As I mentioned in my recent recipe post, I've now been on the Paleo diet for 1 week!

If you don't know what the paleo diet consists of, it's basically a no wheat and dairy diet, and the idea behind it is that you wouldn't eat something that you couldn't hunt for yourself, as though you were a caveman. So yes, that means no Mr Kipling cakes, because they unfortunately don't grow in the wild. Which is such a shame, because they're on offer for £1 in so many shops at the moment...if you're a wheat eater please go gorge on Mr Kipling cake for me, and buy one for me for my cheat day!

In my first post about going paleo I did say how this wasn't intended to be a quick fix, and I was looking for a long term diet plan, and I think I'm starting to establish something I could manage that isn't entirely paleo. I've been opting for a 'mostly' paleo diet, meaning here and there, dairy or wheat are involved. This has meant I've still eaten certain gravies or marinades that use wheat, but on the dairy side of things, I've turned down cheese, coffee's midway through my 9 and a half hour shifts and have managed surprisingly well without all the things that were once very ingrained in my diet...however, it has only been a week!

I have managed to lose 3lbs on the diet already and I think cutting out gluten has definitely contributed to that, and as well as that some pretty intense HIIT workouts from YouTube by Fitness Blender. If you want to get your sweat on I'd definitely recommend these workouts, you don't stop moving and you can really feel it the day after...even a few days after! Weight isn't a factor I'm focusing on as much, instead I've been measuring myself, and I've lost half an inch off my hips, half off my thighs and an inch off of my stomach, which I think is down to no more bloating, and this it definitely something!

I've been finding alternatives to things I love, and making pancakes and muffins, all low in sugar and free of wheat and dairy. Dinners have always been delicious, and I think the important thing with this kind of diet is to be creative. I can imagine so many people giving up quickly on this diet, due to the fact it restricts a lot of the things we're used to cooking, but have a browse on the web, especially through pinterest and blogs, because you can find some true gems that you'll be surprised are free from so much!

MissIsGoode

MissIsGoode

My next fresher is a lovely chap named Mike, who studies Biochemistry and Biology at Keele University. I first met Mike when I invited Kam - who you shall soon hear from too - to prinks before a house party, accompanying the lads was a bottle of sambucca, which by the end of the night we had all set alight to whilst it was gargled in our mouths - hanging out with freshers in second year is definitely the way to go! Here are Mike's thoughts on his first year...

Have you enjoyed your first year?

What's your best memory from first year? If you want to share your memories of your first year, second year or any time spent studying abroad on my little ol' blog, then drop me an email at missisgoode@gmail.com! If you have any questions about Keele or uni life in general, feel free to email me or leave a comment below and I'll do my best to help you out!

It's been almost a week of attempting the paleo diet, and surprisingly it's been going pretty well, but you can hear all about that in my week review tomorrow! But today, inspired to do some baking on my day off by The Great British Bake Off - let's not even talk about the bincident - I thought I'd try my poor baking skills on something paleo! 

Spurred on by the afternoon sunshine I went for a browse around my village for some blackberries, ending up where I always find the best and tastiest ones near by - the graveyard - which is a little eerie I suppose, but it's a very peaceful place to pick blackberries in the day time! 

And with my bag of blackberries filled high, I headed home with my own little recipe in mind to create some banana and blackberry muffins. 

Being renowned for my poor baking skills, I decided to make up the recipe myself to keep it nice and simple. Many paleo recipes go for coconut or almond flour, and I'm not sure if they're better for you, but I went for a simple white self raising gluten & wheat free flour blend, which worked out pretty well! The recipe I've made up should make you 12 tasty muffins! 

So, you'll need:

200g gluten & wheat free flour

2 eggs

300ml soya milk (not pictured because I'm useless)

100g blackberries

1 quite ripe banana mashed (my banana looks grim doesn't it?)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

First pre heat the oven to 200 degrees, then add the flour, baking powder, eggs and soya milk into a mixing bowl and combine. Add in the mashed banana and mix in the blackberries. Grease some muffin tins with dairy free spread (I'd recommend Vitalite - you can find it in Tesco and it tastes great!) and add a tablespoon of mixture into each muffin tin, topping each up if they need to be. Whack them in the oven, leave for 20 minutes or until golden brown, and remember to test your muffins by giving them a prod inside with a fork/knife/a tool of some sort for prodding cakes, making sure it comes up clean and then leave your muffins to cool. 

