Tuesday 9 August 2011

A good day for a night in

I had a light-hearted blog planned to write today on tupperware, but it just doesn't seem appropriate given the civil violence kicking off in central London at the moment.

I'm sure any non-city readers will have seen the news on this and I hope all London based readers have not been affected.

The city was noticeably quiet this morning with alot of buses not running from affected areas. I actually love London but there are some clear downsides from living in such a large capital city including being a target for terrorist threats and that, due to the extremes of wealth/poverty in the city, civil unrest is more likely.

Numerous businesses will be closing early today and tomorrow including some gyms keeping a lot of city folk from their evening gym session. Personally I think an enforced curfew would be a good way to get the situation under control, but even if that doesn't happen it's probably a good idea to head straight home for a quiet night in.

I usually try and have one night in every week just to chill out, watch a dvd and have some sofa time. But having a night in doesn't have to mean turning into a couch potato, there are plenty of healthwise ways to spend an evening in:

Do a yoga dvd - personally I much prefer doing yoga in the peace and quiet of my home than in a gym class and there are plenty of good dvds out there as well as loads of downloadable lessons online. I like the Yoga Zone dvds in particular.

Do a fitness dvd - anyone who thinks you can't do a decent cardio workout in your living room should try out a Tae-Bo Advanced dvd or the Tracy Anderson Dance Cardio Workout
- you'll have a sweat on in no time!

Learn to cook - I love cooking but have so little time at home that I rarely get to cook 'properly' let alone try out any new recipes. When I do have some spare time I love to paw over my cookery books and try new dishes which is what I'll be doing tonight. They don't all turn out so well, but due to popular demand I'm going be adding a recipe page to my website to pull together all my tasty tried and tasted healthy dishes together in one place, so watch this space for some fool proof recipes.

Do some chores - ok so housework is tedious, unless you are a bit OCD and enjoy it, but it's a pretty physical endeavour and it can be very cathartic. Put on some tunes and turn your hoovering and scrubbing into a cardio workout.

Re-connect - even if your friends are spread out all over the world, through the powers of facebook, skype, mobile and email, there is no excuse not to stay in touch with friends and family. Our relationships are very important to our mental health and mood and it is important to invest time into your friendships and relationships. A quiet evening in is a perfect opportunity to catch up with a friend, and if they live nearby invite them round for a cup of tea or spot of dinner. And if anyone you know is affected by the London riots maybe even offer them somewhere to stay, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.


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