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Missing The Gym? Here Are 10 Ways You Can Work Out During Lockdown

A few years ago I don’t think I’d ever think this but… damn I’m missing the gym. While it’s not up there with running, it is definitely something I enjoy doing on a weekly basis. And with the whole lockdown coronavirus crisis going to the gym seems like a distant memory (rightly so).

I’ve been trying to motivate myself into home workouts and it’s been going OK but nothing beats the gym to get you fully in the zone. However I hope this post might help spur you into action if you need it.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

During the pandemic, you might feel as though you’re missing the gym or doing your usual exercise classes with all of your friends. But don’t worry! There are so many ways that you can still workout whilst still maintaining social distancing and not breaking the government’s quarantine rules. No matter how much spare time you have or what equipment you own, you’ll easily be able to find an activity that suits you.

But if you don’t know where to start, this process could be daunting. To assist with this, here are 10 methods you can use to help you stay active. Complementing a healthy diet (whether you opt to use a range of diet shakes or change up what you eat), it will ensure you’re on the path to success!

Yoga

First up on the list is the tranquil and relaxing activity that is yoga. An activity that’s been around for over 5,000 years, yoga is a wonderful way to work out your body, whilst soothing and calming the mind. Particularly ideal during this time, you can learn yoga poses either through a virtual tutorial or by using a step-by-step guide.

There are so many physical benefits that come with yoga, including increased muscle flexibility and tone, improved cardio and circulatory health and enhanced athletic performance. An activity that anyone of all ages can do, you can safely do yoga in the comfort of your home – all you need is a yoga mat and an adequate space to do it in.

Skipping

Skipping isn’t just for children – it’s a high-intensity workout that can help you burn fat and promote weight loss. Of course, the number of calories that you lose will depend on the intensity of the workout and your weight initially. But if you aim for an accelerated 10-minute session, you could burn up to 110 calories – which will only go up with the longer that you do it for.

What’s great about this activity is that it only requires a skipping rope, some outdoor space and the motivation to keep it up!

Dance

If you’re looking for a unique way to work out, then maybe a dance session is more up your street. By dedicating 30 minutes each night to dancing you can lose hundreds of calories, tone muscles and increase your stamina – all whilst having some fun.

Plus, by doing a dance session, you’ll spend some of your energy, meaning that you’ll be able to sleep better each night. Whether you dance freestyle or use an online video, you’ll feel fabulous after dancing to your favourite music. You could also get your little ones involved – an extraordinary way of keeping them busy whilst expelling some of their energy!

Running 

You might think that you can’t go running during the lockdown. But as long as you only do this once a day and maintain social distancing, then there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a running session each day. Running is one of the best ways to lose some weight and exercise your body – plus it’s something that everyone, no matter what their age can enjoy.

With so much incredible scenery and countryside around this country, there’s ample opportunity to put on your running shoes and head out. It’s not just good for the body, however. Going out for a run is the ultimate opportunity to clear your mind and reset your batteries.

Walking

If running or jogging isn’t your forte, then perhaps head out on a long walk each day. Still a great way to exercise, walking long distances reduces the risk of heart disease, improves high blood pressure and strengthens the bones.

Incredibly important, especially during this time, it also gives you a chance to get away from the four walls of your house – even if it’s just for an hour or two. 

Virtual Aerobics

If you used to love going to your weekly aerobics class, then you’re probably missing it throughout lockdown. But don’t fret – there is a solution. There are now aerobics classes that you can enjoy virtually. Whether you’re a novice or you’ve been going to aerobics classes for years there is a free video online for you.

Alternatively, there are also subscription classes that you could join that would provide you with the right equipment and professional tutoring – for those looking for something a little more intense and less wallet-friendly.

Obstacle Courses

Ok, so this might sound a little crazy – but it’s an efficient and simple way of working out from the comfort of your own garden. By setting up an obstacle course with items that you have at home (for example, a hula hoop, slide and beanbag) you’ll be able to get some exercise in, without having to worry about working out with others around you.

It’s also something that your kids will love to do or your dog (if you have one) will undoubtedly take an interest in!

Hula Hooping

Yet again, you might be thinking that hula hooping is just a playground activity. But it can actually be an awesome way of working out. There are several key benefits of exercising with a hula hoop, including the fact that it:

  • Is a great ab exercise that keeps your core strong.
  • Can burn as much fat as a workout on a treadmill.
  • Strengthens your heart and back.
  • Increases endorphins.

Grab the Weights!

Whether you already have weights at home or you order some off the internet, it’s a fantastic way to work out. Although many people think that the main goal of weight lifting is to build muscle mass and bulk up so that you resemble something out of a competition, there are so many more benefits that people don’t realise.

