FITNESS | 5 Ways to Become a Morning Person

I've got to admit, I'm a self-proclaimed morning person. Just ask my boyfriend, I'm always dragging him out of bed 95% of the time because I just cant stand to lay there and do nothing - I want to get up and moving. The tips in this post will help you get there too! Whether it's to get up earlier to work out, to get to work or if you just want to get up and get your day started.

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BEAUTY | Packing Make Up for Vacation

As I'm writing this post, I'm getting ready to head to Greece in just over a week! As a beauty and make-up lover (yes that's a picture of some of my stash above!), I've been thinking about what make up to pack forever. Obviously, weight is going to be an issue. It's also just not practical to take your entire collection for the sake of a few weeks - or even less! Below you'll find my top tips (and the guidelines I will be applying!) for when it comes to pack your beauty products for a well earned holiday!

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MY LIFE | Surviving a Long Distance Relationship

I have been living in Arizona, 5291 miles away from home and my boyfriend Aaron for almost a year. With two months before I'm home for good, I've become well versed in what makes for a successful long distance relationship. It hasn't been easy, but it also hasn't been difficult. There is an 8 hour time difference between AZ and the UK and we both definitely had to make some adjustments in order for our relationship to work almost half a world apart. 

That being said, we're stronger than ever. Below are some of the things I felt have been crucial in order to build and maintain a successful long-distance relationship. 

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FITNESS | My Colour Run Experience

On New Year's Day, I was up for a challenge. I had not ran in an organised event since my half marathon in February 2012 so I jumped at the chance to run a Colour Run with the Tone It Up Arizona girls. The Colour Run has been on my radar for a while now and I've wanted to run one for ages! I had signed up for one in September 2014 but it got rained off! I was devastated as I had really been looking forward to it so I couldn't wait for this race. What made it even better was that it was part of the new Colour Run - the Shine Tour! Think Colour Run + Glitter! 

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Bikini Series 2014 Kick Off!

It's that time of year again! Already, can you believe it? 

The Tone It Up Bikini Series is the BEST way to kick start your summer! Featuring fab workouts, amazing prizes and friendships that last a lifetime; it is by far my favourite time of year.

The video below is my introduction to the series with a few hints and tips to start on the right foot.

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The Tone It Up Nutrition Plan

It's been a while! If you're subscribed to my channel on YouTube, you would have seen a video in the last few weeks of my ramblings about why it's been such a long time and a massive apology!

Let me do one for the blog now! I'm so sorry it's been so long, school is taking up so much of my time. Law degrees are not easy! Please for one second don't feel as if I'm wilfully neglecting Diary of! I love this aspect of my life and just wish I had more time for it. School is nearly finished so please bear with me for just a few more weeks!

Today, however, I want to talk about the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan!

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Fixing a Badly Burnt Saucepan!

So yesterday I had a DISASTER when cooking my lunch! Long story short, I was heating soup, kind of forgot about it and the entire saucepan was BLACK! Sides, botttom; everything! Luckily I had a few tricks up my sleeve to fix this disaster before my mom got home from work!

My Saucepan was worse than this!

It's really really simple; all you're going to need is two 'ingredients'! 

1. Take some water, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan and add in some baking soda (or Bicarbonate of Soda - it's the same thing!) and bring it to the boil

2. WATCH the pan like a hawk!! The Soda fizzes up and boils over really really easily! Obviously if that starts to happen, reduce the heat!

3. Once boiled up, take off the heat for 30 seconds and repeat steps one and two! You can use the same  mixture - just add in a little bit more soda.

4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then scrub at it with the rough side of a sponge/scourer until clean.

There you have it!! Good as new!

Restaurant Eating Done Healthily

Been invited out with a friend for her birthday? Boyfriend want to take you for a romantic meal? Do. Not. Stress. I seem to have eaten out tonnes this week so I am well practised in the information I'm about to share!

Yes, eating out can be seen as an obstacle for those of us trying to change our ways and eat clean. In this post I'm going to share with you my top tips for incorporating restaurant trips into your lifestyle and not worrying about doing so. 


