Fitness Review: Hypoxi at The Urbane Body, Subiaco.

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The Urbane Body clinic is housed in a beautiful converted cottage on Hay St. I met Nirav, who looked after me for my first visit and gave me some forms to fill in (medical history, disclaimers). He asked what I knew of HYPOXI (embarrassingly little) and explained it in simple terms: HYPOXI works by directing vacuum pressure at certain areas of the body, stimulating better circulation and shifting weight from that area.

To do that, HYPOXI consists of a collection of machines, each one designed to “shut off” a portion of the body and create a vacuum around it as you exercise. In my case, because my problem area is my thighs, I was using a machine that encased my body below the waist. And that first session was a little unnerving – the vacuum works in cycles, and thus will ”deflate” and then begin to build again. My later sessions were more comfortable since I knew what to expect.

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Very little was required of me during the session – there is a cycle setup inside the machine, and I was asked to pedal for 30 minutes. I was very dubious about my ability to do so in the first session, but the screen is clearly visible whilst doing your treatment and the idea is not to go all-out into cardio mode (in this case defined as a BPM above 125) but to stay in the 120-125 mode, which while not being lazy, isn’t a gym-workout speed either. I was surprised at how easily you can control your own heart rate – when I was too high I found a single long exhalation of breath was enough to slow it down drastically (I’m rather comforted by this). Also since I was lying down I didn’t find it anywhere near as challenging as I find cycling in general and the pressure vacuum inside the chamber really helps – your legs feel heavy when the pressure empties out.

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I was advised to eat a full meal an hour beforehand, because you cannot eat for 4 hours afterwards. Nirav also recommended eliminating caffeine, since the HYPOXI treats it as a toxin. You should also continue your normal exercise routine alongside the treatments, and considering you must do three HYPOXI sessions a week for the effects to work, I did have trouble fitting this upsurge of exercise in.
You are measured once a week and my results initially were modest. As the month rolled on though they improved, and I ended up losing 22cm (in diameter) combined from my thighs, bum and hips – from twelve sessions, a months worth.

I went to my gym for a fresh assessment afterwards (unrelated – I just needed to get a new one done) and when I was measured there the results were the same. Which is not to cast doubt over The Urbane Body, but to stress that I was also measured by a neutral party. I didn’t really lose any weight over the period – but I’d also had to skip gym sessions to fit all the HYPOXI in. Which is the only issue for me – it’s speedy and effective, but to get the most out of it you need to be additionally exercising regularly, and for anyone working full-time (or even part time) it’s a challenge.

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Ultimately it was an effective process and a pleasant exercise supplement – in beautiful surrounds and attentive staff. I would advise some serious time management if you decided to undertake it, however. I would also consider it an expensive process – but having seen how advanced the machines are, how much space they take up and how much staff monitoring is required – it made sense.

You can look a little closer at the process at The Urbane Body, or the HYPOXI website itself.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the comments section! Any questions?

Review by Suzanne @ Don’t They Know Who I Am?

Be well,

xoxo

Posted in Alternative Therapy, Exercise | 4 Comments »

Beauty & Wellbeing Routine: Candice Aiken, Holistic Health & Lifestyle Coach and Local Blogger @ Co-Inside!

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♥ First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hiya Wellness WA-ians. My name is Candice and I am a writer, speaker, holistic health & lifestyle coach, co-owner of an organic food co-op and spirit junkie.

Having spent many years of my life battling with weight gain, in and out of doctors with every illness under the sun, I was always searching for the ‘meaning’ of my life. It was when my husband and soul mate of 9 years was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010 that I was really given the slap across the face I needed to change my life for the better. We took our health into our own hands and used natural treatments (such as meditation, yoga, journaling, juices, smoothies & learning to love ourselves) and I was able to rid myself of the mental and physical weight I’d been carrying around for so long.

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With the burning desire to share our learning’s with the world, we created a website, Co-Inside Wellbeing, which is updated regularly with oh-so amazing health tips, as well as words of inspiration and kick-ass ‘mostly raw’ food recipes to inspire people to choose health and love life, just as I have done. FINALLY I have found my passion and the meaning of my life… to help as many people that I possibly can to feel amazing through my website, e-books, health coaching and lectures.

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♥ Tell us about your daily beauty routine.

Since embracing organic and natural products, my beauty routine has become quite simple.

• I start the day with a huge glass of water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. I say an affirmation to myself into the mirror which is usually… ‘I love and approve of myself’ (very powerful words!).
• I am slightly obsessed with Aromabals’ white clay wash rocks in banana/coconut right now so that’s my face wash/body wash and perfume as the scent lasts all day.
• I wash my hair every couple of days with Vanessa Megan. I have tried a ton of ‘natural’ shampoos and conditions and have found this is the only one that leaves my hair feeling silky and smooth (and without the added nasties).

