Olympics!

Hey guys, oh its been awhile... Bear with me, I am not so good at being a consistent blogger yet.

Anyways, the 2012 London Olympics are upon us! Who is excited?? I'm not hugely into sports, but every now and then I am happy to pull out my green and gold to cheer my Aussies on! I love the Olympics because it is so international. We see athletes from all over the world; some countries we don't hear much about and some we hear about but now get to see them from a different perspective. The Olympics allow me to feel a sense of pride for my island nation, and a strange need to cheer on all the little nations that come to compete.

One of my favourite things about the Olympics is the opening ceremony. I love it so much I was willing to wake up 4 hours earlier than usual to watch London tell her story. This show started quite differently to the jaw dropping opening acts of Beijing and Sydney (I cannot remember the Athens one much for some reason :s). The London one started off really slow... a meadow scene... haha. I was confused (I was half awake) but I gave it some time and slowly the story began to form and the British quirk and character developed. Seriously, the British can be so hilariously funny sometimes (the Queen segment and Mr Bean). I really love the storybook segment, performed by children and staff from the NHS. This show is true to their character from an outsiders perspective. I'm happy they didn't try to be something they weren't. I would imagine some British people complaining about how things were done, but, that is British for you haha.

I decided I wanted to celebrate the event by cooking up a London Olympics breakfast. Behold.... My Olympic ring English breakfast fry up!

The signs

I didn't realise how important zumba (exercise) was until I noticed that my back pinches whenever I stray from exercise for too long. Like two days ago my back seized up randomly while I was having a shower. I worked out that it must have had something to do with working long hours for a deadline and not exercising. And this one was a mild one.

A few weeks ago... I REALLY hurt my back.

It was a nice sunny autumn day. I was walking to work, thinking about the day ahead until... Ouch! My back suddenly pinched. It came out of nowhere and it was in a spot that made it hard for me to take deep breaths. I spent the next week in agony, unable to bend forward, unable to lie down or sit up at will, even reaching forward and turning on the taps hurt. It got to a stage where I had to stay home for one day and I never do that! It made me realize how much I rely on my back for everything.

So not only am I trying to maintain my weight and become healthier, I NEED to strengthen my muscles.

Tonight, I'm gonna do a session, even though my deadline is this Friday. Sometimes health just takes priority.

Journal: Zumba Rush

I arrived home at 10.30. I had 3 things on my list to do; dinner, laundry and zumba. I had to have dinner, but laundry or zumba? I contemplated for a few minutes then threw up my hands and said, 'stuff it, I'm doing them all'.

Have you ever been so indecisive that you end up being efficient? Well it happened to me today.

I set the laundry going, asked my partner to make dinner ('for me?' starry eyes :p) and started my fast track session, Zumba Rush.

Dinner... Check
Laundry... Check
Zumba... Check

Perfect.

Ps: best way to stay warm... Dance! I would say it beats heaters, hot chocolate and warm clothes hands down (though I will never say no to those too hehe).

PPS: my weekend indulgence, my first ever gumbo (it was excellent). So, yeah, I had to do zumba today.

Journal: Zumba Activate

Today I did my favourite workout, the Zumba Activate dvd. This is the one I pull out when I feel like a nice cardio session. It's my 'feel good' workout. I've done it so many times this year and every time I feel great afterwards.

This workout is sneaky! Sneaky in that it seems to have been arranged in a way that responds to what you might be thinking. Ok so it starts off with a couple of simple and fun routines, then it gets really fast and high intensity. Just when I think I can't do it anymore (and start dreaming about snuggling down with a book and dinner), it goes back to simple and relaxing. By then I think, 'oh I've made it this far, might as well finish the whole thing'.

See what I mean? Sneaky.

What is more tricky is that my favorite routine is the second last one, Cumbia. It reminds me of an island holiday and relaxes my mind. I HAVE to do that one ;) so I gotta do all the ones before it. But... I don't mind.

Sometimes I find it hard to fit a 1 hour session in (plus warm up and cool down time) especially after a long day at work. I have tried seeing if doing half the workout will suffice, but it just doesn't feel quite enough. So I find it would be better to do the Rush or half a Ripped workout if I'm rushed for time.

I think the Zumba team is very clever to arrange the Activate routines in this way. I appreciate that they recognize the importance of keeping us engaged for the whole thing. Keeps me going even when I want to stop. I'll be doing this one for a loooooong time :)

Reward: Revlon Photoready Foundation review

Makeup, it didn't become a daily thing until I bought this foundation in March this year. I've been comfortable going au natural on my face for daily life, but I thought its time to pay attention and make it a habit. A little bit of touching up and emphasising features is good I say.

I chose Revlon photoready foundation based on my sister's recommendation (she works as a pharmacist, so she wears makeup daily as retail work requires). This foundation is cream based, good for drier skin. When I went up to the counter the lady picked 3 shades and brushed it on my face. I picked the shade I could not see.

In the past I kept choosing the colour I thought I was (for some odd reason) but I realise at the end of the day, foundation is to even out your natural skin colour. Maybe its an Asian thing but I have never managed to choose the right shade until now. The lady was suggesting a slightly lighter shade, but as much as I believe she knows what she's doing, at the end of the day I don't want to look like I have makeup on. I just want to look normal, but airbrushed haha. She was still a big help though as I wouldn't have known to pick a cream base, my super dry skin would not have responded well to a powder which I was thinking I was going to buy.

This foundation lasts about 5 hours, but if you apply a primer it would last longer. I only use a tiny bit (smaller than a pea) brushed on areas that needed a bit of help. For dance performances I use to cake it on, but for everyday makeup a tiny bit is good enough. It won't feel heavy this way.

My verdict, I like :) its great for dry skin, that's been moisturised really well. They have a lot of shades to match to your skin. Lasts a reasonable time. The bottle is decent size Im still using the same bottle 4months later (don't think I'm halfway yet). It cost me $48nzd which I think is midrange here. Im that happy with it I've even got a backup (though it was at a sale, free when I got the Revlon primer).

I haven't tried a wide range of makeup, but I feel like I have stumbled onto the perfect one to start off with. And the biggest lesson I learnt was to choose a shade that you can't see when brushed onto your face, that means it will blend really well and provide you with that lovely blank canvas.

Journal: Zumba Ripped

Last night I did the Ripped dvd workout. It's the toning one and I love it cos I can feel my muscles working. That makes me sound like some gym junkie, but Im definitely not! Anything to do with not sitting feels good to me, so there :p

Here is a pic of a few things I bought in March that I've been zumba-ing up for :)

Individual item reviews coming. How are you guys doing?

Back to it.

Funny how life can suddenly change a plan. Since my initial post, life (or rather, work) demanded all my attention and energy. So zumba sessions were put on hold.

Shopping however, did not. Haha.

Hey, don't judge, shopping just felt more rewarding at the time. So seeing as work has calmed down, and I have a few goodies to do zumba for, I'm back!