... fitness: It's that time of year again!!

Ok, so I am both a beauty and fitness junkie. I love a bit of sparkle and I love a new workout DVD, so this time of year is when I keep my eyes glued to Amazon to check out which Z-list celebrity has temporarily lost a crapload of weight this year and is now flogging their amazing secrets so that we mere mortals can reap the same benefits!!

It's cheesy, it's sometimes a mistake, but sometimes, just sometimes, you find some real gems.

This year I will be purchasing three DVDs.

First up is Jennifer Ellison's Fat Blaster Workout. 

image form amazon.co.uk

Right, I made the mistake of buying her previous dance DVD a good few years ago and it was one of the worst I had ever seen, but, this year, she is being taught by Elia Siaperas who was the trainer on last years Clare Nasir workout and the prvious years Hannah Waterman DVD. He works you hard doing intervals and plyometric bodyweight moves and I love this way of working out so I will be risking a second Jennifer DVD in the hopes that he will deliver more of the same.

My second purchase will be Christine Bleakley - The Workout

image from amazon.co.uk

I didn't watch The One Show and I haven't seen Daybreak but she is in great shape, plus her sister has a seven stone weight loss story and I don't know about you but I love a good before and after! 

On a practical note, the workout preview video makes it seem quite intense and sweaty and is another one with intervals and plyometrics.

These two will be out on Boxing Day which is the norm for these types of DVDs.

The final DVD I will be discussing is the newest Davina - Ultimate Target

image from amazon.co.uk

Davina McCall is the exception to all the celebrity workout rules. For a start, this will be her eighth DVD!! 

She also releases hers before Christmas because she has, apparently, realized that not all of us wait until the Boxing Day Bloat to decide to get fitter!

Her workouts over the years have mostly been fantastic and I still use my favourites on a regular basis.

This years trailer looks great so I have pre-ordered it as a (slightly early) birthday present for myself ;)

Tempted? Sickened? let me know :)

.....being back in the Blogisphere......

So after  a million years of  just not really feeling like writing anything at all I have finally had a second wind.

Some thing to look forward to.....

- more reviews: beauty, fitness, books, food and whatever else makes an impression on me.

- random ramblings: life, being healthy, the world in general.

- useful stuff: makeup tutorials (these may be rare), recipes, anything else that occurs to me......

Thanks for reading.

xxxx

...Nakd Cocoa Orange Bars and Clare Nasir's DVD.....

The title pretty much says it all really. Good grief, they are delicious!
I can't believe that I can eat something that is actually nicer than any chocolate orange that I've tasted but has a fraction of the calories without putting in any crap like sweeteners.

I feel in internet splurge coming on. There's a 21 bar mixed case with my name on it.............

Anyway, on to the review......

I bought this DVD about 3 weeks ago after procrastinating since Boxing Day about whether or not buying another "Celebrity" fitness DVD was a good idea.
Having now done it for EVERY workout session since (prior to AHB) I can tell you that it is, most definitely, a good idea.

For those of you who have no idea who I'm talking about these pics (courtesy of dailymail.co.uk) should tell you everything you need to know.




This is an interval based workout, split into 4, 20 minute sections.

The first section is the warm followed by some skip/run intervals interspersed with boxing moves using weights and a toning section with T-Ups , push ups and ab work.

Section two is made up of jumping knee lift intervals interspersed with leg exercises and more ab work.

Section three is the main toning section but you will still be burning fat with plyometric lunges, push up/burpee variations and a push up/ oblique mountain climber hybrid that they call the "Clare-Climber".
You will also do more ab work, lower abs this time.

Section four is the ab section - as if you needed more ab work at this point. It is followed immediately by the cool down and stretch. If you have the time and inclination I suggest that you do include these extra abs because, lets face it, you can never do enough Planks :)

Since I have been doing this workout I have felt a real tightening all over my body. I have also found that my muscle gains in my shoulders have been substantial - in 3 weeks I have been able to rebuild what  having a frozen shoulder a year ago took away.
I also still get muscle ache in my legs the next day which usually NEVER happens after the second time doing a routine.

I am so pleased I bought this DVD and have been recommending it to anyone who'll listen!

For anyone who's interested I saw it reduced to £10 the other night in Tesco and if you do decide to take the plunge I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

FITNESS: Valerie Waters Action Hero Babe Programme - Day 1 - We're going to need a bigger boat!! But by boat I mean weights........

