The Iced Coffee days

My (terribly amateur) animation

Ah, the nectarous* perks of the summer sun. Iced coffee is most definitely up there (along with carrot juice) on my list of top refreshments to see me through this impalpable British heat. According to the Independent, the coming month is all set to compete with 2003's heatwave of a summer (where temps reached a whopping 38c! Do not remember that!) - not that I'm complaining in the slightest! I think we deserve a semblance of real Summer weather, don't you? This is my absolute ideal temperature (I've always said I was supposed to be born Spanish/Mediterranean).

There's not a particular art form when it comes to making iced coffee. It's a fairly simple process; mix a teaspoon of coffee (and sweetener of choice if you so choose) with a very small amount of boiling water, then add one ice cube and mix for a few seconds, or until the ice cube begins to melt. I add a trickle of vanilla bean paste in here just to liven things up a bit (I know I know, living precarious)...

Add a few more ice cubes before pouring in your milk of choice. I created the GIF above simply to capture this last part of the process; there's something about the way the contrasting colours of the coffee and milk gradually mix together that makes me really, really happy. And judging by the amount of coffee-porn on Tumblr, I don't think it's just me being a massive weirdo on this one. It is an actual thing - trust me (see ici et ici).

The only downfall of iced coffee is that it's far too easy to just gulp down in one go, and thus you're always left with a few unmelted ice cubes at the end; at which point it just makes sense to go and make another, y'know, just to make use of the leftover ice. Therein lies the (my?) problem; a vicious cycle of iced coffee guzzling.

Summer? Je t'aime.



*Nectar·ous adj., of nec·tar n.; A sweet liquid secreted by flowers of various plants, consumed by pollinators, such as hummingbirds and insects, and gathered by bees for making honey || The drink of the gods (Greek/Roman mythology) || A delicious or invigorating drink.

A Girl's Thing

I don't know about you, but my gift of the month tends to send my eating habits into complete and utter turmoil. Want examples?

Yesterday, I ate Thornton's chocolates for, ahem, 'lunch'. Yesterday's consumption of chocolate was more than I've eaten for the past month or so. The night before last, I drank four cocktails in the space of an hour - also most likely being more alcohol than I've consumed in the previous month. (today, I've learnt my lesson and have stayed on the straight-and-narrow).

For myself, emotional overdrive seems to naturally evolve itself into emotional eating (and/or drinking). Combined with a semi-spluttering cold, I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself, thus my excuse for allowing myself the finer indulgences in life - in other words, a lunch of chocolate. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this hormonal-rollercoaster...

In my hasty bid to set things right and regain some sort of humanly social composure (did I hasten to mention I was sat in my PJs all day yesterday?), I made another nifty GIF to help womankind fight against their monthly raging hormones, and to rejoice in being the fairer sex! Alright, alright... so we needn't go that far. But you get my drift.

Please note: this is basically a gif based on 'all the things Katie should've eaten on Sunday instead of eating the exact opposite'. So, yeah...don't do what I did. Today I feel much, much better (though honestly, a cottage cheese lunch doesn't really compare, does it?).

Monday Motivation

Browsing through the many Fitspo blogs on Tumblr, I came across this little Core Challenge workout and decided to head to the carpet and give it a good old go!

And it lived up to its name; by incorporating various core exercises, it challenges your abs almost to breaking point! However, I'm not a big fan of crunches as I think there are plenty of other better exercises that work the core muscles even harder. I swapped the last set of crunches for jack knives (being my all-time favourite core exercise).

This routine lasts around 16 minutes and is a good kick-starter for a quickie morning workout. It can be followed up nicely by its leggy counterpart - Cassey's Call Me Maybe squat challenge, perhaps? (being one of my favourite videos for a short'n'sweet workout quick-fix).

I think these simple image-based workouts are really inspiring and motivating. I particularly like the board game element to this one (as ridiculous as that may well sound)! The GIFs that put me off are those that are too complicated to follow, with tiny pictures of the exercises, making the routine impossible to follow. Simplicity is the key to Fitspo GIFs!

If you have any favourite exercise GIFs, feel free to share! I'm quite liking the idea of making my own at some point in the near future. Yay or nay?