Once they're cooled down, or even if they're not quite yet, have a taste! For muffins they're quite small, probably more likely to be considered a fairy cake of some sort, but I'm not the muffin police so let's keep it our little secret?

Nutritional info (approx):

92 Kcal

17g carbohydrate

1.5g fat

2.8g protein

0.4g sat fat

1.6g sugar

Now enjoy your guilt free treat!

MissIsGoode

Since I've got back from my all inclusive holiday, which you can read about here, I've definitely been feeling that my body's a little out of tune having gorged myself on plates full of spicy, delicious foreign food. I've been back a week now, and the few lbs I've gained over the summer are hanging on in there, and I know its about time I did something about it! So during a major catch up with my friend Molly, she recommended the 'Caveman' diet to me.

I personally don't believe in dieting as such, but when I got reading about the Paleo Diet I realised that it wasn't a quick fix, but instead a lifestyle change. The response to this diet is mixed, with the NY Post rating it the worst diet of 2014, and others swearing by its success. Molly, who is a trainee yoga teacher and frequent gym-goer has lately been looking absolutely amazing, and if this diet's helping her then I don't see why I shouldn't try and work some of the rules of the diet into my life.

The caveman diets main rule is 'if a caveman didn't eat it, then you shouldn't either' and this does seem a little bit ridiculous when you first hear it. However, when you think about it, eating only what a caveman would simply means things that you could go out and gather yourself (though this doesn't mean I'm going to start hunting for my own meat!). What it suggests not to eat is dairy, gluten & legumes, as well as recommending you cut back on sugar - now this doesn't seem all that hard to me!

My main challenge is going to be not eating dairy and wheat, and I doubt whether or not I'll be able to stick to this. With things like cheese, milk, bread and pasta making up the basis of my diet it's going to be a challenge. I know for a fact that when my mum and sister cut out wheat, they felt loads better and rarely experienced bloating, and cutting it out of my diet has been something I've been considering for a while. For now though, simply cutting back on dairy and wheat is my main aim.

It's day 1 of trying this, and I've had fresh fruit and nuts for breakfast, followed by sautéed veg & eggs for lunch and more veg with chicken for dinner and the one thing I can say is that I've eaten plenty of tasty food and feel very satisfied. Tomorrow will be a challenge, with a 9 hour shift and a tasty shop bought sandwich and a milky coffee being my usual lunch but I'm planning on cooking up some veg and chicken to take in with me tomorrow, and fingers crossed I don't crash without coffee! Wish me luck! 

Are you trying out a new healthy lifestyle or dieting? Could you live without dairy and wheat? 

MissIsGoode

My next Fresher of the academic year 2013/14 is a very lovely fellow blogger named Amber, who blogs over at Amber Love. Amber is a Biochemistry student at Portsmouth University, also taking a French language module as of next year, and has been kind enough to share her story of her first year...

Have you enjoyed your first year? 
Most definitely! I think it has been the best year of my life so far. I was so unhappy before I left and desperately needed a fresh start and it was even better than I ever could have hoped.

How would you describe your freshers week?

Confusing, exhausting and hilarious. Confusing because we (we being me and my three other housemates aka the best people ever) had no idea where we were going; we didn't know of the good places to go out or even where lectures or shops were. Exhausting because we were drinking every night and despite it being freshers week we had introductory lectures that started at 9am! What was that about?! Most nights I passed out in my clothes and stumbled into the lectures in the same thing I'd been wearing the night before. And hilarious because I got on mad well with my housemates. We didn't make it out of the house to all of the events but that didn't matter - I think we had more fun when the four of us stayed in and got mad drunk!

What were you must nervous about before you started university? 

I wasn't nervous about much to be honest. Probably finding a house actually! I found out only three weeks before starting that I didn't get into halls so I had to find a house last minute! I have to say, the uni wasn't at all helpful and it was very stressful. Warning to anyone going to Portsmouth - they hardly have any accommodation so even if you're a first year be prepared to live in a house not halls! I was also nervous that no one would like me, but that's my own hang up about myself and I've met the best people ever ever ever.

Did Portsmouth Uni meet your expectations? 

