Rant and Raves #10 and a review of Osmo Nutrition

Happy Wednesday! I love Wednesdays because it’s the day I get a whole extra hour and fifteen minutes in bed and go running in the evening. Especially as we went out for dinner last night and I ate an obscene amount of pork ribs. Happy days.

Today I have some rants and raves and also a little review.

Rant: Ben is now an avid gym goer and so when he said he’d bought a big container of protein powder I was like “cool, whatever makes you happy”. Until I opened our bedroom wardrobe to find the monstrosity.

5kg protein powder

I guess it hadn’t twigged in my brain how big he was talking. There’s literally no way this bad boy would fit in our tiny kitchen so I’m pretty sure this is where it will live forever more. Oh joy.

Rave: I love using the slow cooker for meals. I’ll make soup, chicken meals, ribs…anything really. I love the idea that you can literally just throw a load of stuff in there and when you get home the house smells SO good and dinner is served pretty much (check THIS post out for some of my adventures). However our slow cooker was given to us by my parents who no longer wanted it. And it’s HUGE. So it meant when I did meals for two sometimes the sauce would dry up a bit. Or chicken breasts would be overcooked. So I decided to get a smaller  one and put the other one in the loft for the future.

Slow cooker comparison

I didn’t quite expect it to be so small but I’m actually pretty pleased with it. Two chicken breasts will fit nicely in there with some veggies and sauce and will hopefully stay succulent. It means I can’t slow cook an entire chicken anymore but that’s usually a weekend meal anyway and can be done in the oven.

Mini slow cooker

It also means we have a lot more kitchen surface space as it just sits so nicely in the corner.

Rant: Llike most runners, hills are not my favourite thing at all. But they’re really good for building strength in your legs. I try and do a hill session every week after work (I work in Basingstoke where hills are ten a penny!). I found a BEAST of a hill that works perfectly.

Hilly run Basingstoke

Mid-run photo so quite blurry sorry!

I try and do the hill twice at the beginning (it loops back to the beginning of the route) and then carry on with my run and then do it one more time at the end.

image

Follow me on Strava if you want

They look like mountains and I’m sure my legs would agree. It’s quite a long climb (probably .4 mile?) and my pace drops dramatically but I focus on my form; pumping my arms, running tall and taking small steps (great articles HERE and HERE about hill running). As you can see, the other part of the run is also quite hilly so it’s a really good strength-building run (well I hope anyway!). But I am absolutely done for after the run! I suppose this isn’t a true rant as I’m hoping these tough runs are a good thing.

Rave: Delicious herbal teas. After seeing these on Tamzin’s blog I just knew I needed to try them.

IMG_0102

I love peppermint tea so I was pretty sure I’d like them. They taste delicious. There’s a very small hint of vanilla with the lovely minty taste – perfect for a cold afternoon! But I’m still sad that green tea out of a tea bag makes me feel very sick – what is wrong with me?? I’m missing out on so many lovely green tea flavours!

Rant: Having a moany husband when I ask him to take photos of me in my Helly Hansen running gear that I’ve been sent to champion for for Running Bug’s Running Fashion Week campaign. And then having him get bored between outfit changes and take random photos on my phone.

Ben outtake

I know it’s dull and I know I can get a bit vain if a photo makes me look like an idiot (more of an idiot?) and request him to re-take it, but come on, you’re married to me so that means fulfilling these silly blogging requests 😉

Helly Hansen outtake *sighs*

Though I do know Alfie is far more interesting to take photos of! He enjoyed the dress-up party about as much as Ben I think.

Rave: Obviously it’s clear I love nuun hydration products as I mention them a lot on my blog it seems… The nuun guys asked if I’d include one of thir videos on my blog and because they rock I agreed happily. The video shows some pretty hardcore races and sporting activities with an absolutely belting soundtrack!

 

[FYI: I did not get any compensation for featuring this on my blog – I just love nuun]

And lastly I have a review:

Osmo Nutrition – Active Hydration for Women (which you can find HERE)

I was sent a tub of the Osmo Active Hydration for Women powder to review by the guys from Pro Bike Kit (great website for cycling/running nutrition items and also kit and clothing).Osmo Nutrition

As a bit of a background, Dr. Stacy Sims developed the product specifically for women as she noted that the female physiological makeup is different to a male’s. For example, the menstrual cycle has big effects on the female body in terms of sodium loss, plasma drops and temperature change so this product aims to address those issues. It apparently increases power output and improves endurance by helping combat the premenstrual-related performance decline. There’s actually quite an interesting interview with Dr. Sims HERE.

image Source

The flavour of the powder is mango and the ratio of mixing is one scoop to about 250ml of water. The idea is to drink it before and during your exercise.

