May’s Workout Songs

May 13, 2013 2 Comments

Hello Readers!

I’m back after my extended absence, and you’ll be pleased to know that I’m back for good! There’s no getting rid of me now!

The last few months have not been easy, and whilst I’m not naive enough to think that life will ever be the same again, the dark clouds are starting to lift.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still some very hard days that I struggle to get through, but it’s definitely getting easier.

I haven’t really had much time (nor motivation) to workout as much as I normally do since that fateful day in January, but I’m all too aware that bikini season is just around the corner and I need to get my backside in gear if I have any hope of donning a bikini!  So, with this in mind I’ve trawled around for some new tunes to help make our workouts a little easier…..

What is your current favourite tune to workout to?

With much love

The Domestic Princess

xoxo

 

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January’s Workout Songs

January 10, 2013 1 Comment

Hello lovely readers!

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.  After spending two fantastic weeks in the UK catching-up with friends and family, we jetted off to Utah to spend Christmas with our dear friends, The Rays and to ski!  Needless to say, we had a fabulous time. Now that I’m back home, it’s back to reality, which amongst other things, means blogging!

I’m sure many of you have made resolutions regarding exercising more, so today’s new workout music for January will hopefully help you stay motivated with your plans!  I’m still quite keen on some of November’s tunes, so will be mixing them up with these news ones.

Party Girl by McFly

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Scream & Shout by Will.I.am (feat. Britney Spears)

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Sweet Nothing (feat. Florence Welch) by Calvin Harris

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Turn Around (feat. Ne-Yo) by Conor Maynard

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Catch My Breath (Cutmore Remix) by Kelly Clarkson

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Black & Gold (Radio Edit) by Sam Sparro

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Spectrum (Calvin Harris Remix) by Florence & The Machine

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Mighty Wings by Cheap Tricks

Click here to download it from iTunes, and here to download from Amazon

Did you make any resolutions?  If so, are you managing to stick with them?  I’ll share mine in a future post.

With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

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November’s Workout Songs

November 5, 2012 Leave a Comment

Happy November lovely readers!  I hope that you all had a good October; I did.  It was so nice not to be getting on an aeroplane (never thought I’d hear myself say that!) for once.  I religiously followed my Jillian Michaels workout and enjoyed some quiet weekends after a hectic few months!  I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely ready for some new choons for my workout playlist.  I’ll be keeping some of August, September and October’s songs in, but adding in these ones too.  Variety is the spice of life after all!  Some of this month’s songs have a slower BPM (beats per minute) than previous month’s, as I received some requests asking for some slower songs.  I hope you still like them.

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

I Predict a Riot by The Kaiser Chiefs

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Lose Yourself by Eminem

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Lessons in Love by Kaskade, featuring Neon Trees

To purchase this from iTunes, click here.  Unfortunately it’s not available from Amazon.

I Found You by The Wanted

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Candy by Robbie Williams

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Latch by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

Tell Her About It by Billy Joel

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here

How was your October?  Did you find any new workout music?  If so, please share it with us!

Friday’s recipe will FINALLY be up tomorrow – it’s been a challenge to say the least!

With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

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October’s Workout Songs

October 1, 2012 1 Comment

Wow, how is it October already?  It seems like only yesterday I was putting together September’s workout songs, yet here I am, four weeks later telling you what I’ll be working out to in October.  With less than 90 days until Christmas and my skiing trip to Utah, I am extremely focused and energised about reaching my goals.  Just listening to the selection of tracks I’ve chosen for October, has motivated me to do a second workout today – I hope they have the same affect on you too!

Million Dollar Bill (Freemason’s Mix) by Whitney Houston

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

She Wolf (Falling to Pieces), ft Sia by David Guetta

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Fascination by Alphabeat

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Does Your Mother Know by ABBA

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Marry the Night (Zedd Remix) by Lady GaGa

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Eye of The Tiger by Survivor

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Wings by Little Mix

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Love Machine by Girls Aloud

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

I Cry by Flo Rida

To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

Antidote by Swedish Mafia

 
To buy this track from iTunes, click here, or from Amazon, click here.

 

As always, I’d love to hear which workout songs you’re working out to at the moment – please pop them in the comments section below.

