Why The Right Wardrobe Makes All The Difference To Your Fitness Journey

Embarking on a new fitness journey is a brilliant commitment to your health, but many women fall into the trap of thinking any old T-shirt and joggers will do. While enthusiasm is the most important thing you can bring to the gym, what you wear on your back (and your feet) plays a pivotal role in whether you stick with your new routine or pack it in after a fortnight. The right wardrobe is key to comfort and the psychological boost of feeling prepared. Choosing Fabrics That Support Movement and Comfort When you're working up a sweat, the fabric of your clothes is your first line of defence. While a 100% cotton tee might feel soft on the sofa, it's a poor choice for high-intensity training. Cotton absorbs moisture and stays heavy and damp, which can lead to chilling or painful skin chafing. Instead, look for moisture-wicking synthetic blends or treated natural fibres like bamboo. These technical fabrics draw sweat away from the skin to the garment's surface, where it can eva......

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Easy Exercises for Busy Parents

*This post contains affiliate links I don't go to the gym but I do make sure that I move my body daily, it helps with my well-being and mental health so much as well as calm my mind and helps me balance work, parenting and life better. I think we all know that regular physical exercise is crucial for living a healthy, happy life, but getting time to be active every day can be very difficult when trying to juggle parenthood especially when most parents are rushing around doing school runs, food shops, work, taking care of dinner and all the life admin and responsibilities, there can be very little time to get in any kind of exercise. Just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean that it’s completely impossible. With a little adaptability, if you want it, even as busy parents, we can to an extent find time and can include more exercise in our daily routine. I can say first-hand how much exercise boosts your mood, make you feel calmer and more in control and can even improve other areas li......

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Lockdown Life Skills - what new skills many of us learnt during lockdown

We tried our hand at making bath bombs * Contains Affiliate links With much of the past year spent in lockdown, life as we know it has been flipped upside down, even when restrictions are lifted, life at the moment isn't the same. Gone are the days of rushing here and there and travelling for hours to work with many opting to work from home for the long haul, has meant for some extra time saved on the commute and more time to try new things  These are some of the most popular hobbies people have taken up over the past year Running It’s no surprise that a lot of us decided to take up running as our “one form of exercise”. With many calling it a “lockdown lifesaver”, research from Macmillan Cancer Support has found that almost one in 10 Brits have started running or jogging to look after their mental health during the pandemic. Running app Couch to 5K has become hugely popular and the London Marathon in October is set to be the biggest ever. Photography Lockdown has certainly taugh......

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Thinking about taking up running? Here is everything you need to know

The one positive thing that seems to have come out of 2020 is many people are taking up a new hobby with a focus on getting active and improving fitness. We all know that getting outdoors has a real positive effect on both mental and physical wellbeing and walking or running is a great starting point as you need very little to get going and can be achieved by most people with a minimal budget. While I focus mainly on surfing, skating and hiking, I also do a little running and power walking to keep my general fitness level up so I thought I share the basics of everything you need to know should you be looking to get into running or jogging this year. The great thing about running is all you really need are trainers and a comfortable pair of trousers or shorts, a t-shirt and some good socks. Opting for breathable fabric is key though as your skin has to breathe as you run and you need additional support to increase your range of movement. But no matter your reasons for starting, ......

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Outdoor Apparel Guide for Women

This post contains affiliate links We all know that spending time outdoors is good for both our physical and mental wellbeing and the UK has amazing hikes and walks perfect for all levels as well as a variety of outdoor pursuits. Having the right clothing to do the job is important not only for practicality but to help keep you comfortable and safe. Finding the right gear and apparel can be a challenge and you're going to find a lot of brands make heavy assumptions about who is buying their products and why. The important thing is to do as much research as possible and don't be pressed to go for the most expensive option, while quality is really important you can often pick up excellent outdoor clothing one sale or at discount as a variety of outdoor shops or opt for second hand from places like ebay. I believe that getting outdoors is accessible for all and you shouldn't be put off through lack of budget and often we can make do with what we already have, so I thou......