I've said it before and I'll say it again; Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance. There are a lot of ways to prepare for meeting out. If you're visiting a chain, there is more than likely to be a website you can visit which will more than likely have a menu that you can view or download. Doing this allows you to see and choose what it is you're going to eat so you can have peace of mind as well as enabling the choice of a healthy option. It also allows you to see if there is not a healthy option, which brings me on to my next point;

Suggest where it is you want to go to eat. Most people will not mind that you suggest a restaurant that you know has compromises. For example, a salad for you and a pizza for someone else! There are of course times when you can't do this but it's always worth a shot. Suggest somewhere that you know will make it easy for you to control what you eat so you're aware of what you're putting into your body.


Ask Questions! A good waitor or waitress will be clued up on the menu and an even better waitor or waitress will be willing to go and ask the chef about any queries you may have. Nobody will know the food better than the chef so don't feel bad about asking questions. Going hand in hand with this is don't be afraid to ask for substitutions.  Chef's have a responsibility to cater for their guests. People who are gluten free, vegan, vegetarian and more could be for medical reasons so they have to provide food suitable. You can even tell a little white lie and say I need to make substitutions following the advice of my doctor; servers will then take this very seriously. I compare this with a nut allergy; a restaurant will never want to compromise a guest's health or safety. 

Finally, ensure that the people you are dining out with are aware that you're eating clean and making steps towards a better, healthier you. Friends will be extremely supportive. If people know you're making an effort to do well, they will help you to do so. Share your goals, share your success. Chances are they will choose a healthier option too. 

Eating out doesn't have to be a burder or a worry; it should be a joy!

I hope these tips help you as much as they have helped me!

Georgie x

My Top Tips for Living a Tone It Up Lifestyle

The Tone It Up Girls

If you have been reading my blog from the get-go, you would have been living under a rock to not know that I have been following Tone It Up for well over a year now. I am a huge fan of Karena and Katrina and swear by anything they say because not only does it work, you have an amazing time whilst doing it. I have lost ALL of my weight through Tone It Up.

This isn't a post to sell TIU to you (although I can't reccommend it enough if you're not on the team), it's to give you some helpful tips and tricks if you're already living the lifestyle, or just trying to live healthily in general.

1. Booty Call

If you're on the team, by now you will have heard someone mention a Booty Call. A Booty Call is the Tone It Up way of saying "Get up and get moving". For 30 minutes before you start your day; sweat. It really is as simple as that. 

Booty Calling is included in my list of top tips because we all live extremely busy lifestyles. By waking up that extra half hour earlier, you are working out before your body has chance to realise what's going on and more importantly before anything else gets in the way later on in the day. There are no excuses. The only thing, person or anything else standing in your way of a booty call is you. 

My Top Tips for Booty Calling are

- Make yourself get up, do whatever it is you need to; sleep in your workout clothes (they're comfortable - trust me I've tried it), set 5 alarms, whatever it takes to get you out of bed and working out. 

- Plan in advance - there is no point in waking up early if you're going to stand around for 30 minutes debating what workout to do. Plan for the whole week, or the night before. As long as you know what you're going to do when you wake up.

For me it means setting an alarm, working out in my pyjamas just at the end of my bed for a toning workout or for a run.

Just get your heart rate going! It's no secret that working out increases your metabolism - but think about it. Working out in the morning increases your metabolism for the whole day! Think of all that extra fat burn!

2. Drink Water

Tone It Up reccomend that you drink half of your body weight in ounces of water every day. If you way 160lbs, thats 80 fl oz of water (that amounts of 2.3 UK litres if it helps). Not only does drinking water make you fuller for longer it also does wonders for your skin. 

My top tips for when it comes to drinking water are as follows;

- Carry a bottle around with you, wherever you go. Trust me, you will pick it up and drink some out of habit, because you're bored or without even realising. It doesn't have to be a big bottle. Most colleges/offices will have a drinking water tap.

- Not a huge water fan? Flavour it! Tone It Up have a million different ways to do it that you can find by searching their website. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to make water not taste like water!

- Count. Know how much you're drinking. Give yourself little mini prizes for reaching your target!

3. Social Media

Tone It Up are all about checking in! And for good reason! Finding a buddy to stay accountable with or even checking in with Karena and Katrina is enough to keep you on track. Twitter, Facebook and the Tone It Up community are your best friends. It's not unknown for TIU girls to find other TIU girls in their area to work out with!

When it comes to social media my tips are; 

- Sign up! Anything you get the opportunity to join - do it!

- Talk to people! There's no point in having account if you're not going to do anything with it.

