I'm off to Portugal tomorrow for 12 days and have decided to go completely off the grid which means no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 4sq, Swarm, Whatsapp, FB messenger and not even email. 

Now, you need to understand, this is quite a radical move for me and I openly admit that it's going to be difficult! I'm fully expecting some withdrawl symptoms. Constantly checking for updates in my news feed, obsessing over how many likes my posts got and (probably) over-sharing has become the norm for me as I suspect it has for our generation of tech-savvy, social bunnies. 

This is a personal challenge to prove to myself that I can still function and enjoy life without my iPhone as an extra limb and without the burning desire to share everything and yes...it's ironic in itself that I have chosen to announce this challenge via my blog and ultimately via Twitter and Facebook :) 

It's time to live in the moment, to dig out my dslr and take photos (even selfies) without posting them immediately, to see and savour things just for myself, to create the memories in my brain, to stimulate all my senses and remember how I experienced a place by its scent, its touch, its vistas and its sounds. 

When I come back, I'll have stories to tell, that you haven't already seen and heard.

This is my cool hubby diving into lake Näsijärvi in Tampere, Finland with his brand new Go Pro camera. 

This time, while in Russia, I visited my first ever dacha. Dachas are typical family-owned countryside cottages providing people a welcome escape from the rush of big city life. We hopped on a local train to get there. The dacha was only about 50km but the slow train took an hour. Nevertheless, the journey was pretty relaxing and not at all crowded. What intrigued me intensely were the random vendors of very random things who appeared every now and then in the train carriage flogging their goods. Even more surprising is that people actually bought some of their junk :)

At the dacha we had a superb lunch with friends and their family. I tried a cold soup called Okroshka for the first time ever. Everyone expected me not to like it, but I actually really enjoyed it. I'll try anything once ;) It's quite odd because it has a carbonated, very slight fizziness to it as it's made from Kvass - a traditional fermented home-brew made from rye bread. Our friends of course tried to fool me, telling me that the sausage in the soup was from bear! Of course ;)

At home, we had porridge made from buckwheat which was something new for me but is apparently very popular in Eastern Europe and in slavic cuisine. Kasha from grechka - buckwheat groats -  soaked overnight, boiled and then mixed with a knob of butter, yum!

It's really great to try out new local delicacies, especially since there are quite different things on offer according to the season.

We had a rather culturally-rich trip to Saint Petersburg too, visiting the Russian Museum, where I first encountered and immediately loved the works of 19th Century painter Ivan Aivazowsky.

Another highlight was our visit to New Holland, a small island right in the centre of Saint Petersburg. The island dates back to 1719 and gets its name from the Dutch shipbuilders that Peter the Great brought in to work along the River Neva. Property of the Russian Navy, it had been left in relative disrepair for many years. Only in the year 2000 was it given to the city and its future development was up for tender. Nowadays, the first phase of the island's urban regeneration is complete and when you go there you find a fantastic little green hideaway right in the middle of a concrete jungle. At the moment there are a couple of restaurants, ping-pong tables and aesthetically pleasing grassy spaces, where you'll find young couples, families and pensioners relaxing outside in the sun. It definitely has a funky feeling, even slight dare-I-say-it, hipster vibe, and I can't wait to see what the island looks like next time we visit the city!

Looking forward to next time!

Protein shakes and supplements are all the rage nowadays! Have they suddenly become trendy and mainstream or is it just that I'm more aware of them since I bought my first ever 4 kg bucket of whey protein?

Nevertheless, after reading various blogs and articles about the benefits of protein supplements and after hearing recommendations from fitness trainers at the gym, it all makes rather a lot of sense to me.

I had serious issues with the natural (or flavour-free) whey protein powder. A normal shake from that literally made me gag. It's tastes absolutely disgusting. I tried various things to disguise the taste, including mix it vigourously with peanut butter. It worked, but it's quite a lot of hassle. Then, one day, I met a friend at the gym and we got to discussing the fact that it tasted so horrible and after the class she made me a shake from chocolate flavoured whey protein which had been sweetened with Stevia (that's a whole other story). It was delicious!!

I more or less went straight home and ordered a big bucket for myself, whereas my fiancé sticks to the natural-flavoured stuff, occasionally 'borrowing' the chocolate one ;)

The whey protein I use is made in Sweden and is called SELF 100% Micro Whey Active (no harm in a little product placement ;)). So far, I'd highly recommend it in terms of value for money, flavour, and product quality. I genuinely feel like it has helped my recovery, even after only a week of using it. I feel stronger and muscles ache less!

All Photo Rights belong to Self Omninutrition

I'm keen to hear what you guys think!

Do you use protein shakes? What kind and why? Have you noticed a difference in your recovery after training and subsequent performance as a result? Are you totally against supplements in any way, shape or form? Why?

*Please note, taking this protein does not make you a body-builder and does not equate to using steroids or any other ridiculous notions :)

It's a fair question. If you still care to remember, I started my blog very vigourously indeed back in January, posting new content every couple of days and then all of a sudden, I stopped. Life got in the way :)

This spring turned out to be quite eventful. Since I last shared stuff with you quite a few pretty big things happened to me. I was proposed to , I passed the Finnish Language test, started a new job, travelled to Italy and ate like a horse, did a professional "Happy Couple" photo shoot and began organising our small slim Scottish-Russian wedding ;)

Everything is under control. Wow, and summer is here. Life is beautiful.

I started cycling to work and back a few days a week, which is an 19km round trip. It's exhilerating and liberating to feel the wind in your face (except when things fly into and get stuck in your eye) and to know that you are free and rely purely on yourself to get to where you need to go.