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Exploring Pontypridd Park

Even though the weather has been a bit hit and miss lately we have been making the most of those dry days (as well as puddle jumping on the wet ones) and during the week we thought we would venture to a Pontypridd museum, a place that is not that far away but we rarely visit and has a wonderful Hornby train display that Mr A likes. Once we came back outside the clouds had cleared and the sun was out so we headed to Pontypridd park and enjoyed lots of tree climbing, running around and pretending to be army men. It's been one of those weeks that started out well but as the days passed I started to feel a little bit stressed for one reason or another but I find that spending time outdoors is the perfect remedy for that and puts things back in perspective. I always genuinely feel so much more refreshed and empowered after getting some fresh air. Once we got home we threw caution to the wind and had our first BBQ of the year as eating al fresco is litera......

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Caerphilly Castle Adventure

We have been making the most of each and ever dry day and last week we all decided to jump in the car and head to a Castle - our first thought being Cardiff Castle but with the Joust on we decided to stay away from the maddening crowds and went with Caerphilly as it's been a while since we have been there and with the moat and circular walk around the castle it allows for a lot of space for Mr A to run off all his energy. Before heading into the castle we had a little picnic on beaches around the moat, with lovely views to the castle and with ducks walking past and some bamboo for Mr A to crawl through it was a great way to start the day before going inside and exploring. We climbed all the towers, walked on the walls, pretended to shoot crossbows across the moat and ran around on the grass playing catch. It was one of those simple days, picnic and outdoor fun, is there really anything better? Linking up with Let's have an Adventure  ...

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Organic Children sun care giveaway

So it's officially summer, words which makes us very happy. We are very much an outdoor type of family and intend to make the most of the good weather but this does not mean that we are completely going to throw caution to the wind in terms of skincare especially when it comes to Mr A who has fairly sensitive skin. I personally don't like putting unnecessary chemicals on his skin so I was really happy to hear about Organic Children Sun Lotion made by the lovely Green People . Of course though the product still needed to work, which I can say from our experience it does and in fact I use it as well now as it's non-greasy but moisturising and has no hidden nasties in it. I wanted to share some tips about keeping safe in the sun 1. For one the sun is good for us - it provides us with a natural release of Vitamin D which is what our body needs to absorb Calcium. It's also proven to make us feel happier, so do get out when you can but children (and Adults)......

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Getting back out there

So as some of you may already know just under two weeks ago I had minor surgery and after anything like that there is a period of recovery. Some days have been great others I have been totally and utterly exhausted but with each day my energy levels are going back up and my heart rhythm is returning to fairly normal. I have been doing a lot of pottering around the garden, of course without any heavy lifting and a few half an hour walks but on friday the little man and I managed a two hour walk in a local park - this has been by the far the best mental recovery for me as staying indoors has only been frustrating. I now feel like I am almost back to normal which is good and love nothing more than exploring the outdoors with my little man. The great thing about Hailey Park is that is has large fields to run on, a woodland area, a play park and a river as we like places that are a little bit more three dimension in terms of what we can explore from looking at all the snails i......

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Finding outdoor fun on a city break

No matter where we are we always make time for outdoor fun and have never struggled to find a little wild time even in cities, in fact some of our favourite adventures have taken place in some of the beautiful parks in and around London and Cardiff so when we visited Brussels last month we were eager to find somewhere perfect for a toddler to run around in and have fun We had heard good things about Parc de Bruxelles, the largest urban park in the centre of Brussels so on our second day in the Belgium capital we made a beeline through the city and the small and beautifully landscaped Jardin Du Mont des Art gardens which provided a stunning view over the city. Once we arrived at Parc de Bruxelles we enjoyed running around on the grass under the archways and through the little walkways and found a lovely little kids park on the further end which had a sand pit, a climbing frame and the normal bits and bobs. Mr A started playing with some local children which was lovely t......

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A blissful day in St Regents Park

Last week we were lucky enough to have an amazing family trip via eurostar to Brussels (lots of posts to come soon) and on our return we arrived back in the UK during the bank holiday weekend and spent a night in London. We had the whole of sunday to enjoy the sun in the capital and since we where stay in the Travelodge Euston we decided to walk to Regents Park and what a blissful day it was. I never really understand why some people say that inner-city kids in London don't have a chance to explore the outdoors. Whenever we have been to London as a family we have never had any problems finding amazing places outdoors to explore and I cannot recommended Regents park enough - with beautiful gardens, a boating lake, allotments, cafes, cycle tracks an football fields you could easily spend all day here. The little man loved running around and smelling all the flowers. The boating lake was beautiful and we decided to take a little ride around the lake, which the li......

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