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Blog by Ali. Powered by Blogger.

Ali


Hello blog, it's me! I haven't blogged in awhile but with D23 on this weekend and all these amazing announcements happening there is no better time to come back.

Firstly let's start with the major news for Australians that dropped earlier in the week. Australia is getting Disney+ a week after the US! Yep, November 19 us Aussie's will be able to log into our Disney+ accounts and let the binge begin - and oh man what a binge it will be.

Disney+ held their panel at the D23 Expo today (well yesterday for me, I live in the future here in Australia) and there were a lot of announcements. Strap yourselves in guys, we got some stuff to watch.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series


I remember hearing about this ages ago and I thought, wow that sounds lame. But oh man if this trailer is anything to live by it looks like Glee but done by Disney and let's us relive all those High School Musical vibes.

Phineas and Ferb The Movie - Candace Against the Universe


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Okay this is what I'm least excited for, but hey you gotta have something for the kids right?

New Lizzie McGuire series!

Yes, you heard that right. A brand new Lizzie McGuire series AND Hilary Duff is back! This show takes me straight back to my childhood and you can guarantee I'll be watching it. 

Forky asks a Questions


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I'm still yet to see Toy Story 4... So I've yet to meet Forky myself but people who attended the panel said it was surprisingly hilarious. This will be a collection of Disney Pixar shorts featuring Forky.

Monsters at Work


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This follows on from the Monsters Inc Movie and is a series about the workers at Monsters Inc! I've loved everything so far in the Monsters Inc universe so I'm sure I'll enjoy this too.

Ms Marvel + Moon Knight + She-Hulk - New Marvel Series

All Marvel original series! I'm not going to pretend like I know all these Marvel characters but I'm still hyped to see how they are entwined with phase four of the MCU.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum



I didn't know I needed this in my life, but I think I do. Jeff Goldblum leads each episode of this series by examining a familiar thing we all love.

Encore


Another surprise show I wasn't expecting and actually love the idea of! Kristen Bell is producing Encore that gives people a chance to relive their glory moments in theatre for the first time since they were young.

Lady and the Tramp



We all knew a Lady and the Tramp live action was coming, but they released the trailer so I'm including it because the dogs look so cute. I admit I'm not a fan of the cartoon Lady and the Tramp, but this looks good!


Noelle


This looks so good! I love Christmas movies and Anna Kendrick is just amazing so no doubt this will be a good Christmas movie edition.

Muppets Now

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The Muppets are also coming to Disney+! In 2020 you can expect a new short-form unscripted series. 

New season of The Clone Wars

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Once again, something I've never watched - though I've heard it's good! Fans will be pleased to know there is a new season coming.

Cassian Andor/K-2SO Series

Not much was said about this, but I loved these two in Rogue One so I'm here for it.

The Mandalorian


I'm not going to pretend like I know Star Wars, I'm not the world's biggest fan and I've mainly just watched the movies. You can probably shame me because I don't know who or what a Mandalorian is, but did I get excited by this trailer? Yes I did. Will I watch this? Hell yes.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Series

Ewan McGregor is returning as Obi-Wan!! And it's a whole dang series! I think this is going to be one of my most anticipated series. I love Obi-Wan in Star Wars and I can't wait to see where this goes.


Can you believe this is only just the beginning?! Like seriously guys Disney+ is only going to get better! Take note from November 19 I'm unavailable, I'll be busy binging.



Let me know in the comments what are you looking forward to the most?

Love, Ali
5:00 PM No comments

Week five is over and well I lost weight, but not as much as I'd have liked but really that's my own fault.

Workouts
Damn, they really jumped up in intensity this week. We had 45 minutes of non stop working out, no rests, just go-go-go! It was good, at the time it felt like it was dragging on but afterwards I felt amazing. 

Now this week at the beginning of the week I was lazy. Monday was a public holiday and I declared it a PJ day, so there was no way in hell I was leaving the house to go exercise. Tuesday I attended a session and then on Wednesday I woke up to intense neck/upper back pain - which is actually quite common for me and usually get's really bad every few months, so it was due to play up. I then had Wednesday off work, so naturally I didn't attend a session. Instead I did a 5km slow paced walk with the family and my dogs. Thursday I went to a session and Friday I couldn't get to sleep the night before so when my alarm went off at 4.30am and I'd only had 3 hours sleep I definitely rolled over and went back to bed before work - I can't make any other session on a Friday due to work. So then that meant Saturday was my third and final session of the week. 

