Self Love Summer...

Hey everyone...

This week marks an important start for me, the start of my self love summer. It sounds a little silly but having left uni and being thrown into the adult world it's about time I start to really appreciate myself. I have struggled with self love for a long while. Most people who know me would say I am a confident, bubbly person and I don't deny I am, but behind all that I have a lot of worries. I panic daily that I could be really annoying, or I'm being left out for a reason, maybe I'm not cool enough etc etc. I also have a lot of body confidence issues, I have never loved the way I looked in a mirror but I attempt to put up a confident front about it. I am determined to lessen this self-loathing if not abolish it for good. Here's what I plan to do to help me conquer my hatred and if you fancy jumping on the band wagon this will help you to.

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1. Exercise.

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I am all for being comfortable in your own skin and you should appreciate your body the way it looks, so I am not exercising to lose weight to love my body more. In fact I am going to start exercising because after I feel amazing, like I could conquer the world. Its this great feeling that I want to be part of my life everyday, ok, almost everyday. Also when I was at school I used to be pretty good at long distance running, I wasn't the fittest or fastest but I loved the distance. I want to be able to go for a long distance run again without having to stop every minute. I started couch to 5k Monday and I will keep you all updated on how it goes on my Twitter. Also dancing until the sun comes up counts too, cocktails in hand maybe not.

2. Diet.

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I am not dieting as such either. I am trying to eat better, try new things just to expand my mind and feel better. A plate full of veggies will make me feel happier than the chocolate in the long run. However, if I see that chocolate or cake and I fancy it nothing will stop me having it. You only live once and I don't want to be on my death bed regretting not eating cake that one time.

3. Spontaneity

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I am one of these people that have to plan every last detail of their day, and it is very restricting. This summer I am going throw out the to do lists (not for everything) and just go do something. Whether it be a cinema trip one evening or booking a trip away, this summer will be spontaneous, well after a double check of the bank balance.

4. Following your dreams.

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If there is anything that keeps me beaming it following my dreams. This summer I am going to do more to discover more dreams and to keep my self on the road to achieving current ones. One dream of mine currently is to be best friends with Taylor Swift but thats a bit too far out of reach (unless your reading this Taylor, get in touch).

5. Music.

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This summer will be full of sass and feel good songs. I will not actively be listening to anything that does not promote my happiness. Whether its some sassy Beyonce on my runs or some Alt-J to chill out to before bed nothing that makes me sad will pass into my ears (hopefully). This hopefully will keep the pep in my step and keep me motivated.

6. Be Selfish

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This one is a little controversial but I don't mean it in a mean way. Just put yourself first when you need to, don't hang out with people you don't want to, if you don't want to go for a drink with that guy from tinder who keeps nagging you, DON'T! Don't do things that bring you down just to make others happy, especially if they aren't (or you aren't) high on the priority list. It isn't worth your precious time. Remember this is SELF love summer, not love everyone else summer. Although if your mum/dad is asking you over to help them out, probably best you don't put yourself first too much, you may need their help sometime soon. This is also great if you are trying to avoid drama, if you don't want drama, walk away.

Is there anything you feel I should do to love myself this summer? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram. Also keep up to date with how my summer is going with the #BOTTSelfLove or #SelfLoveSummer. When I head back to work after summer I will be doing a post on how I feel the summer went and if my little experiment worked and I feel any better about myself.

See you Friday,

Love Katie x

Last minute revision tips...

Hey everyone,

Hope you are enjoying your bank holiday weekend. I for one am not living my bank holiday weekend to it's true potential due to exams being on the horizon. If you are in a similar position to me you will love this blog post. It is all on revision tips to help you through exam time.

1. Take regular breaks.

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Staring at a screen or notes constantly for hours will not help you retain any information. If you are reading through notes aim for short sessions with a small break or if you are making notes from Powerpoints complete a whole powerpoint (if it isn't 100's of slides long) and reward yourself with a half an hour break. In this break scroll through social media, watch an episode of something on Netflix (friends is on there now, yay) or take a quick 10 minute nap. I say take a nap as this apparently helps you retain information. Anything for a bit more sleep ey?

2. Motivation.

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If you don't have motivation to revise you wont want to do it and that wont help you pass your exams. Something I do is buy a bag of sweets/chocolate that have lots of individual ones (crispy m&m's are perfect). Then every few slides you make notes on or pages of notes you read, treat yourself with one of your sweets or chocolate. Rewarding yourself every so often will keep you going to the next few slides just for the next reward. Just try not to eat the whole bag on your first treat.

3. Take it outside.

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There is nothing worse than looking out the window while revising and seeing people enjoying the sunshine but that doesn't mean you cant join them. Grab your suncream and head out in the garden with your notes and get cracking. This will make revision seem a little more fun. However, the weather has not been too great lately so lets hope it picks up so we aren't stuck inside all day.

4. Keep hydrated and eat well.

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BRAIN FOOD IS KEY. If you are stuffing your face with sugary motivational treats you need to be sure that you are being healthy in your actual meals. This will help you have the energy to do all your revision and help your brain retain all the information. I am awful for letting my diet go downhill during exam season so I ensure I am keeping hydrated with lots of water to make up for it.

5. Sleep well.

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This is key especially the night before the exam. As I mentioned before sleep helps you retain information so it is essential that you are getting 8 hours AT LEAST. I have also found that reading over some notes before I go to bed (instead of scrolling twitter) really helps and actually makes me more sleepy.

I hope these tips help and that you all pass the exams you have with flying colours. Unfortunately due to my exams I will not be doing my usual Wednesday post next week. I will however, be back on Sunday. Also on a more serious note just a reminder that Thursday 7th May (in the United Kingdom) it is election day. If you are registered to vote, please make sure you get down to your nearest polling station and vote. If you aren't sure who to vote for or where to vote all the information is here.

See you in a week,

Love Katie x