These include boosting metabolism, strengthening bones, improving posture and maintaining weight loss. It’s also one of the easiest sports to do, as it only requires limited equipment.

Housework and Gardening

Ok, so you might be thinking – this isn’t a sport? But doing housework and gardening is a wonderful way to work out your body whilst being at home during the lockdown. For example, did you know that you can burn approximately 170 calories per hour by dusting and up to 190 calories by scrubbing? In terms of gardening, not only will you work out your body, but you’ll also be able to enjoy the fresh air. 

Although you might not be tempted to do the housework or gardening during this time as you won’t be having visitors around until the lockdown is lifted, it’s the perfect opportunity to do this. Not only will it keep you physically productive but will keep your brain active – plus it’s so much better than just sitting around and watching TV all day.

Final Thoughts

So, there you go! Those are 10 simple ways that you can work out during the lockdown. What exercise or activity you choose to do, of course, is up to you and what you prefer. But whichever you choose, it will ensure that you’re keeping active, maintaining a good level of exercise and assisting your wellbeing.

Just make sure, however, as aforementioned that whichever activity you do, this is done alongside maintaining a healthy diet – otherwise all of your exercise goes to waste the moment you start to eat unhealthily or increase the size of your portions – something that’s very easy to do at the moment with everyone having to remain inside!

Have you been doing any home workouts?

Do you miss the gym?

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Ways to Calm Your Mind During Difficult Times

Hey everyone, I thought I’ve got a great post today looking at ways to find that inner calmness during these rather stressful and uncertain times. Some things you obviously can’t change, but you can definitely change how you react to the situation and find coping mechanisms to get through. Hope this helps!

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We’re living through extremely stressful times. The rapid spread of coronavirus and Covid-19 has thrown many of our lives into disarray. Our routines have been thrown out of whack. Many of us aren’t working anymore. Kids are off school. We’re stuck in our houses with little to distract us other than news articles and broadcasts highlighting awful statistics and little comfort as to when all of this will all end. So, it’s not all too surprising that many people are finding it hard to stay calm, composed and in good spirits. It is, however, extremely important to take as positive a stance as possible right now. Here are just a few different things to consider doing to rest, ease and calm your mind!

Practice Mindfulness or Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation have increased in popularity over the past few years. Their popularity has skyrocketed over the past couple of months. This is for good reason. Mindfulness and meditation allow you to let go of stresses and worries, focus on the here and now and let everything in life pass without judgement. This can create feelings of peace and ease. Now, it’s absolutely free to try this out. There are plenty of apps, online tutorials and video tutorials that can guide you through what to do and how to achieve the best results possible.

Exercise

It’s still important that you get your recommended exercise. Official guidelines state that the average adult should get one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week or seventy five minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a week. This is largely important for physical health. But exercise is good for your mind too! It releases endorphins that make you feel good and it can reduce the production of the stress hormone cortisol in your brain. So, take sixty minutes’ worth of outdoor exercise a day – while maintaining social distancing measures – walking, jogging, running or cycling. Alternatively, you can practice indoors. Yoga, pilates and other indoor workouts are all great for body and mind!

Come Up With Logical Solutions

If you’re stressed due to circumstances, try to think of logical ways to deal with them. This will lift a huge weight from your shoulders. If you’re concerned about income, see what government help there is to tide you over. If you feel uncertain in your job, talk to your employer for some reassurance. If you’re concerned about the virus, listen to government guidelines and practice social distancing alongside good hygiene and you will dramatically reduce your chances of getting it.

Keep In Touch With Loved Ones
Hearing a loved ones’ voice is always going to help lift your spirits. Keep in touch. There are so many different ways to do this. We’re living in a technological age. We can email, text, call, video call and even group video call!

Sure, times are hard. But it’s so important that we try to keep our spirits high! Hopefully, the above information and advice can really help you out!

How are you coping at the moment?

Do you meditate?

What are you tips?

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All the things I’m loving lately

There is so much good stuff happening right now, I’m loving life.

2020 really has been a great year so far. So let’s get cracking with a few life updates.

I got a promotion at work! I really love my job at the moment and enjoy what I do, and so getting a promotion is just the icing on the cake. My job hasn’t actually changed that much, but I have more authority and “clout” in what I do. Changing careers a few years ago was 100% the right thing for me to. I love my week and I work hard. I feel confident and happy with where things are going. Rather than despondent, lost and confused as I was previously (and a short commute MASSIVELY helps too of course).

