Saturday, July 16, 2011

A nice start to the weekend

I made the desicion to get up this morning and do some exercise before breakfast rather than late afternoon when I normally do it, and I did! Hooray!

In my first group pilates class we used a stretchy band thing that I loved, so I went to a sports shop and got myself one! With it came a 40 min workout DVD utilising the band so I did that one this morning. It was pretty good, except I felt there weren't enough repetitions! You'd do three or four of each move instead of 8-10, but I can just learn the movements and do them myself as many times as I like (I hate listening to the instructors on DVD's yack anyway!). This isn't a paid product review by the way, it's just what I use at home and like.

Anyway, my band is gaiam brand, I got it at AMart Allsports, but gaiam also has a website. Unfortunately I couldn't find the band on it, but I can find the mat I use! When I bought the band I noticed Amart also had a million different kinds of yoga and pilates mats, so after I finished the half marathon I got myself a little present! This pilates mat by gaiam. It says it's thicker than most gym mats and has extra cushioning, both of which I reckon are untrue! It's as hard as a rock! I have to assume it softens up with more use. Other than that it's fine to use, and even with the lack of apparent cushioning it doesn't hurt. One thing it IS though, is sticky! Which is excellent because I often slide all over the place on our yoga mat we got from Target.

And also what I can't find on the site (I'm probably blind!) is that the mats are also free of the bad stuff in plastics (pthalates? I don't know how to spell it) I chucked out the (plastic! hahaha) wrapper on mine and I can't recall the exact kinds.

After my little bit of exercise I made some apple and cinnamon porridge for breakfast:
1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup soy milk, half a large apple grated and the other half cubed, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. If you want the apple to be more cooked and mushy, precook it a little first. I didn't so I did it all at once.
Sprinkle some extra cinnamon on top (in this case I used allspice because I couldn't bothered opening the cinnamon packet again!) and enjoy. I discovered that if I set my camera to 'shoot waterside scene with rich blue colour' it picks up real colours in my food, instead of the usual greyish tone it all gets. Strange that the 'food' setting doesn't do it!
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Yesterday I also recieved some good news from the bank which means I can now go and buy my new (used) car! I am very, very excited =D

3 comments:

Theresa said...

Ooh yum, apple cinnamon porridge! And thanks for this post about stretchy bands and yoga mats -- reminds me that I need to get back to doing some yoga stretches in the mornings.

Claire said...

Nice work getting your workout in early- I love it, It seems to put the whole day right somehow.
Be careful with those bands when you're using them around your feet! I've seen many people slip and get themselves in the face. If your band is long enough just double it round your foot to keep it safe :)
With your camera, if you're ever having probs like that again play around with your white balance settings- you should be able to find the right one for the kind of light yours shooting in.
Good luck car shopping! Have fun xxx

Emma said...

@Theresa: I have to force myself to do it, gah. I know once theres a routine it'll be easy but it's getting there that's hard!

@Clare: Thanks for the tips! I'll try those settings on my camera. I got the band in the back of my thigh once, I was wearing shorts! I'm surprised it didn't welt hahaha. Not fun.