With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

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September’s Workout Songs

September 3, 2012 3 Comments

I know people traditionally think about 1st January as being the time to start new things and focus on the future, but for a few years now I’ve used September as being my chance to start afresh on certain things, and this year is no different.  Today is me renewing my commitment to healthy eating and working out.  We’re off on a beach holiday at the end of November and skiing in December and I want to make sure I look great in a bikini and have the endurance to ski all day.  So, to help motivate me on the treadmill or through a Jillian Michael’s torture workout, here’s my selection of songs for September.

Too Young by Phoenix


To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon click here.

Heads Will Roll by Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Nothing Really Matters by David Guetta featuring Will.i.am

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Shadows by Midnight Juggernauts

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself) by Ne-Yo

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Take Over Control by Afrojack

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Raise Your Glass by Pink

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

How Far We’ve Come by Matchbox Twenty

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera 

To purchase this from iTunes, click here, and to purchase from Amazon, click here.

I hope you enjoy this month’s suggestions.  They certainly got me motivated this morning. Please let me know in the comment section below any workout tunes that help you get through your workouts.

With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

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Workout songs

August 6, 2012 3 Comments

There are two things that are key to long-term exercise motivation:  variance, so you don’t become bored, and music.

I really enjoy working out, be it a power walk, a gentle jog, sprint training, or probably my favourite type of exercise, a hardcore workout DVD.  Nine times out of ten what gets me through a workout and makes me push that little bit harder, is a really motivating playlist on my iPod.  The right music can change a really boring, hard-slog workout into one of my favourites!   Studies in recent years have shown that listening to music whilst exercising can have a huge impact on the mind.  It has been proven that listening to music can not only help improve results through motivating you and distracting you from your fatigue, but also aid lung function and make you smarter!  I think we’d all like that!  One major finding of a study carried out by Dr Costas Karageorghis at Brunel University’s School of Sport and Education was that listening to music whilst exercising could increase the exerciser’s positivity, even when they are working out at maximum capacity, close to physical exhaustion.  In addition, the study also found that an exerciser’s endurance could be enhanced by up to 15%, if they listened to music during their workout.

In another study carried out by Brunel University in 2005, 36 runners cut an average of half a second off their 400m times when they listened to music with a certain number of beats per minute (BPM).  A track with a strong BPM is fabulous at helping you sustain a rhythmic pace.  What often happens is you start out too fast; listening to music can help you control your pace.  Think about matching your run/workout to tracks with corresponding BPM.  For example, at the beginning, when you’re warming-up you want a track or two of around 115 to 118BPM, building to 135-140BPM and going up to around 170 – 180BPM at the peak of your workout, with slower tracks as you cool down.

There are a couple of ways to find out the BPM of songs:

  1. If you keep your music in iTunes, click on View, View Options and check the Beats Per Minute box.  You’ll then see the BPM in the far right hand column.  Whether iTunes holds this information will depend upon how you bought your music.
  2. You can manually check the BPM of your songs.  I used BPM Assistant to check the BPM of the songs below, but there are many others out there.  If you use a PC, BPM Checker is a good one to try.  You literally just tap along to the beat and the app tells you the BPM.
  3. Once you’ve determined the BPM, you need to add the info to the song in iTunes.  Right click on the song in iTunes, click Get Info, and enter the correct BPM.

So, here are ten of my current favourite songs that are in my workout playlist. Look out next month, when I’ll be sharing some more.

Don’t Stop Me Now, Queen


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

I’m Still Standing, Elton John


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

The Time (Dirty Bit), Black Eyed Peas


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Bounce, Calvin Harris ft. Kelis


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Memories, David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Runaway Baby, Bruno Mars


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Earthquakey People, Steve Aoki ft. Rivers Cuomo


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Bang Bang, K’naan & Adam Levine


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunes

Feel the Love, Rudimental ft. John Newman


Click here to buy from Amazon and here from iTunesDo you listen to music when you workout?  Does it help you?  What’s your favourite workout song?With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

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Detox / de-bloat water

July 30, 2012 3 Comments

Last week I tweeted a picture of my jug of detox/de-bloat water that I’d made to guzzle during the day.  No sooner had I tweeted it, than I received a flurry of tweets asking what was in it and how to make it.  Since it garnered such interest on twitter, I thought others might be interested too.  We all have moments of feeling sluggish and bloated.  Maybe it’s owing to the heat, after a long flight, or where we’ve overindulged.  The ingredients of my detox/de-bloat water all have properties that are meant to help your body combat water retention and give your liver a helping hand.  It makes a nice change from plain water and I’m definitely feeling all the better for it.

Ingredients

  • 2l (68oz) of filtered/purified/mineral water
  • 1 cranberry tea bag, either something like this or this.  Or if you can’t find cranberry tea, then 20ml of a pure cranberry juice like this would be good too.  Not one that has sugar in it though!
  • 1 detox tea bag, either something like this or this
  • ¼ of a cucumber, peeled & thinly sliced
  • Handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
  • ½” of ginger, finely chopped or grated (optional)

Method

  1. Boil the water and pour it into a jug.
  2. Pop in the cranberry and detox tea bags, the cucumber, mint and ginger (if using) and let steep overnight in the fridge.
  3. Voila!  You’re ready to go.

Domestic Princess tips:

  1. If you work and don’t have the luxury of being at home all day, strain the water and put it in a bottle that you can take to work.  I’ve got my eye on one of these.  You could add fresh cucumber and mint in the morning, cut up into small pieces to add into the bottle.
  2. Cranberry juice is a mild diuretic, which is why I’ve included it.
  3. The detox tea you select should contain dandelion root, and/or burdock root. Dandelion can help to detoxify the liver and promote increased bile production.  It has long been used as a liver tonic to help stimulate a sluggish or congested liver.  Burdock root has a reputation for cleansing the blood and for being a diuretic.  As a blood purifier it can help to remove toxins and helps the body fight infection.
  4. I start every morning with hot water, lemon and ginger, and then drink the detox/de-bloat water throughout the rest of the day.
  5. About 4 times a year I do the David Kirsch 48 hour super charged cleanse, in fact, I’m doing my next one tomorrow.  I’m a big advocate of his supplements, (my faves are thermo bubbles and muscle restore, if you’re interested!) and whilst it’s not easy doing the 48 hours detox, after I’ve completed it, I always feel much better for having done it.
  6. I bought my teas from Wholefoods in the US.  The Traditional Medicinals range is available from Biovea, which has different country websites.  I’ve ordered from both the UK and Indian sites without any problems whatsoever.  Holland & Barrett is a good resource in the UK and I also shop frequently from Goodness Direct too.
  7. Bangaloreans, the new supermarket in 1MG has a good selection of teas, as does Spar & Hypercity.

Let me know if you make this detox/de-bloat water and what you think, and if you feel it has helped you to feel less bloated.  I’ve been drinking it religiously this past week and haven’t felt as bloated during my period, and my skin seems much clearer too.  Co-incidental?  Maybe, but I’m sticking with it.

With much love
The Domestic Princess
xoxo

NB. Please note that I am not a medical practitioner.  This is what works really well for me in combating the bloat.  If you are pregnant, or have any medical conditions, please seek advice from your practitioner before embarking on any health plan.

Filed Under: Life, Health Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Five More Minutes

April 23, 2012 8 Comments

I have a confession to make…..getting into bed is possibly my favourite time of the day and getting up, probably my worst!  I bet I’m not the only person to utter “5 more minutes” when the alarm goes off.  In my opinion, there is nothing nicer than an inviting bed and slipping into luxuriously soft bed linen.  During the last few years we’ve been lucky enough to have slept in some of the loveliest, comfiest beds in the world – the Ritz Carlton Battery Park springs to mind.

However, it was on holiday a few years ago that really ignited my love affair with beautiful linens and trying to make our bed a true haven.  We were staying at The Club at The Legian in Bali, when we both fell in love with the linen, divine pillows, duvet and featherbed (also known as a mattress topper).  During our 10-day stay (look out for a future post on this), we slept like babies every night.  Whilst some of this was down to the relaxing nature of our holiday, a large element was the luxurious bed we snuggled into every night.  So impressed were we, we asked the hotel which company provided the linens, duvets and pillows.  Much to our joy, we discovered the supplier also sold to the general public.  And that lead us to the delight that is Ploh.

Once home, I hit the Internet and soon our dreamy linens, duvet, featherbed and pillows were winging their way to us.  Quite honestly it is some of the best money we’ve ever spent and haven’t regretted it for one moment.  Getting into bed every night is such a pleasure and sleeping on the featherbed, well, it’s just like sleeping on a cloud!

