Sony Lifelog and SWR10 Smart Band

One of the hardest things to do when you change your lifestyle is keeping track of what you are doing, the usual questions,
how much activity have I done? how many calories have I burned? am I eating too much? am I eating enough? how did I sleep last night?
Sony has come up with a solution with its Lifelog app and smart band.
The band cost £39.00 which was a half price offer when I got my Z2, this is a lot less than bands from Samsung and other fitness monitoring bands.

The Band.
The smart band consists of a silicon band and a core, its the core that's the clever bit, it is full of sensors and monitors what you are doing 24//7.
The band comes in two sizes so everyone should be able to find one that fits, it also comes in a rainbow of colours for the more fashion conscious amongst you. I use the fluorescent yellow, this is because if  I catch the band whilst mountain biking and drop it, if its yellow I stand a very good chance of finding it again.
The core fits inside the band and operation is simplicity itself, once activated and paired with the phone, either via Bluetooth or NFC the band is active and starts recording, there is one button which switches between day and night mode, there is also the option of auto switch over at set times if you follow a set routine.
There is also a neat little function with the band, it can control other apps, either your music player or camera or many others, I use the music option, a short press of the button and a combination of taps on the band and the music can be played/ stopped, next or previous track selected.
The band also has a vibrate mode which can be set for various notifications. Since using the band I haven't missed a single call.
There is a smart alarm mode, which you set the latest time for an alarm and the band will monitor your sleep pattern and wake you when you are at the lightest sleep within your selected window, leaving you feeling more refreshed than if woken from deep sleep.
The band is also ip58 rated which means it will cope with the rain, swimming, showering or a bath, or a dirty, dusty environment, I work as an engineer at a factory producing furniture which as you can imagine is a hostile environment, lots of dust, heat, and greasy machines, the band copes with it all and when it gets dirty I just wash it under the nearest tap.
Core is charged via the standard micro usb lead, a full charge takes about 20 minutes and lasts 5 days.
I usually charge mine whilst driving the car, this way I don't miss out on any monitoring.

The App.
The Lifelog app takes all the information from the band and makes sense of it all.
When you first use the app an account is set up which has information such as your D.O.B. your height and your weight, this information is used to determine your stride length's and calorie burn.
It's worth measuring you stride length since the automatic mode guessed my stride length at over 3ft.

There are 14 aspects of your day to day life recorded.
These are shown below.

The overall screen show's a summery of the day,
the longer you watch videos the bigger the circle.


Sleep Logging,
once in night mode the app records your sleep cycle and the time spent in deep sleep and light sleep. and any waking time.
Since I do shift work and my body clock is in early mode I tend to wake up around 4-5am and go back to sleep if I don't have to get up.
On nights where I wake up feeling like I have had a bad nights sleep my deep sleep tends to be very short.


Calorie burn.
Everybody has a base rate of calorie burn, this is the energy used by your body just to stay alive.
the additional calories are burned by exercise that you do.
I have noticed that my biggest problem is I don't eat enough, this causes my body to go into starvation mode
 and makes weight loss more difficult.

 the steps are a good indication of the amount of activity you do. you should aim for around 7500 steps a day, Due to my job I spend a lot of time on my feet and easily beat this everyday.










I would recommend the band and app to everyone whether they are dieting, keeping fit or just living day to day.
the insights I have gained from the app have helped all aspects of my journey, I am sleeping better, eating better, exercising more, my wife also has a band and we regularly compare results, turning it into a mini competition as to who can do the most steps or walk the longest.
The alert function make it worth wearing alone, I haven't missed a single call since wearing the band, before I was always calling people back sometimes hours later.

The only draw back of the band is also one of its strengths - I wish the band had a display, even just a watch, on the other hand if it did I would be taking it off whenever it looked like I was going to get my hands dirty.


The Tech Stuff.

Compatible

• SmartBand SWR10 and Lifelog Android app support devices running Android 4.4 and later. Devices must support Bluetooth® 4 Low Energy.