I'm sad it's over! It was amazing! I know the work load is gonna be huge next year and it'll be different but I'm excited for the changes - another new chapter. I'm excited that my course will be more specialised so I'll be studying what I'm interested in. I'm excited that all my friends are living in houses and my best friends on my course are all living in a house together so I'll be staying there half the time!

What was your work load like?

What have you achieved this year?

I have to say I'm so pleased I passed with a 2:1, not that it counts! But my school teachers told me I wouldn't even get into uni or wouldn't cope with science so to have come out of first year like this I wanna rub it in their faces! What else did I achieve? Well I was thrown in at the deep end living in a house so sorting my own bills and stuff which I did all of. As much as I love my housemates they were a bit useless with that! So for the youngest in our house I did pretty well figuring everything out myself. Not a proper achievement as much but the friends I've made, the cracking house parties we had! I also learnt more about other people from different walks of life, I understand feminism, politics and I want to help people even more than I did before.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I can't think of anything I'd have done differently. I could have worked harder but I didn't need to so I had a great time with my friends! I can't think of anything else I'd have done differently. I mean I had some real low moments, still suffering from depression, anxiety and frequent panic attacks. But my friends helped and were so understanding. I still wouldn't change a thing. I'm getting really emotional talking about uni, actually got tears pricking my eyes.

Have you discovered any great money saving tips?

Money saving. Errr... honestly I'm quite good at saving anyway (unlike my friends)! I'd say plan your meals, find cheap places to go out, cheap booze. And say goodbye to Topshop and hello to car boot sales and charity shops - which are way more fun anyway! Also keep a penny jar - at the end of the year I had £32 in pennies!

What do you do to de-stress?

I took proper breaks with my friends. Left my bedroom and all my study in there and either watched a film or something with my housemates. Or went out to eat with other friends, we went to The Harvester once and it was so nice to properly get out away from studying. Also a lot of rescue remedy, cups of tea and help from a learning support tutor (hello exam anxiety).

What advice would you give to up and coming freshers? 

I really don't know what advice to give as everyone's experience at uni is different. Enjoy it, work hard, but not too hard, drink lots, embrace the hangover and order a lot of Domino's, do crazy things, have lots of movie nights in, find a friend who likes cuddling as well - nothing better than good snuggles when you're feeling down.

And a final note from Amber...

For me, university was exactly what I needed and I'm feeling pretty emotional after writing this. Like I said before I started university my life was in a very bad place, it couldn't have got much worse really. I've suffered from depression since I was 15 and anxiety and panic attacks for around the last two years. I still suffer from them, sometimes it gets really hard to cope but uni gave me something to live for. I was that desperate and I'm sharing this so that anyone who is in a similar position to me, can know that it'll get better. It can still be awful. But I found amazing people, and I couldn't live without them. Portsmouth has opened my eyes and I feel much more alive now.

If you'd like to know anything about Portsmouth University or Amber's course, or ask her any other questions, head on over to her blog! If you have any questions for me, or would like to get involved in either my Freshers End series, or my Over Half Way There series for second years, drop me an email at misssisgoode@gmail.com.

Michael and I have now been back in the country since Friday morning, and although we only spent a week in Tunisia, it's been weird adjusting to the heat, the sounds, and the view that we now wake up to back in England - and not only that, but the fact that we are once again at opposite ends of the country. 

Most people our age have spent their summer heading off to Malia, Ayia Napa and various other party destinations, so we did feel a little like a 60 year old couple when we arrived at our couples hotel, but it wasn't long before we took a look around and realised that there were plenty of other young couples on their holidays too; because let's be honest, Ayia Napa isn't exactly a top destination for someone in a committed relationship anyway!

I'm so happy we chose to go to Scheherazade Couples Hotel. We looked through so many mixed reviews and honestly weren't quite sure what to expect when we arrived, but we were welcomed warmly and sent straight down to dinner, though we were a little too tired to enjoy it after a few hours travelling, but the Mediterranean theme that we got a taste of was delicious. Once we got to our room we absolutely loved it. The bed was set out beautifully and the room was lovely and clean.

