The #InnerMeDiaries Challenge

Since the Summer began I have been blogging my journey to a healthier me, as it stands I have currently lost 23lbs and fallen in love with the gym. So evenings that used to be spent pouring my inner most thoughts into blog posts have become less of a daily routine, as my gym time has increased into most evenings to accommodate for the results I want to achieve.

Back in September I was asked to take part in a 6 week challenge with Inner Me Health, Beauty and Vitality Supplements, and their Daily 4 Me Younger Years for Teens and Twenties Supplement. I thought this would be a great time to try them out as I had been focusing so much of my effort on becoming healthier, and I thought the two would go hand in hand.

Inner Me was founded by Nikki Cooper back in 2012, after she was diagnosed with Multiple Scelrosis back in 2009. Following the diagnosis Nikki went on a mission to find supplements that would help her optimise her health and wellbeing. Nikki was confused about the selection on offer and couldn’t find anything that really spoke to her, and that was the moment that the first thoughts for Inner Me were born. In the years following the diagnosis and extensive research that was put into finding the best supplements, Inner Me arrived in 2012 changing the days of monotonous and daunting supplement products for ever.

I have never been one to really take supplements before so I didn't really know what to expect. I had been sent enough of the their Daily 4 Me Younger Years for Teens and Twenties Supplement, to last the 6 weeks. The supplements come in strips with the days of the week labelled clearly, so you always know where you are at with taking them. The strips are so handy as you can literally pull them off from the packet and pop them in your hand bag. There are 4 different supplements within each strip:

1 – Tailored Multivitamin and Mineral Tablet – This tablet has been tailored for menstruating women.

2 – Omega 3 Capsule

3 – Beauty Capsule for skin hair and nails.

4 – Vitamin D3 2500iu Tablet

Inner Me is perfect for people who want to make a conscious effort in taking care of themselves from the inside. I was always one of those people who loved the idea, but actually didn’t have a clue when it came to looking at the products available to me. The Daily 4 Me pack’s have all been tailored to a particular stage in a woman’s life, Teens & Twenties,  Thirties & Forties and Fifties & Sixties that ultimately provides an advanced, convenient and all in one solution.

I found the challenge simple to follow, and thanks to the handy strips I found that I was remembering to take them. I could pop them in my hand bag and take them with my on my day, I didn’t rush taking them and would simply take them steadily throughout the day. I don’t think I would like having to pop 4 tablets down my neck one after the other, and I found spacing it out helped. I found that a few of the tablets would leave a after taste, but the only one I really didn’t like was the Vitamin D3 tablet, which I found left more of a persistent after taste than the others.

I finished taking my 6 week supplements on Wednesday 29^th October, and over the course of the #InnerMeDiaries, even from that very first week in, I found that the supplements boosted my energy considerably. I felt more awake and had more get up and go which of course it always welcome!

As the weeks went by, I noticed improvements to my skin as spots were kept at bay with no new ones leaping out and taking hold. I saw improvements in my nails that were once easy to bend, now becoming stronger and I even managed to keep them long enough to treat them to a polish!

Over the 6 weeks I have been really impressed with the Daily 4 Me Younger Years for Teens and Twenties Supplement, and I admit that when I initially entered the challenge, I didn’t think I would notice any changes, so when I started to see these changes I was really pleased.

I am really excited to be able to bring a discount to any of my readers who would be interested in trying the Daily 4 Me range! If you simply enter LATWM at the checkout to buy One Months supply, you will receive the second month absolutely free!

If you are planning on giving them a whirl, I would love to hear how you get on!

Disclaimer: I was sent the Inner Me Daily 4 Me Younger Years for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions are completely honest and my own.

A Best Friend

I can remember my school days as though they were just yesterday, a time where I had all the time in the world to make memories with friends and quite simply rejoice in the complete lack of responsibility.

In reality it is already been 8 years since I bid farewell to that time in my life. So many things have happened and changed since the school bell rang for the very last time, and responsibility has certainly caught up with me now!

My school life was fun and looking back I quite simply wouldn’t change a thing, I could often be found giggling with my oldest friend. Trouble quite simply used to follow us around, and we certainly used to act before we thought things through… I guess to some extent that is still true today.

It has been 14 whole years since I first met my mischievous best friend, and in that time frame we have certainly had our fair share of ups and downs. For every wrong we have made we always make things right, we have said things in the heat of the moment but kissed and made up regardless of any choice words we said. We have cried happy tears and shared nights where we have done nothing but laugh, and she was even the person to support me when I first found out I was pregnant.

We have been through absolutely everything together, we have grown up together and experienced many of life's lessons. But sometimes things happen in life that you don't expect. Sometimes you can be nothing more than a shoulder to rest upon.

In December 2011 Chelsea got dealt some life changing news, my best friend was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. For once even I was lost for words, and I didn't really know what she was telling me. I didn't actually really know what Multiple Sclerosis was until that day. I guess to a certain degree I still don’t understand exactly what it is, but I do know that from deep inside her MS is rivaling and making himself apparent to her in ways far less than desirable.

I have watched Chelsea fight this, and fight hard she does.

Chelsea is head strong and knows exactly what she wants, she always has done. MS certainly was not in her life plan, but as you walk through life you realise just how cruel it can actually be. You realise that even those people closest to you can get dealt a life changing set of cards and age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Chelsea is 24 years old and dealing with this horrible disease at the same time as juggling her two beautiful children and loving husband. Multiple Sclerosis has no place or right to be taking away all of her energy and throwing multiple relapses in her path. Relapses mean being pumped to the nines on steroids, steroids that make you feel awful and then give a much needed buzz! But no amount of steroids can undo the damage that this silent disease has already done.

I wish I could wave a magic wand and take all of the pain away but I can't. Nor can I relate to how she is feeling...But I do try to comprehend what she is going through on a day to day basis. I wish I could go back in time to when she first started mentioning her eye sight problems and push her to book into the Opticians sooner...

It breaks my heart to think of everything that she is going through, sometimes I don’t know what to say because I cannot even comprehend how she is feeling. The only case of extreme tiredness I have ever experienced was in early pregnancy with Leo, and was gone within a few months. I cannot imagine my eye sight being permanently damaged and not knowing what MS will do next. But somehow she still lives her life to the full, and all the while is raising awareness of this horrible disease.

Throughout everything she is going through one thing is for sure, she is still the same girl that I met all those years ago, still as vibrant and fun loving as she always was, she really doesn't let this disease define her. She still strives to do everything she can, plays with her kids all the while creating an amazing childhood for them to reflect on when they are big and grown.

Even though Chelsea has been dealt this set of cards and her life has changed beyond recognition she is still here telling it exactly as it is. You can read her story over on her blog MS Mummy of Two, where she enlightens us into exactly what life is like, living with Multiple Sclerosis.