And another happy life event is that my flat has a buyer (did I mention it was on the market? It has been since before Christmas…but thanks to Brexit and the election it was slow times) and Kyle and I have found a house and had our offer accepted! So all things are in motion for us to move out in the coming months. SO EXCITING. Obviously my promotion certainly came at a timely moment as well for this with all the mortgage application process and finances. I’ll share more when things get more finalised 😀

I’ve also been kindly sent a few products to test out.

I was sent some KALME Day Defence www.kalme.co.uk facial cream to try out. It contains SP25 and is clinically shown to reduce skin redness and sensitivity. I’m a HUGE fan of any sort of face cream that has SPF in it because…well, wrinkles. Yes, entirely vain but there we go. Other than things like alcohol and smoking, the sun is a big reason for wrinkles and I for one and trying my best to look ever youthful 😉

While I’ve never suffered from acne, the cream also contains zinc oxide which helps reduce inflammation and combat breakouts, which I do get occasionally.

The cream has got lots of good stuff in it for sensitive skin and for looking after you, so I’m more than happy to use this. Especially when doing long runs out in the open with the sun beating down. The only thing I will say is that it’s quite thick so you don’t need a huge blob (but works for wearing on runs).

I was also recently sent some cold brew coffee, funnily enough called Calm Coffee – a lot of calming stuff going on in this post!

It’s coffee that is infused with 10mg of CBD (Cannabidiol). I was sent the Americano and the Caffe Latte.

The American uses 100% Arabica Brazilian coffee beans and is basically black (as Americanos tend to be), whilst the latte contains oat milk. And because they’re served in cans, this means they’re a solid environmentally friendly choice.

With this I was sent the ground coffee version too, which is also infused with CBD. I make this either using my coffee machine (which is not an all-singing all-dancing variety but your simple “add scoops of ground coffee and water” to variety) or in the coffee press.

So CBD… what’s the crack? It’s not like THC (the more infamous variety) in that it doesn’t give you a high and it’s non-psychoactive. But CBD is commonly taken by people with anxiety, or insomnia, and inflammation or chronic pain. It’s not classed as a medical product however, it’s classed more of a supplement, but it (at least ancedotal at the moment) is said to help relieve these issues to an extent.

I really enjoyed the cans. Very refreshing, no strange tastes… just like a cold brew coffee really. And the ground coffee was delicious too. I like the fact that it’s touted to help you focus and energise you – definitely something that combines well with the caffeine. I wasn’t “buzzed” or running about that place and I wasn’t “zenned” out, but it was just like drinking a nice cup of coffee and feeling the benefits of that.

I’ve also been sent a number of turmeric supplement products too. This is something I am super excited about because there’s a lot of hype about turmeric being good for reducing inflammation and being good for injury-prevention and recovery (something I’m definitely no stranger to as I’m sure you’re aware).

I was sent three turmeric supplements: two capsule varieties and a bio-fermented liquid which has both probiotics and digestive enzymes in as well. All the products are vegan as well.

The turmeric capsules both have a combination of black pepper and ginger and contains zero additives and fillers. To counteract the fact that the compound curcumin, which is the active ingredient, gets quickly metabolised by the body, the added black pepper which contains piperine helps get the maximum absorption and bioavailability from it. The ginger which helps with the digestion and absorption too.

The Bio-Fermented Turmeric is a liquid that you drink (well, you have a shot of basically). Again it contains the black pepper necessary for decent absorption as well as live cultures to help with digestion. It actually tastes quite nice as well! I thought I was going to have to hold my nose and take it but I really enjoy having a spoonful before my porridge in the morning.

Considering I’m marathon training at the moment, I’m loving that I have all this turmeric to take. Reducing inflammation from running is a key priority to me. I’m not one of those total hardy souls who can run all the miles every day. I have to be sensible and really focus on recovery and looking after my body so these supplements have come at the perfect time for me. I take the liquid in the morning, then the capsules with dinner at night. You can get them in Holland & Barrett soon 🙂

Do you take any supplements?

Do you enjoy drinking coffee?

Do you wear any SPF creams throughout the day?

**Full disclaimer: this post contains products that I was sent for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

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Learning To Cook From The Ground Up

I have another food-related post for you guys. I am a HUGE lover of cooking. I find it relaxing and I really enjoy it. Also there is something so satisfying about creating a meal from scratch and eating it. And of course cooking for people you love. So here’s an article to help if you’re new to the cooking world and how to get started…

If you would like to learn how to cook good, simple meals, but you are not yet proficient in the kitchen at all, then it might seem all to be a little overwhelming. However, it is going to be perfectly possible to learn to cook as well as you like, as long as you make a point of doing so step-by-step and from the ground up. In this article, we are going to suggest just one route that you might want to take in order to do that. If you follow these suggestions, you should find that you are effectively learning to cook much better in no time at all, and providing amazing meals your friends and family will love.

