Week 1 - Days 2 to 5 - 8 Week Workout Challange

Ok, so I've been cracking on with my 8 week home DVD workout challenge.  Before I do my DVD Reviews, I have to mention that I've been making some adjustments to my diet, basically by increasing my protein intake, reducing my fat intake and spreading what I eat over 5 meals instead of 3 to keep my energy levels up.  Anyway, to make sure that I am not eating more calories by spreading my meals out! and also to log my protein, fats intake, I have been using My Fitness Pal.  It's free to set up an account and you just enter your height, weight, activity level etc and then you can log all your daily food and exercise.  If you want to maintain, lose or gain weight, it also gives you the option to set your daily calorie intake accordingly.  They also have a mobile app as well and a forum to interact with other members.

Week 1 - Day 2 -  Mandy Inghar - Yogalosophy DVD
This DVD is ok for a quick yoga workout, its fairly basic and incorporates some non yoga toning exercises.  The instructor is friendly, funny and encouraging and not at all airy fairy or fluffy.  I think I remember reading somewhere that she is one of Jennifer Anniston's Fitness Instructors.


Equipment: Exercise Mat

Pros

• Quick, 30 minute stretching and toning yoga
• Great for if you're tired but want to do a little gentle exercise
• Not too whacky or new age
• Nice sea scenery in the video!

Cons

• A little too easy for someone who has done yoga for a couple of years on a regular basis, so more suited to beginners or for an easy intermediate workout.

Week 1 - Day 3 - Jillian Michael's 6 Week 6 Pack Level 1
I really enjoyed this workout, it incorporates abs work on the floor and also a full body standing exercises using light weights, for which I used 1.5kg.  There are also a few cardio intervals. Jillian has two assistants, showing the beginners and advanced levels of the exercises.


Equipment: Exercise Mat, Light Weights

Pros

• Quick, 35 minute routine includes a short warm up and cool down
• I felt sufficiently challenged and felt like my abs, arms and legs had had a good workout
• You have a choice of beginners or advanced levels for each exercise.

Cons

• I didn't really enjoy the Cardio intervals, but then I prefer all Cardio Dance or Boxercise Workouts for my Cardio

Week 1 - Day 4 - Chalene Johnson - Chalean Extreme - Burn 3 (Weights)
I have done the whole 3 month 3 Phase (Burn, Push and Lean) Chalean Extreme Program in the past and since completing it, I do about 2 sessions a week of the maintenance program.  I love Chalean Extreme Workouts, if you follow them in sequence e,g Push 1, 2 then 3, then each major muscle group of your body is worked and each phase gets a little tougher as your muscles get stronger.

Chalene Johnson has a great personality, is motivating and a little strict, without being too OTT.  Also she has some beginners, intermediate and advanced assistants, plus a 60 year old lady (with a fab figure) using the exercise bands in the video so they demonstrate the range for people of all fitness levels. Depending on which are of the body is being worked, I use either 1.5kg, 2kg, 3kg or 5kg weights - mainly lighter for the arms and heavier for the legs.

Equipment: Exericse Mat, Selection of Weights or Resistance Band

Pros

• All major muscle groups are worked in turn with each 
• The program runs Burn 1, 2, 3 for one month, Push 1, 2, 3 for month 2 and Lean 1, 2 and 3 for the final month.  This means that you can gradually make your workout harder as your muscles become stronger.
• Great for women, not so sure about men
• She provides a maintenance plan which incorporates the workouts from each month and level -so you work through the whole program again just not in the same order as the first time.
• Suitable for beginners, intermediate, not so sure about advanced.

Week 1 - Day 5 - Tania Becker - Physique 57 Volume 1 - Full Workout (57 mins)
This is the first time I have done this workout after reading some good reviews about it.  I enjoyed it, it was a little different to what I am used to as it is a fusion of very light cardio, light weights and a lot of very good toning exercises.  She works on all key areas of your body with some new and interesting exercise moves. By the end of the workout I felt challenged (knackered), not so much out of breath, but definitely like some excellent toning and stretching work had been done!