Requirements

• Android 4.4
• Bluetooth® 4.0 Low Energy (BLE)
• Lifelog app
• Smart Connect app
• SmartBand host app

Indicators

• 3 LED

Optional accessories

• Wrist straps in 9 colours (sold separately)

  Colours

  • Black

  Waterproof

  • IP58 rated

  Controls

  • Life Bookmark key
  • Media remote (tap function)

  Connectors

  • Bluetooth® 4.0 Low Energy (BLE)
  • NFC pairing/connecting
  • Micro USB (charging) only, no data transfer

Myth busting

After a spot of web surfing there seems to be several snippets of information repeated continuously, this really annoys me, so here goes my attempt at busting the top 5 fitness myths.

Myth #1:
the most common advice seems to be Take diet pills to boost your effort.
It's so tempting! The commercials make compelling claims about the power of diet pills, but don't fall for it. The 'magic pill' has yet to be discovered. Diet pills are more likely to damage your health and burn your cash than to burn your calories. 

Tip: Don't pop a pill-instead burn calories with exercise.

Myth #2:
Starve the pounds away. 

Attempting to lose weight by starving yourself is not only ineffective, it's also dangerous.
It may seem that severe calorie restriction would deliver the quickest weight loss, but your body is complex and by doing so you'll disrupt your metabolism and slow your results. 

Tip: restrict your input to about 500 calories below your output, Don't starve yourself  -  instead eat healthy small meals throughout the day. 

Myth #3:
Do extra crunches to flatten your abs.

Everyone wants their midsection to look toned as we stroll down the beach, but excessive crunches aren't the answer for tight abs. In order to achieve a lean look you'll have to focus on burning off the layer of fat that is covering up your abs.

Tip: Don't obsess about crunches-instead focus on fat burning.

Myth #4:
Eat packaged diet foods for speedy results.
I find it amazing the foods that are packaged as diet foods, zero fat, low calorie foods that contain lots of refined sugar and artificial ingredients that your body doesn't need.  Diet soda's are the worst.

Tip: Don't eat packaged diet foods-instead stick with nutritious whole foods.

Myth #5:
Avoid all carbohydrates in order to slim down.

Carbohydrates have been given a bad rap, which is unfortunate because you can (and should) eat carbs while losing weight. The key is to stick with whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice while avoiding processed and refined flours and sugars. 

Tip: Don't stop eating  all carbohydrates - just reduce them and stick with wholesome carbs.


So to sum up

Cut out the junk.

Start by purging your kitchen. Get rid of sugary, processed foods. Once the junk has been cleared out don't buy any more of it.

Eat whole foods.

Replace the junk food with the following: cooked and raw vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, moderate amounts of seeds and nuts, lean meats and fish and dairy. Clean eating really is that simple. 

Give it a go, what do you have to lose?

Key Lime Pie

The problem with dieting is sometime you just want to cheat, I have a cheat day once a week and this weeks cheat was a Key Lime Pie, this is how I made it.

Ingredients
55g (2oz) of butter
140g (5oz) of digestive biscuits
3 eggs, separated
405g (14oz) of condensed milk
Zest and juice of 3 limes
85g(3oz) Caster sugar

How it do it.

melting the butter and biscuit mix

crushing the biscuit

Start by crushing the biscuits, melt the butter and add this to the biscuits, place the biscuit mixture into a 7" tin to form and even base, chill for 15 minutes.

Ready for the mix

preheat the oven to 180C 160C for fan ovens or gas mark 4.


Separate the eggs, mix the egg yolks with the condensed milk and mix together for 1 minute


separated eggs

then stir in the lime zest and juice, pour the mixture over the biscuit base and transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until set. remove from the oven and allow to cool.










With a clean whisk, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks form then fold in the caster sugar,
pour the meringue onto the pie and spread out making peaks as you go, return to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes until browned.
leave to cool and enjoy.

Simple and delicious

Why Mountain Bike?

I don't know what cycling is like in the rest of the world but here in the UK cycling is a nightmare.
I commute by cycle, my daily commute is 4.8 miles each way, this takes me between 15 and 25 minutes depending on the weather (I always seem to have a headwind only the intensity changes).
I regularly track my ride, and use a heart monitor to check calorie burn, this works out between 350 - 400 calories which I think is pretty good for something I have to do anyway.