For those of you who don't know her, Valerie Waters is a personal trainer based in Hollywood. She is Jennifer Garner and Rachel Nichol's (GI Joe, Star Trek) regular trainer and has also worked with Kate Beckinsale on Underworld (LOVE!) and Jessica Biel among many, many more.

I have been using her workouts as part of my rotations since August 2008 when she opened the Red Carpet Ready Club which is an online community for people who use her workouts.

I was  travelling through L.A. at the time so I was able to pick up the Val Kit for travel (review on that coming later) from Val's house where she very kindly let me ask her questions even though she had completely forgotten that I was coming and didn't know who I was!!
I think she was very relieved when I explained but she hid it very well!

The thing I love about Val's workouts is that they do exactly what they promise and AHB is no exception.
In case you're wondering I have done the workouts before, they came out in 2009, but I only did them for about a week and a half because I got sucked in to the UK Christmas celebrity fitness DVD mire.

Anyway, with this training programme the clue is in the title: Action Hero Babe. If you like the way any of the actresses I mentioned earlier look, then this is the programme you want because it's based on the exact routines that Val used to get their bodies in to kick ass shape.

You get 6 DVD workouts:
- Build 1+2 - Heavy lifting to give shape and strength
- Burn 1+2 - This is where you sweat! Lots of fast paced, bodyweight based moves.
- Sculpt 1+2  - These are the polishing moves that refine your shape but you'll still be working hard!

You do level 1 for 4 weeks. I do "Build" on Mondays, "Burn" on Wednesdays and "Sculpt"on Fridays with cardio in between.
In the kit you get some interval routines for use with an Eliptical or Treadmill, etc but I don't have one so I use my (excellent) Clubland aerobics DVD instead, but the interval routines look good so if you have one, or Gym access then they would definitely be worth a go.

So today I started again on Build 1 and I really enjoyed it. As my title suggests, my weights are too light, Val uses a 35 pound kettlebell for some of the moves and I only have 10 pound dumbbells - fail!!
It wasn't too bad though, I was feeling a bit rough so I was actually glad to not go too hard in the beginning, but by the time I got to the Valslide Pikes I was in the zone :)

I don't have any pain yet but I have been doing mainly bodyweight work recently thanks to the lovely Clara Nasir (glowing review to follow!) so i am expecting some major creakiness tomorrow.

I will keep you posted  and report back again on Wednesday with the next installment :)

Hope everyone's having a good day :)

Fitness: New Year = New Diet.......

So, if anyone out there is actually reading any of this, you may have noticed that I stopped posting about CAD. There is a reason for this: it stopped working so I started eating crap again.
Apparently, such extreme (in my opinion) dieting does not agree with me mentally or physically so once I'd got the Christmas crapfest out of my system I set about researching/remembering what had worked before.

At the end of 2008 I embarked on a basic healthy eating plan that enabled me to lose weight during a month that contains both my birthday and Christmas. There was no magic bullet, just simple healthy meals three times a day with the option to be a little less controlled on weekends or special occasions, combined with regular exercise in the form of DVDs.

That's it.

Unfortunately, I developed a frozen shoulder at the end of January and the result was a fear of working out in case it happened again (trust me, that is a valid fear it is bloody awful pain) and lots of comfort eating.

The year went downhill from there.


Anyway, I had a bit of a wake up call a couple of weeks ago and just thought "I have to change this now" so I did. I had a bit of a blowout last weekend and on Monday I started again.
This is what I have been doing for the past week:

WORKOUT:
I am re-testing the Body Doctor routine. I used this routine in 2003 and got good results but I was pretty much starving myself at the time so I am interested to see what happens when I eat in a sustainable way.
here is how I used it this week:

MON: Davina Body Buff warm up (10 min), Body Doctor weights routine, Davina Body Buff Cardio + Yoga cool down.

WED:Same warm up, BD(Body Doctor), Davina Body Buff Boxing + cool down.

FRI: Natalie Cassidy Warm Up (10 min), BD, Natalie Cassidy Sweat (15 min) + Punch (15 min), Davina cool down.

I really enjoyed these combinations. BD (as I shall now call it!) requires a 10 minute cardio warm up prior to the weight routine and at least 15 minutes of cardio immediately after it. The book recommends gym cardio machines but I find them deathly boring so I am using my DVDs and I am just as knackered I assure you!

FOOD:
Breakfast: frozen fruit, 2 tbsps Greek yoghurt, 1 tbsp flaked almonds/pumpkin seeds.
This is what I have every day, except Sunday when I have eggs and toast.