I started baking bread. This is a great recipe for sundried tomato soda bread baps. I typically make a batch and it does me every morning for nearly a week for breakfast. Yum.

I got BodyBalance back into my fitness routine as I know that stretching (a core benefit of that class, in addition to building strength and felxibility) is something I'm really bad at doing on a regular basis.

We bought ourselves a food processor and it has been the absolute best investment ever. We churn out smoothies from it all the time and use it for making the bread dough and slicing/chopping/whisking and all that good stuff. Love it.

I will be getting back into my blog, so please stay tuned. Peace to one and all.

1. Squeeze your running shoes into your luggage. You can always find half an hour to head out for a jog and it's a great way to see the town or city you're having your meeting in!

2. Wherever possible, choose a hotel with a swimming pool. A pre-breakfast dip will wake you up and fill you with energy for the day! 

3. Be smart at eating times: if there's a buffet, avoid the potatoes, pasta, rice and bread and fill up instead on veggies for good brain power. If it's a set meal, ask for extra veg and/or salad instead of your side of potatoes. Most restaurants will oblige and you'll feel lighter and less sleepy in the meeting too! 

4. Swap the caffeine for some fresh air during coffee breaks - get outside even for 5 minutes for the perfect pick-me-up! Go for green or peppermint tea instead of coffee at every break. It will cleanse your body and mind.

5. Use the stairs in your hotel and meeting/conference venue. Only lazy people head for the lift. Let's face it, it's probably the only exercise you'll get all day! 

Is it possible to stay healthy when you travel, especially abroad, for work?

There are a number of reasons why a trip can mess up your healthy-lifestyle:

1. Your entire routine is turned upside-down in one fell swoop!
2. More often than not you cannot choose the food you'll be served during the trip. It's likely that you'll have set-menus at business lunches and dinners, not to mention the plane food.
3. You move your body significantly less than you do normally, leading to lethargy, bloating and potential extra kilos!
4. At most meetings, coffee is served throughout the day, usually accompanies by sweet treats. You must be really strong-willed to resist.
5. Sleep quality and quantity can easily suffer due to unfamiliar and unpredictable surroundings.

I've just finished a 3 day work trip in Germany and before I left I was really dreading the implications it might have on my normal healthy approach to living. Travelling in itself is pretty stressful for the body and at the moment I feel bloated, stiff and pretty exhausted in general. I am such a creature of habit and even on a short trip I miss my daily routines, the ability to control what I eat and most of all - working out!

Stay tuned for some tips on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle while travelling!

I'm trying to get my head around the whole endurance aspect. I compared my last 4 Spinning workouts (below, date order from right to left) to see if I'm getting any closer to the target range of 65-75% of maximum heart rate. Apparently not!

I have the real-time heart rate measurements on my wrist, so why is it hard to keep within the defined range? 

1. I want to sweat like crazy and feel like I've had the best workout of the week so I push it hard and my heart rate responds accordingly :) 
2. I get lost in the music and just forget to check the watch
3. I would just feel lame sitting on the bike keeping my heart rate down while everyone else is running or hill-climbing! 

I'm wondering if I'll eventually just get fitter aerobically and then my heart won't work as hard to do the same thing. Is it just a matter of time, or do I need to be really anal about checking my heart rate constantly and adjusting my effort appropriately? 

Just before Christmas last year I fell in love.

I didn't see it coming at all. So unexpected, yet thrilling and addictive! I have a feeling it's going to last.

I opened my arms wide and welcomed...SPINNING into my fitness regime. Admittedly, the very first time I flirted with Spinning, the experience was truly bizarre. It was about 3 years ago and it turned out to be a virtual spinning class. So, there I was in the class, staring bewilderedly at the rather flimsy-looking bikes around the perimeter of the room, thinking to myself...

Clumsily, I set up my bike and started following a DVD of some wee guy riding through what appeared to be the Rocky Mountains. I suffered on through the boredom and left feeling very weird. That spelt the end of our brief encounter.

3 years later, in need of some lower joint-impact exercise, I ventured back into the Spinning room, but this time I made sure there would be an instructor. It was a 30 minute class in which I literally nearly died. The 30 minutes were spent trying to breathe while frantically clock-watching praying the pain would end soon!

However, like a total sucker for punishment, just before Christmas I decided to give it one more try by going to a 1 hour endurance Spinning class. I had another reason to be skeptical about this particular class and it was because of the instructor. I'd previously tried her kettle-bell class, hated it and promised myself never to go to her classes again!

The result? I was hooked, it was really great fun! I even saw a bit of myself in the instructor. She is a fitness-freak, loves her music, carefully chooses playlists for the class and TURNS UP the volume: an excellent motivator! I like her anecdotal approach, filling in the gaps in tracks with some wee stories. Granted, they are in Finnish language but I try my best :)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Spinning, it's a calorie-burning cardio workout on a stationary bike. You control how fast you pedal and the level of resistance from the bike. There is (usually!) an instructor telling you how to follow the intervals, stand up, climb hills and sprint etc.

In endurance Spinning, the idea is to keep your heart rate between 65-75% of its maximum. I haven't quite mastered that yet because when I feel like I'm capable of working harder, why should I cool it down!?

If you're a first timer, it's CRUCIAL that you ask the instructor to help you set up the bike to suit your height and to explain why the adjustments are made like that.

Take it from someone who was initially very skeptical about Spinning that it can be a lot of fun, not to mention a killer calorie-burning workout for the legs, bum and your cardio fitness.

Don't be shy, give it a try!