Pilates and Smoothies with John Lewis (and Hunkemoller)

At last week's John Lewis #mywellbeing event I joined a fab bunch of bloggers to get creative in the kitchen and whip up our very own smoothies, using their selection of brilliant blenders. My "Red Ambulance" (banana, berries, coconut milk...) concoction tasted pretty good if I do say so myself!

When I was doing the MyPT Transformation Challenge in October last year I had a smoothie for breakfast every day and now the weather is warming up (hopefully) I will definitely be adding them back into my diet on a regular basis. We heard from nutritionist Hayley Pedrick (The Nutrition Coach) on why smoothies are a great option for quick health fix.

Why you should be drinking smoothies

• Did you know that the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables is seven? With a heavy emphasis on the veg too. This can be pretty hard for most people to fit into their day so smoothies and juices are a great option to bump up the numbers.
• Smoothies enable the body to absorb four times more nutrients than if you were eating the fruit separately as the fibre is broken down, so its easier to digest.
• Blending flavours together gives you the opportunity to experiment with vegetables that you wouldn't normally try - fennel in a smoothie anyone?
• Smoothies are a great way to stay hydrated which is especially important when exercising. Even a 2% drop can affect your capability in a workout.
• Adding ingredients rich in essential fatty acids (Omega-3) such as nut butters, seeds, spinach and chia seeds can help to recover faster and reduce muscle soreness the next day. Beat those dreaded DOMS with extra PB, I like the sound of that!

Following our smoothie making the lovely Lottie Murphy took us through a core crunching Pilates session. People compare yoga and Pilates constantly, but the two are really very different! I've always been more of a yogi, but will admit I enjoyed this class - and definitely struggled with quite a lot of the moves. Perhaps I need to add a little more ab work into my week!

I rocked my leggings from the new Hunkemoller Doutzen Sport range - this Dutch brand has branched out from lingerie to activewear, and I'm a big fan of the cool prints and super soft fabric. I should probably have sized down though, as my usual Medium was on the generous side and as I'm quite short the extra material on the legs made them bunch up a bit. It also made me worry a little about them slipping during the workout, so I think I will have to keep them for low impact sweat sessions in the future!

What's your favourite smoothie ingredient? 

Beki x

NB: I was invited along to the John Lewis event, but not paid to blog about my experience. I was sent a pair of Hunkemoller leggings to review but as always all opinions are my own.