Image – CCO Licence

Starting With The Basics

It’s a good idea to start small if you can’t really cook at all. That means just learning to cook some simple meals that you can practise some basic cooking skills by doing. There are a huge range of dishes you could try, but the aim is to stick to something that only has a few ingredients – and yet produces a wonderful result on the plate. You might even start by cooking some basic sides, such as looking up how do you make shredded cabbage and trying that out. Start with the basics, and you will have a much better foundation going forward.

Follow Your Nose

If you want to do well in this, you are going to have to make sure that you are enjoying it, and there is one sure way to make sure of that: cook meals that you know you love to eat. If you do this, you will find that it is much more of a joy cooking in the first place, and you will be proud knowing that you can produce those meals that you have always loved to eat, but never known how to put together until now. Following your desire in this way is always going to be a good way to go.

Image – CCO Licence

Buy Good Equipment

The equipment that you have to use in your kitchen really does make a huge difference to how well you can cook. You need to make sure that you are going to buy good equipment, as that will make it so much easier to cook as well as you would hope, so that is something that you are going to want to think about at some point too. For now, you might just want to look into getting a decent set of kitchen knives and doing with that. But later on, specific gadgets might become more desirable, in which case you should get them.

Practise

Remember that, like everything in the world, it is going to take practise, but that as long as you are happy to put in the work, you will get the rewards you are looking for in the end. No matter your reason for wanting to learn to cook, you will find that it is hugely rewarding, and opens you up to many possibilities in the kitchen.

Do you enjoy cooking?

Do you have a meal you’re known for?

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3 Veggie Recipes to Boost Your Energy

I have a great post for you today which I think will definitely help balance out the very meat-focused posts I’ve been doing lately. Now obviously I love my chicken wings and meat, but realistically I don’t eat like that all the time and try to have meatless days throughout the week. I love my vegetables so for me it isn’t a hardship. Anyway, hope this article inspires you 🙂

Pixabay – CCO Licence

When you’re in need of an energy boost, it’s important to have something on hand. With these fab veggie recipes, you’ll be brimming with energy and bursting with goodness…

1. Vegetarian Parm Sandwiches

If you need a pick-me-up in a hurry, this recipe for veggie parm sandwiches is always a winner. Heat some oil in a pan, add a can of pureed tomatoes and a little garlic. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and cut some seitan into slices that are around 1 ½ inches thick. Mix half a cup of flour with half a cup of cola, dip the seitan into the mixture before browning in a pan. Place the seitan slices on top of a roll, add the tomato sauce and some mozzarella. Bake for around 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and be prepared to fight over these spectacular sandwiches!

2. Chili Bean and Bulgur Cakes

Add ½ cup of bulgur wheat and 1 ½ cups of water to a pan. Bring to the boil and then gently simmer for 10-12 minutes, before draining. Heat some oil in a skillet and add 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp of cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Whisk for around a minute, then take it off the heat and let it cool.

Add a can of drained kidney beans to a bowl, along with the bulgur wheat, tomato paste mix, ½ cup of cheese and ½ tsp of salt. Grab a masher and combine the ingredients, then split them into cakes around ¾ inch thick.

Place the cakes on a cooking sheet, spray with oil and put them in the broiler for around 3-4 minutes. Flip them over, spray with oil and put them back in the broiler for another 3-4 minutes. When ready, top with some guacamole or sour cream and serve with fresh salad. Remember – you don’t have to cook the cakes straight away, so it’s easy to prepare this dish in advance and pop them in the broiler when you’re hungry.

3. Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry

Cook some rice (or noodles), according to the instructions on the packet. Combine grated ginger, ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp garlic chilli sauce and 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a bowl and whisk. Pour into a large pan on a medium to high heat and add pieces of tofu around 1-inch x ½ inch thick. Coat the tofu in the marinade and then remove from the pan. Add a little oil and any veggies you like. Cook for around 5 minutes or until the vegetables are almost ready to eat. Add the marinated tofu to the vegetables with 2 tbsp of water. Cook until the tofu is warmed through; usually around 1-2 minutes. Then, serve and enjoy!

Energy Boosting Veggie Ingredients

Protein is a great way to increase your energy, so choose veggie dishes which feature tofu, seitan, lentil and chickpeas when you need something to keep you going. With plenty of combinations to choose from, you’ll never run short of fuel again!

Do you eat a lot of vegetables?

Do you enjoy cooking?