Osmo Nutrition (2) 

My thoughts? I’m not going to lie, when I first tried the drink I didn’t like it one bit. It didn’t taste of mango to me at all. More like weak squash. However I drank more and it grew on me. Let’s be clear, it’s no fresh mango juice but the flavour is quite subtle and once I got used to it it was fine.

Aside from the taste, I really like the concept. It makes sense to have something a bit more specific to the female physiology. I like the extra nutritional elements you get with this drink and the fact that it’s upgrading plain water in terms of hydration. Did I notice a difference taking a water bottle with a scoop of the powder in to the gym for my hour long session? Not hugely but I did find I wasn’t guzzling my water like normal, rather just sipping it occasionally which probably means I was getting more bang for my buck. I also didn’t feel at anytime I was flagging in my workouts.

I think on my longer runs it’ll really help as I want to avoid gels this time around but I will need something in terms of fuelling and hydration so this could tick those boxes together. nuun is always good but it has zero carbs which is good for a shorter run or post-run but not so good for the longer ones if I’m not planning to take any food with me. And I’m sure it would have been handy to have had a bottle of this on my long run on Sunday when I was so thirsty!

Have you ever tried any gender-specific nutritional products before?

Does you husband/partner/parents do anything that push your buttons?

What tasty teas have you had recently? Do you drink green tea?

[Full Disclosure: I was sent the Osmo nutrition product for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own honest ones.]

13 Replies to “Rant and Raves #10 and a review of Osmo Nutrition”

  1. Haha at Ben’s selfies, and the pic with Alfie trying to show off his coat in 😉
    That protein powder tub is huge! Our neighbour used to use it and he’d fill up the bins with his old tubs. I was the one fishing them out for recycling so I’d have space to actually put real rubbish in the bin. Hmph!
    Claire @ Flake and Cake recently posted…Enjoying the sunshineMy Profile

    1. God how annoying! I get annoyed when people don’t recycle because they don’t know what they can recycle or they can’t be bothered. It doesn’t take much to educate yourself on what can be recycled!

  2. I think I would be annoying to live with because I would just laugh at Ben’s selfies and gargantuan tub of protein powder. He really cracks me up! I’m also so pleased that he’s found a new love of the gym/fitness outside of running for the moment.

    I must admit that I’m highly skeptical of gender-specific products, particularly protein powder formulas ‘for women.’ I always question the validity of the ‘research’ involved (because of course it will come out a certain way or there would be no reason for the product to exist), but if it works on some psychosomatic level then I suppose there are benefits regardless.

    I can’t stand green tea, or any herbal teas for that matter. They all just taste like drinking weakly flavored hot water to me, but I do love matcha green tea powder and I add that to my banana nice cream every single day.

    1. Lol oh don’t encourage him 😉
      Yes it’s always suspicious when I product is testing by the company who are trying to sell it… I honestly don’t know if it makes any difference to non-gender specific stuff but what I do know is because it says it’s for women Ben won’t go near it for fear of growing breasts or losing his beard haha!
      Yeah herbal teas are a bit disappointing. They smell nice but the flavour never quite matches.

  3. That tub is huge!
    I love the sound of that tea- I will look out for it when I remember.
    Green tea to be does not taste nice- and I find that with flavoured ones the flavour gets overpowered by the bitter taste. Although I was told you are meant to pour over off the boil water, as the boiling water impairs the flavour. But I don’t see the point as I don’t like it, and it still contains caffeine.
    I like the sound of the drink having some carbs in it- like you say nuun is fab but with no energy it is not so good for long runs, although I still use it.
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Jantastic week 9- home straightMy Profile

    1. It’s funny because I love green tea in Japanese restaurants – the proper loose leaves kind. So maybe it’s just a tea bag version that doesn’t work for me? I think green tea has a small amount of caffeine in it compared to tea but yes it’s still there and if you want something caffeine-free there are better options (rooibos, herbal, etc.)

  4. Glen always takes at least 3 photos of me, because he knows I won’t be happy with the first one and make him re-do it!
    I love our slow cooker, I love how it makes the house smell of tasty food and it’s ready as soon as you get home from work 🙂
    Lucy recently posted…bgo Casino NightMy Profile

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