Fit Mumma

Art Journal, Week 15: What's are your top 5 MUST HAVE workout items?

My top 5 list of MUST HAVE items going into a workout:

1. Gloves, whether they be cycle gloves, or weights gloves... I like to keep my hands protected as best I can.
2. HRM, my heart rate monitor. I have two, one is a POLAR... which was my first and I know I can rely on it's figures. The other is a Garmin, and I *LOVE* it ... great for my cycling, but it's calories burned figures always make me feel I am cheating somehow... so I rather go with my more modest Polar returns.
3. Water - ever tried to do a big workout without it... not good.
4. Towel... okay, on the bike, not so necessary.... but in the gym, MUST have. Yuk!
5. 100% pure spirit {of} passion & courage (I'd like to add determination here too).

So, somedays I do a workout without all 5 of these must haves in check!! Somedays I just get the workout done, and that has to be enough.

Don't even get me started on items required for cold and dark weather conditions... oh the list just goes on and on!

If I could ONLY have ONE item... it would have to be the water. 

What about you, what are your 5 essentials for a great workout?

Bxo

Art Journal, Week 14: What's your thoughts on sugar?

I find the battle against sugar somedays to be quite difficult... especially with three young ones. Somedays are much easier than others... but I can certainly see a VERY big shift in behaviour {and optimal body function performance!} in my children post sugar intake!!!

Journalling reads:

Hiya you sweet thing... let me say you are very persuasive and you turn up most every where... a most addictive drug... I'd love to see you near gone... we are aware you are slowly {but surely} killing us all!

Living a near sugar free lifestyle is very hard to do given that it is hidden in most all our (packaged) foods. The only way is to live without packaged foods as best we can.

How about you, what do you think of sugar in your life?

Bx

Art Journal, Week 13: What's your latest obsession?

My latested obsession? Nutrition... feeding my family healthy and ethical foods!

Journalling reads:

I admit that I have become quite obsessed with nutrition lately.

Which is all well and good… it’s a good obsession to have.

Gluten free, sugar free… no GMOs… no prepackaged foods.

Organic is the way to go… but only if it is not imported and slavery is not used to produce the foods.

Heartbreaking. Paralysing. 

How can feeding my family nutritious and ethical foods be such a struggle and minefield??

I think of myself as a good person, trying to do the best I can and making good decisions for me and my family most of the time.

My only answer to this conundrum I find myself in, is to do my best... to make the better decision each time I am given an option that is not the BEST... just do the best I can in that situation.

How about you.. what's your obsession of late?

Bx

Baby, it's DARK {and cold} outside...

Whoooaaaa, HOW dark is it at 6am these days?

This dark:

Can you even tell that this is me and IronMum?:

No I didnt think so!

As we were riding down Mugga Way... a group of about 60-80 cyclists came by in the other direction. It was quite a spectacular sight actually.. lots of light & the whirring sound of wheels whizzing by:

The photo does not do the sight any justice at all, believe me! The group was about 100mtr long... it was fabulous.

IronMum and I got a good ride in, we just looped around Adelaide Avenue, as it was reasonably lit for most of our course... 

Seriously looking forward to the end of daylight savings so we can stay safe. My lights, they're pretty good, but not near as good as natural light!

This morning I trained with Slats {Paul Slater} and now I am home, ready to play trains with the boys... we've built a track all around the lounge room. Sweet!

Happy Training.
Bx 

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle...

I found this poem at my son's preschool when recently helping out for the day. I loved it so much I felt I needed to share here, because it kinda sums up, nicely, where I am right now:

Every thing I need to know I learned from a jigsaw puzzle

Don't force a fit. If something is meant to be, it will come together naturally.

When things aren't going well, take a break. Everything will look different when you return.

Be sure to look at the big picture. Getting hung up on little pieces only tends to frustrate.

Perseverance pays off. Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece.

Nice huh? I like it a lot.

So here's the thing... my life is an important puzzle... and I have needed to take a break from "here" for a bit. Trying to sort out some heart stuff... and some head stuff too. I find myself looking to closely at issues, then trying to look at the big picture and not really knowing what all the fuss is about to begin with.

Rest assured I am still sweating up a storm most everyday... today my trainer had me doing a crazy circuit which included burpees, jump straight into a chin up for 1 minute. argh. Love her!

I've done bootcamp with balloons, done dozens of spin classes and not so much road riding as we've had unseasonably TONNES of rain of late, which sucks. I've opted out of Amy's 105km bike ride simply because I'd not been able to put in the required training.  I've been doing lots of weights and cross fit style workouts... think tractor tyres and car-park sprints. I've been running a bit again... not much, but 5kms here and there is good.

