Thirty day WHAT!?

Yes. I Louise Quigley shall be attempting the Thirty day squat challenge. What is wrong with me I hear you all shout? I want a nice ass that's what. One of my favourite things to do is scroll through instagram looking up health and fitness pages, how to eat well etc etc and I came across this challenge. Now. I personally love squats, they hurt like hell but so worth it. So when I saw this I thought to myself, "hmm that could be fun" or it might not. Hahah either way if I complete it I might see some results. I am currently on day three of this challenge, but I had started doing my own squats 2 days prior. The first two three days hurt but today I feel fine! Maybe I should do a few extra throughout the day for added benefit.

Have any of you guys tried this challenge before? Is there any other challenges you have heard of? If so comment down below because I would love to try some other ones. Also if you know of any great health and fitness blogs could you leave them down below too.

Thanks guys :)

The Road To Happiness

How many of you have ever just felt so low and so angry that everything just gets you down or irritates you? Welcome to my world. Everyday, small insignificant things really wind me up. It could be messing up my eyeliner or more recently the gym being packed. These things infuriate me so much and for what reason? I have no idea. So, if you have ever felt this way then lets make a pact to change this for 2013.

Let me start by going over a few things that have happened this week just so you can get an idea as to why I am annoyed.

So some of you may know about my plans to move to Canada and how my boyfriend is already out there, if you read my New Years Resolutions Post. Now that has all changed. Due to some major stupidity on behalf of two companies (whom we will be suing) my boyfriend is no longer over there and is back here with me (yippee!) or so I thought. This week has been super stressful and I've been driven nuts over this Canada thing, that I have been the moodiest person EVOHR. I have taken everything out on my boyfriend and this needs to change for his sake and mine.

We are still hoping to get out to Canada and should have no problems to be honest but the most stressful thing is time. I am fed up living here and from what I have heard from my boyfriend, Canada is the place for us. Career wise and lifestyle wise. I feel the reason I have been so angry is the fact that we waited so long to get him out to Canada and once he was out there things felt great, we felt like things were happening and going to plan and now it feels (to me) like we are back to square one.

Now let me explain why I am so annoyed about being here in Ireland for possibly longer than intended.

I currently feel like I am in a downward spiral that is hard to come out of. I have suffered with depression and anxiety before and I still have social anxiety to a certain extent. As I have mentioned before, I am not the type of person that likes to go out and get hammered. I much prefer nights in or going out for meals or to the cinema, or dancing as I have also mentioned. As I do not enjoy drinking or partying till all hours, I find it difficult to fit in sometimes. If you are Irish then you may understand this, every celebration is based around drinking. Someones birthday? Drinking. Someone dies? Drinking. Someone sneezes? Drinking. You catch my drift? The majority of people my age (20 soon to be 21 :])enjoy this and I find that if you don't like going out getting drunk these people find you weird.

This is beyond annoying. I am not boring nor am I a "weirdo" simply because I like waking up in my own bed and knowing how I got there, thank you very much.

This is where I start to feel the anxiety kicking in. I'll be honest, I do not have a tonne of friends as I am the type of person that if your not a true friend to me, your gone. A bit harsh? Why keep people around that don't make you happy? The past year I have found out who my proper friends are and I intend to keep them around. These friends, however, do enjoy going out drinking which is fine and I enjoy going out with them but I always feel terrible at birthdays and any type of social event. I start to feel awkward around people, like I have nothing in common with them, and almost like they are bored of me.

I also get a bit anxious heading to town on my own, or even to the gym. I have this strange fear that everyone is watching me and I need that to stop. So before this post becomes even more rambly and confusing, lets get to the point. What steps can I/you take to change these feelings of anxiety and anger?

Step 1: I would recommend going to the gym, or at least going for a long walk to clear your head, endorphin's and all that.

Step 2: Saying yes to things more. This is something I definitely have to work on as I constantly say no to things because I am terrified of meeting new people. *Must say yes, must say yes!* Zoe from Zoella actually has an amazing post on this already so I shall link her here.

Step 3: Talk to someone. I have major trouble with this and I am the time of person that will keep things in until I explode out of frustration. Let it out.

Step 4: Eat well. I always find that if I start slacking off and eating junk I feel a hell of a lot moodier than usual. So I try my hardest to eat better or at least make healthier choices. Another fave of mine is green tea, I love it! This is where the gym also brightens my mood.