Really what I'm getting at here is it wasn't the best week and I only attended three sessions. I would've done four, had I not been in pain on Wednesday but oh well.

Food
It's getting harder and harder to stay on track. I'm over just eating meat and salad or meat and vegetables and sadly it's getting to the point where I'd rather not eat. But, to lose weight this is what you got to do so I have to stick to it even though I'm pretty much hating life right now and only look forward to my Saturday cheat meal.

I snuck a few treats in this week too which isn't good and definitely doesn't help the weight-loss but I was hangry okay.


So another 600g down. Not the best after the week I had but it was still a lose which I should be happy about, but it makes it hard when you see others losing big amounts weekly. I'm just feeling sorry for myself this week, hopefully next week will be better.

Love, Ali
9:02 PM No comments


I love to read but like many people I'm time poor, so of course I have the longest list of books I want to read I just haven't had the chance to do so yet. 

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Image and summary from Goodreads

I've told myself I can't watch the tv series until I read the book, I don't know why but I have. So after I finally finish reading the couple of books I have going now this is next on my to do list.

2. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. 

Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated--scars that will have far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.


Image and summary from Goodreads

If you haven't read the Court of Thorns and Roses series from Sarah J. Maas, stop what you are doing and go buy it now. I freaking love this series and I got so excited when I found out this novella was released. It's a short story that takes place after the third book and I can't wait to read about what happens to my two favourites Feyre and Rhys.

3. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. 

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

Image and summary from Goodreads

Another book that has been on my to-do list for far too long. The Red Queen is actually a series of four books and two novellas so I'm excited to get into a new series.

4. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Image and summary from Goodreads

This was recommended to me ages ago and clearly I never got around to reading it. The summary sounds amazing and I can't wait to finally read it one day.

5. The Selection by Kiera Cass

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Image and summary from Goodreads

Another book series that has been on my to read list forever! Five books in the series and to be honest I love the covers of these books because the dresses look amazing.


And there you have it, my top 5 books I want to read. Let me know in the comments below what books you really want to read next, not that I need to add anymore to my massive list but I know I will because let's be honest, I don't read enough.

Love, Ali
9:50 AM No comments

Week four will be a quick update, I was really only at home from Thurs - Sat (today) and earlier in the week I was down in NSW visiting family - and eating what I want.

Workouts
Once again, I could only make three sessions but at least this week I had a valid reason - I wasn't here for the other days. The workouts were really good, fast paced, great music and I felt amazing afterwards. They were still hard, but I notice myself doing more reps to begin with or starting with a heavier weight to begin with for the extra push.

Update on the chest pain, it was there but then after my workouts it actually feels better. I have no idea what any of this means, who knew at 26 I'd have so many issues...


Food
Well obviously while I was away visiting family I ate what I wanted, no one wants to be on a diet when on holiday and my instructor agreed. On Thursday and Friday I was back on track and although people at work nearly persuaded me a couple of times to eat out or eat some treats I was strong and didn't.


I knew I'd gain this week and I did, 400g to be exact. Not as bad as I thought it would be considering I didn't exercise while away and ate what I wanted. But I've grabbed my food for next week and I'll spend Sunday meal prepping for the week ahead, let's go week five!


Love, Ali
4:46 PM No comments



Week three was a bad week.

Workouts
I only did a lousy three sessions, even though I could've done four I was just being lazy. I had no motivation to exercise and all I wanted to do was sleep or sit at home and watch TV. The weekend prior to week three I did Relay for Life. I got no sleep over the weekend and walked over 40,000 steps in 18 hours, so that was the reason I had Monday off. But since Relay I just couldn't be bothered to exercise - I also knew I was going away to Sydney by the end of the week so all I cared about was that.

Unfortunately my random chest pain that I've been suffering with since October last year decided to come back in spectacular painful fashion, and sadly I couldn't get in to see my doctor for two weeks so I guess we'll wait and see what she says.

Food
It was a bad week. Sure, I sort of stuck to the meal plan and I ate most the meals but I snacked a lot and reverted to drinking a can of soft drink almost everyday. It was just a week where I couldn't resist the yummy snacks in the house and I made bad choices, but at least I owned up to it and didn't hide it.


So week three was my first bad week. Lost motivation, wanted to eat anything and everything and to be honest just didn't care. By some miracle I still lost 500g and I don't know how. I'd like to say I hope week four will be better, but I'm away in Sydney until Wednesday so I don't really get back into it until Thursday and I doubt I'll lose any weight but I guess we will see.