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• I like to mix it up with my cosmetics and I am always trying new and exciting mineral make up, so I alternate brands often. At the moment I use bare minerals mascara, Inika blush and Nude foundation powder.

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• Once a week I indulge in a face mask. If I don’t make one myself then I slather on my favourite Halka B Cacao and Argan Mask – it’s divine!
• Every night before I go to bed I wash my face with water and wipe off excess make-up with Wot-Not Facial Wipes.
• 8 hours sleep is a MUST – this is the most important part of my beauty routine.

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♥ What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

Colonic hydrotherapy! I believe the colon is the absolute cornerstone of health and wellbeing. A clean colon means proper elimination of toxins (which means amazing skin) as well as the ability to absorb important nutrients, and of course weight loss. I see Sue Munro at the Rejuvenation Centre in West Leederville once or twice a year and have done so for 7 years. The woman is a miracle worker.

♥ Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

Kelly Scafidi, without a doubt. This hair goddess of mine works out of her home in Highgate and brings my hair back to life every time I see her. I met Kelly around 3 years ago when she was at Lee Preston, after saving me from a tear-inducing ‘hair style’ from another salon. Though I no longer dye my hair, I will still travel all the way to see Kelly for one of her perfect cuts and a refreshing chat about life.

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♥ Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

I make a lot of my own skincare products at home such as masks, face oils and toners. Nature has provided many ‘products’ for us to use straight out of the ground that need little or no intervention – thankfully I grow some of these in my garden.

One of my favourite budget treatments came about when I was making a raw dessert and suddenly had the urge to smother raw honey all over my face. I listened to my intuition and 10 minutes later had skin softer than a baby’s bottom!

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♥ Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

1. Coconut Oil – makes a fabulous moisturizer, hair treatment and an amazing addition to raw desserts and green smoothies. I even use it on my pups when they cut or graze themselves. You can use it for absolutely everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!
2. Apple Cider Vinegar – Again, it’s a product with a gazillion purposes. Fabulous for weight loss, indigestion and great in a homemade face toner. And it’s super cheap too!
3. Wotnot facial wipes – these are the only 100% natural facewipes with certified organic ingredients I’ve found and they’re amazing. Perth recently had a shortage so I was forced to use another brand for a few months. As soon as the supplier had them back in stock I bought 10! haha

♥ Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

I have five super simple rules that I live by:

1. KISS – Keep it simple sister! I apply this motto to my life in general (less stuff + less commitments = less stress). And when it comes to beauty, I’ve never felt more amazing than when I am just wearing a smile and nothing else.

2. Drink up – Water is incredible for eliminating toxins, is seriously energizing and can prevent fatigue, also when consumed first thing in the morning… gets the ol’ bowels moving. Seriously amazing stuff!

3. Laugh at everything, including yourself – ‘They’ say laughter is the best medicine and I would have to agree on this one. If I am feeling a bit off at any point, I find that laughing at myself or the situation always brings me right out of the dumps and into a much nicer place.

4. Eat organic or grow your own – I’ve been organic for quite a few years now and I feel great knowing that I am avoiding ingesting toxic pesticides and doing my bit for the planet. I also have my own vegie patch where I grow organic herbs & vegies. I find it very healing and ultra-satisfying being able to pick my produce straight out of the ground.

5. Do what you love and love what you do – find your passion and you will never work a day in your life, plus you will be the happiest version of yourself and this in itself is anti-ageing!

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♥ What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet?

I have SOOO many wellbeing activities and events on my vision board, here are the top five coming up I’ve unleashed my manifesting monster on…

1. Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within in Sydney
2. Marie Forleo’s Rich, Happy and Hot Live in New York
3. In The Wake of Our Spiritual Ancestors – Cruising the Mediterranean with Dr Wayne Dyer
4. David Wolfe’s New Year’s Celebration Retreat in Hawaii
5. Leonie Dawson’s Business Goddess Rainforest Retreat in far north QLD

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♥ Describe a typical day of eating for you.

Oh yay, my favourite subject… food! 🙂 I actually eat A LOT. I’ve never really been a 3 square meals kind of gal and so I eat small meals frequently. Here’s what my day usually looks like:

First thing – A huge glass of filtered water with Apple Cider Vinegar (then a ton of water throughout the day)

Breakfast – A gigantic green smoothie filled with kale, celery, banana, vital greens, spirulina or chlorella & water, or if I am feeling adventurous then I will have a homemade buckwheat cereal with almond milk (here’s the recipe)

Lunch – Usually a gigantic green salad with avocado and a dressing of olive oil, wakame leaf, cayenne pepper, Celtic sea salt & nutritional yeast. Every now and then I will have millet, amaranth or quinoa pilaf.

