I realised that I always speak of the excuse-busting workout but I never quite said what it was. Well, this is another thing that I am indebted to Oprah for.

I actually hate exercising, but I realise how important it is. There have been times that I wake up feeling very overwhelmed with the problems that I had but after exercising I had a 'can-do' feeling. Also, I am scared of growing older and finding that I have this illness or that illness, just because I neglected my well-being. While exercise is not the 'cure-all' for all illnesses, its effects and benefits are undeniable. And that's not even counting the aesthetic gains.

But despite knowing all these I still had several reasons not to exercise. One of them was the fact that I could not afford the time - and sometimes the money- to join a gym. Also, I love, LOVE to swim but I have been to some nightmare swimming pools that had no running water in the showers and were unkempt, that I was put off. Imagine making the long drive to the club only to find that you cannot swim that day. Then I bought a skipping rope, and I would have used it had I not had the ankle injury, so I never exercised, but I knew I needed to.

Enter, Oprah Winfrey and Dr Oz, with some show on 'extending your warranty'. The idea was that a few changes in your lifestyle can make you live a longer, healthier life. Part of this plan was the excuse-busting workout. For me it was a dream come true, because it busts all excuses. It takes just 20 minutes ( you can extend it if you like), requires no equipment, and strengthens you. I actually credit it for the rapid healing of my ankle, as it contains some ankle strengthening exercises. Check it out here and see if it's for you.


Another site I have discovered is this great recipe site. Now there are any sites that give you recipes but this one is very practical because apart from breaking down the nutritional content, including the calorific content, of the meal, you can actually type in how many people you want to serve the meal and it gives you the measure of ingredients you need to use. Also- and this is my favourite thing to do- when you have certain ingredients and have no idea what to do with them, you can just type them into the 'search' area and you are given up to 10 000 ideas. It's brilliant especially if you like something exotic, once in a while. Here's a link to the site.

Bon Apetit

Chili!