Love, Ali
8:52 AM No comments


Week two = completed! So let's recap:

P.S Sorry this post is so late!

Workouts
Four sessions completed this week, Monday - Friday skipping Wednesday due to a meeting at night and not waking up on time to make the morning session. I could've worked out on Saturday but I was doing Relay for Life for 18 hours Saturday Night/Sunday Morning so I didn't want to work out earlier in the day and be sore for the afternoon.

The workouts didn't get easier, I was still dying, but I could notice in just a short week my fitness had vastly improved. The worst exercise we did was boxing, I'm not a fan of boxing. It can often hurt my shoulder which is quite weak due to having three surgeries on it, but I survived - just.

Food
So after my weigh in on week one I was able to keep up the diet until my cheat meal on Saturday night, and then Sunday morning I didn't eat the best, but by dinner I was back on track. I could feel myself getting bored with eating the same meal almost three times a day but I was determined to lose weight again this week.


Overall week two went pretty well. I was still motivated, but not motivated enough to do many morning sessions - I'm not a morning person. I stuck to the diet and thankfully still lost weight.

You can check out my weight tracker below - let's move onto week three!




Love, Ali
9:20 AM No comments

Week one is done and dusted. So I thought I'd write a quick recap of the week that was.

Workouts
I made five sessions this week! So for week one I've smashed my goal of attending at least four sessions in the week. I trained Monday - Friday, giving myself the weekend off to rest.

On our first day we did fitness testing, and my fitness is absolutely appalling now. Below is what I achieved:

Plank - Held for 50 seconds.
Crunches in 1 min - 33
Push Ups in 1 min - 15

I didn't even attempt burpees as I hate them, I'm completely unfit and going up & down so much can give me head spins. So for week one I didn't attempt them. Fingers crossed by week 12 I can look back on these numbers and hopefully there will be a noticeable difference. 

Food
For the first time ever I stuck to the diet and surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sure it was a lot of lean meat and salad but I didn't want to kill people at work like I thought I would. 

It was so difficult when others at work had the nicest looking lunches or my family had yummy dinners and here I was stuck eating lean meat and salad, but hopefully in 12 weeks time I see a physical difference.

Did I crave chocolate etc? Sort of. Not as much as I thought I would but definitely when I saw my family members eating it, all I wanted was a piece. I was also surprised that all week I didn't have full strength Coke or Pepsi. I'm terrible and would normally have a can a day, sometimes two, and I know soft drink (or soda) is one of the worst things to be putting into your body. I had 2 cups of Pepsi Max throughout the week, so the low calorie soft drink, and I sort of feel bad for it but oh well I did it.


Overall week one I felt sore, I hated waking up early for morning sessions but then by the time I got there I loved it, I didn't like not eating anything I wanted but didn't hate what I was eating and I lost weight - thank god!

I've put together a weight tracker below and every week I'll update it so you can see how much I've lost. Now, onto Week 2!


Love, Ali
10:03 AM No comments

2018 hasn't been a great year for me fitness wise. I started off the year 'injured', I put it in inverted commas like that because my doctor couldn't actually find anything wrong. After months of X-Rays, CT Scans, Ultrasounds, trying different drugs and physiotherapy the only thing they found was a benign enlarged lymph-node in my breast that eventually went down and nothing else. It was terrifying being a female and having chest pain and obviously like anyone else I thought the worst, but thankfully all seems to be great in my body, I just had random pain in my chest.

So for 6 months I got told no physical exercise, but walking, while they tried to figure this out. Cut to September 2018, now - I've barely worked out all year and I got in the wrong frame of mind. I thought well screw it, can't exercise might as well eat what I want. This is NOT the right way to think people! I've now gained so much weight and it's all entirely my own fault.

What have I done about it? Well I joined a 12 week bootcamp. Back to a group that helped me years ago lose weight and get fit. I enjoyed the sessions, I loved working with the trainers and everyone there was so lovely. 

