Do you recall the last fitness post? It feels like a distant memory as I write but over the past few weeks and months I've found myself about to compose a piece about how things are going well and how my motivation was on an all time high and yet before the words have found their way onto the page all has collapsed again into the abyss of emptiness.

My conclusion is that it must be normal to go through peaks and troughs of progress. I honestly feel like no matter how much good intention there is behind planning, sometimes things fall to pieces when it comes to the crunch. There are only 24 hours in a day. Spend them wisely. From a personal point of view, I have to say that it's utterly impossible to have everything. And I'm so disappointed.

Those 24 hours a day are a balancing act. There is no way to fit in everything that wants doing. Prioritising is key. Sometimes 'free' time has to be spent on cooking batches of food for the freezer to provide fast meals for future nights. Sometimes spending the time doing extra housework is essential for achieving a calm living space. Sometimes you need extra sleep. Other times you can spend time exercising. Being an adult is exhausting. Sometimes you have the time but no energy.

This year I've been weighing myself weekly. Scales are the enemy and I don't take much notice of what they say anyway but there is no denying that skinny jeans are now really rather uncomfortable and dresses with waistbands are a no-no. My diet is one I would describe as haphazard, though in my defence I would say I drink plenty of water, eat a fair amount of vegetables and quite a bit of fruit. I also eat quite a bit of protein and nuts, so technically it includes a whole host of all the good things I'm supposed to eat. However, I imagine it's the everything else that's the problem. There are no biscuits or cakes in the cupboard, though we often have those big sharing bags of crisps.

Exercise is currently down to once a week of intensive activity, plus running 5k up to twice a week (but often no running). It's lousy and I'm cross in a way that I don't make it more of a must do than just a want to. But in my defence I'm fitter than ever before! My strength and endurance is at an all time high, though running is a bit lame.... I think my days of racing are over, there's no joy in it any more. So I'm at my fittest while at my flumpiest too. Hurrah. Or not. Not much of a consolation when my belly is hanging over the top of the jeans.

C bought me this book I talked about as a surprise. It's written by The Lean Machines; John Chapman and Leon Bustin who are two inspiring local faces from Norfolk (you must have heard of them!They have a website too). They not only share advice on healthy eating and exercise but also on the mental health side as well. I'm a positive person in the mornings but these guys really put me to shame for the rest of the day. I'm going to try with some of their techniques for keeping happy and I'm sure it will make a positive impact. They also don't talk bull about things being easy nor make wild promises. It was really refreshing.

I guess this turned into a bit of a ramble really but I really wanted to check in with myself and say things aren't perfect by a long shot but I'm trying my best and still finding my way.
It must be about balance and I wouldn't want to work out 6 nights a week but live in a dishevelled house with no clean clothes and nothing to eat in the cupboard.
Please tell me I'm not alone.
Sophie

Last year saw my fitness regime all but completely evaporate and funnily enough, there were consequences. At the start of the year I stepped on the scales for the first time in a long time, met with something of a shocker which has only been corroborated by most of my jeans refusing to do up. I knew that something had to change, both in my weekly activities and in my head too. A healthy body goes hand in hand with a healthy mind, or something like that. Late nights and bingeing on junk food is no good for you regardless of how much you work out so I had to look at everything in the round.

As my strength is better than it's ever been, it was clear that cardio was where improvement was needed and running on the treadmill was the obvious answer. I can't lie, most of the time I still whine about having to run after work. It tends to be something that feels like it's getting in the way of relaxing and enjoying my evening but deep down I know I have to do the exercise. So after a bit of a dither (I still need to iron out the 'putting it off' stage) I don my running kit and hop on the treadmill four evenings a week. One hour of bootcamp still stands firm in my diary. The rest have been allotted to a run. My relationship with the treadmill is hate-hate. It's a machine and therefore will not negotiate nor show compassion which doesn't sit well with me. What I really want is to set a time and count down with a neat way of scheduling the speeds but so far no joy. The treadmill is sturdy and safe but as I've got a relatively fast sprint in me the speeds I whack it up to seem to end up with me running in a messy fashion with one false move potentially ending in disaster. Due to the insane irritation that the treadmill causes me, I try to vary what happens on each session; sometimes a short fast mile, a HIIT session, a steadier longer go... To be honest my longest encounter has been about 1.75 miles this year and my shortest run lasted ten minutes. I always get off the treadmill puffing and hot.
I'm getting there. Once it's light enough I'll be outside hitting the roads again. I want to fall in love with running again, looking forward to feeling like this is something I want to do and enjoy. It's progress!
Sophie 