Step 5: Try not to take things too seriously. You only have one life so you may as well enjoys it! :)

My apologies for this awfully rambly, and nonsensical post, I need to clarify my thoughts a bit better from now on. *Slaps wrist I do hope this was helpful in some way or at least gave you an insight into the type of person I am. Either way I hope you all enjoyed reading. :)

First Haul of 2013: Fitness Items

Speedo swimming cap:€3, Goggles:€7
Adidas Swimsuit:€33, Towel:Penneys/Primark
Sports Bra:€19.50 from H and M, Joggers:€29.95 from H and M
2 pack of tshirts:€12.95 H and M, Navy and green sports tank: from Penneys €3
White socks/Navy Tank: from Penneys both €3
Asics Runners: Elvery's for €130


So as you may know from my New Years Resolutions post, I have decided to join the gym. What a great excuse to do a little shopping eh? I was in dire need of workout gear as quite frankly I have never owned any before. (I am so unfit). After a quick swim yesterday morning I decided to pop into town and see what I could find. I had already picked myself up some swimming gear from Elvery's Sports. They were having a sale on at the time so I picked my self up a swimming hat, goggles and of course a one piece. I find one pieces way more comfortable for swimming, but I love bikinis for lazing around by the beach. (Not that I am ever at the beach..)

I popped into H and M as I was having a mooch in there on my break one day and noticed they had a few pieces for the gym. I picked up a blue sports bra which I adore. It is so comfortable and keeps everything in place *winks. I then found a pair of what I call joggers (type of lycra legging things..) I tried these on and they are so comfortable as well. Way to go H and M. :) I also wanted something to wear over the sports bra so I picked up a twin pack of t shirts, just plain white and then a gorgeous black and maroon one.

Next stop was Penney's/Primark. The first thing I picked up were plain white ankle socks. I then found a plain navy tank top and a lycra tank top which was reduced to €3. Penney's also had new water bottles out so I picked up a cute mint blue one which will come in so handy for the gym. It has measures on the side so you can keep track of how much water you are drinking. (Something I really need to do haha)

Next stop was Elvery's again. I needed new runners as I don't own any and you cant wear converse to the gym! Or can you...? I was interested in getting a pair of Asics ones as I had heard they were the best for your feet. In Elvery's they have this system where they can check your feet and help you pick the best shoes suitable for you. I decided to get this done and found out I was in desperate need of insoles. (Wonky feet)These should help improve my walking and make everything much more comfortable for me.

Chuffed with my purchases I headed home to try everything on together and I loved them all. The runners are my favorite purchase and I didn't even need to break them in. They feel like your walking on cushions. I will be going to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and swimming on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. I am so excited to get started at the gym as I have currently just been swimming everyday. I desperately need to get in shape as I am so unfit it hurts (literally). I will keep you up to date if that's something you all would be interested in, I know its something I thoroughly enjoy reading about.

Thanks for reading guys :)

New Years Resolutions

The new year has just begun and as you all know this calls for New Years Resolutions. I for one have a habit of making up ridiculous ones that I will never in a million years stick to. This year is different. I have decided to change just a few things in my life in order to become a better person, feel more confident and just become happier overall. As I have not been posting on this for some time (slap on the wrist*) most of you may not know that the end of 2012 was particularly tough for me.

From September until December I changed many many things I left my job working in a nightclub, I moved out of the apartment I shared with my boyfriend, and I moved my ass down to Galway.

What was I thinking..?

I hated Galway with a passion, more than anywhere else. I was alone, I was bored in my job(I was working in a cafe), I missed my family, I missed my (real) friends back in Athlone and I missed Paul. My reason for moving? The year previous I was meant to move down to Galway but due to circumstances I could not. This affected me so much. I felt I was missing out and I needed to be with my friends (other friends who were in college in Galway). My boyfriend, who is so understanding told me I should just go and move down there and finally get it out of my system. Thank god I did because it made me realize that number one, I have an amazing boyfriend who will no doubt look after me always, and number two I learned who my real friends are. Learning this has made me feel so much better in myself.

I am a twenty year old woman who is going on ninety! :) I dislike drinking and partying until all hours unlike other twenty year olds do. This always made me feel out of place as I am more interested in movie nights and pampering myself than going out getting hammered. I love going out with my real friends though as they love to dance! Nights out with them are not about who can get drunk the fastest, they are about having fun, which is exactly what I need!

Something else which happened in November of last year was my boyfriend finally getting his visa to Canada! We had been waiting so long for it to come through and for him to finally get over there and start working. I am so happy for him in every-way, he is such a hard worker and he never lets me down. I miss him more than anything in the world but I know that soon enough we shall be back together again as I have applied for my visa and I should be out there by April. :)

Now that I have finished rambling you may be wondering about the title of this post, New Years Resolutions. My new years resolutions for this year are to start swimming and going to the gym more. I will be getting a gym membership on Thursday and it will take off from there. My reason for this is I need to de-stress. I am very highly strung at the moment and I need a way to vent. Therefore what better way to do that than letting my anger out on a treadmill. Two birds one stone eh?

My second resolution is to start blogging more frequently. Yes I know I am constantly saying Ill start blogging more and I never do but now that I have my new camera (Thanks babe :D) I can start taking better blog pictures and doing more reviews. I would also like to do personal posts from time to time, mostly just about things going on in my life or topics I feel strongly about. I feel this will also be another great way to vent my feelings and keep me sane.

I also need to tidy my room but that wont happen :/

I guess I will end it here so, this is getting pretty lengthy already. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and a fantastic new year. I hope 2013 is even better than last year! :)