I forgot something…

Photography. Now I’m no photographer and I don’t even have a particularly fancy camera (yet), however it is something I was hoping to get my teeth into while I’m back in the U.K. I had actually arranged a little photoshoot with a friend, sadly I think that may now not happen. However I’m going to make sure I get my camera out every single day of this lockdown.

I find the whole editing part of photography rather relaxing, the photo taking kind of stressful. I know what I want it to look like and finding that is harder than it should be! I also absolutely love having lots of photos to look back on. I was always that girl taking the photos when I was out with friends.

Another reason I really want to get some nice shots over the next month is I want to make my mum a wall of pictures for Christmas. I know she wants lots of black and white prints and I thought if some of them could be taken by me of the local area and of my sister etc. that would be really awesome!

Sometimes I struggle with confidence and taking photos. Taking my tripod our and getting photos of myself does scare me if someone can see. I also have the fear that someone might judge me for my basic camera. But I need to put my big girl pants on and get into it so I can justify buying a more expensive (still entry level LOL) camera. Practise does make perfect.

Do you have any ‘secret’ hobbies?

Here are a few of my photos from my iPhone and rather basic camera. Want to see more? Head to my Instagram @harrietkristina

HK x

November Goals

We all know goal setting is beneficial, it helps us to put energy in to key areas and accomplish jobs that would otherwise be pushed to one side. I’ve been offered a ‘new’ chance at building my life and I want to ensure I get the most out of it, and one way I’m going to achieve this is with regular goal setting.

Things to get done in November –

By mid-november I will have bought my new car
By the end of November I will have sorted a new family home
I will have decided which country boots to get and have bought them
I am challenging myself to write a blog post everyday and I will have completed this.
I will reach 2,500 on Instagram
I am also challenging myself to go for four runs.

So they may either sound huge or not a lot, but thinks like four runs is quite huge as I haven’t been running in at least 18 months. Sadly due to this lockdown I don’t think I’ll be riding which is very upsetting to me.

So with lockdown coming up we’ll do what we can and most importantly be kind to ourselves!

Until tomorrow HK x

How to stay Motivated day to day

I work from home. I have a puppy. I have riding lessons a few times a week. I run a home, meaning I cook, I clean – a lot and everything else that needs doing. I have a fitness regime. I am busy.

So I have to be productive and motivated in order to get the most out of my days and my life.

Lists

I put this first because honestly it’s the only way I get anything done. My moto? How can you expect your day to plan out well without a plan. I have a daily list and a weekly list. I make my daily list each morning or the evening before and ensure some of my weekly tasks are on there so this gets ticked off too.

Bribe yourself

Sorry not sorry.

It can be as simple as once I do this peice of work I will make myself an iced coffee. Or more luxurious such as once I learn how to do this I will book on to do this event or buy myself those new gym clothes etc. Rewards and bribery – super motivational!

Diary – Goal setting

My diary is my life. It’s how I remember everything, how I plan and set my goals. It has a super awesome page for reviewing the end of each month. This I use along with my lists for day to

Just get up and go!

Wake up early (if it suits your lifestyle) and get those everyday jobs out of the way and done! Empty the dishwasher, make your bed and get dressed asap. Trust me, it frees up your day and sets you on a fantastic path for just getting things done.

Believe in the process

Whether it’s getting lifting that next weight at the gym, a promotion at work, jumping higher jumps in riding or just being able to master a chocolate souffle. Believe that practise makes perfect, you have to master what level you are currently at in order to progress. Do not be put out if that takes time, it will just make it all the better when you do reach your next goal.

To me, the key is being happy and enjoying the process, enjoy and respect where you are at now. If something is going to take a year to learn then if you start today it will be complete in a year, if you never start then it will never be complete.

If it’s really not working look to why, is it that you need some outside help or advice? Are you not enjoying what your doing? Is an outside influence causing you too much stress?

Mindset

This is a biggie. Happiness and motivation are not destinations, you have to be happy and enjoying your life everyday, we only have so many days on Earth. While some days will suck and everyone has parts of their life they don’t enjoy, set yourself up for success and happiness. Believe you are worth it and it will happen.