And aside from needing some time to get my head and heart aligned, I am doing good:

Still smiling, still loving my life, my hubs, kiddies and gorgeous gal pals + cuz's too!

Still loving my trainers!! And my "every-now-and-again" training buddy IronMum, who is just weeks out from her IronMan race... and doing training that makes my brain bleed just contemplating it!!!

Life is good... and so I'm just taking a bit of time to appreciate it more. 

I must get the last few weeks of art challenges up... will do soon. And I'll be back to regular posting within the next few days. YES.I.WiLL !!!

And those of you who emailed, smsed and phoned ... thanks, big hugs to you and your sweet hearts xxx

Love out.
Bxo 

Art Journal, Week 12: What do you believe in?

These are a few of the things I belive in:

• I believe in a love everlasting.
• I believe that family is everything.
• I believe we are way stronger than we realise.
• I believe we are not given challenges we can not handle.
• I believe even situations that are heartbreaking, happen for a reason.
• I believe life is what we make of it.
• I believe happiness is a choice.
• I believe that dreams do come true.
• I believe in hard work, sweat and tears.
• I believe that being positive and grateful is the way to live.
• I believe that everyone has a remarkable story to share.
• I believe that anything is possible if we put our minds to it.
• I believe in earning a life to be proud of.

What do you believe in?

Bxo

Art Journal, Week 11: Books - what Fit & Healthy books do you love and recommend?

WOW, what a prompt this one is hey? I could give you a list an arm long, there are many, many books I love to read and refer to often.

These are 17 that I have carried with me the past 2 years of my fit and healthy journey, ones that have helped me get started, stay motivated, kicked me when I needed it and persuaded me to make better decisions.

1.    What's Eating your Child? by Kelly Dofman. OH MY, what a revelation this book was to me... sure I knew a lot about food already... but things I did NOT realise. GMO and the DNA of fruit and vegies being altered to include pestisides... what the? 

2. Healthy Family, Happy Family by Karen Fischer - love this book, the tips and the recipes are fabulous. I use them often for my kiddies.

3.    Healthy Skin Diet by Karen Fischer... this is what started me on my acid/alkaline balancing regime 2 years ago, and I am still going strong and loving  it.

4.    Sweet Poison by David Gillespie... yes we know sugar is bad for us... but I never realised just HOW BAD it is. Scary reality check this book is.

5.    The UNhealthy Truth by Robyn O'Brien... scarier still is this book, and I'll be honest with you... I've not finished reading it because I find it all quite overwhelming. How can we be poisioning our kids by giving them a peanut butter sandwich, or some eggs. Terrifying is what it is. Shocking that we are eating poisionous foods, which are being marketed to us as "healthy". Criminal even!!

6.    You Sexy Mother by Jodie Hedley Ward... this is the book that started my new fitness lifestyle some 15months ago. This is the book that gave me permission to put myself first and take my health and wellbeing, and that of my family, very seriously. I can say with sincerity that this is the book that changed our family's life for the better.

7.    Understanding Aromatherapy by John Kerr... I bought this book some 20 years ago, in my early 20s and it is a bible to me... I often have oils burning in our home... to calm, to invigorate, to sooth and heal. To nurture our home and sancturay.

8.    Better Health through Natural Healing by Rose Trattler and Adrian Jones ... my Mum gave me this book a few years ago... and this is on my bedside table and I refer to regulary. There is no better book on natural healing... except maybe this one...

9.    You can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay - A.M.A.Z.I.N.G to put it simply! Louise Hay has tapped into something that we all know at our core... that our minds control our healing, that we are capable of manifesting all kinds of illnesses and diseases within ourselves... and we are equally able to heal ourselves. A wonderful resourse.

10.    Run Like a Mother by Dimity McDowell adn Sarah Bowen Shea... my first {of many} running related books, and this one I just love. I love the "chunks" of information each chapter provides... and the relavance to me, as a running Mumma. They have a new book, Train like a Mother, which I have on order and can't wait to get in the next few weeks!!!

11.    Crunch time cookbook by Michelle Bridges... this book was my "aaaahhhh-HA" book in relation to calories and understanding how and why it's important to track them. The recipes are delicious. If you are serious about losing weight, this is a good place to start. I have all of her books, and every one of them is fabulous, motiviation and tool for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.

12.    Weightloss Warrior by Tiffiny Hall - lovely book... very {SUPER} informative. I found all the information answered all the more complex questions that were swirling around in my mind.

