Elle Loves… May 2015

After my first ‘Elle Loves’ post went down so well, I decided to do one for May. Featuring some of my favourite products I have tried this month in all different categories – workout gear, food and gadgets! 

1. Speedo Fit Body Positioning Kickback Swimsuit* 

This costume has been a staple in my swimming wardrobe for the last couple of months. It offers light compression around my core which is supposed to help you keep the right position in the water. It’s super comfy and flattering without showing off too much. They come up pretty small though so you may need to size up to get the right fit.

2. MeasuPro Pulse Oxometer* 

I’ve had this little device (pulse ox) for a few months now which coincided nicely with me doing some hours at the Altitude Centre in London. It measures the oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) in your blood and also gives you your pulse (HR). When you train at altitude, your SpO2 levels decrease and your HR tends to increase.

This pulse ox comes with its own little carry case and a lanyard which is useful if you use it when exercising like I do. It’s useful to keep an eye on your SpO2 levels when training at altitude to ensure they don’t go to low. Over time, you’ll be able to see how you acclimatise to training at altitude and working out at sea level will seem so much easier!

3. Abel & Cole Fruit and Veg Box

Here’s a short diary of an Abel & Cole medium fruit and veg box:  

Apples – Carrot, apple & ginger juice
Baby spinach – Spinach frittata 
Bananas – Smoothies, w/ almond butter 
Green cabbage – Gave to Mum 
Leeks, Potatoes – Leek and potato soup 
Strawberries – Chia pudding topping
Fennel – to be used (probably will juice)
White onions – Leek and potato soup, Spinach frittata

Everything is organic and fresh. I love that you can see what’s coming in your box via the website where you can also substitute things that you may not want / need that particular week. Delivery takes place on a specified day and if you are not in, they leave it somewhere for you (outside my private front door for me).

I haven’t fully gotten through my second box, so I’ve postponed my third box for another week. At £18.75 plus delivery (£1.25) I don’t really want anything to go to waste. There was also the option to get a smaller box or just fruit / just veg but I’m keen to increase my fruit and veg intake so the more the merrier!

Abel & Cole also sell meat boxes and quite a few other alternatives which I am keen to try out in addition to regular groceries!

4. ProteinWorks Diet Protein Truffles *

What a treat for when I finished my whole30 and great for my post triathlon munchies! I tried out the Mint Chocolate flavour which has to be a favourite combination of mine anyway! They come individually wrapped so you can pop a couple in your handbag / training bag to snack on when you’r ready. Idid make the mistake (only once, never again) of putting one in my cycle jersey during my triathlon and the combination of body heat and good weather meant it looked less than appetising when I went to eat it!

Each individual truffle (30g) is just 96kcal with 10.2g of protein. Such a simple and healthy indulgent way to boost your protein intake during a day! {check them out here}

5. TomTom Multisport Cardio GPS Watch* 

I’ve been wearing this watch on my wrist almost religiously for about 8 weeks now. The main reason being that it can track all the activities I currently take part in – swimming, running and cycling. Swimming was the side of the watch I was most keen to get to know – as a new swimmer I find it hard to keep track of my laps so I wanted to be able to do so with the watch. I haven’t found it too be 100% accurate for swimming; I’d say it misses off a good 30% of the laps I do. This may be down to switching stroke and / or not pushing off hard enough from the wall.

Tracking runs is pretty straightforward. It uses GPS so once you update the maps regularly it doesn’t take too long to lock into the satellites. I love that it also measures heart rate when running (and cycling, but not swimming unless you choose the freestyle mode but you need to be outdoors!). Recently, TomTom integrated with Nike+ so you can upload your runs to the Nike+ website. This was a huge win for me as I have the last 8 years of running and fitness data on my Nike+ account so would rather keep it going than switch over to a completely new system.

I used the watch in my triathlon the other day on freestyle mode. It was great to be able to see how I was performing in cycling as I’ve never had a bike computer since taking up cycling again in my adulthood. I also have a record of all my splits for the different events so will be able to compare when I do my next triathlon. This only worked though because the swim was open water so GPS was available.

There is so much I could tell you about this watch, it probably warrants its own post so I will potentially look to do that in the near future.

What products have been loving over the past month?! What products are on your wishlist to try?! 

Elle 🙂 

p.s products with a *, I received complimentary either for review or just by chance (yes, this happens!) but as always all opinions are my very own!