The workout set comes with 3 DVD's - one full length Classic Workout of 57 mins, one Express of 30 mins and an Abs/Arms of 30 mins. You will need a chair, light weights (I used 1.5kg), an exercise mat and a small football.

Pros

• The exercises are different to what I am used to
• Excellent for Toning and Improved Suppleness
• Excellent for People who want to get supple, toned and gain strength without using weights
• Good for People who may not have the mobility for lifting heavy weights or high impact cardio
• Express 30 mins or Full Length Workouts 57mins
• Excellent for beginners or those who havn't exercised for a long time and a very useful toning workout for intermediate-advanced, regular exercisers.

Cons

• If you (like me) need Cardio to get stress out, this is not so useful as there is no high impact cardio
• Some of the Chair moves may not be suitable for people with reduced mobility e.g putting your leg on the back of chair.

Week 1 - Days 6 & 7 

Rest

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Week 1 - Day 1 - 8 Week Workout Challenge - 30 Day Shred Level 1

Week 1 (3rd to 10th June)- Day 1 - Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred Level 1 - 

This is the first time I've done this DVD, the workout consists of a warm up, strength training (arms, legs, butt and abs) for which I used a 1.5kg/3.3 lb weight, cardio intervals and a cool down.

Pros

• I felt sufficiently challenged particularly on the strength training for the arms and I liked the fact that it was a combination of lifting light weights and cardio.  
• It's only 30 minutes which fits in with my lifestyle perfectly
• All main wibbly wobbly areas are targeted: arms, tummy, thighs and bums.
• Her assistants demonstrate modified (easier) or advanced (more challenging) versions of the strength exercises

Cons

• For the days when I feel really stressed, uptight and ever so slightly like a grizzly bear gone wrong, I think I would be better off doing all Yoga or Cardio though as I find these get all the stress out and help me to relax more.
• All the cardio is high impact, no low impact versions are shown which is ok for me but if you are a beginner or have any previous joint injuries this may not be so suitable.

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Jillian Michaels, Chalene Johnson, Davina Mccall, Yolanda Pettinato & Gary Bromley Home Workout - 8 Week Challenge

Long title I know lol, but I wanted to get all the fab instructors in there.  Ok, so I've decided to switch up my exericse program and start a new 8 Week Home DVD Workout Challenge. I need some new workouts to spice up my routine and have reached a plateau with my Jelly Belly and my Bingo Wings are starting to appear again!

For the past few years I have done a combination of Yoga (for Flexibility), Chalean Extreme (All Strength), Chalene Johnson's Turbo Jam or Davina Mccall's Cardio workouts (although they do include some Strength workouts in these programs) DVD's about 3-4 times a week - so my body is used to regular exercise.

Anyway, I've spent some time researching some popular home workout DVD's on Youtube and decided to experiment with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30 Days and her 6 Week Six Pack Programs.  I intend to mix these with my other strength, cardio and flexibility workouts rather than just stick to one program.

Starting measurements:
Chest: 36 1.2"
Right Arm: 11 1/2"    Left Arm: 11 3/4"
Right Thigh: 20"    Left Thigh: 20.5"   (6" down from groin)
Waist: (natural waist) 30.5"
Hips: (widest part) 39"
Saddlebags: (under the bum) 37 3/4"
Right Calf: 14"    Left Calf: 14" (widest part)
Weight: 62kg - 9 stone 11lb or 137lb

Sorry no photos on the worldwide web! I already have a relatively healthy, balanced diet so I am not going to be making any adjustments here.

Goals: 
Improve the Jelly Belly Muscle and Reduce Fat, Inch Loss on the Waist
Tone the Arms



These are all the Workouts I will be Using:
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Make your own Garden Cloche with Elasticated Fleece Covers

Ok, so I wanted a couple of these cloches for my new allotment (yayyy!) but they tend to be sold as either with the fleece, polyethene or net covers and cost around £25 each for 3m/10ft length.