- Take pictures! We all want to know how well you're doing...but remember; if you don't want to Tweet it, don't eat it!

- Use your SmartPhone to access social media on the go!

4. Plan Ahead!

You will always hear me saying Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance, or the 6 P's as I call them. That expression could not be more true. I've mentioned the importance of planning already in this post but if you've got something written down you've got something to do when inspiration is lacking. 

Top Tips

- Use the Tone It Up Calendar (shown above), Karena and Katrina post something for you to do every day; utilise the freebies!

- Check the Tone It Up website. K&K post almost every day with emails, alternatively sign up to the email newsletter for constant updates

- Plan on a Sunday for the next week. These two (here and here) print outs are my favourite. My number one tip is laminate them, and buy a dry-wipe marker so you dont have to print one off every week! 

5. Finally HAVE FUN!

The Tone It Up lifestyle is all about having fun. The key word is lifestyle. It's not a diet, it's not an exercise regime. It's a way of life. You wouldn't make something that you don't enjoy a way of life would you?

Top Tips

- Choose the workouts that challenge you, but you enjoy

- Set yourself a little challenge with groups of friends on Twitter/Facebook

- Blog the journey!

- Enter every challenge! 

There you have it! Your guide to TIU life :) I'm always available on Twitter (@GeorgieToningUp) or Facebook (here or here) if you have a question!

Share, Love, Inspire, Sweat ♥

Running: Just Do It

I have a love/hate relationship with running. In the Summer there's nothing better than a leisurely run in the park in shorts and no jacket (seems like a distant memory now) but in the winter it takes so much motivation to get me out of the door to run. I love it when I'm doing it but I hate the idea of it in the cold/rain/frost. 

I think this is often the case for a lot of runners. Sometimes building up the drive to get out of the door and hit the pavement takes more effort than the actual run itself. I have some tips that I, myself, use to give me the kick I need to leave my house. If you're like me and have taken a break from running for a while and are looking to get back into it or if you're training for an event or even if you're looking for something to give you that extra inspiriation this post will help you!

1) Push through the first 10 minutes. It will get easier. The first 10 minutes are definitely the hardest. After this time your lungs open up, you get into the stride and pace of your run and your body adjusts to its new temperature. 

2) Find a terrain that suits you. I much prefer running on grass to concrete as its spongier. I find it much softer and easier on my knees to run on grass yet some people prefer the rigidity of concrete as you know what to expext (as opposed to different terrain on grass). It's unbelievable the difference the terrain makes for me. I can run a 5k on grass with ease yet I find a 5k on pavement torture.

3) If you need to stop then stop! If about to die, stop running and walk! No one will mind! You're not giving up by walking - you're still moving. It's a much better idea to finish in a little more time than collapse in a heap because you've burnt out. You're not exercising to punish your body so don't kill yourself by pushing yourself harder than you need to. Going alongside this is don't go faster than you need to. By all means push yourself but don't run so fast that you're totally out of breath and blue in the face. It's been said that the best pace is the one that allows you to be able to talk to a friend without getting out of breath whilst running.

4) Warm up and Cool down! This is so freaking important. If you don't walk for 5 minutes before and stretch and walk for 5 minutes afterwards you're risking pulling a muscle, aches, pains and tension on all of your joints. (I don't know if it's linked but I can honestly say in all the time I've warmed up I've never had issues with shin splints either) You're much less likely to have a bad back etc the next morning if you take the time to look after your body onec you've finished a run. If you have a foam roaller it's a great idea to use it post run. Tone It Up have a great routine,

5) Know what to expect. Treadmill running is a hell of a lot different to actual running. Prepare yourself. Know the difference. Your body will thank you for it. I think that hitting the tred is a lot easier than hitting the street. The 'terrain' (for lack of a better word) is softer, the speed and incline is constant and what you set it at and you're actually not going anywhere (covering a physical distance). All of which makes treadmill running easier. If you can run for hours on the treadmill, don't neccasarily expect to be able to do the same outside of the gym.

6) Lastly - enjoy it! Running is a great time for personal reflection or to catch up with a friend or to give yourself a real sense of achievement. Today I broke my 5k best time, by over 3 minutes. I was ecstatic. Run for purpose - something that will really satisfy you such as training for a race to raise money for your favourite charity. Exercise shouldn't be a chore. Have fun!

I leave you with this, 

Share, Love, Inspire, Sweat