I wouldn’t exchange my other workouts for this kind of yoga but I think it will be an excellent complement. It will most definitely help me get a better posture and it gives me a whole body stretch that I’m sure will help to prevent injuries.

This might be a regular Friday thing for me.

Exercise:

• Hatha Yoga – 90 minutes

Once I had done my treadmill work I jumped over to the rowing machine. I was set on beating my time from the last session… well, that didn’t happen. 5 minutes in the row I felt that my arms and my back were pretty tired. So I had to take a break and catch my breath. I did finish the whole distance though but the time was not much to talk about. But I’m still happy as I did the whole thing and I didn’t quit!

After this I went on and did a few strength exercises. First on the mat and then on the power plate. Did a static squat trio with normal, wide and narrow squat. 30 hertz for 30 seconds. That gave my thighs something to scream about. What a burn!

I finished my exercise with 30 minutes in the pool. Same here, I didn’t have the oomph to keep going. I got a bit bored… well not really bored but my body felt weird, not any pains or anything like that. More like it said that it was enough for today. So instead I relaxed in the Jacuzzi and the sauna.

Next exercise session is on Friday. I’m thinking that I will do something different then. I don’t want to get bored with my routine. Maybe I shall take a class or something? Maybe a Body Combat or Hatha Yoga. The yoga class sounds really interesting. “This class encompasses all styles of physical Yoga. Asanas (postures) and Pranayama (breathing) are used to release physical and mental tensions.” Might be the perfect start for the weekend?

Exercise:

• Treadmill – 5 minute warm-up
• Treadmill – 20 minute walk/jog on the treadmill – 2030 metres
• Treadmill – 5 minute cool-down
• Rowing machine – 2000 metre – 11.38.3 minutes – 70 watts
• The plank – 2 * count to 30
• Russian twists with a 2 kilo medicine ball – 3 * 20 twists
• Donkey kicks – 3*10 kicks on each leg
• Power plate – 30 hertz/30 seconds
• Static squat – normal
• Static squat – wide
• Static squat – narrow
• One legged knee lift – right knee up – 18 reps
• One legged knee lift – left knee up – 19 reps
• Swimming – 30 minutes in a nice and relaxed tempo

This recipe for cottage cheese pancakes is really easy to make. It’s perfect as a light lunch or as a snack. I think it’s really lush when it’s topped with a mix of fresh fruits and as a bonus the cottage cheese makes it loaded with protein. I haven’t used any sweeteners at all in this recipe as I think it’s enough with the sweetness from the fruits. But if you know that you have a sweet tooth you might want to add some sugar or maybe honey to the batter before frying the pancakes or you could drizzle a little bit of maple syrup on top of the fruit.

Ingredients for the pancakes:

• 1 medium sized egg
• 6 1/2 tablespoon cottage cheese (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
• 1 tablespoon flour

Topping:

• 1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup mixed fruit

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the pancake. If you want a completely smooth pancake you can mix the batter. I usually just mush it all together with a fork and break any large curds.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add a little fat/butter/oil to prevent the pancake from sticking to the pan. The fat is not included in the nutritional information below as it depends on what kind of fat you use.
3. Pour in the batter, either as one large pancake or divide it into several smaller pancakes.
4. When the pancake is nicely coloured and the side that is up is starting to set, flip the pancake over and let it cook until that side has a nice colour to it as well.
5. Serve the pancake with your choice of topping or as I like to eat it, with yogurt and fresh fruit.

And here is the nutritional information for the recipe without the topping.

In total I got about 35 minutes of cardio, not bad, not bad.

Then I went ahead and did a few basic strength exercises. I used the vibrating machine from hell also called the Power plate. The burn I get in my thighs by using this is something I’ve never experienced before. It’s pretty cool! I tried a few other exercises too… the bicep pull didn’t do much for me but the abs in a v-position and cycling with the legs, that one was a killer.

I then finished my gym session by hitting the pool. I’m not a fast swimmer but I really enjoy it so today I swam for 60 minutes. *bliss* It’s a great workout but afterwards I feel so relaxed, just as if I had a massage or something.