I hope some of these hints and tips help you get the most out of your day! Follow my instagram or watch my youtube for more!

Instagram | @harrietkristina

Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfirw6B6FK3CjbXyrYqBSQ

Fitness: May Diary

May was a wonderful month, my fitness was a little (a lot) disrupted due to being on holiday. My riding has improved which is fantastic and with it my core strength.

What went well

My scheduled riding lessons and a hack while away kept me in riding shape, which has helped strengthen my core. Lots of walking definitely was part of our city break!

What could have gone better

Time! Being abroad for most of the month simply meant I was far too busy to care about my fitness. Which is pretty great really, I had no stress or worries about this and just truly enjoyed my time away. Which in its own way is super healthy – your health and fitness should be a benefit to a healthy lifestyle not your whole life!

Stats:

Riding lessons: 6

Gym sessions: 3

Yoga sessions: 3

Swims: 3

June’s Plan

So my gym has unfortunately closed while it is going through the process of being bought, which is just a little annoying! So my gym sessions will be lacking. I’m going to make a little home work out circuit but most concentrate on improving my swimming and yoga as well as keeping up my regular riding lessons .

Do you have any fitness goals for June?

Thanks for reading! Please go follow my other social media:

Instagram | @harrietkristina

Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfirw6B6FK3CjbXyrYqBSQ

Review: Bicester Village

Shopaholic? ME? Never….

I mean, I do love clothes, bags, shoes… oh okay maybe I am a little shopping addicted.

Bicester Village is a designer lovers candy land. With big names such as Valentino, Gucci, Chloe and Prada just to name a few, all at discounted prices – what is there not to love?

Where I am back and forth from the UK and Barbados, I tent to do the vast majority of my shopping in 2 weeks every few months so I end up having a serious splurge. Not going to lie, its crazy fun! Bicester Village was a big old shopping day!

Want to see what I bought? Head to my (new) youtube and watch my first Haul 🙂

Thanks for reading, go subscribe to my Youtube and follow me on Instagram (@harrietkristina)

Paris: Itinerary

I just got back from one of the best city breaks of my life and thought it only fair to share my itinerary so someone else could have an amazing trip also!

Day 1

Fly to Paris and check into Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg. This hotel was just completely perfect for us, the location and decor was wonderful, a perfect home away from home. We then walked through Paris to this wonderful italian restaurant that served the largest portions of delicious food.

Day 2

Disneyland! Do I need to say more? We got up and ate breakfast at Laduree (Just around the corner from the hotel) then walked to the main train station to catch the train to Disney. This is wonderfully easy – just ask for tickets at the desk and follow the Mickey Mouse. Once there we had pre-booked tickets and as it was a tuesday we just walked straight in.

No lie this was a day of pure magic, we went on rides, met Darth Vader and then watched Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which is not to be missed if you love horses. After the fireworks we just hopped on a train home and then got a taxi back to the hotel where we quickly fell asleep on our perfect pillows.

Day 3

Paris in a day!

This really was a tour of Paris in a day, in the morning we went to the Louvre. This was insanely busy, some of the art was amazing but by 11am we had to get out of there! We then had lunch at Cafe Maly which is a place to be seen at – the food is pretty great too.

We then got a scooter (Lime – I will pop a referal code at the bottom) to the Eiffel Tower where we went to the top on its 130th Birthday :). The views are super pretty and it was 25 Euros per person. We then scooted along the Seine back to our hotel.

For the evening we went and watch the Birthday light show at the Eiffel Tower and then came back and ordered room service, I would recommend going for dinner at Kong though if you wanted to go for a lovely meal.

Day 4

We had breakfast at our favourite (Laduree) then scooted down to Ile-de-France where we saw the Notre Dame and visited the beautiful flower market. We then went to Le Girafe Paris for lunch (reservation required) and finished by having dinner at Monsieur Bleu which is a lovely ‘fancy’ french restaurant – another place ‘to be seen’.

Day 5

Fly Home

I will do another blog about Lime Scooters by if you need a code for a free ride use my referral code: RQUBEXD

As always please follow by instagram for more @harrietkristina

Fitness: April Diary

So April started with my Mother visiting which may have slightly affected my fitness regime, but that’s okay, that’s life, it gets twisted and changed around. From this month I’ve very much learnt just to make it work where and when you have time.