My goals for the next 12 weeks:
  • STICK TO THE MEAL PLAN! I put this in capitols as I'm mainly yelling at myself. So many times before I wouldn't stick to it and then I'd get upset when I wasn't losing the weight I wanted and people around me lost 10kgs by week 6. Something that isn't in the meal plan but I know it will motivate me is a cheat meal. I've told myself if I lose weight at weigh in, on Saturday night I'll allow myself to have a cheat meal as a treat.
  • Attend at least 4 sessions a week. I know only attending 3 will barely move any weight, so I'm aiming for at least 4 but most weeks I intend to do 5 sessions.
  • Lose weight. This might seem obvious but I have some numbers in mind. By 6 weeks I want to have lost 5kg and by week 12 I want to have lost 10kg. I didn't want to give myself a big number, I knew if I did and I didn't get there I'd just quit. So I'm starting small and if I lose more weight than that's excellent.
  • Improve my fitness. I want to walk upstairs without feeling out of breath, be able to run a lap around the court without dying and be able to not take breaks during a session. 
Every week I'm going to write quick updates on here about how I feel, how much weight I lost (or gained...I hope not), what food I've been eating and the workouts. People might not event read this but it's here to help me and hopefully keep me on track.

So here we go, I'm ready to start my weight-loss journey.

Love, Ali
7:17 AM No comments


So I've been MIA and I don't really have a good reason. To be honest it came down to poor planning. At the beginning of the year I literally wrote down months worth of content and for the first half of the year I just followed that schedule. Then I became lazy, couldn't be bothered to plan and decided my vlogs were more important so let my blog fall by the wayside.

I enjoy blogging and have plenty of ideas but when it comes down to it I'm very lazy. But I'm back, I planned my posts till the end of the year and changed the day I'll be posting. I used to always schedule a new blog post to go live on a Saturday night and then the very next morning my vlog post would go live on my YouTube channel - this was not a smart idea. I put so much pressure on myself to get them both live within 24 hours of eachother I realised there would be a far better way.

So my new blogging day will be Wednesday! Expect to see new blog posts every Wednesday at 7am AEST. There will be plenty of Disney blogs, life blogs in general, reviews and fitness blogs - because yes I'm finally feeling motivated enough to get my butt of the couch and lose some weight.

It's good to be back.

Love, Ali
7:00 AM No comments

If you've read the title and you're completely confused as to what IGTV is, it's okay it only launched a couple of days ago. IGTV is a new app created by Instagram for watching long-form, vertical video from Instagram creators. Yes you read that right, vertical video.

Instagram points out that IGTV is different in a few ways, firstly it's built for how you actually use your phone - this is touching on the whole vertical thing, so videos are full screen and vertical. Secondly, IGTV allows videos longer than one minute (this is currently what Instagram Stories only allows) and each video can be up to an hour long.

Although it is a separate app you can access IGTV from Instagram, it sits right up the top next to your messages.

So here are some of my thoughts after looking through the app for really only over a day.


  • Vertical video? I don't get it. As someone who has studied photography and touched on videography, it is strange to film in portrait mode. Landscape allows you to see so much more. I understand when you take quick little videos on your phone of your dogs or of a new place you visited, but do people really want to watch hour long videos in essentially portrait mode? I'm not a fan - maybe one day I will be.
  • What sort of content should be on here? I don't know yet and either does a lot of others by the looks of it. 
  • Did we really need another social media app to look at? I don't know about you guys but it's hard enough trying to keep up with Twitter, normal Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook and YouTube! Sure, I don't need to look at them all but I like too and now I feel like this is another thing I have to check.
  • It looks a lot like Snapchat. You remember Snapchat right? I know some people still use it but really Instagram Stories took over it's dominance. But cast your minds back to the 'Discover' section of Snapchat, that is what it looks like to me.
  • Finally, Instagram we never asked for IGTV but we have been asking for our Instagram feed to go back to chronological order so how about you do that?
Essentially this is Instagram taking on YouTube and right now I don't see how it will win. I liked Instagram just being about photos and I feel like Instagram is trying to be everything at once. Who knows it may take off or it may flop. As of right now I'm thinking it won't make any difference to YouTube and unless they change the whole vertical thing I see myself being annoyed with it.

Anyway, I just wanted to get my thoughts out onto my blog as new social media apps really interest me and I also work in social media so there's that. In saying all this you bet I uploaded a video to IGTV hours after it launched. I really only added a video I already have on YouTube but adjusted it to be vertical as I wanted to see what it would look like. You can find me at @mcali187 #shamelessplug.

For me I think IGTV will be a place I upload small edited clips from my travels - whether that be overseas or not. I don't picture myself using it for sit down videos or talking videos, but who knows that might change. 

So let me know below, what are your thoughts? Do you like it? Will you use it? What sort of content do you want to see creators making for IGTV? I'm interested to know.

Love, Ali
7:52 PM No comments
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I'm Ali - twenty seven years young from Australia. This blog is a place where I want to share all my thoughts & the things I love with you!

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