A New Year, A New Tea

Tea, Glorious Tea

I don’t do New Year resolutions. I might as well write down things that I have no intention of following through on as I always used to break them. Of course I have goals, targets, wants and wishes however these are ongoing.

One of my ongoing wants, wishes and needs is twofold; to continue working away at losing weight via Slimming World and to feel better (healthier) in myself. Last year a friend of mine from SW and outside gifted me a bag full of herbal teas, fruit teas and what not after I was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant which was a blow. I’d been feeling really rubbish for ages and won’t bore / disgust you with the sometimes rather severe symptoms but needless to say having cut dairy out of my diet I feel SO much better. The teas she gave me started me on a journey of really enjoying a relaxing and flavoursome (milk-free) brew (she’s a star!).

Since then I’ve cut my coffee down to two cups a day and am enjoying the health and hydration benefits of drinking caffeine free alternative teas such as green tea. Before Christmas the lovelies from Dragonfly Tea got in touch and asked if I would like to test out some of their teas to see what I thought. Being a new tea fan I was happy to agree and was thrilled when these four boxes appeared.

Mellow, clear, fresh, tasty and deeply satisfying are just some of the words I would use to describe these. My personal favourite (or my special tea as I call it) is the Moonlight Jasmine Organic Green tea although the other three flavours I’ve tested (vigorously), Moroccan Mint Organic Green Tea, Cape Malay Chai (a real warming tea) and Green Gaucho Organic Mate Tea are all delicious!

Thanks to Jackie for introducing me to alternative teas and to Dragonfly for sending these fabulous teas for me to try out. I find cutting the caffeine and drinking more of these types of drinks beneficial to my health , mood and of course my hydration.

Dragonfly Tea – The Company

Dragonfly are a British family-owned tea company with over a hundred years of experience is sourcing, growing and producing specialty or artisan teas, Their Dragonfly Specialty range has been certified by the Organic Food Federation and they are staunch members of the Fairtrade Foundation. All teas are GM-free, the bags are bio-degradable, the teabag wrappers are recyclable and chlorine free and more can be see, read and sampled via their website and you can speak to the lovelies at the company via Twitter.

 

Dragonfly

*I received four boxes of teas free of charge and was asked to write about my experience, good or bad, after testing them. Dragonfly have had no control or influence over my write up and therefore you may be confident that my words are true to my own thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Family Fever

Top Five Free Fitness and Diet Apps for 2014

Thanks to LivingWell Health Clubs for this guest post. Many of you know that I am a long-term Slimming World member and some will know that I have specific health and fitness goals at the moment as I’ve been told I am borderline diabetic. Warding off diabetes for as long as I can is something I’m obviously very keen on and so now is the time to ramp up my fitness alongside my healthy eating efforts. These apps are free and worth checking out. I’ve used one or two of them myself on and off and aim to give them another proper bash before getting myself to that place where I feel ready to join the gym.

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When you are a regular gym-goer, if you are just starting out, are trying to lose weight or under the guidance of a personal trainer it still helps to have that little extra help when away from your regular support. If you own a mobile phone which allows you to download apps then these health and fitness app suggestions could be just what you are looking for to give you that extra push and keep you on track between gym or club visits.

In no particular order here are five of the top ten free apps for diet and fitness for 2014.

  1. NIKE Training Club
    This free app which is available on both iOS and Android phones boasts over a hundred full body workouts. Varying in lengths from fifteen through to forty-five minute sessions this tailored workout program claims to help you make your fitness goals a reality, pushing you to build stamina, build muscle, lose weight and more.

    This app is perfect for supplementing your regular gym and home routine or you may sign up to a four week regimen to help you get closer to or met a specific goal. Easy to use and personalise this app is a top find for those serious about maximising their fitness.

  2. Pact
    This is a free nifty app for Android and iOS which encourages you to basically put your money where your mouth is. On a weekly basis app users promise to work out for a set number of days and pledge an amount of cash to keep them motivated. If the gym-goer doesn’t meet their targets they lose the cash, if they do then they get a pay-out. Simple.
    This offers you a financial incentive as well as a health one.
  3. Argus
    If you sneeze this app will track it. For an app which really does track your every move; every bite, sip, and more this is possibly the best out at the moment. This is basically a health and fitness diary you don’t need to write in as it intuitively does most of the work for you. As your details are constantly being assesses Argus is able to produce in depth graphs and result reports which make it easier to assess your current situation, your progress and to help you push forward. Not yet available on Android this is one for those who use an iOS phone. The app itself is free to download and use.
  4. MyFitnessPal
    This free app has been around for a while and has been upgraded numerous times to become the fabulous health and fitness tool it is today. Use your iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone to track your food from the huge database which contains over three million foods and track cardio and strength training progress too. There are over three hundred and fifty exercises pre-loaded and more features to help you get where you are aiming for health-wise. The app syncs with an online account meaning that users can track their progress from anywhere.
    Many members of slimming clubs as well as those in training use MFP to keep on track.
  5. MapMyFitness
    This is the Windows, Android and iOS free app which uses GPS information to track how far you’ve walked, run, climbed and more. There are over six hundred activities in their database so that whatever you enjoy doing you’ll be able to keep a track of the distance, speed, the pace, duration and even the calories you’ve used. This incredibly intuitive app will even track where you’ve cycling / walked / run etc on an interactive map.

 

There are some fantastic apps available at the moment which help those serious about their health and well-being to keep track of their diet and activity levels when outside of the gym. The reports a lot of these apps throw up would also offer invaluable information to your personal trainer who will be able to use these in part to assess progress and pick up on any issues.