13.    The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho... my ALL TIME favourite book about destiny and fate. LOVE.

14.    The Long Run by Matt Long... inspiring, heartbreaking, triumphant and courageous... I listened to this book while training for my marathon... and his story got me through quite a few long runs of my own (injured unbeknown to me at the time)...

15.    Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr... attitude and diet are going to heal you. Some drastic measures in this book that I am intrigued about, but not sure I am willing to do myself... the diet is straight forward and aligns with my acid/alkaline balancing approach to my nutrition.

16.    I'm Here to Win by Chris McCormack.... IRON men and women are a breed of their own... to better understand them, this book is a fantastic read. It's inspiring and informative. He's a cocky guy, and with good reason I think. Put simply, I loved it!

17.     Unlimited by Jillian Michaels... okay I have a few of her books, mainly exercise and diet related... but this one deals with our mind, and our ability to have an unlimited approach to life, our success, dreams and desires... we have unlimited potential... we just need to tap into that and unleash it.

These books are ones I refer back to time and time again... I love them!

Bx

Still here...

Still sweating.

Just got some stuff going on right now.

Like big heart breaking stuff.

Dealing with a very dear and loved one dying of cancer before my eyes.

He's a tough one, and he's fighting it as best he can.

But it is hard.

I am writing his life's story.

Conversations with Lionel is what I should call it.

Most day's I'm good. 

Many days my heart is breaking and I find it very hard.

I am still sweating as much as I can, and watching my diet. 

Learning more about myself as I go.

Will be back soon with SO much more to share. Good stuff. Sweat related stuff. Promise.

Love out.

Bx

Art Journal, Week 10: What would be your advice to someone wanting, thinking about embarking on 12WBT?

My advice, quite simply... would be to "go for it", and here's my page:

I like the little touch of glitter on the lettering.

Embark on a journey of health and fitness, and you will sparkle.

Technique: lettering was done using masks, then outlining with a texta and filling with glitter gel. I used Golden red paint, layered with a text stamp and white ink, then some hambly transparent page cut outs, plus a flower at the top right of the page.

Hugs

Bxo

75km road ride in 3 hours = 1945 calories smashed...

NICE.

Driving home after the ride! Relief!!

Yesterday IronMum and I went out for a road ride.

Image from here.

Hubs and the boys dropped me off at our meeting point.

I proceeded to fall over at the roundabout before we'd even got started. No damage aside from my ego... I am such a numpty.

Off we go, up some hills, down some hills... along some straights, more hills and more declines. 

It was hot.

It was 1pm, not the best time for a ride, but if it's the only time we can manage, then we'll take it.

Aside from the heat {and let's face it, we've not had much this summer, so it was mostly welcomed} it was a lovely day to ride... no wind, calm, bright & sunny.

I got to give my Rudy's a go, and they were awesome! They saved me from a massive grasshopper to the eye at about km 43 !!

 

It was a great ride...

At about 40km my tush was hurting and I was already getting up out of the saddle in attempts to offer relief. To no avail, really.

I felt great.

Until about the 65km mark... then I felt like CRAP.

My feet were numb and in pain. And by this stage my tush was pretty sore too... I was trying to have an out-ter body experience to get away from the pain... trying to push myself away from my toes and my cleats.

Thankfully the intense pain in my feet came in waves... and for the most part, I was able to just focus on turning my legs over and getting to the end.

Greeted by hubs and the kiddies... I proceeded to literally tear my shoes off and CHUCK them into the back of the car... put my havaianas on. Sighhhhhhh... The relief was instant. I began to smile again.

A huge bottle of sparkling mineral water... and an airconditioned car and I was almost back to happy... my legs still ached and the rest of my body was still trying to get away from the source of the pain... kinda hard when it's all attached, but that is really how it feels for me.

I always love a long ride or run, once it's done.

Couple of things I learnt this ride:

• When applying sunscreen... do go under your jersey top, and bib shorts seams. (otherwise you end up with some odd stripey pattern) Also top of hands.
• SPF 50 lip balm is a must, thanks to my lovely hubs who went to buy us some before we set off. Permanent fixture in kit now.
• Gu is not your friend... you need to come up with a different fuel strategy. (I had one Gu and felt good at first, but after about 40mins, not so much! It just messes with my tummy.)
• Make sure you prepare your water the night before... ice is good!
• Nuun - I continue to *love* you, much! 

That's about it for now.... now to back it up again next week? {then some}... Ya-ouch-a!!!

I guess that counts as a pretty solid SSS.

Love out.
Bxo