Deborah Bazeley Wanderlust – Lifestyle, Travel & Fitness

The temptation to crash diet is REAL! | Getting Back On Track Series, Chapter 3

8th April 2016 · Leave a Comment

In February I began to realise the truth about my binge eating and my poor relationship with food. Since then I have been trying to think of ways to improve this relationship and getting my head into a healthier place.

Avoiding crash diets is actually hard

I know, I know…I’m supposed to say that I love taking life in the slow lane and gradually changing my habits, and that I love my body so much more because I’m no longer punishing it with extreme dieting.

But you know what? I don’t. I don’t love my body more and I’m not enjoying this sustainable approach.

And here’s why:

It’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t see results quickly.

I know I’m not alone in this because otherwise detox teas and waist trainers wouldn’t be all the rage right now.

I’m changing my habits gradually as I feel this will help them to become ingrained, as opposed to something I stick to for a mere five minutes. On an intellectual level, I understand how important this is and know that I will hate my crash diet within a matter of days. However, on an emotional level, when you don’t like what you see in the mirror and want to change your body as quickly as possible, it is hard to stick to the healthier-but-slower route.

It’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t see results quickly”

10 reasons why you need to go travelling | Travel Inspiration

7th April 2016 · Leave a Comment

Having trouble getting beyond your fears and stepping out onto the road? Then this post is for you.

I cannot count the number of times people – particularly women – ask me about my backpacking adventures and declare, “I wish I could do that, but I’m too scared/anxious/single/frugal.”

And I completely relate to this. When I said that I wanted to travel South America by myself, a significant number of people thought that I was either utterly insane or downright stupid. People genuinely thought that the only way I could travel somewhere like Brazil was to go either with a boyfriend or a group of friends. I am also someone who is very cautious with money, and who suffers with anxiety. I don’t come from money and my parents didn’t pay for my trip – I had barely been on holiday abroad, let alone visited exotic locations and embarked on long-haul flights. All of this meant that travelling seemed like an impossibility.

But you know what? I went. I saw. I conquered.

And I was fine.

In fact, backpacking changed my life in so many spectacular ways that I was more than fine – I was fantastic.

So, want some quick inspirational points as to why you need to stop putting your travel dreams and go for it? Read on:

1. I hear, “I wish I had gone travelling” so many times. But I have never heard anyone say, “I wish I had never gone travelling – it was a complete waste of time.” Have you? Nope, didn’t think so.

2. Self-esteem. Once upon a time, an ex of mine declared that I would never travel by myself because I wasn’t capable of looking after myself in a foreign country; that I would be overcome by my anxiety within five minutes. And I kinda believed him. However, after eight countries + years of hitchhiking, trekking and travelling solo, I know in my bones just how damn capable and independent I am.

There is nothing in this world that I cannot do or accomplish if I set my mind to it.”

Hobbiton Tour, New Zealand: Review

29th March 2016 · Leave a Comment

Stepping onto the tour bus in Rotorua, I was somewhat skeptical as to what I would discover at Hobbiton. With a ticket costing more than $100, and as a huge Lord Of The Rings fan (my cats are christened Merry and Pippin), my expectations were high.

Now before I begin, I want to be very clear about what you cannot expect from Hobbiton:

You cannot step into Bag End and walk around Bilbo Baggins’ home. The inside of Bag End was created and filmed inside a movie studio in Wellington. This is because building a full-sized hobbit hole in the side of a hill, complete with room for filming and production crew, would have been a bit difficult.
There are no hobbits roaming around Hobbiton as they are fictional.

I say all of this because you will be amazed at how many people are astonished that Ian McCellan cannot fit into a hobbit hole and that there aren’t real-life actors walking around The Shire in full costume 24/7.

Traveling with contact lenses & glasses: A Quick Guide

20th March 2016 · Leave a Comment

Should you take monthlies or dailies? How much contact lens solution should you take? Should you take your usual glasses?

Before I embarked on my Round The World adventure, I asked my optician what he thought and his advice served me well so I thought I would share it with you:

Monthlies vs. dailies

The first piece of information my optician parted to me was that if you are happy with your lenses, stick with them. Travelling with lenses you’ve never tried or tested before is risky because eyes can be very sensitive, and it could be one or two months before you realise that a new pair is causing problems.

However, if you’re reading this with plenty of time to spare and have the opportunity to try a more travel-friendly lens, definitely consider the following:

If you wear monthlies, opt for a pair that you can sleep in. Long days that roll on well into the sociable night, overnight buses, and air conditioning make 8 hour lenses less practical. You want to ensure that if you accidentally fall asleep in your lenses or if you have a long day out, you won’t be left gouging your eyes out.
Dailies are great for backpacking trips lasting three to four months, especially where sanitation is poor and quality contact lens solution is difficult to buy. Bottles of solution will only weigh you down, even if they’re travel sized, and dailies are more hygienic than monthlies. Plus, if you lose or damage a lens it’s not as troublesome as you’ll be due a new pair the next day.
My optician recommended that for a year-long trip I should continue using my monthlies. He didn’t think that I would want to carry a large expensive box of lenses backpacking. My monthlies took up next to no room, and I carried two bottles of solution to last me four month until I could buy more.
Dailies can be almost double the price of monthlies. For me, the bottom line was that I couldn’t justify the extra expense when my monthlies were working just fine.

I wore monthlies for the entirety of my trip. My only regret is that I didn’t upgrade to a pair that could be worn night and day (24hrs).