Much as I like to know my exercise was a worthwhile endeavour, I could really do without the muscle aches for the day (or two, or three!) after. When working out as part of my group class we always do both a warm up and cool down but I have to admit that when I work out alone or go running there is precious little attention paid to cooling down properly.
There's a new product out from Deep Heat which I'm pretty sure has been designed specifically for me. It looks like a roll on antiperspirant but it's a muscle massage lotion. Deep Heat is one of those products I have always classified as one for Dad; along with all the other really strong manly smelling soaps, aftershaves, lotions, TCP, Vicks. All the strong stuff. In fact I can't recall daring to use Deep Heat myself, even when it would have been wise to. C has used it and the doctor has recommended it for his dickie neck.

So back to this roll on lotion. This one is for me.

It's a double whammy of a product as you can use it both before and after exercise.
Use before to warm up muscles both with the massaging of the rollerball bottle and the lotion which heats the muscle and increases blood flow. I find that my feet and ankles are very cold before I hop on the treadmill in winter so I popped some around my ankles then ran. I found the muscles heated up super fast once I started running and it took me by surprise. An excellent idea for me especially in winter.
Once I'd finished my run and bathed I put the lotion on the backs on my knees and calves as this is where I quite often feel stiff the day after. This time the lotion started warming almost immediately! No stiffness or aches at all afterwards.

It's non-medicinal, so there's no fretting about drugs (have I mentioned before that I really hate taking medicines?) It's got a pleasant herbal fragrance which I have to say I rather enjoyed. Now, Deep Heat tend to be a little modest when they say the product is 'warming', I have to say I nearly let out an initial expletion on the maiden trial of this lotion but my overall opinion is that it's a darned good product which I've enjoyed using and I would concur that it does exactly what it claims to. I'll be buying another of these when I've used up this one.

Sophie
Thanks to Deep Heat for sending this product to me to review. All content and opinions are my own as always

It's time to face some rather uncomfortable facts. I've not only fallen off the healthy lifestyle bandwagon; but it's rolled off a cliff without me, the wheels have buckled then it's timber chassis caught fire and burned into ashes. The smoke is stinging my eyes.
I'm standing here with a hammer in one hand, clutching a handful of nails in the other staring forlornly at a stack of wood and a copy of 'an idiots guide to building your own healthy lifestyle bandwagon'.

It's fair to say I'm a little lost.
I've never been in this position before and I'm worried.

There is one thing I do know that cheers me up about getting back in to an exercise regime and that's new kit. This time I've got super lucky and have a new sports bra to keep me pepped up (humour me). The new range from Shock Absorber are not only functional but look great too. Mine is the Active Multi Sports Support and offers a sturdy level of support for everything I get up to. A strap and clasp arrangement like this one is the first of this nature I've owned but I like it and it certainly takes away that worry of getting stuck in the bra*.

Where sports are concerned, a good sports-bra is a must. I have to say seeing a few what can only be described as 'breast mis-management episodes' in the course of running and boot camp I think sometimes women underestimate just how important a secure level of support is for activity. There are a few sights I wish I could un-see.

As a long time fan of the brand I can hand-on-heart say Shock Absorber are reliable and absolutely fulfil the brief they set out to. I've owned several of their sports bras over the years and have always been impressed with them for comfort, support and lasting. Their new range comes in a whole array of sizes from 30A to a 40HH and different levels of support. I'm usually all about maximum support, no compromises and I consider this attitude to have served me well! So whatever you're looking for in a boulder holder there's most likely something to suit you.
Shock Absorber Spring Summer 16 range now available from Asos.com, Next, Debenhams.com and wiggle.com.

So, in the spirit of getting stuck in to working out I've got all the support I need.
Sophie
*maybe we've all been there.
Hearty thank you to Shock Absorber for sending me this bra to review!