What is my fitness goal – please see my first Fitness post for more information on this.

What went well:

Riding lessons have probably saved the day this month, as a ‘new’ hobby I can tell it’s worked some parts of my body that haven’t been challenged in a while. This definitely includes my hip flexors and core, plus as its a sport I can see myself improve every week which is super enjoyable. An increase in swimming – both in the ocean and pool, mostly thanks to my Mum visiting and this being a novitality for her.

Getting my boyfriend back into the gym has also helped as we all know training with a friend is much more fun!

What could have gone better?

I struggled with getting into the gym or doing any ‘hard’ physical exercise at the start of the month, which was a little frustrating. I really do miss running but the climate here is just too hot for me!

Stats:

Riding lessons: 7

Gym sessions: 6

Yoga sessions: 3

Swims: 5

Mays Goals:

In May I’m going to Paris and back to the UK for a few weeks. My fitness is probably going to be more walking around shops and cities. I have seven riding sessions booked in and hopefully I’ll be able to get to the gym a little!

As always if you want to follow along with my life day-to-day please follow my instagram (@harrietkristina)

Riding: Update 1

When did you last set an achievable goal? When did you last actually achieve one of these?

Because I JUST DID and I’m so happy.

I normally fear setting goals as when I don’t manage to hit them it makes goals become so uninfluential and easy to ignore. I am most definitely guilty of setting goals that are too big and too hard. Having recently started riding I decided that all I really wanted to be able to do was to be confidently walking, turning and trotting. Well in my riding lesson yesterday there I was trotting in a circle :D.

I am fully anticipating being awful at my next lesson, but for now I’m super happy!

My next ‘baby goal’ is to be confident with rising trot on three different horses.

More general update is that I’ve got a block of ten lessons booked in and a hack when I’m in the UK in May. My stables are already hinting at leasing me a beautiful Palomino #i’vegotthebugsobad called Candance.

As always please do follow or check out my instagram (@harrietkristina)

Fitness: My Goals (April 2019)

Health and fitness. Its one of the UK’s biggest industries, every January gyms get swamped with people trying to lose weight, tone up and get fit. Sadly these motivations often burn out as normally they are fueled by aesthetic reasons which is quickly forgotten on a cold, dark, drizzly Monday morning.

Personally I’ve always been into my health, I notice a huge difference in my mood, my mental and physical health with a direct correlation to how much I move and what I eat. Probably not at all surprising considering that food is our fuel and our bodies are designed to move daily and a lot.

My Goals

I’m not here to be a fitness buff, I don’t want bulging muscles or to be able to run faster than everyone else. I do want to be able to not get out of breath on a jog, strong enough to snorkel for a long as my attention span, have a perky butt that I’m proud of in a bikini and have a strong enough core to master trotting #ridinglife. I want to be fit enough to live the life I love and find fun!

How am I going to achieve this?

My personal stance (and full disclaimer – I am not a trained PT in any way) is to do a wide variety of movement, exercise and sport as often as you can, ideally daily. For me this means yoga, riding, swimming, going to the gym and walking. When I spent most of my time in the UK I loved running, but it’s simply too hot out here for me (the melt is real). This really does vary for everyone, I’m sure some people hate the idea of going to the gym or spending an hour on a yoga mat!

When looking at your movement I would advise looking at incorporating different types of exercise to ensure you have something to work on your mobility (e.g. Yoga), your cardiovascular (e.g. swimming or running) and an exercise that is high in osteogenic capacity (builds bone) such as dance, resistance training or running. The most important thing is moving regularly so chose activities you enjoy – its okay to change things up and start something new.

How to keep accountable?

For me, I like to write things to down. I use my Happiness Planner (https://thehappinessplanner.com/) to keep track of my months goals and plan things out – aka my whole life. I literally go nowhere without my planner and my wonderful matching pen I found! I’m also going to start do a little fitness update each month on here to log what I did and what went well and what was a challenge.

What are your fitness goals? What do you love doing to get your body moving? Let me know in the comments 🙂

As always please follow my Instagram for more and to follow what I get up to day to day (@harrietkristina)