Exercise Apps You’ll Love

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If you hate going to the gym and feel intimated by fancy fitness studios, why not jump on the digital bandwagon and get fit with an app?

OK, you will need a certain amount of willpower and determination, but free from judgement and competiton, by downloading an app, you can work-out when it suits you, wherever you like and you can often track your progress so you stay motivated too.

We have had a look at some of the best options out there to keep you in tip-top condition.

Gixo
Day and night, teachers are available on Gixo for 15, 25 and 40-minute sessions of running, walking, HIIT and strength routines that you can do without having to leave your living room. With no excuses about not being able to find time to get to the gym, you can try a free trial at home and then get to work with the ‘four week to summer fitness programme’ – what are you waiting for?

Daily Yoga
If you want something a little less intense and a bit more zen, then the Daily Yoga app offers over 100 yoga and meditation classes with plenty of poses to choose from. From sun salutations, warrior poses and downward dogs, you can chill out and tone up with this app and the meditation offerings mean this is a one stop de-stress and focus shop.

From Couch to 5k
If you haven’t heard of ‘From Couch to 5K’ where have you been ? This app is quite literally taking people from the comfort of their couch to the 5K finish line in weeks. It is perfect if you are a total beginner who wants to try running, but isn’t sure where to start. You only have to sweat for 30 minutes per day, three days a week for nine weeks to get to your target distance, and we think that you will be hooked on running before then! Why not get a friend involved and you can get fit, together?

Six Pack in 30 Days
Got a beach holiday coming up? Then you might want to strengthen your abs with ‘Six Pack in 30 Days’. No fancy gear is needed to do these ab workouts and the programme is suitable for total newbies. The app clearly shows you how to do classic core workouts like Russian twists and reverse crunches which will help you to work up a sweat, but make you look fab-tastic.

Strava
Not that exercise has to be a competition, but if you want to compare your performance with friends this app cold help to give you that extra push towards the finish line. Strava is a great way to keep track of running and cycling distances, speeds as well as endurance, and believe us, it can become as addictive as those feel good endorphins.

Studio Tone It Up
If community is important to you, then Studio Tone It Up could be what you have been looking for. Without leaving the house, you will be guided through workouts that will help to get your body toned and your mind strong. There’s a choice of yoga, cardio, barre, boxing, kettlebell, and more on offer and with new classes arriving every week, there’s no chance of getting board, just fit.

Headspace
Not everyone is looking for a physical workout, and if that is you, then how about trying the a wellness journey with the Headspace app? Start things off with a free 10-day beginner’s course that shows you the essentials of practicing mindfulness on a daily basis and with meditating known to help ease insomnia and increase productivity at work, you never know where this could lead.

Got an app you think we would like? Let us know about it and we will give it a go.

Team Pure Beauty

Great books for a happy 2018

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#1 New York Times bestselling author, activities, Amazon, ‘Lose Weight for Good: Full-flavour cooking for a low-calorie diet’, ‘The Wellbeing Journal’, baked doughnuts with sweet five-spice dust, beautiful pages, block to happiness, books, buy me, drawing prompts, exercise routines, fallen in love, Fat-Loss Plan, Favourites, fit, fitter, four million followers, Gabrielle Bernstein, gorgeous book, grounded, happier, healthier, healthy body, home, inner peace, inspirational quotes, January, Joe Wicks, Judgement Detox: Release the Beliefs That Hold You Back from Living a Better Life, Kate Moss, lean, life coach, Lily Cole, look after yourself, lose weight, low-fat recipes, meditating, mental health charity, Michelin-starred chef, mind, modern day, motivated, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips, New Year, personal weight loss journey, recipes, regular hot baths, Self Care for the Real World, self preservation, share, Sienna Miller, six-step programme, social media, start, steak taco with lime salsa, sticky pork chops, sweet potato and black bean burritos, sweet treats, Tom Kerridge, veggie super bowl, warm halloumi salad, work clothes, yoga

It’s the start of a new year so if you go into any bookshop or look online there are a whole host of books promising a healthier, fitter, happier you.

We thought we would share our favourites, so you can buy something you think will work for you.

With an enthusiasm for life and an impressive mop of dark curls, Joe Wicks has yet another book out in 2018. Inside the glossy cover of his ‘Fat-Loss Plan’ are a series of recipes and exercise routines that are designed to help you achieve a fit, lean and healthy body. We love the steak taco with lime salsa, we are pretty partial to his goodness packed veggie super bowl and are impressed that he has included some sweet treats to keep you motivated on those dark January nights. With more than four million followers on social media, we are pretty sure this book will be as much of a success as the others.