I could get used to this

Exercise:

• Stationary bike – 2000 metre – 4.24 minutes
• Treadmill – 1630 metre – 20.03 minutes
• Rowing machine – 2000 metre – 10.54 minutes – 80 watts
• Power plate – 30 hertz /30 seconds
• One legged knee lifts – Left knee up – 19 reps
• One legged knee lifts – Right knee up – 20 reps
• Dynamic squats – 15 reps
• Static bicep pull
• Plank from toes with almost straight arms
• Bent arm plank from knees
• Abs – V-position and cycle legs – 20 leg switches
• Swimming – 60 minutes in a nice and relaxed tempo

He also made me try a power plate, a big plate that you stand on that vibrates that almost vibrates the living daylight out of you. *gosh* That one was intense. I did a sitting squat for 30 seconds while it vibrated and it was tough. A lot tougher than normal squats. But the vibrations felt weird. Don’t think I’ll do those on a regular basis but will probably incorporate them in my routine every now and then for variation. You can of course do a lot of different exercises on a power plate, just as you can on a regular mat – without the vibrations of course…

My favourite was probably the rowing machine. That gave a good cardio workout and whole body workout at the same time.

I have a lot to improve on but I’m still happy with what I managed to accomplish today. Never has the teeny tiny hill to the supermarket felt so long. *haha* I’m already looking forward to my next workout. *yay*

Exercise:

• Rowing machine – 2000 metres – 11 minutes
• Exercise bike – 5000 metres – 12 minutes
• Swimming – 30 minutes

I’m such a happy bunny today! After a three year long absence I’m finally back to my favourite skin care routine. Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish is so good. So now when we’re back in the UK again I decided to put in an order for the whole routine and as a bonus I received the exfoliator for free. Another thing I love is that every order is so nicely packed. It comes in a white cardboard box with the products individually wrapped in tissue paper and then all products are once again wrapped in tissue paper. It just feels so nice to open it. Nice that someone took that extra care to prepare my order. Maybe sounds silly but it brightens my day.

As I’ve told you before I’ve joined the gym so I had to get myself a new sports bra. I visited several shops but didn’t find one that I liked. They are so boring, bland and granny:ish. I want something fun and funky. Then I went to JJB and there I found this:

I just love it! Pink fabric and and it has a diamanté pink ribbon too. It’s a limited edition bra where £2 off every sold bra goes to the Breast Cancer Campaign. I’m absolutely positive that this will make my workouts a lot more fun well maybe not but as least I will have a pretty bra . Tomorrow I have a time booked for gym induction so I will try this for real then. Hopefully it will give all the support I wanted, it was marked as “level 4” ie high support so I hope it will give just that.

I’m not starving anymore! *yay* Had to get some blood tests taken today (just a basic health check – cholesterol, iron etc) and my instructions were “no food allowed before tests”. Guess if I were hungry!! And then I had to go to the supermarket and to some grocery shopping too… on an empty stomach. *aaargh* Well, well… all is good now that I’ve had my yoghurt and granola.

The weekend has been really lovely. Yesterday we decided to join the gym we visited a week ago. So we went there and swam a few laps and relaxed in the steam room and the sauna. *bliss* The rest of the was spent in the sofa as I wasn’t feeling too well. So I rested with my new book, Dead until dark. The book, or first book, that True Blood is based upon. An easy and enjoyable read.

Saturday though were a bit more active. We spent the whole day out and about. Walking, shopping, walking, walking, resting at a café, walking, shopping, another café, shopping and more walking. It was a really lovely day when it almost felt like spring was here. Not at all like today – freezing cold and windy.

Todays plans include getting some school work done. Want to finish my assignment in discrete mathematics. I’m also trying to finalize the details around moving our stuff from Sweden to UK. Maybe I’ll throw in some household chores in the mix… and definitely a lot of coffee and more reading.