Dinner – Either one of the following: tempeh burgers, kelp noodles (yummo!), raw pizza, organic sourdough toast with avo/tomato/coriander/hemp seeds & Halka B’s edible argan oil (my new fav) or a big salad similar to lunch. I have also been known to have raw dessert for dinner on various occasions (such as choc chia pudding or raw lemon cheesecake)… mostly when I remember I am an adult and I can eat what I want. Haha.

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Snacks – seasonal fruit, smoothies, my homemade raw power balls, activated nuts, carrot sticks or crackers with homemade hummus or ‘coconut mylk’ luvju chocolate by Loving Earth.

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♥ Describe your fitness routine.

• Yoga, meditation and journaling are all part of my daily fitness routine. I believe the mind, body AND soul need to be ‘exercised’.
• My two dogs play a huge part in my life and when they are not throwing themselves in front of cars, my hubby and I take them out for a run, which is a great excuse to get some fresh air.
• You will also find me bouncing away on my rebounder (thanks to advice from Louise Hay) – it’s fabulous for many things including a good laugh, especially when the dogs try and bounce with me, but in particular it’s amAAAzing for stimulating the lymphatic system

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♥ Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

My life is considered an alternative therapy. Haha. I drink green smoothies daily, I juice, I have spirulina, chlorella and E3live on a daily basis, I use essential oils, I get massages, I meditate, I do coffee enemas (seriously!) and every few months I take part in a cleanse or a 3 day juice fast.

I follow a 100% organic, high raw, plant- based diet but I have tests to make sure I’m tracking well and alter my diet accordingly. In that respect, I do take a few supplements that I feel I need at the time. Right now I am taking krill oil, zeolite, mega hydrate & vitamin D3 drops (just until the sun comes back out for me to bask in).

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♥ How do you like to relax? What are your favourite ways to de-stress?

One of my favourite ways to relax is with my puppalups. I find that just being in their presence de-stresses me like no other activity ever could. They are so problem-free, care-free, and full of a bucketload of unconditional love that you have no other option than to be the same around them. When they have had enough of my smothering, I also turn to anything I’m passionate about to relax such as yoga, reading books, listening to Brian Johnson’s philosopher’s notes (which I’m lovin’ right now!), writing or just being with Curtis and talking about our future and big dreams. ♥

Thanks Candice! Check out Co-Inside Wellbeing if you’re interested in finding out more, and leave a comment below if you have any questions!

What do you think of Candice’s routine?

Be well,

xoxo

Posted in Alternative Therapy, Organic, Wellness Tips | 11 Comments »

Beauty & Wellbeing Crushes: Vegan Chocolate, Organic Muesli, Iridology & Steam Rooms!

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Crushes are abound this week! And I’m excited to share with you the top 5 things that are making my body sing with delight, as always I’d love you to share what’s making YOU go yay this week – so please leave a comment below and share the good feelings!

♥ Organic Muesli & Coconut Water for Breakfast

I’m not much of a cold cereal girl. Give me porridge or a green smoothie and I’m good to go. So I’m not sure what drew me to this organic muesli when I spied it on the shelf, but I knew it had to be mine. With all organic ingredients and not a preservative in sight, I was very happy to discover that it is also incredibly tasty. Sulphite free dried apricots, raisins, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds and pumpkin seeds are all added goodies which make this super delicious. My breakfast this morning was a triple whammy of organic goodness, with the muesli + C coconut water + soy milk all being of non-pesticide origin.

As an added bonus this brekky made me feel awesome and gave me lots of sustained energy. It’s a keeper!

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♥ Eskal Raspberry Vegan Chocolate

Sweet baby hound dogs this stuff is delish. I’m always on the hunt for healthy chocolate alternatives; and this raspberry dark chocolate treat definitely does the trick. So much so in fact that the three blocks that I was sent for consideration all managed to disappear within the space of a week… “Dark chocolate is good for your health!”. The bitter-sweetness of the chocolate, mixed with the crushed up bits of raspberry make this my latest fave. YUM!

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♥ Iridology and VLA and Naturopathy Consultation at Endota

Things got a little Frankenstein-y when my current naturopath, Marnie Downer, ran the verrrry interesting VLA test on me! I learned that for optimal health and wellness I should put on 4 kilos (!!!) – 3 of them muscle, 1 fat. I also found out that my cells were all nice and plump, which is a good thing. And that my cellular age is 26 (I’m currently 27.999), but we can get this down even further if I get my muscle mass up. Marnie operates out of Endota Spa Perth CBD & also a clinic in Mt Lawley. I will be doing a more thorough review soon, so stay tuned!

