I thought I would pop into town on my own for a little browse.  This is my latest haul :) 

H&M

I love love love this dress, its like a grey/taupe colour and its such a flattering dress and the colour really suits me too, very autumnual.  I have seen it online but everytime I see it its out of stock so I was so glad I got it in store.  I have some gorgeous knee length suede taupe boots which would go perfect with it. 

I love the colour of these shoes they look gorgeous, they are like a fake suede material.  I think the colour looks much better in reality than in the photo!

I have wanted a red hair band for ages!  This is so cute just hope I don't look like Minnie Mouse ha ha

I had an added bonus at the till as I had a H&M gift card in my purse and I thought it had nothing on it but when the girl swiped it across the terminal it came up that there was £24.99 on it!  Bonus...I had totally forgotten all about it, its so great when that happens!

New Look

I purchased this Parisian Burgundy Laser Cut Skater dress its another dress that I saw online and I was so glad I found it instore.  Its a stunning dress and I don't have much of this colour.

Its another dress ideal for autumn/winter.

I also purchased these two belts in the sale for £1.50 each.  I love my waist bets and these were perfect.

Primark

In all fairness I was extremely disappointed by Primark AGAIN! I have not found much in there I really love for months now,  I don't know I just feel its downhill.  

I really wanted a black cardigan as I only have a longline one.  This is perfect, I love the scoop neckline and the scallop effect around the top.  Plus it's a really nice material, feels more luxury ands it has lycra in so its nice and stretchy.

Two vest tops and Opaques

And I got this cute butterfly hanging hook for £1.50....really love this.

George at Asda

When I got home Mike was home so we popped to Asda to do our weekly shopping and I purchased these cute little cat slippers for £3.00 in the sale.

and an ironing board cover for only £2.00 ....I would not usually put this on my blog as its just an ironing board cover but I really love the design on this. Its an elasticated one too so a bargain for £2.00. 

What do you think of my haul?   Have you been buying much autumnal items?

I will be catching up on all your blogs tonight :) 

Lisa-Jane

xx

Where I work!

Hello lovelies

Just a bit of a different post for me today :) 

As you may know I started a new job in March and I have to say I am really happy working here.  The team I work on is really friendly and the job is interesting.

On my lunch break the other day I thought I would take some photos of near where I work as its so nice especially in summer.

I tried to get a photo of the ferryboat cruise but it was gone too soon.  

Taken from a bridge and in the distance is Castle Park and just beyond that is Bristol's main central Shopping area

In the distance is Castle Park, in summer you usually get loads of people having picnics in large groups here or people on their lunch breaks eating their sandwiches.  

Bristol is a lovely city I think people who are born here don't really appreciate it because as far as cities go its very nice.  It has a lot of green areas and of course the waterside.

I think these photos don't really sum up how nice it is!  Its a nice walk into town on my lunchbreak . 

Hope you enjoyed my photos 

Take care

Lisa-Jane

xx

Foxy Lady..My new Fox print dress!

Hiya everyone

I just wanted to show you my latest purchase (there has been a few...cough) but anyway I shall show you this one for now.  It's my new Fox print Dress courtesy of Boohoo.com.

I saw this last week and had to have it as I just love Fox print.  The print on this dress is just so cute.  I admit its not the most flattering dress but a bit of tailoring here and there and I think it will look even better.  

I am glad I purchased it when I did as its now out of stock! 

A close up of the gorgeous foxy print :)

I am so proud of myself as over the past 4 months I have managed to lose quite a bit of weight.  I feel I still have more to go but wanted to show you another dress I bought for work.  This is a size 10 although I think I am a large 10 at the moment but am doing my best to get myself into a proper 10.

I hardly eat any junk food at all now and just eat a lot more fruit.

Have a lovely weekend

Lisa-Jane 
xx

Early Autumnal haul!!!

Hiya everyone

Ok so I know we are in the midst of a massive heatwave with the odd shower thrown in here and there and whilst I love summer I have to admit to moaning about being too hot! I know I shouldn't after all soon we will be moaning its too cold ha ha.

I love summer clothing, pretty floral and lace dresses, summer sandals and floral hairbands but to be honest I wear most of that in winter too just with tights thrown in the mix....OK maybe not the open toe sandals but you get my drift.

I admit to longing for the shops to bring out their Autumn/Winter as thats my favourite fashion time of the year.

I have made a few autumnal purchases over the past week.

Firstly in H&M, a shop I am really liking at the moment.

Cream Pointelle jumper, love this lightweight jumper its so pretty. I love the pointelle sleeves and I love the lace strip across the top.  Its also lovely and stretchy and such a nice fit.

Red Pointelle Jumper - I loved the cream so much I also bought the red too.  They also had it in black.

Polka dot lace top, another pretty versatile little top. 

Navy Polka Dot Shirt Dress, I have this dress in black and I love it as again its so flattering and ideal work wear.  I also had it in pink but I ended up taking it back as the pink was quite washed out.

Today Mike and I went to Bath and I got these cute pumps in the New Look sale for £6.00.  I actually don't own any black pumps as I am not keen black shoes but I think these are so adorable and look really pretty on.

I also bought some brushed cotton floral PJ's in Primark.  These will be too hot to wear now but ideal for when it gets colder.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

Lisa-Jane

xx