So to save money and to have greater flexibility in terms of the covers I use, I wanted to just buy the hoops and swap and change the covers as and when I need.  By the way, the fleece and polyethene covers are used during autumn, winter and early Spring to protect crops from the cold and frost.  The fleece ones will allow rain to water your plants but will block some of the light which can already be low during the autumn/winter and of course the Polythene covers allow the light in but no rain, so you would have to water your plants.  The net covers are used to protect your crops from insects and birds.

Items I used:

1 pack of 6 Tunnel Hoops from the Royal Horticultural Society £8.99
(these were free as part of a prize I won with them he he) - and from what I read you can also use plumbers MDPE 25mm piping
4 packs of Fleece Cover (1.5m x 5m or 1m x 6m) from Poundland £4.00
4 reels of Strong Thread (@ 0.65p each) 70% Polyester/30% Cotton - Stockport Indoor Market
Approx 20m of clear elastic used for swimwear £7 - enough to sew on to all your edges but not as long or wide as the fleece fabric as you will be stretching the elastic as you sew - Stockport Indoor Market

Total Cost for 2 x 3m/10ft Cloches with Fleece Covers  £21.94
my cost as the hoops were free £12.95


Ok, if you want it really simple, just place each hoop in the ground at say 1m apart and throw a cover over the top, secure it with tent pegs or something similiar.  However, I wanted my fleece covers to be elasticated so that they fit more snug to the hoops.

So, I measured one of the hoops, which at the widest point was 1.8m (around the arch) and 65cm tall.
So for one cover I used 2 pieces of fleece (one of 1m width and the other of 1.5m width) and cut them both to a length of 4.3m (3m for 3 hoops spaced at 1m apart plus 0.65 + 0.65 to cover the ends/height of the cloche hoop).  The width of 2.5m is a bit wider than necessary but it was easier to just join the two pieces of fleece at the width they were supplied in and meant I only had to cut the length.

I then joined the 2 pieces of fleece together (making the 2.5m width) using zig zag stitch and strong Thread on the sewing machine. I used the same stitch for sewing the clear swimwear elastic (it is water resistant not sure about sunlight yet!) on to all the edges.  I intend to use 3 hoops per cloche, spaced at around 1m apart with the fleece cover over the top.

So the end result is 2 fab cloches with elasticated fleece covers, sorry I can't show you a photo yet as I have no need to use the cloches right now! but I will do later down in the year and update as to how the covers faired up over winter.

PS Poundland also sell some smaller 1.5m (5ft) Wire Cloches with plastic covers for £1 - which could be used for overwintering smaller crops such as winter lettuce, salad leaves etc.  Again, fleece covers could be made for these also if you do not want to use the plastic ones supplied with the cloches. Pin It

Upcycled Plastic Bottle to Make Up Brush Holder

Ok, so as you can maybe guess from this and my previous post,  I have been reorganising my make up and really wanted a holder to put my brushes in.  Anyway I decided to make one out of an old clear plastic bottle (2 litre type), the first thing I did was cut the bottle in half which was tall enough to contain the height of my brushes.

Here it is with the brushes.

Next I measured the circumference of the bottle, realised my pretty paper was a little to narrow to fit all the way around in one strip so had to do a little joining of pieces on to the bottle.

Ok, so here is the bottle with the strips of paper glued to it.  I added a layer of clear glaze (suitable for paper) on top of the paper and sprinkled a little gold and pink glitter on there as well.  

Now, you can see that the bottom of the bottle/brush holder is a weird shape, so I lightly sanded this with fine sandpaper (it helps the acrylic paint to adhere) and painted on some hot pink acrylic paint with a little glitter.  

Lastly I covered the paper joins and the top rim with some cute trims that I had spare.  I just added these with super glue.