The next day we were a little more awake and ready to enjoy the breakfast. I wish I'd managed to get a photo of the buffets each day, because they were always really impressive, but I felt a little strange snapping pictures of food! So I'll have to explain it to you instead: we had so many options for breakfast, to the usual eggs, omelettes, beef sausages (as they are a predominantly Muslim country), cereal, toast, this delicious thing called Ouji eggs which I had almost every day, pancakes, waffles and then an impressive amount of pastries and breakfast cakes, a plum & custard pastry being our favourite. You were spoilt for choice.

Onward we went to explore the hotel and it wasn't long before we were caught by Ali Baba. BEWARE. If you are going to visit this hotel and a man without a name badge approaches you just say no thank you. Ali Baba is a man whose real name I didn't care to remember, who does bookings for excursions. It's legitimate from what I gather but is much more expensive than the Thomson excursions, and you feel very forced into it. I think our first day was a little ruined by the stress he caused us after writing down a booking, handing us a ticket and then asking us to drop by £50 to him in an hours time, oh you can't do an hour? How about sometime today? Sometime today it is, see you later. Avoid him as best you can, and book with Thomson for a stress free, unforced and cheaper experience. We got out of handing any money over to him, thankfully, but he wasn't best pleased. Did we care? Nope! I don't understand why he's allowed to skulk around the hotel and pounce on guests, especially those who aren't used to such selling tactics!

A wrong destination for lunch was our biggest mistake on day one - we went to the salad and bread only poolside lunch, rather than the cooked and much more delicious restaurant lunch, lesson learnt, we stuffed our faces for the rest of the week on the right lunchtime buffet! Like breakfast you're spoilt for choice; with pasta, meat in sauces, fish, veg, spaghetti, bread, a ridiculous amount of puddings and so much more, with a few chefs cooking up something at their station too. Whilst most of the dishes that were cooked on the spot were delicious, if you pay a visit do check them and ensure they are cooked! We had some undercooked food - including chicken and eggs - that you'd want to avoid! It didn't spoil our appetite though and it was all delicious.

The pool (which I never got a photo of!) was our favourite afternoon spot during the week, with music and entertainment set up from 3 onwards. This included some dodgy DJing by Asharaff - with a mixture of great music and some questionable choices - and later to join him came Hedi, infamous for his excitable, friendly and attentive nature. There was a mixture of entertainment from pool games, to cocktail making competitions, aqua aerobics, raffles and quizzes. Often we'd be offered a free cocktail, cakes and various smoothies all poolside to enjoy the entertaining show put on by Hedi.

The night time entertainment was always impressive. It followed on from dinner which was from 7 until 9:30pm. Each night was a different theme for the buffet, consisting of Tunisian (of course), French, Spanish, Mexican, Far East, Italian, Mediterranean and a special Black and White night. The Italian buffet disappointed Mike a little, offering only one type of pizza (the horror) and personally I too thought it was one of the worst. The best was the Mexican night, and I also enjoyed the French, but mainly because of the starter...French Onion soup mmmmm. You were once again spoilt for choice, and a few people who reviewed the hotel said that they didn't have much choice of what to eat during their stay. Our response to this is: HOW?! There is a ridiculous amount of food, and we found that to try everything each night we needed two plates full of food and a lie down afterwards! Some stuff was insanely spicy, but there was plenty of stuff that was cooler and some that wasn't spicy at all.

The Black and White themed evening

Back to the night time entertainment (always distracted by food). The hotel always did a good job with this, gathering us by the courtyard pool or the outside one, to watch dancers - who were amazing, extremely flexible, stunning and showed every woman in the audience up and had the men, my boyfriend included, gawking with his jaw dropped - sand artists, acrobats, belly dancers, musicians and others too which after our belly full of food we didn't manage to make it down to, laying on the bed like two whales washed ashore.

MissIsGoode

How you you describe your Freshers' week?

We were lucky enough at Soton to have a freshers fortnight though that did mean attending introductory classes (very hungover) alongside going out and partying. I wouldn't describe Freshers as anything special; we had some great nights out in Southampton, and while we aren't particularly spoilt for choice in Winchester we still managed to make a good time of it. I was particularly excited for my 20th birthday which we had planned to attend a bar crawl in Southampton, however our JCR team weren't the most organised of people after they had a bottle of wine and the transport messed up meaning I couldn't get there, so that and two days of very violent freshers flu were probably my low points.