So why mountain bike? in basic terms road riding sucks!
 The road I use is a country lane, a typical British B road, and Car drivers are rude and impatient, in the 5 months I have been commuting I have been clipped by several cars and had so many close calls it doesn't bear thinking about. My bike is 800mm wide with the 500 - 1000mm clearance to the gutter and trees makes me 1300 - 1800mm wide, since the road is 5m wide when a vehicle is coming towards me there is not enough room to overtake - do the maths!!!
I regularly get overtaken on blind corners, on the crest of a hill or on a roundabout, I have been overtaken whilst indicating that I am turning right, and regularly have people pull out in front of me. why?
I average 17mph with peak speeds of 30mph+ this means in most cases waiting 10 seconds would be enough to complete the move after the corner/over the hill and in the clear, in a nice safe manor.
Road riding is far more dangerous than throwing myself down a hill inches from trees at speeds of 40mph+
I am not for one moment insinuating that all car drivers are like this, I get overtaken by hundreds of cars and its just a few that ruin it for everyone, Cyclist have a bad image since like cars a select few ruin it for everyone, jumping red lights, overtaking on the inside and generally poor riding.
maybe all we need is a touch more tolerance for each other and the world would be a better place.

My next issue with road riding is, it's boring, the road is the road, the weather changes, and the gradient varies but that's it, I know that the road tomorrow will be the same as it is today and the same as it was yesterday. The trails I ride vary considerably, dry and dusty today, wet and sticky tomorrow or slippery the day after, mountain biking is a dynamic sport, a total body workout every time, and the skills constantly evolve. If you are a road cyclist I urge you to take a turn off road and see what you think. If you cycle in a gym, my advice - get a bike and hit the woods that way you get fresh air as well, or maybe cycle to the gym, that way your warm up and cardio are done by the time you get there.
I wish my commute could follow the less beaten track, it might introduce an element of fun then.

Enough moaning, I am going out for a ride.

Sony Xperia

FULL REVIEW WHEN I GET IT BACK - ITS BROKEN DOWN AND BEING SENT FOR REPAIR




I have been using the Z2 for about 2 months and thought it was about time to let my thoughts be known.

Why the Z2? - I Had the Samsung Note and it was time for an upgrade.
Having recently changed my job and with all the lifestyle changes my requirements for a phone had changed, top of my list was any phone needed to be water and more importantly dust resistant. this limited my choices to about 3 phones - The Sony Z1, The Sony Z2 and the Galaxy S5, My wife had a Z1 and as chance would have it my work colleague had just taken delivery of a new S5, Both were willing to let me have a play, Going from my Note I immediately felt at home with the S5, and this was the problem, if I was changing phone I wanted it to feel different, even though the OS went from jelly bean to kitkat, Samsungs touchwiz made the phone feel identical just a little faster.
The Z1, although still Android Jelly Bean, felt different with Sonys enhancements not as evident as touchwiz, my only dislike was the screen looked very yellow after the over saturated colours of the Samsung.
So Why the Z2? - The Z2 was new with a faster processor, more memory, 4k video recording and an improved screen.

The first big noticeable difference between the Z2 and any other phone I have use recently is the incredible battery life, this is further enhanced by Sony's stamina mode, this basically switches the phone off when the screen is off, apps can be added to the exception window which will keep the running in the back ground, ie messaging apps. I can now do an early shift at work, getting up at 4 am and still have 70% battery when I go to bed, my Note was lucky to last till luch time.

The screen - even with the improvements over the Z1 I think the Samsungs still win on the screen front, their colours and more importantly their blacks are better, clearer and more vibrant. That said the Sony is still one of the best screens out there, running rings around I phone, htc and nokia screens.

The Speed - Even when loaded up with all my app's most of which are not used or indeed not necessary there is absolutely no lag, the touch screen response is fantastic.

