My workout today!

I didn't think I'd find myself writing a blog post about a workout I'd done because normally I would think it's not very interesting, but today's workout was something new that I hadn't tried before and I loved it and thought it was worth sharing.

 

The workout I did was from this blog post and it would be useful if you have a TRX band, two dumbbells, a skipping rope and a mat if you want one.

 

 

I call it an "add on workout" because you do the first exercise, then the first exercise and the second exercise, then the first exercise and the second exercise and the third exercise and so on.

 

I had never tried this structure before, I only tried circuit training, Tabata and workouts where you don't repeat the exercises at all. I think add on workouts are my new favourite!

 

I love how it made the time pass so quickly ad never got boring. I wanted to keep going so I could try the next exercise. In this workout there is the perfect balance of cardio and strength training so it will help you get stronger while burning calories.

 

Another reason I'm a fan of add on workouts is because they are so adaptable. It's not unusual for people not to have a TRX band or a set of dumbbells lying around in their house, so if you don't want to go to the gym, you can just change the exercises. For example, you could swap TRX chest press for swimmers or push ups. It's so simple, I love it.

 

Of course, the reason I loved the workout so much could've just been because I wanted to test out our TRX band which I didn't know we had. Or it could've been because I did it outside in the sunshine (I had to make the most of it while it was there!). Either way, I recommend you try this type of workout.

 

Remember to cool down and drink water after every workout you do (:

 

Now here are some pictures:

Can we just take a moment to appreciate my new leggings... I got them for half price from Nike and  I am very excited about it.



 

Shoutout to Poppy (my dog) for not attacking me while I did my workout! Also, I am aware of the state of my hair, I just can't do anything about it.



A little post workout selfie including me looking like a tomato but enjoying endorphins anyway.



Here's me doing some bicycle crunches. Lovely.



 



A fascinating photo of some of my equipment. I hope you enjoy it.



 

Bonus photo of me and Poppy. Don't be fooled, she looks like she loves me but she is probably trying to bite my nose or something.

 

Why refusing chocolate at Easter isn't necessary

A lot of people are trying to avoid eating chocolate and sugary treats in an attempt to eat healthily. I think this is a good idea; sugary treats are generally bad for you so eating less of them is likely to make you healthier, however I don't think people should be depriving themselves of chocolate at Easter.

 

Easter is when we celebrate new life and the start of spring, so why should you have to say "no" to all of those mini eggs? Life is short, and being healthy should be something you do because you enjoy it or you think the benefits outweigh the difficulty, but you need to remember that it's absolutely fine to take breaks and eat what you want.

 

Moderation is the most important thing here. If you're trying to be healthy, you can eat whatever you want, as long as it's not excessive amounts. One good meal won't make you healthy and one bad meal won't make you unhealthy. Celebrating Easter for one weekend doesn't make you unhealthy, so just relax and enjoy your weekend!

 



My Spring Bucket List

With all of Spring to look forward to, I thought I'd make a list of things I'd like to do in the next few months and maybe you'll copy a few of my ideas (;

 

Most of these things I've done before but wouldn't hesitate to do again, and a lot of the things on the list will be ways to make the most of it being warm again (but we are in England, so warm weather might not be guaranteed).

 

Anyway, here's my list-

 

 

Buy my summer wardrobe

I love buying new clothes, and summer clothes are my favourite because it's all so cheap and easy. I have already bought some new sunglasses and tops which I know won't be worn for a few months, but I'm so excited for summer and I just want it to come sooner!

 

Celebrate Easter

I do this every year, I love it every year, I'm doing it again this year. Chocolate, spring and new life are definitely worth celebrating.

 

Go on a nice walk

I think I've written before about how much I love going for walks because of how relaxed it makes me feel, so obviously in spring I would like to go for many walks. My family are walking the South Downs Way in stretches of about 13 miles and we are doing our next stretch very soon which I'm excited for. Hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my walk with Emily, Kale and the dogs.

 

Bake something really seasonal and spring-y

 Thanks to our collection of Mary Berry cook books, I don't think I'll struggle to find a recipe. I'm thinking I might make some Easter biscuits with lots of herbs in...

 

Take some pretty photos of flowers

This should be easy, there are flowers everywhere in spring! It was a nice surprise to see some snowdrops on the side of the road when I was running. There's a walk (wow, I talk about walking a lot) that my family call "The Bluebell Walk" because it goes through a forest and at a certain time of year, there are bluebells everywhere and it's stunning.