Lunches:
-Cous cous made w/ vegetable stock powder, sliced cucumber, 1/2 can butter beans, 1 tbsp cashew nuts.
-Cous cous w/stock, 1/2 avocado, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 can chickpeas.
-Cous cous (plain) 2 tomatoes, 1 can sardines.

The meals with the 1/2 measurements are spread over 2 days and the sardine meal is a once a week thing.

The result? I started the week at 14st 6lbs and as of yesterday I was 14st 3lbs so it is definitely doing something. I've been a bit lax this weekend so I will post the "official" stat tomorrow.

I am really happy with the results so far. There was a huge amount of habit breaking going on and I think I managed pretty well.

If anyone else is in the same boat good luck to us all!! :)

xx

Fitness: Day 2 of C.A.D.

Today I am crotchety. Not a little bit, but massively. I could quite happily hurt someone right now. Well, maybe give them a slap or a pinch anyway... :)
I am HUNGRY!!!!!

Today I ate:

Breakfast: cottage cheese/cucumber - hungry immediately afterwards :(
Lunch: mixed salad, cheese - same thing, seriously, does this stuff really fill people up?????

Tonight I intend to eat:

fish fingers (no, I am not 4 years old!); lots of veggies with butter and pepper; and a big old pile of chips with, possibly, a giant nougat bar for dessert (old school, I know).

As you can see, I am testing the "eat whatever you want" rule to the max.

However, even though I am only supposed do a daily weigh in for the purposes of a weekly average weight measurement,  I felt I should let you know that I am actually down 2 pounds from yesterday. I am surprised because I ate a lot last night, but there we are, long may it continue....

Hopefully, the crotchetiness will have dissipated a little by tomorrow and I will feel up to a longer, more informative post. :)

xxxx

Fitness: Day 1 of The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet......

Ok, so, I have had a problem with food and eating for literally as long as I can remember.
Objectively speaking, I have never been massively overweight, even though I might have felt enormous (a UK 14 at my smallest and a UK 16/18 at my biggest) but the daily mental battle that I face just to keep at this size is becoming overwhelming.

I have worked out regularly for about 8 years. Sometimes I have even managed to eat well at the same time, and it is during those fleeting, magical times that I have experienced true freedom.
Then it is gone, and I cannot find my way back.

Last week, during some moment of kismet, I remembered a couple that appeared on Oprah a really long time ago. They were talking about their diet plan, which involved 2 low carb meals a day and 1 meal, lasting a maximum of 1 hour, during which you could eat whatever you want. Yes, you did read that last sentence correctly.

Anyway, I couldn't remember the name of the book or the couple but a couple of Google searches later I had found Dr Richard and Dr Rachael Heller and their book, The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet (for the bargain price of £1.01 on amazon, let's hope it's not money that would have been better spent on chocolate).

I have to admit that I did jump ahead to the nitty gritty of he diet so that I could complete my supermarket trip appropriately but now, having reading the scientific reasoning behind the book, I am actually quite excited to get started in earnest.

In the book you will find quite a few case studies, both of the Hellers and many of their successful clients. They all read very encouragingly with such quotes as "now I know what normal feels like" and " I feel like I can think now. I don't feel driven".
Chances are, if you are reading those quotes and wishing you could feel that way, you will probably score fairly high on their Carbohydrate Addiction Test. I scored highly enough to be considered "severely addicted", lucky me, apparently you can't get more addicted than that....

Now on to the diet itself.
They advise that you pick breakfast and lunch as your non-carb meals leaving your carb hour for the evening and I would have to agree with that logic, because, usually, the later in the day, the worse my cravings are.
Here's how today went:
Breakfast: cottage cheese, cucumber
Lunch: salad, cheese, soft cheese (as a dressing because I didn't have any oil. It actually tasted good!)
Supper: chicken in a bun, steamed veggies, chunky oven chips. Bassetts Nougat (for dessert).

I severely underestimated how much food I should have in my first and second meals and felt ravenous by about 5pm so a bit more practice is neede to get correct portion sizes but overall it was ok. No miracles have happened yet because I still feel like eating right now but the "entry plan" last 2 weeks so I shall give it my best and hope that my body responds as it should.

I should mention at this point that this plan is not for everyone. If you have no problem with carbs it probably won't help you but if you do then it might be exactly what you need.

I will explain a bit more about the chemical/hormonal aspects of this plan as the days go on so if you want to know more about and whether or not it helps me, keep coming back :)
xxxx