Friday 30 August 2013

Keeping hydrated with Camelbak bottles

Its very important to keep hydrated in order to stay healthy. Being dehydrated can lead to all sorts of complications, such as headaches, and at its most extreme, kidney problems. I know myself that I struggle to drink enough, especially at work. I developed a bad habit of mostly drinking coke zero, which is not great for you, and expensive. I did balance this out with bottled water, which can also mount up in price, and all the plastic bottles are not good for the environment. So, I looked for a better solution. I wanted to take some kind of juice, and water to work.


So in comes the camelbak bottles! I got the bigger one first, the eddy. I use this for no added sugar diluting juice, and it holds 750ml. At the same time as I got this I got a Bobble for water, but I don't find that easy to drink from. So I ended up getting the water filtering camelbak, the Groove Tritan, which is 600ml.


The camelbaks are so easy to drink from. This is due to the bite valve, which is a rubbery valve which you simply bite on to drink from. The valve doesn't leak as there is no flow when it is not bitten. It is quite like drinking from a straw, and is easy to drink quite a big volume quickly. I find this really improves my fluid intake, as I can easy drink the whole 750ml bottle in my 30min break. I then sip on the water bottle for the rest of my shift, and can easily refill when needed. The filter means that the normally icky water at work tastes good.


The bite valve then folds down out the way when not needed.  The bottles are very watertight, I carry them to work in my bag and have had no problems with leaking. The bottles are made of very sturdy plastic, which can be dropped and survive. They are a little heavy so not ideal for using when running or at the gym, but thats fine! The water filter in the Groove Tritan needs to be replaced every 3 months or 180 litres of water.  The only slight problem with the design is cleaning it properly. However, all the parts come apart, which makes this a bit easier. There is a custom made cleaning kit available, which is a bit like those wee test tube cleaners you used at school. 

I bought my bottles from Amazon, as I found that the cheapest. They are available in a range of colours, but I obviously went for the pink. The Eddy was £12.95 and the Groove Tritan was £17.99. Replacement filters for the Tritan are around £30 for 6. I think thats a pretty good deal considering the money saved by not buying bottled juice and water, and the health benefits of increased hydration!

How do you re-hydrate?

Monday 26 August 2013

My favourite fitness apps


Now I don't know about you, but I love an app. I have apps for all sorts of things, and health and fitness is no exception. I thought I would give a quick run through of the apps I use and then give my favourites more in-depth blog posts of their own. I have an iphone, but alot of these apps are available for android phones as well.

Nike apps-I haven't actually used these apps much. The first one is used with the nike + sensor that I have in my shoes, and the second just uses the gps in your phone. These apps track runs, giving times, calories and all sorts of other things. I do like the look of the these, so will give them a proper go once I have finished my 5K training app. The nike + website is pretty good as well, as other people have uploaded run routes. More info here. Price- Free

Absolute Abs- Another one downloaded with good intentions not really followed through. This app looks really good though. It has different work out options (abs, fat burning and ultimate), and then easy to follow pictures of the moves. You play the workout, and the move is read out, with timings for the reps. I really should try this! Find it here. Price- Free (paid version available)

BMITracker- This is a simple wee app from the NHS which works out your BMI. Its easy to use as you can use metric or imperial measurements. I measure my weight loss in metric, I think because I use metric at work (I'm a nurse). With this app it immediately tells you which zone your BMI is in (It was a happy day when I got into healthy!) and you can also view a graph of your progress. You can also use this app to do quick calculate, and I use this at work when I can't find a chart and need to work out a patient's BMI. Find it here. Price-Free

MyFitnessPal- A well known one, and one I used alot in the past and need to get back into to give me a boot up the bum! Its an online calorie and activity tracker, and is great.  The app is very handy, but you can use this online without a smart phone. I'll do a more in depth review of this. Find it here. Price- Free (paid services available)

Fitbit- I LOVE this. Its the app to go with my Fitbit one, which is an amazing little pedometer and sleep meter. I got mine for Christmas last year, and haven't looked back. This will be my next post. Find out more here. Price varies depending on fitbit device, mine was £79.99.

MapMyFitness- Another well known good 'un. Its a GPS sports tracker, which you can use for running, walking, cycling, amongst others. I use this for walks and cycling, as I am interested in distances. The website is good for planning routes in advance to work out distances, as well as searching for routes others in your area have done. Find it herePrice-Free (paid services available)

Zombies 5K- Another one I LOVE. Its the beginner version of Zombies run, and is a 5K training app. Its all based on a story, with voiceovers and run/walk drills designed to train you for a 5K. I've been using this for my running and will do a full review of this as well. Find it here. Price- £1.49

Tracker Lite- This is a really simple app, basically a calendar which you can track something on. You can set a goal and tick every time you do something. I tick when I exercise, and have set a goal to exercise 20 times, then I can treat myself to some new exercise clothes. Yes, I need to bribe myself. In the free version you can only track one thing, but can track multiple things in the paid version. I may splash out in future. Find it here. Price- Free (Paid version available)

LFconnect is an app for the machines at the gym which I haven't got working yet. Price- Free

Nike Training- Is another on the 'to do' pile. It has loads of work outs for free, and looks really good.  I have this on my ipad too, as it will be easier to watch the video's on that when working out. Find it here. Price- Free

Wow, that took a while! I hope it has been of some help to you, and please come back for the more in depth reviews.

What are your favourite health and fitness apps?

Sunday 18 August 2013

Starting over


So I set up this blog a while ago with all the good intentions of getting fitter and eating better. That didn't go brilliantly, but now i've started over. I've started running, joined the gym and bought a bike! I've been really enjoying my running, and have been using a new app that I will blog about soon. We have a brand new gym in our city, so I have joined there and have been using the bikes, cross trainer, treadmill and even some of the previously scary weights machines.

The only problem with all this new found enthusiasm for exercise is that my knees don't seem to agree. After a week or so of short runs they began to ache and are now agony after any running. I need to get this sorted as its holding me back! I am going to try swimming and gym, and hopefully the lower impact will help it mend. Otherwise its off to the Dr's I go.

I have been using a few apps and products since I started exercising so will be reviewing these on here soon.

Do you have any tips for knee pain?