 

Go to France again

I have some weird obsession with France, I just love everything about it, but luckily for me, I'm doing an exchange with a girl who lives near Paris so I'm very excited for that!

 

Blog a lot

As much as I'm awful at coming up with ideas and putting them into words, I love blogging and I'm planning on continuing my blog all through Spring and long after that too (:

 

Thanks for reading, and have a good Spring (or whatever season it is where you are)!



Skiing Holiday!

Hi, today's post is about my skiing holiday in France that I went on a few weeks ago.

 

If you're considering booking next year's skiing holiday, this might help you decide whether it's worth the money and effort (SPOILER ALERT: it is).

 

My family and my friend Emily's family went together in one very cramped (but I see it as cosy) seven seater car which took us all the way to the French Alps to a lovely resort called Sainte Foy Tarentaise. It's 17km from Val d'Isere.

 

Just being in the mountains was pretty exciting- the views were incredible and all around us were people skiing and it made us so jealous. Without wasting any more time, we went to get our skis, ski boots, poles and helmets from the ski hire place.

 

In my opinion, the boots are the worst part about the whole skiing holiday. First, you have to get them fitted which feels like such a chore when you just want to get outside skiing. Next, they're uncomfortable as hell. Luckily for me, my ski boots fitted me perfectly and were good for the whole week of skiing, however they were still ski boots and there is a limit to how comfortable they can be.

 

They have to be tight so that you can ski without your feet slipping around inside them but, especially if you feet are a funny shape, this can make the boot be really tight around certain pars of your foot and cause bruising. Basically, it's difficult to find some ski boots that fit your feet, and even when you do, they have far from the comfort of your soft snow boots.

 

Anyway, once the ski stuff was all hired and sorted out, we went straight to the chair lift which headed right up the mountain. It took a few runs to get used to skiing again (it had been a year since we'd been last time) but before long, we got super ambitious and whenever there weren't too many people, we'd go as fast as we dared.

 

One of my favourite parts of the whole mountain was the viewpoint. This was at the very top of the mountain and the chairlift to get to it took ages, but it was so worth it. As you can probably guess by the fact that it's a viewpoint, he views were stunning. I just didn't get bored of standing there taking it all in, feeling on top of the world. I'd check the time and realise that on a normal school day I'd be sat in double geography, and that made me feel even better.

 

I have taken many photos from the viewpoint, but none of them reflect the real beauty of it.

As you can see in the photo, the ski was perfectly blue and everything looks so calm and peaceful- worlds away from work, school and the stress of normal life. You can't see it in the photo, but slightly to the right is Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe! (I think- don't quote me on that)

 

With all of the breath taking scenery, I couldn't resist using my ipod to take hundreds of photos and videos. I have a habit of making movies for all of the holidays we go on, so I was getting plenty of footage for that (I won't show you the movie because it contains members of my family who came with us and they might not want it to be on the internet, sorry).

 

An event that I found particularly exciting (in a bad way) was when I was about to take a video of my Mum, Dad and brother skiing down the mountain after me but I dropped my ipod! It started sliding down the slope and my instinctive reaction was to chase it. I had a rush of adrenalin and hormones so after skiing dangerously fast and skidding round to catch the ipod, I felt all wobbly and my heart was still beating really fast afterwards.

 

I don't know if you find that exciting, but for me I had a rush of emotions: shock, panic, fear, concentration (if that's even an emotion) and relief, so I found it pretty thrilling.

 

Despite it being a skiing holiday, we did do other things apart from skiing. One of them being snow shoeing! I'd never done this before but was very happy to because, though skiing is one of the most fun and addictive sports I've ever done, after 6 days of doing it for 6 hours each day, we just wanted to vary it a little (and I'm so glad we did).

Emily doing something (I don't know what) when we were snow shoeing

I found I could appreciate the views a lot more because I didn't have to focus so much on not falling over. We could all chat and get some exercise at the same time. The snow shoes made walking in the snow a lot easier but some of us just wore snow boots because we were walking on a path which was already quite patted down.

Every evening, we'd retreat to our little French hotel 10 minutes drive away from where we skied. It was lovely and rustic with unique paintings for sale all over the walls.

We ate in the hotel's restaurant and I had the opportunity to try lots of local dishes which were (mostly) delicious! Most nights the light was off by 10 because, trust me, skiing is EXHAUSTING, but it was still very easy to get up and go the next morning (partly because of the buffet breakfast!).

Basically, I had a great trip and I recommend skiing in France (or anywhere) to anyone considering it (: