Making it H”App”en

14th May 2017 - admin Leave a comment

Staying fit and healthy would be so much hard without a little bit of help – I don’t pay for a trainer or a nutritional advisor but I do use a lot of Apps to keep me motivated and on track.

So I thought I would write a little post about the main ones I really couldn’t without:

TomTom My Sport

I have a fitness tracker watch, which I wear all day everyday, except when I need to charge it! and this has an app on my phone which allows me to see everything from the watch. It tracks my daily steps, my heart rate, how many calories I have burnt and things like that. When I go for a run, bike ride or a swim the watch will also track that and log distance, pace, elevations and a map of the route.

The watch connects straight to my phone so I can see exactly how things are progressing.

Calm/Headspace

I am pretty new to the meditation world, but I am really starting to enjoy it. I started using the Calm app which I would simple breath with. It encouraged you to take a big breath in and hold it for a second and then let it out. It is so simple but it really does make you feel so much better if you are having a moment.

The Calm app also has a few other features which include stories to help you sleep, sounds to help you relax and a meditation course where you are talked through different sessions. The free version allows you access to quite a few sessions, but you can pay to gain access to all of them. I only have the free version and think it is really good and more than adequate.

I have also just started to use the Headspace app, this app is helping me learn to mediate. So far I am on session 7 of the take 10 series. This is a series which encourages you to take a little time each day to stop, breathe and allow your mind to accept thoughts, sounds and distractions but to bring your focus back to the breath, This is an app that you have to pay for but if you have a premium Spotify account, you get one year free.

YouTube

I know this isn’t just an app, but I love YouTube and I really do use it all the time for workouts and watching my favourite foodie and fitness vloggers.

Clue

This is a bit of a weird one, typically people use a cycle app when they are trying to get pregnant – and that is certainly not what I use it for!! I really like being able to see how I am feeling on in the run up to my period.

What apps do you use to keep you motivated and on target?

Smart Scales

27th April 201727th April 2017 - admin Leave a comment

I do love a bit of technology when it comes to fitness, I think if it is used correctly it can be really helpful. It allows you to push yourself and your training into another level which you wouldn’t be able to do on your own. I think making tracking your activity and progress really easy enables you to stick to your goal and really understand what is working for you and what isn’t.

The iHealth smart scales track 9 different aspects of your body composition, including weight, body fat percentage, BMI, water weight, lean mass, bone density, visceral fat rating, daily calorie intake and the temperature and humidity of the day.

The scales connect to your Wi-Fi and then automatically upload any new results on to your phone via the iHealth app. You can have multiple people using the scales and check them separately, which is pretty cool, as then your whole house hold can get in on the action.

The app allows you to set a target with your weight, your BMI and your body fat and then you weigh yourself regularly, while the app keeps track overtime on a graph. The graph allows you to really see exactly how you’re going with your goals and makes it really visual.

The scales are white with four silver circles on, the overall size of the scales are quite large, but they are not too bulky and they can easily be packed away. The app is a little bit old school and a little bit clunky but it really does what it says on the tin. Once you’ve connected your scales to your Wi-Fi and downloaded the app there isn’t really much more you need to do other than to set your goals, and weigh yourself as often as you would like to.

I’m not a big believer in weighing yourself every day get hung up on your weight, however with the scales it shows the different elements as well so your BMI and your body fat. I have no idea how to calculate your body fat from standing on a scale but it seems pretty accurate.

Since I received the scales I have managed to put on weight, but my body fat has stayed the same, so I am taking that as a positive! 🙂 The scales can be ordered online from iHealthlabs.com and cost $129.99.

Do you use any smart scales or bits of technology to help you keep on track?

** These products were gifted to me by iHealth but the opinions and pictures are my own.

30 Day Challenge – Week 1

22nd March 201711th April 2017 - admin Leave a comment

Week one started really well, I had planned food for the week and planned out the hits sessions for each day. Even though the meals look pretty small and the workouts look really hard, I was really looking forward to getting stuck into it.

The main aim behind the protein well challenge was to decrease intake of food and increase calorie expenditure by working out – This I can understand however I’m not a big fan of cutting down on food.