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♥ Sauna and Steam Room

One of my favourite parts of going to the gym is heading to the steam room and sauna after I’ve taken a yoga class, completed my mini weights routine or done my Couch-to-5K session! I absolutely love, love, love the glow that my skin gets afterwards, and I find that it completely relaxes me and I feel great for the rest of the evening. The only thing is that I’ve found I don’t sweat in the sauna! I don’t know why, maybe I am not staying in there long enough. Any sauna experts care to share their tips? Everyone else in the sauna is sweating up a storm and I’m there dry as a soy bone. Enlighten me if you can! 🙂

Thanks for reading about my crushes, I would LOVE to hear yours! Please share your current joy snippets in the comments below.

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Posted in Alternative Therapy, Food, Products, Wellness Tips | 8 Comments »

Healthy Snack Review: Modern Day Hippie Organic Snack Mixes.

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I’ve never been a three meals a day kinda girl. I love to eat when I feel like it, and this involves quite a lot of snacking and grazing throughout the day. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but there are definitely times when the snacking habit I’ve gotten into works against me! Sometimes it’s hard to say no to a bit of chocolate, or a sneaky vegan sausage roll instead of something healthier.

So! I’m always delighted when I come across new and healthy snack options that promise to help me overcome my need for chocolate and instead satisfy my sweet tooth with something more nourishing.

Enter Modern Day Hippie, the latest DIY snack range on the market proving that guilt-free treats are just a food processor away. All you need to do is blend, roll and refrigerate and a whole stack of treats will be ready for you in an hour.

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My housemate and I tried the ‘Sweet and Simple‘ flavour to start with, which contains apricots, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, agave, coconut oil and vanilla extract (all organic). As you can see in the photo above the apricots haven’t been gassed with sulphur dioxide (a preservative which helps dried apricots maintain their orange colour), this is a very positive thing health wise as sulphur dioxide, or preservative 220, isn’t good for your health.

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Dry ingredients into the blender! Unfortunately just after this, we discovered that you definitely need a food processor in order to make these balls, so we transferred the ingredients over to our new Thermomix!

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The sachet of wet ingredients before being added to the mix.

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Post-Thermomix. Note: you can still see a lot of the whole ingredients here (sesame seeds etc) I recommend processing until they are completely broken down and joined together as it tastes even better… see below.

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As you can see, the balls on the left have been processed for longer than the ones on the right and were easier and tastier to eat. We made 35 small snack balls all up and enjoyed munching on them throughout the week.

The cost for the mixes is $13 on the Modern Day Hippie online store, which I think is a great price for the number that it makes and how healthy they are! I’m going to be trying the Choc Cherry one next, can’t wait! 🙂

Do you like the look of these healthy, organic snacks?

* Products provided for consideration.

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Posted in Food, Products, Reviews | 6 Comments »

A Few Weeks in the Wellness Life: Puppies, Green Smoothies, Kale Flowers & More!

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Take a look at some of the things that have been keeping my wellbeing buzzing the past few weeks! Starting with the gorgeous roast veggies with olive oil above… I just love the colours, and they were deeeeee-licious!

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Yummy grilled mushroom, tomato, haloumi, rocket and spinach stack with pesto & some delicious soy sauce type thing! Washed down with a green smoothie – it is of course still Green July!

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Speaking of Green July, here’s a yummy smoothie I prepared a few days ago. I’ve just started getting into smoothies with lemon, apple, greens and UDO’s Oil in them and am LOVING the combo!

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I had the opportunity to check out Vanity Box Skin Couture this weekend just past, and let me tell you – it is incredible! I’ll be giving you an in-depth look at this one-of-a-kind salon in the next few weeks, but let it be known this place is in a class of its own! Check out the website for some stunning visuals!

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I have cute writers! The lovely Adriane sipping on an Eden’s Green Smoothie. These are the best, and she is pretty good too.

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My boyfriend is sweet and bought me kale flowers after we had an argument, they are so pretty!

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MORE Green Smoothie goodness, I’m a bit obsessed at the moment, in case you couldn’t tell ;)!

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One of my all time favourite combos. Magnesium bath salts and a relaxing bath oil. Ulllllltimate bliss. I’ve found that I’m having way more baths than usual at the moment due to the cold weather, anyone else?!

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And last but not least, my little houndly obsession for a few weeks – this pup was in the office I’m interning at for a while, and I was in love. Unfortunately now she is gone, but too cute not to post a pic.

Thanks for reading 🙂 If you have any questions be sure to let me know!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Posted in Products, Wellness Tips | 9 Comments »