Maxine has been a friend of ours for sometime. We’ve admired her dedication and determination in regards to maintiaining her blog and life as a student. Her smile is infectious and we really hope you love her as much as us! Let’s find out what she gets up to in her spare time…
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Tell us a little about yourself, what do you do?
My name is Maxine and I’m a 21 year old soon-to-be graduate, writer and healthy lifestyle blogger currently living in London. In my daily life, I do so many different things but at the heart of my work is my goal to transform the way people approach and perceive a healthy lifestyle. For years we’ve been conditioned to see healthy living as restrictive and to believe we must deprive ourselves of all the things that bring us joy in order to look and feel great. I want to help people understand that, to be truly healthy, we first need to fix our damaged relationship with food and quit categorising things as ‘good’ or ‘bad for us. My aim is to end the cycle of guilt and restriction that so many of us go through when trying to make healthier choices and encourage people to realise that all food, nutritious or not, has the potential to nourish you – whether it’s a gorgeous, nutrient rich salad with all the goodness your body needs, or a big, decadent slice of chocolate cake with all the goodness your soul craves. This is what I like to call living by the rule of indulgence. Everything you do in life should feel like an indulgence, leaving you feeling happier and, consequently, healthier.
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Aside from blogging, what are your hobbies?
Of course, a large part of my blogging work developed from my love of cooking and keeping fit so naturally these are two of my favourite hobbies. I’m also passionate about music and was training as a classical soprano. However, with university and blog work getting quite intense recently, singing has unfortunately taken a bit of a back seat in my life. Nonetheless, you’ll still catch me humming a tune around the kitchen every now and then!
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Describe to us a typical day in your life
Having just finished studying for my degree and moving onto new ventures, my days are quite varied at the moment so it’s difficult to call any one of them ‘typical.’ I do like routine though so most days I’m awake at 5:30am to hit the gym at 6 so that my workout is done and dusted before the day has started. I’ll then usually catch up on emails over breakfast. Following that, it’s a mish-mash of writing, meetings, working on one of the projects I have on the go and continuing to study for various courses and diplomas whenever I can to ensure that I’m able to write about health from a knowledgeable and informed position. After a busy day, nothing makes me happier than coming home in the evening, cooking a big dinner and vegging out on the sofa with a good movie before an early night. Of course, Friday nights are sometimes another story!
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Other than food, what do you spend your money on?
Being a student until only recently and also living in London, spending money on much other than food or other necessities is quite the luxury and, right now, most of what’s left goes back into developing my blog. However, I always find myself buying little gifts and trinkets for friends and family every time I come across something they might like. There’s just something about treating someone else that makes me so happy!
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Where’s your favourite place to go in London?
Where’s your favourite place to go in London?
Whenever I’m a little bit stressed or anxious, I like to walk along Southbank. It’s my favourite place to find a bit of calm in London as you get to walk alongside the river, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy some of London’s famous sights.
I’ve never really thought about writing a bucket list although there are so many things I’m determined to experience in my lifetime. There’s definitely one item that’s been on my mind for months now but I’m almost afraid to jinx it by divulging just yet so I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned for now!
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What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
The scariest thing I’ve ever done and continue to do is pursue my passion for writing about health and fitness. I grew up very much with the idea that I would go straight from school, to university, and then into a conventional 9-5 with the sole intention of earning to pay the bills. However, somewhere in the midst of that I realised that the things I was doing weren’t getting me excited at the beginning of the day and leaving me feeling fulfilled at the end, and I started to feel quite empty and tired of it all. Breaking away from my original plan was scary but as I’m putting more work into the things I truly care about, I’m getting so much more in return. So far, it’s been worth the uncertainty and fear!
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Do you have any phobias?
Just one which is perhaps a bit on the morbid side. I’m afraid of not living my life to the fullest. Especially whilst I was at university, I took everything so seriously, made sure that I did nothing but work and put my happiness after academic success. As a result, I feel like I missed out on a lot of the experiences and opportunities which make university life such an amazing and exciting time. I don’t ever want to feel that way again so I’m making a more conscious effort to maintain a good work-life balance, do more things that I love and just take life a little less seriously from now on.
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The quality of your photos are amazing, we’ve recently shared which camera we use on our blog, what’s your favourite piece of kit?
Thank you so much! As a bit of a photography novice, I’m fairly minimalist with my kit and just rely on my camera and a good lens. I use a Canon 750D with the f1.8 50mm lens. However, I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to take quality photos. If you put some thought into backdrop, presentation and composition, you’re bound to create beauty. That’s what I love about all the photos on Fresheather. So much attention and care goes into your photos – they’re masterpieces!
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What is your dream job?
What is your dream job?
Doing something that gets me excited for the working day and allows me get by comfortably.
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What’s the best thing to have happened to you since starting your blog?
There have been so many great things but I think the best has been meeting some of the most amazing and creative people who are so dedicated to helping others find a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It’s so inspiring to be surrounded by people not only making a difference in the lives of others, but also doing something they genuinely love every day. I’ve learnt so much from the people my blog has enabled me to meet and this has given me the confidence and motivation to put the work in for my own passion.
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What makes you happy?
Above all else, spending time with my friends and family. Nothing is more important to me than the people I love so being with them, no matter where we are or what we are doing, makes me happier than anything!
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Don’t forget to follow Maxine on instagram!
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