With my long work day I’m used to planning out food to the last ingredient. So planning my food for this week was quite exciting. The protein world website and a great range of different recipes for me to try.

The one thing I really wasn’t too sure about with this challenge, was the tablets I was supposed to take. The first tablet was a fat metaboliser tablet and the second one was a hunger buster. I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to taking tablets so was a little upset at the size of these ones and not 100% confident in taking tablets to make me less hungry or to help me lose fat. I am supposed to take the tablets three times a day just before food.

So, Monday come around and the food was great feeling pretty happy I decided to take on the first hit session. I didn’t anticipate just how hard this would be. I hate to admit it but only managed to complete half of the reps. In my head half was better than I right?

Tuesday, I woke up feeling a little sore from the workout but really determined to face the day and snatch the challenge. Again there is a planned out to that part was easy the only difficulty I had was taking the tablets. Again I up for the work out and managed complete the full set.

The rest of the week follow in a pretty similar fashion, really enjoying the food and really give it a good shot at the workouts. The weekends are where I really find it difficult to stick to a plan. I’m always pretty busy at weekends either working events, going home to see the family, or generally just meeting up with people that I haven’t seen in awhile.

Again throughout the whole week I was pretty rubbish at taking the tablets, I would always forget that I needed to take them before I’d eaten and then I remember after and then thought there was no point taking them!

All in all week one done really well, the food was lovely the workouts are hard but fun and I feel pretty happy.

** These products were gifted to me by Protein World, but the opinions and pictures are my own.

My Morning Routine

19th March 201717th March 2017 - admin Leave a comment

A few days ago in the office the topic of morning routines came up. I’m not sure how we got onto the conversation but it was a pretty funny one. A few of the people in the office said they like to get up get out the house as quickly as possible and then one of the said that they like to take the time to have a least an hour and a half before they get out the house.

So if you are coming station as though it would be pretty cool to write a blog about what my mid-morning routine is!

6:40

My alarm will go off, I’ll get up so Jasper and Gary out. The next thing I’ll do is put my yoga mat on the floor and find the flow that I’d like to do. Typically these will be kept messing as I have a slight obsession with her.

7:00

Want to finish yoga I’ll head to the shower and depending on whether my hair needs it I will wash it or not.

7:15

When some dried and dressed the final thing to sort is my bag for work. I will always have my food ready for the day so my breakfast and lunch is already packed up. I hate my actual breakfast at work to at this point I will have either apple or a banana to keep me going until I get there. The only thing left to do is make my hot drinks for the journey and pack some snacks.

7:30

This is in a jump in the car and get ready to make my journey to work. First thing I’ll do is plug in my tom-tom much to charge. This is the perfect opportunity to do it as I’m not going to move too much in the car therefore won’t miss any steps. Depending on my mood depends on what I’ll do in the car sometimes I just wanna listen to the radio at the time to listen to a podcast and the other times I will listen to an audiobook.

8:45

Depending on traffic it normally takes me an hour and 10 to an hour and 15 minutes to get to work. Once I get there I will set my laptop up go grab a spoon and took into my overnight oats. I’ve been trying hard to cut down on caffeine so will probably go make myself a hot peppermint tea.

And there we have it that is my morning routine. Not very exciting I don’t really do them in the morning I like to get everything prepared in the evening to make it as easy as possible to get up and go to work. I love to hear what you do in the morning are you get yourself ready for your day.

TomTom Spark Review

25th January 201726th January 2017 - admin Leave a comment

A few years ago I was given a Garmin watch and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately I had a few issues with it and I found it really hard to upload my activities and it very rarely update itself. All of this lead to it dying, so for Christmas this year I asked for a new GPS watch.

So now was the difficult part…choosing which one to go for. I wanted one that would track multiple sports, track daily steps and not cost the earth. After a little research I came across the TomTom Spark, and as far as I could tell, it ticked all the boxes.

When I first opened the spark on Christmas day, I was a little worried – it seemed huge!! I have been wearing a skagen watch which is really skinny!! But after a little while I got used to it, it is definitely not a dainty thing but it is fine for everyday use.

I haven’t fully been able to test the watch, but I have recorded my runs and walks, which one they are uploaded to the TomTom app show the route on a map and all the metrics that you would want to see with them.