I felt a bit restless today so I decided to take a walk. It was really beautiful weather today and there were still some snow left on the ground from yesterday. But I’m not too bothered about it, I’m happy to not have to put up with –30 degrees and 4 feet with snow anymore. I tried to map out my walk on Google maps just to show you approximately how I walked.

Jephson Garden walk – show on a larger map

I hadn’t decided where to go when I left the flat but when I reached the pump rooms I decided to visit to Jephson Gardens that’s just on the other side of the road.

This is the pump rooms, it hosts the library and museum amongst other things.

The garden is pretty large with a total area of over 14 acres. I didn’t walk through the whole park as I wanted to save something for me and Mattias to discover together as well. They have a temperate house in the parks that represents plant evolution from 500 million years ago to today. I think that would be quite fun to see. Anyway, back to today’s walk. According to the map above I walked through the lower left part of the garden, so I saw maybe a quarter of it?

I thought this building was really pretty. Such a shame that they have to keep it locked. I wonder why there is a window in the roof. What is up there?

This tunnel takes you all the way under the park. But I don’t see why one should want to miss the beauty of the park…

The tunnel on one side and the bridge on the other. This is the view between them.

The bridge was, for me, pretty scary to cross. I’m sure it was perfectly safe but I didn’t like it. The ground were bevelled and the water beneath the bridge were quite streamy. The bridge itself were really pretty though.

This is the All Saints Church in Leamington Spa. I will definitely pay it a separate visit one day. I love to visit churches. I have high hopes that this one will be pretty inside. There were a sign stating that they have a café, maybe I could drag Mattias along with me for a cuppa?

I can’t wait to see what this place will look like in the spring/summer. I’m sure it will be absolutely amazing!

Yesterday was a busy day with a lot of errands to run. They took me pretty much all day to sort out. I did remember to take my camera with me and I remembered to snap a few photos along the way. So I thought that I would share a few random photos with you guys. This first one is of the health club I’m thinking of joining. We got a tour of the place last weekend and we got a complimentary visit that we might use this weekend. So we won’t make our minds up quite yet but as it’s just round the from our place it has a lot going for it.

This is just one of the many entrances to the city’s shopping centre the Royal Priors. Although I think it’s a beautiful building the shops inside are a bit boring, it’s the same old chains that are found in most shopping centres…

Not far from the city’s main shopping street you can find this little gem. Lantern Corner Sweet Shop. This is heaven for me, so far I’ve been able to keep myself from entering the shop. I think I might turn into a sugar-monster when I do

One thing I love with Leamington Spa is all the shops that you can find here. It’s such a good variety and a lot of independent shops. It’s so boring with large chains where everything is streamlined to death. I like the personal touch and the personal connection you get with the local shop owners. They tend to have better prices as well.

And last but not least a picture of some beautiful houses here in Leamington Spa. I would love to live in a place like this. High ceilings, bay windows, buxbom hedges maybe a palm tree and hopefully a fireplace or two. *sigh* Well maybe when I win the lottery

Today is one of those days when everything is in a blur. Didn’t sleep too well last night so am knackered today. On days like this I’m really happy to have my two trusted friends at home with me. My instant Kenco-coffee and Sultana scones. I know, not the healthiest stuff in the world but it’s easy and it tastes good. A nice (or at least decent) cup of coffee and soft scones with butter and raspberry jam. *yum* At least it provides me with energy to do my math assignment. *sigh* I’ve never been that good at math and this course is hard. I’m taking Discrete mathematics at the university and at the moment I’m struggling with it. But I’m sure I’ll get it in the end.

Since I’ve already shown what kind of crap gets me through the day today, I might as well show you one of my other vices. Baked potatoes with loads of cheese. I could live off these alone. I would never have to eat anything else in my whole life. It’s just so good! However, I do not eat baked potatoes that often… actually it’s only been once since we moved back to the UK.

I’m off to get tonight’s dinner going, it’s going to be rice with a turkey-curry (with courgette and carrots). Not following a recipe so I hope it turns out well.