What were you most nervous about during the run up to university?

People. Meeting new people is not one of my favorite things and living with complete strangers in a town I had visited twice in my life terrified me. We were at a service station just outside Southampton when my parents drove me to uni and I spent quite a while in the bathroom thinking I would throw up I was so nervous. I nearly told them to turn around a drive me home as I was so convinced I was making the wrong decision, but I'm very glad I didn't.

Once you got to Southampton, did it meet your expectations? 

Yes, my course was everything I wanted and more, and while Erasmus Park wasn't the largest place to live it was comfortable enough and had a community feel rather than the flat/block segregation that tends to occur in other halls. Winchester is a wonderful place to live for a creative mind, and while it can be expensive at times it's not so different from Truro (Cornwall) so it felt like a home away from home.

Was is hard to get into the swing of university life? 

The moment I started unpacking the nerves were gone (unpacking is a fantastic distraction and I recommend it's the first thing you do when you move in) and I took to independent living like a fish to water, after feeling quite restricted by my parents for so long.

Could you tell us a bit about your first year accommodation? 

I had a top floor single bed en-site room in a mixed house of 10, in a block of 18 houses (one of two) with a shared kitchen which was ridiculously small, to the point where we had to cook in relay as there was only one cooker and a 4ring hob. While I loved my room with its high pitched ceilings you could hear the rain on (not always so pleasant granted) the kitchen was a stressful point for me throughout the year, as I may not be the tidiest person (guilty of having a floordrobe) but I can not stand dirt and mould left to the point of being unhealthy. Whilst we had cleaners they would just clean around the mess allowing it to fester. Living away from home was the easiest and possibly the most pleasant part, as while I missed my family a little (mainly my cats, sorry Mum) being able to come and go as I pleased and not have to ask permission anymore was wonderful.

What's your second year student house like?

I now live in a semi-detached 4 bed student house a 10 minute walk from my campus. I'm sharing it with three other girls on my course who are also good friends of mine. As my contract runs from July to July I decided to stay and work my way through the summer in Winchester, and while I miss Cornwall and the people there, the idea of spending an extended period of time back at home now I am so used to my freedom is not a pleasant one.

How you feel now you've finished first year?

Like I really need to knuckle down and actually put some decent effort into my work, as I am expecting second year to be harder and more challenging. Also I wont be able to pull the wool over my second year tutors eyes as I have so easily done this past year (pretending to know what you're doing is a valuable skill) so showing up to seminars over tired from procrastinating by marathoning tv shows having no sketchbook work done is no longer an option.

What was your work load like? 

I didn't find the load too much more than my Foundation Arts year but there were new skills to master and more theory classes than I had expected so they kept me occupied as I may have gotten a little bored otherwise. I found many of the practical aspects of my course quite easy as I am much more adept on industrial sewing machines than many of my classmates and I recon my neat and tidy sewing made up for my lack of sketchbook work in many of my tutorials.

What do you feel you've achieved this year? 

I passed with a 2:1 which is a great achievement for a girl who never thought she would go to university. I made a tie during my third year experience which was shown at Graduate Fashion Week and ended up on Vogue.com. I was elected president of my JCR Committee and this means I get to plan and run Freshers '14 for Erasmus Park. I didn't need to get an overdraft (Dad you were right).

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

No, as everything worked out well in the end, though in hindsight I should have attended more classes and maybe tried a little harder.

What money saving tips would you pass on?

Don't get an overdraft. You don't necessarily need it (unless it's to pay accommodation) and you can end up with no money AND in debt very quickly. You also don't need branded food. Tesco's own Jaffa Cakes still taste like Jaffa Cakes.

Amy tips on how to de-stress?

Luckily as a creative arts student I have no exams, but running up to deadlines I liked to go swimming or take a walk just for half an hour or so to clear my head. I'd also be really busy at times and forget to eat so I would make sure I had one decent meal a day to keep me going.

What advice would you give to up and coming freshers? 

There is a whole world of people outside of your flat, my best friends at uni all lived in completely different houses or blocks to me, so don't assume your flatmates are the only friends you will make. Also having watched my friends blow all their scholarship or bursary money (some in scarily small periods of time) and then be struggling for cash I would say to anyone SAVE as much as you can, before and during uni and only buy what you can afford. If you have to pay your accommodation next week you really can't afford those new shoes.