The Camera -

Forest of Dean - Verderers Trail

A beautiful sunrise, clear blue sky's a day off work and the kids at school, the scene is set.
I had taken the day off work since my wife and eldest son were going on a trip to watch a concert so it was down to me to pick the younger children up, but that left the day - so I did what anyone would have done, packed the bike in the car and headed over to the forest.
Located between Coleford and Cinderford the
 pedalaway bike centre  marks the start of the trails.
Car parking is ample and very reasonable at £3.50 for the day.
With the bike reassembled and myself adorned with gloves, helmet, sun glasses, hydro pack and tools I was ready to go, a good clear map marks the start of the trail, the first section through the trees is easy going and then the trail leaves the trees and heads uphill the first stop was to let the tyres down, the bike had been in commuting mode and the tyres were well pumped, the trail is very well thought out with each climb rewarded with a little gift of a tight twisty singletrack or short downhill blast, then the next climb, but as you climb I just reminded myself, what goes up ! As you reach the top there are some of the most amazing views, stop a take a picture, the get ready for the downhill, the Dragons Tail as it is called is amazing very fast with the berms in all the right places and just the right number of jumps, It did amaze me how much my bike just wanted to be in the air, I emerged from the tail with a massive grin on my face and just one thought AGAIN!
Although the trail is 7 miles long there are fireroads linking the sections, so if you want to do the DH section again just a short climb and your ready to go.
The trail is graded as a blue route and the freeminers as a red, although apart from a few roots I couldn't see the difference between the two, There are also DH sections but since my bike is a hard tail I avoided these.
The centre itself has a very warm and welcoming feel, everyone we spoke to on the day were chatty and friendly, and the bikes didn't define the status, at some centres the 5K boys won't even acknowledge that the sub 1K boy's exist.

Overall the trail, the facility's, and the people are fantastic. my only question is why haven't I been before?

Before I go again I think an upgrade to a shadow rear mech is on the cards to reduce some of the chain slap! Although the chain never derailed I'm sure it must have been close a few times.







Pedalabikeaway
Cycle Centre
Cannop Valley
Nr Coleford
Gloucestershire
GL16 7EH
United Kingdom

http://www.pedalabikeaway.co.uk/

Find the time.

The most difficult thing about getting fit and being healthy is the negativity forced upon you by Everyone else.
You have it set in your mind that you will eat well and exercise, But what happens then?
Outside influence kicks in and ruins your plans, I have seen so many motivational quotes, the problem with these is they have the opposite effect, let me explain
one particular quote I have read said, " an hour workout is 4% of your day don't make excuses"

Yes an hour is only 4% but in a 24hr day, take out the 8 hours sleeping and 8 hours working the 2 hours getting to and from work and that hour suddenly becomes 17% of your time take out the other jobs like cooking, housework, shopping, picking the kids up etc and that hour can quickly become 100% of your free time.
This then demotivates you and you end up thinking wow my 4% is all my free time and all I want is to sit and have a cuppa. Supermarkets prey on this promising you more time with shelves packed full of processed foods which only take 90 seconds to cook, yes they are a nutritional nightmare but the only take 90 seconds.

This is only part of the problem, the world isn't geared to people getting healthy, the media is full of miss information. The change 4 life program being forced on our kidsat schools in the UK is a prime example.
our kids are being told that fat is bad, meat is bad, eggs are bad, sugar is bad, and so on  This gives me a major headache trying to get my kids to eat anything that isn't processed. Their simple answer is "take a vitamin tablet".

Having a family is also a massive demotivator,  if I make a suggestion like  Lets go out and ride a bike, I get met by so many negative comments that it ends up never happening.
If I start to exercise it's met with, what are you doing that for, why aren't you helping the kids? why isn't my dinner ready? when are we going to eat? the kids need to go to bed soon.

But there are answers .....
The first one is simple, incorporate exercise into you daily routine, cycle to work, take the stairs not the elevator, dance with the vacuum cleaner and duster, walk to the shops, not only will the walk do you good, carrying the bags back is good strength exercise, Calf raises when your cooking, place the remote out of reach, That's a lot of cardio and exercise
.
Educate your children, children learn by imitation, it's how they learnt to walk and talk, therefore it follows if you exercise your children will too, if you eat well, your children will too.
Plan meal's, Cook fresh when you can, by using single ingredient foods with a good variety, vitamin tablets become redundant. Yes it might take more than 90 seconds but make eating an event, Eat as a family, you can catch up with the kids, catch up with events and enjoy your family, I have taken it one step further, for one day a week we have family night, a technology free night, no computers, no mobile phones, just family time, we have had a games night, one of my boys is remarkably good at Cludo, we have had a park night, walking to the park and letting the boys play for hours and having a kick around, in fact whatever the boys want to do - it's their choice.

Make plans to get fitter with friends, its proven that if you do something with other people you will be more motivated, you are less likely to let other people down than just yourself.

Most importantly remember do something!  Even 5 minutes is better than nothing.