Snack time! I do benefit from a well timed nibble. The chasm between breakfast 6:30am and a 1pm lunch absolutely must get filled, no question of that. No matter how nutritious or filling my breakfast is my tummy starts rumbling before nine thirty and if left beyond half past ten I'm just about in need of smelling salts. The same goes between lunch and dinner, especially if we're eating after seven, which is most nights. I lead a fairly-to-really active lifestyle and regularly undertake exercise after work but before my dinner and always have to find something to eat to keep me going.

I can't lie, I sometimes have a round of toast and jam, which for someone who doesn't often keep bread in the house is amazing even though I know it's not the best choice. Recently, I've been trying to fit more fruit and nuts into my snacking instead of junk. Fruit is nice, that's no hardship... but nuts are distinctly unappealing for a sweet-toothed little monster like me.

Finding a compromise is hard, or so I thought. But here's the thing; you can get the best of both worlds too. While browsing through the GoNutrition site I found some super tasty sounding protein snacks which I just had to try out for myself.



The first thing to catch my eye were the protein balls. In my mind I thought these would be one of those gobstopper type dense balls of protein which sounded pretty good in sweet chilli flavour (I've only heard of sweet ones before so savoury sounded interesting). Nope, I was wrong. These are dinky little puffed balls about the size of garden peas with a scrummy coating of sweet chilli, it was perfect for my taste, with a bit of a kick. If you buy 10 bags at a time they work out at £1.29 per bag, probably a little high in terms of price but still something I would hanker after.



I tried the Muscle bar in mint chocolate flavour and while it smelt brilliant, I found it so filling that it was a bit too big for me to eat a whole one in one go (never though I'd be saying that!). They come in a box of 12 and equate to £1.50 per bar which is about average for this kind of product.


When I heard about Go Nutrition's protein cookies I got pretty excited. A cookie that delivers both taste satisfaction and fills you up a while as well as being 'guilt free' is something special. A regular cookie does feel naughty but a protein cookie is a treat that I want to look forward to! The three flavours are triple chocolate which did taste of rich chocolate which I enjoyed, cherry bakewell which I liked an awful lot and the mouthwatering chocolate orange which were my favourite. They smell delicious and taste delicious. I'd choose to have a mix of all three so that I could vary my treat. Pricewise, they come in a box of 12 and work out at £1.42 each which does sound a lot for a cookie, but compared to other bars and snacks I think it compares well especially considering just how good they taste.

Have you used GoNutrition before?Do you mix up your snacks to include a good amount of protein?

Sophie
Thanks to GoNutrition for sending me this fabulous selection of snacks to review! All content and opinions my own.

Finding that balance of a good, healthy diet and a sensible exercise regime is difficult. I know that over processed grains and sugars are no good in quantity and that lean meats and plenty of greens are good for you, but it's the finer balance of things that I struggle with.

Food is fuel.

It pains me when I hear people almost boasting about how little they've eaten. Seriously, you need to eat sensibly to fuel your body to be able to do what you're setting out to. You need a certain amount of fat and salt in your diet, it's vital to keep you healthy.

.

I'm in limbo at the moment between doing the bare minimum exercise (two one-hour boot camp workouts a week) and as much I can fit in (up to three runs as well, averaging 5k each). In order to make the most of my hard work I've taken to drinking a protein shake straight after exercise in order to stop me feeling hungry as well as to top up my protein intake. Muscles need protein to repair and maintain themselves, especially after exercise so it's really important to ensure that your diet includes plenty of protein to ensure you reap the rewards of your workouts. Monkey nutrition have this Whey Protein Isolate called Primal 26 which I've been enjoying in wild strawberry flavour. You can make it up with either water, milk or a milk substitute like almond milk, I prefer using semi skimmed milk and using a little less liquid than recommended so it's nice and thick. Protein shakes are notorious for tasting odd but I rather like this flavour, it's pleasant to drink. Having not heard of Monkey before I've had a snoop around their website and I'm impressed; I like their ethos and product range, which puts emphasis on getting lean and building muscle tone the healthy way.

The other important factor I've not yet mentioned about a healthy lifestyle is sleep and getting plenty of it. I'm working on it.

Sophie

Thank you to Monkey Nutrition for sending me this product to review. All content and opinions my own