Emily x

I hope you enjoyed reading about Emily's first year! If you'd like to know anything about Emily's course or her university, then drop me an email at missisgoode@gmail.com and I'll put you in contact with Emily! If you'd like to share your first, second or study abroad year on my blog then leave a comment of drop me and email!

MissIsGoode

Not too long ago I was asked a question over twitter about how best to prepare for your second year, and whilst these next few weeks seem all about the freshers, you lovely second years probably still have a few questions too. Whilst I've already told you about what to expect, how to prepare for the year ahead may be something that many of you are wondering too. So fear not, I shall help you prepare for a slightly tougher year than your last. Feel free to leave a comment below with your best advice for a soon to be second year!

Mainly, prepare in the same way you did for first year...

Choose your modules, get your books

Many of you will have already picked your modules, and it's always best to do it quick so you don't miss out on the modules you'd enjoy most. I always take a long time to pick these, as I want to select something I'll actually enjoy. Usually I also look at what we will be marked upon too and personally, a presentation that's worth 40% is a nope. If you're better at exams, and if you like the sound of the module then go for it and visa versa with essays too. Play to your strengths and to your interests when choosing modules. As for books, it's best to get as many as you can during summer, keep an eye on buy and sell Facebook pages, the freshers page and your course forum for people selling them cheap. If you're a lit student or have a long reading list, it's advisable to crack on with your reading...but most (including myself) won't spend their summer doing so!

Get to know your housemates

If you're moving in with a few people that you don't know, just as I recommended you did before moving into halls, try to get to know the people that you're going to be living with. Post on the freshers page to see who's moving off campus and will be your new house mate, and you'll be able to know them a little better than if you move in as total strangers.

Work out what went right and what went wrong in first year

Before you begin second year it's a good idea to recognise what your lecturers thought you did well on and what could be improved. Look back on the feedback from essays and make a note of the good and the bad points. If you have any questions about what you could do differently to help get your marks up in second year don't hesitate to send your lecturers an email.

Prepare for moving in

If like me you lost most of your crockery and cutlery to the fiends that are the thieving cleaners (or you or some one else left your pots/pans and plates dirty on the side), then it's probably advisable to restock your crockery cupboard. As well as that, get in a few essentials such as toilet roll, washing up liquid etc so you have plenty stocked up for when you move in. Also, it's a good idea to discuss with your housemates what they're planning on bringing. We have so so so many pans in our house because none of us discussed it before we arrived. It's a good idea to divide up what each of you will bring along, for example, one can bring a big frying pan, another a large saucepan. Not only does it save on cupboard space, but it'll mean the requirement of washing up will be more frequent, unlike in our house where we can go a week without washing up and still have a pan spare to use...it's not a pleasant task washing it all up either. So the more crockery, cutlery, pots and pans = the larger pile of washing up, and the longer length of time for it to remain sitting dirty on the side.

Start signing up for societies
My biggest regret during my time at uni is not getting involved enough, so this year, despite all the work I'll have I plan to get as involved as possible and you should too. Societies and clubs are a great way to meet new people, learn something new or continue doing something you love, so get on over to the SU page if you're a Keele student and start adding those memberships to your basket, don't get to your third year like me and wish you had done more. 

Simply, enjoy your summer

I wouldn't advise spending your summer worrying about what your second year is going to be like - not that I expect any of you to be doing so! Just have fun before uni re-starts. Second year isn't that different from your first, other than the fact you have to put a little more effort in. Just like first year, it's what you make of it.

If you have any good advice for second years, leave a comment below! And I hope you're all having a lovely summer!

MissIsGoode

Have you enjoyed you first year of university?

This first year has been, to use an old cliché, an emotional rollercoaster. The crazy first term was very alcohol influenced which helped me get the party animal back out after having to be sensible for a long time. However, the second term was quite the opposite of that. A serious dose of reality in terms of financial and emotional struggle crippled the levels of enjoyment that I could have. Luckily, third term balanced itself with a pleasant combination of hard work being met with hard play time. To use another cliché, the first year was a journey of self-discovery: starting off as the insane, immature drunken nightmare that developed me into a much wiser adult by the end.
How would you describe your freshers week?