Gymshark Leggings Review

11th March 2016 · Leave a Comment

I have thus far bought 4 pairs of the women’s Gymshark leggings:

Ambition leggings (2 pairs, one in size small and the other in size medium)
Form running compression leggings (size small)
Flex leggings (size medium)

Like many fitness goers, I discovered Gymshark via my favourite YouTubers, and I quickly fell in love with the company’s branding and pricing. Whilst I do love my ambition leggings and the quality of the flex leggings, I have mixed feelings about my experience of Gymshark as there are some issues with sizing.

Most of the reviews that I read prior to purchasing were made either by the athletes sponsored by Gymshark, or they were by women with slightly smaller waist/hip measurements than myself who were comfortably wearing the size small.

As such I have written a detailed and comprehensive review of each of the leggings, including notes on quality and sizing.

I am somewhere between a size small and a size medium in Gymshark leggings.

For reference:

I am a size 10 in UK jeans
I generally wear a size small in most sportswear ranges
I currently have a 28 inch waist and 34 inch hips. However, when I purchased my first two pairs of Gymshark leggings, both size small, my waist was 26-27 inches and my hips were around 32 inches.
I opt for a 29-30 inch leg length when buying jeans.

Form Running Compression Leggings

The waistband on the compression leggings began to stretch and warp after only a couple of washes

Should I take a laptop, phone or tablet travelling?

10th March 2016 · Leave a Comment

I remember agonising for weeks about what to electronic device to take backpacking with me. I didn’t want to take my phone as it was new, and I was initially only going to be travelling for 6 months to a year (as it turned out, by the time I returned my “brand new” phone was an ancient brick hahaha!). I didn’t want to take my laptop as it was heavy, but I also wanted to be able to back up my photos easily and run my new blog.

At the time I thought that there must be a one-size-fits all policy, but after more than 2 years of travelling, and having had the experience of both living somewhere and backpacking, I have a much better understanding.

Answer the following questions and read my solutions, and you will be able to determine what’s right for you.

The truth about my binge eating | Getting Back On Track Series, Chapter 2

7th March 2016 · Leave a Comment

At the beginning of February, I made a pledge to change my relationship with food over the course of 2016.

For once I made no plans to lose ten pounds or to build my glutes to bikini model proportions.

Instead, I chose to spend February quietly observing, with as little judgment as possible, my eating habits.

And what I discovered actually shocked me:

I am an emotional binge eater

Which I have never seen myself as before, but I am. I am the Queen of Dairy rolling around in clotted cream.

Most days I will eat somewhere between 2000 and 3000 calories composed mostly of dairy and refined carbohydrates. The days when I am sad or stressed, I’m at 3000 calories and beyond.

One day included: chocolate for breakfast, biscuits for a mid-morning snack, cheese toasty for lunch, two scones complete with clotted cream and jam, an apple (winning), hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows, more biscuits, vegetarian curry for dinner, and cake for dessert.

Much of the time I feel nauseous and bloated, and I don’t like what I see in the mirror.

I also noted that the days when I had food prepped, my binging was kept to a minimum.

What are you living your life by and is it serving you? | Who or what is your “Higher Power”?

1st March 2016 · Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Zain Bhatti // Unsplash

Now, I use the term ‘higher power’ because I’m not necessarily talking about God or any kind of religious concept – for many people their higher power is spiritual, but for others it might well not be.

I’m talking about that ‘Thing’ or idea that you live your life by and aspire to. It’s what brings you sanity on the days when you just can’t quite think straight. It’s what helps you to determine the path of your life and the choices that you make. It could be a god; it could be the universe; it could be Society; it could be a philosophy; it could be a particular set of values or principles; it could be food and calories; it could be humankind; it could be drugs or alcohol; it could be sex and sexual validation.

The concept of having a higher power outside of religion occurred to me after I spoke to a lady who had just gotten out of an abusive relationship:

“I made him my higher power,” she told me, shaking her head. “My whole life revolved around him and how I could make him happy. If I ever had a decision to make, I would go by his opinion. If he told me I was rubbish, I believed him. If he told me I was beautiful, I believed him. I didn’t have God – I had my boyfriend.”

This got me a-thinking about what I my higher power is and also what it is for other people in my life.

Starting a new fitness journey | Getting Back On Track Series, Chapter 1

21st February 2016 · Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Glen Carrie //Unsplash

A few weeks ago, I introduced my brand new Getting Back On Track Series for the lifestyle section of this blog, and today I am kicking it off by describing my starting point, what my goals are and how I am going to go about achieving them.

Weight and progress

I have made a decision that I am no longer going to weigh myself. I have never owned any scales and my parents have always discouraged me from weighing myself, but since my teens I have been concerned with how many stones and pounds come up when I step on.

Now, let me begin this by telling you that I do not think that I am fat or obese (I prefer the word ‘fluffy’ when describing my stomach area!) However, I’m not particularly thin or lean, and I comfort eat a lot and I don’t treat my body well.

Getting Back On Track for 2016! | Creating a sustainable & healthy lifestyle

5th February 2016 · Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago I featured some ideas and links to amazing blogs to help get you motivated for the new year, and this week I am bringing my brand new series, ‘Getting Back On Track‘.

I have been out of the gym since November 2015 due to injuries, and I have been comfort eating and binge eating to the extreme. My muscle definition has gone, my cellulite is back, and I have been suffering all kinds of aches and pains in my joints. My skin is breaking out, and I haven’t been in the best of moods much of the time (not sure how people do without endorphins long-term!)

In short, I’ve been failing to look after myself, and not really sticking to my New Year’s goals.

So, now that February has begun and the dust from all the January excitement has settled, I thought that now would be a good time to amp up the lifestyle section of this blog with a brand new series!