A stylish outfit for the older fashionista

A different feature on Fashion Infatuation today - my mum is in the spotlight!

It was her birthday the other week, and she decided to fly over to exotic Leeds to celebrate it. 

When she arrived, I had a special birthday present for her... there was just one condition in order for her to get it - she had to model the items on my blog ;)

I had gotten her a black and glittery 2 in 1 waterfall opening top and a black pencil skirt from Bonmarché, and this is how she styled it up - isn't she just a natural fashionista!

The black crocodile skin imitation leather bag looks fab, and goes perfecly with the outfit. Such a great shopping bag as well - with lots of compartments it's ideal for a day out in the city.

And you know my rule... if you're wearing two different leather items, make sure they're of the same colour. Mama Fashion Infatuation is, to my delight, following this rule as well with these cute black court heels with a bow detail.

This bracelet was a Christmas presents from us 3 daughters last year. It's a From Soldier To Soldier bracelet made of tightly braided parachute cord, which is in honour of wounded war veterans. A very nice idea for a fashion accessory, and it supports charities too.

Her ring is very stylish, don't you think? My mum absolutely loves silver jewellery of unusual designs (just like her daughter).

Simple pearl earrings are classic pieces of jewellery that are stylish, timeless, and extremely versatile.

She's matching her sparkly mock layered top from Bonmarché with her favourite necklace - a chunky silver chain. What a great combo!

I think my dear mum looks absolutely fantastic in this outfit! She wore the top out on that Friday night when I took her to Leeds Grand Theatre to see the musical Dirty Dancing, and when the chatty taxi driver found out that it was her birthday he complimented her by saying she looked more like my sister than my mum. She does know how to style herself to look her best, that's for sure :)

And just one more photo, because I love her! xxx
Thanks for being my blog model for a day!

Home fitness - natural beauty comes from a healthy body

I’ve introduced a new category to Fashion Infatuation; Health & Fitness.

I think this is an important topic, and even though my blog is mostly about fashion and beauty, I believe health and fitness is part of beauty, and I hope it’s a topic you’ll be interested in reading about. As we all know, real beauty doesn’t come from makeup and face creams, but it comes from within. Therefore, it’s very important that we make space for health and fitness in our busy lives.

For my first real post in this category (the very first post on the topic was simply about how new gym clothes can give you motivation to exercise) is about how you can fit in some everyday exercising at home. I do drag myself to the gym 2-3 days a week, but sometimes there’s just no time, and at those times it’s great to have a little mini home gym. The pieces I’ve got can all be used in the house – even in front of the TV if you wish. So there’s really no excuse not to do it!

Simply start off with a fast paced walk around the neighbourhood in order to warm up and burn a few calories , or – if it’s raining or you don’t want to miss your favourite TV show – simply hop on the step machine. This little baby is absolutely brilliant! It measures time, pace, distance and calories. You’ll burn about 100 calories in 15 minutes at a medium pace.

I then usually move on to some muscle training, and I’ve got a few different dumbbells that does the job for this. However, I do actually prefer bodyweight training when it comes to working your muscles. Squats, lounges, the plank, and other ab workouts are great for this.

I also have a couple of tools in my mini home gym that will work your core. It’s the twist board (another great tool for when you’d rather watch TV than work out), which you simply stand on and twist from side to side to work your abs, and it’s the ab roller – which works your deep core muscles for a great posture.

The ab roller is proper hard work, but it’s really the best tool for your core.

I usually do a few rounds of the different tools, and squeeze in about 30 minutes of exercising in my busy day when I’ve not had time to actually go to the gym. It’s essential for your body that it gets at least 30 of moderate exercise every day. But just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can be sloppy about your training clothes. I wear these comfy Gola trainers for my home training, and I also tend to keep them in the car so that I can easily swap my shoes if I want to go out for a power walk on my lunch break at work. 

Another health tool that is a new addition to my collection is this sleek scale from Ozeri which as well as weighs you measures your percentage in water, bones, fat and muscle mass. A very clever little thing!

Did you know that about half of your weight (up to 60%) consists of water? Water is the  most important component of body weight, but I was surprised to find out how much it was.

The normal muscle mass percentage on the body weight is between 38% and 54% for men and between 28% and 39% for women depending on age and physical activity level. My muscle mass is at a whopping 36.7%, meaning I’m very muscly for a woman – but I knew that already ;) That is after all what I’m working for at the gym.

When it comes to average body fat percentages it really differs from person to person depending how active they are. My 23% falls within the brackets for ‘Fitness’, which I am very happy about.

I have always wanted to try those fancy scales at the gym to see your fat and muscle mass, so I’m very happy that I’ve actually got one of these scales myself now. I always thought I weighed so much, but obviously muscles weigh a lot more than fat. Health is so much more than just those kilograms of the scale.