 And voila, here is my upcycled plastic bottle turned make up holder.  I am thinking of adding a thin layer of clear varnish to the bit that I painted but will do that later :0)

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Depotting Sleek Make Up Eye Shadow Palettes into an Upcycled Pencil Tin

Ok, so I had 4 Sleek Make Up Eye Shadow Palettes and wanted all of the eye shadows in one container.

First of all I cleaned and spritzed this empty pencil tin with rubbing alcohol to sanitise it.  I have also seen people use the DVD or CD plastic cases with the black insert taken out and of course you could use any other suitable container with a lid you can think of.

Next, I took a piece of pretty glittery pink self adhesive film and on the reverse side, I drew around the shape of the pencil tin lid, adding a little "seam allowance" to cover the edges of the lid. Alternatively you could also use glue on pretty paper or fabric and could add trims, ribbons, embellishments, stickers etc 

This is the tin lid covered.  

The next bit is a little tricky and requires a lot of patience which I ran short of!  Take your palette and place it on a flat iron/hair straightener..or use a hair dryer...or a lighter with caution...just heat the bottom of the palette for about 30 seconds, this will help the glue on the eyeshadow pans to loosen.

You then want to use a safety pin and a pair of tweezers to gently tease the eyeshadow pan out of the palette case.

Here they are all done with a few accidents, if you dig into your eyeshadows add a couple of drops of rubbing alcohol to them and press them back down.

Next I took a piece of strong card and superglued all of the eyeshadow pans to the card and then stuck a little bluetack to the back of the card before popping it, along with the eyeshadows, into the tin.  

Some people stick their eyeshadows directly into the tin but I didn't want to do that as I want the tin to be reuseable.  Also I have seen other crafters use magnets or those little double sided spongy stickers and attach those to the back of each eyeshadow pan so that the tin can be reused once the eyeshadows are finished.

 Voila all done!  The most time consuming and fiddly bit was depotting the eyeshadows, I would advise putting old towels on your work surface AND the floor as you can end up with little bits all over the place & you can't see until you tread on them!!! not too hot with the black or darker eyeshadows!

Sleek Make Up Palettes

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Lekala Patterns Review 1...from Russia with Love?

Ok, so I have been toying with the idea of buying some of these Lekala downloadable sewing patterns for a while...so I bit the bullet and spent 5 euros for 10 patterns/units, a bargain...I will do an individual pattern review as I go along.  There's a great range of patterns on their site, some are really quite unusual and just to let you know the "knittings" section is for knits, it took me ages to suss this out and as I am rather partial to jersey fabric, this was great.

Anyway, in order to get your patterns you first need to purchase them via Soft Key, which I did and paid easily with Paypal.  Within a few minutes Soft Key sent me my account registration details (keep a note of them) and then the activation code needed to register with Lekala and then lastly the 15 digit number which Lekala require when purchasing your patterns.  It all sounds a bit complicated, but it was easy and all came through really quickly via email along with instructions for the next step...just remember to keep a note of your passwords and activation codes

The next thing I did, was decide on my patterns (you don't need to choose them all at once, just keep a note of how many units/patterns you have used and  your "password for the construction of patterns") clicked to order and entered my measurements in centimetres and the 15 digit passcode.  I chose the patterns without a seam allowance as I think this option counts for 2 units/patterns instead of the 1 unit without the seam allowance included.  Its easy to add the seam allowance in whilst you're sticking together and cutting out your pattern.

I chose the patterns to be sent to me in PDF format, A4 sized paper and they all arrived within an hour of entering the details, fab.  The patterns are really easy and simple to print off and stick together (not too many pages either, I think the biggest is 30 pages but most tops and simple dresses are like 14 pages), I printed with no scaling at 100% actual size.

I copied and pasted the instructions and the photo of each pattern from the Lekala website (some of which were dodgy Russian to English translations lol) into Word and saved under the pattern number.  Even though some of the translation is a little peculiar, if you have basic common sense and some sewing experience, you can get by...I hope!!!!

Well, that is all I can report for now and I am happy with the service speed and process of receiving the patterns and will report back once I get down to sewing individual pieces. Pin It