We all know that sleep is essential to our everyday wellbeing.  With more studies proving that adequate sleep can help with our battle of the bulge, creating the perfect sleeping environment has become even more important.  So, here are my tips so you too can create your perfect bed.

Source: The White Company

Domestic Princess tips on creating your perfect bed:

1.  Mattress

The foundation, as you all know, is the mattress, so don’t skimp on it.  In the long-term, it’s just a false economy. Remember, the variety and quality of mattresses are vast.

We have an Ambassador mattress from Jensen that we discovered when they had just launched in the UK, so got an amazing bargain compared with prices now!  I’d recommend going to a proper bed store so the salesperson may assess how you (and your partner) share the bed and inform you of the brands and different types of mattresses available.  Try out as many as you can.  We chose And So To Bed in Harrods and the saleslady couldn’t have been more helpful.  The Domestic Prince was adamant he needed a hard mattress and I was pretty determined I wanted a soft one.  Turns out we were both wrong, the most suitable one for us, as a couple, was a medium one.

Which? have recently published their findings on the best mattresses and suppliers in the UK.  So, if you’re thinking of purchasing a new one, click by and have a read.

2.  A featherbed or mattress topper

Now, we were late to the party on this delicious addition to a bed, but gosh are we happy we finally did arrive!  Sinking into 4 inches of feathers and goose down is just bliss and creates an extra layer cwtchiness (def: the Welsh word for cuddling).  It moulds around your body providing support and cushioning for your joints.

There are many different fillings available in a topper, which can be bought from The White Company, John Lewis, Macys and Marriott to name but a few.  Go for it, I promise you won’t regret it!

3.  Duvet and Pillows

Duvet

The warmth, softness and weight of a duvet, depends very much on the tog rating and the type of filling.  The three things to consider when purchasing a new duvet are: tog rating, type of filling and size.

The tog rating tells you how effective the duvet is at trapping warm air, so the higher the rating, the warmer the duvet.  Duvets made up of natural fillings have better thermal properties than synthetically filled ones.  However, if you suffer from allergies, you’d probably want a synthetically filled one in preference to a natural one.  With regards to the size of the duvet, if you and your partner tussle over the duvet, you’re better off opting for the next size up to ensure no more squabbles!

Pillows

Finding the correct pillow is essential for a comfortable night’s sleep.  When choosing new pillows, things to consider are:  shape, size, filling and firmness.

4.  Bed linen

Bed linen comes in many types of fabric:  cotton, Egyptian cotton, cotton sateen, silk, linen, polycotton.  I prefer sateen and tend to go for something like Montabello Cappuccino linen from The White Company.  Many people have the impression that the higher the thread count, the better the bed linen; this is simply not true.  Pure linen, for example, will always have a lower thread count than cotton, but is still considered extremely luxurious.  For me though, the thought of ironing pure linen puts me right off!  Before purchasing any bed linen, I always, always have to feel it – the softer the better!

John Lewis and The White Company both have detailed guides on how to purchase duvets, pillows and bed linen.

Another few tips that help me sleep deeply are:

  1. Eye shades – I think I started wearing these when we had shutters installed in our house in London.  Whilst the shutters look fabulous, they don’t create the pitch black room that I like and which is recommended by the sleep experts to help enhance one’s sleep.  There are many lovely eye-shades available, but I tend to use the ones I pick-up on the ‘plane when travelling.  They’ve worked for me for nearly 10 years, so I think I’ll stick with them.  However, Susie Amy on her wonderful Blusher and Blogging blog swears by this lavender eye mask.  Maybe I’ll treat myself and give it a whirl to see how they compare?
  2. Chamomile tea – most nights we trot off to bed with mugs of chamomile tea, which we both swear helps us enjoy a deep slumber.
  3. Magnesium supplements – a new addition to our nighttime routine is 400mg of magnesium citrate.  Magnesium is known to have a calming effect on the brain and is also important for muscle function; a lack of it may cause muscle cramps and restless legs.

So, readers – tell me what makes your dream bed?  Is going to bed your favourite time of day?  And do you have any good tips on what helps you enjoy a good night’s sleep?

With much love

The Domestic Princess

Xoxo

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