With endorsements from Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Lily Cole, it is little wonder that ‘Self Care for the Real World’ is flying off book shelves around the world. Sisters, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips, use this book to get to the heart of how to look after yourself if you often putting others first. From changing out of your work clothes when you get home, to having regular hot baths and meditating, this fantastic book shows you that even when the waves of life are high, you can keep grounded and well. We think this self-preservation read has ‘buy me’ written all over it.

For something a bit different, we love the Judgement Detox: Release the Beliefs That Hold You Back from Living a Better Life. By Gabrielle Bernstein, a life coach and #1 New York Times bestselling author, this book explores the notion of being judged as well as judging others, something that is part of modern-day and a block to happiness for many. Bernstein uses a six-step programme that includes yoga, meditation and other healing teachings to allow readers to let go of judgement and find inner peace.

Even if you don’t want to lose weight, Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kerridge has a new book out full of low-fat recipes that are beyond tasty. His experiences in the kitchen have been blended with a personal weight loss journey and the results on the pages of ‘Lose Weight for Good: Full-flavour cooking for a low-calorie diet’ are amazing. The warm halloumi salad, sweet potato and black bean burritos and sticky pork chops are good but for us the winner has to be the baked doughnuts with sweet five-spice dust. Genius!

Journaling isn’t anything new, but we have fallen in love with the ‘The Wellbeing Journal’ that’s been created in partnership with the mental health charity, Mind. The beautiful pages of this gorgeous book include activities, drawing prompts, inspirational quotes together with space for writing and reflecting on your thoughts so you can have a more creative, positive life.

Team Pure-Beauty

Grow your own this summer

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basis, bikes, chillies, chutneys, clean, climbing frames, compotes, Coriander, creating, crush, English, fast-growing, garden, garden centre, grapes, greenhouse, growing, grown, ingredients, jams, jellies, kitchen, labour of your love, lemons, little bit of green, local, mini orchard, mint, mix, parsley, peas, peonies, pick, plethora, potatoes, pots, proud, season, seeds, sills, soil, space, start, sunny ledge, supermarket, take away, tomatoes, trees, urban, ventilation, waiting, weather, window, window sills, work well

There’s nothing more rewarding, or tasty, as eating your own home-grown fruit and vegetables, and the good news is that right now is the best time to start growing your own!

With a plethora of crops that can be grown from seeds, there’s bound to be something you can grow however big or small your garden is, or even if you have no garden at all.

No Garden
If you are an urban dweller and don’t have a garden, we’re pretty sure you have window sills and where better to grow herbs and veg than on a sunny ledge? A quick trip to your local garden centre, or even supermarket, can get you set up with all you need to create a crop whatever you are working with.

Baby salad leaves are perfect for growing in small pots and tin troughs and because they are fast-growing you will soon get foliage and kitchen ingredients. Mint, parsley and coriander all work well as window plants and if the sun shines on you sills, basil is a winner too.

Small Gardens
Small gardens are the perfect place for creating an eclectic mix of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Choose a mix of crops that you actually want to eat, say strawberries, tomatoes and peas and complement these with sunflowers and pansies for impressive results.

If you have a courtyard or patio to work with, look no further than bags, pots and sacks to create a crop of potatoes, peas and peonies to be proud of. Again, you can add herbs into the mix and if you do decide to plant spuds, this reduces the risk of pesky slug invasions.

Large Gardens
If you are the owner of a bigger garden this will give you greater growing space and more opportunities to be creative and work big. Think about the space and the kind of garden you want to create. Are you looking for structure and fine detail or do you have children and therefore need flexibility as climbing frames and bikes come into the equation? Plan out your garden into various areas, look at where you get the most sun, where there are shady areas and consider the soil type as this can influence what you grow. Trees can be a lovely part of any garden and if you have the space, you can look at creating a mini orchard. Apple, pear and plum trees are all pretty easy to grow and maintain and the labour of your love will be compotes, chutney, jellies and jams all year round.

To take away the English weather’s ability to crush your crops, when you have a large space you can incorporate a greenhouse. These are perfect for growing things such as chillies and tomatoes as well as grapes and lemons but always ensure the greenhouse is clean at the start of the season and there is adequate ventilation otherwise things might not go quite to plan.

So, what are you waiting for? Pick your pots, sort your soil and get growing.

Team Pure Beauty