Ahhhhh...TABATA!

Love it!
After KERRY'S initial statement of "Well tonight I am just jumping out of my skin again!" I was intrigued...but then she posted this article about TABATA and I just had to give it a go! I really like it. I did it after my morning hill walk today...what a great way to finish off a mild cardio session-it really adds to it! I wouldn't do it after a weight training session...or a after a hard-core cardio...because it's full-on! I highly recommend it and will be doing it about 2 times a week now.

PUSH UP CHALLENGE training is into the third week now...and it ain't gettin' easier! Hubby has promised me a lovely dinner out to the restaurant of my choice, though, if I do 100 push ups...even if it takes me longer than the 6 weeks. But, I'm shooting for the 100 in 6 weeks as that is the program plan!

Let's see, I've finally been sticking to my eating plan....it's taken me a few weeks for some reason-but I'm totally on track now. The incentive being that I'll be in the states visiting in less than 10 weeks and I want to fit into the jeans my baby brother bought me last year. I haven't worn them since 1 week after the comp last year.....I'm sure they are a bit tight right now-but I won't try them on for at least another month. ;-)
We gals are so goofy sometimes!

Other than that....we checked out the gym that is by our new house....hmmmmm-no wonder it's cheaper than the one up here...it's just not much of a gym-sorry to say. The equipment looks like it had been put together from garage-sales... and it's quite small. We will have to invest in our own equipment for the house; which is fine...we worked out at home for years in West Australia-we had some great gear that we collected over about 7 years. And since we are still thinking of doing the Personal Training-it would almost be better to do it at home-don't have to wait for equipment and the person doesn't have to feel so self-conscious. But-that's all up int he air for now....we will have to make due with the local gym-or drive up here to use this gym still...which is a strong possibility! It's only about 30-35 minutes from our place so-we'll see!

That's about it! Stay strong!

HAVE YOU EVER....

Caught yourself singing outloud....maybe even just a tiny bit....whilst at the gym with your head-phones on?

Naaaahhhhhh....me neither!


LOL!

WEEKEND FUNNIES!

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself,'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.'
- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)
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I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
- Eleanor Roosevelt

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Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.
- Mark Twain

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The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending,and to have the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
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Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
- Victor Borge
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Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
- Mark Twain
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By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy, if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates
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I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
- Groucho Marx
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My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.
- Jimmy Durante
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I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor
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Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
- Alex Levine
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My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.
- Rodney Dangerfield
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Money can't buy you happiness. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
- Spike Milligan
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Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP.
- Joe Namath
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I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.
- Bob Hope
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I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
- W. C. Fields
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We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
- Will Rogers
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Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
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Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.
- Phyllis Diller
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By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.
- Billy Crystal

There Maaaaay have been a bit of wine involved....

It was "red wine Friday" after all! LOL!
Hubby and I were goofing around and I just had to strike a pose....and make him take a pic!

This week I started really concentrating on my bis...so I am now training them twice a week on top of the "push up challenge" training which I do at the beginning of each weight training session.

My bis are FINALLY sore! Yay! Yesterday's back, bi & tri training went like this:
Push up training (5 sets)
Wide grip lat pull downs-4 sets of 12-with a strip set in there
Seated pulleys- 3 of 12
Straight arm pulley pull downs (I'm not sure what these are really called-standing facing the cable pull downs holding onto a straight bar keeping arms straight and pulling down from about shoulder height to thighs)-3 sets of 12
Incline dumbbell curls-4 sets of about 6-8-HEAVY (for me!)
Concentration curls on an angled curl bench-HEAVY-3 sets of about 6-8
Skull crushers with dumbbells (15 reps)-reaching way back-supersetted with bench dips(12 reps)3 sets
My bis and tris are super sore today! I'm very happy because I hardly ever get sore bis because I just don't work them hard enough!

Have a fab weekend!

MOVING-YEEHAW!!!

Well, we found a property and bought it! Yay! It's a cute little 3 bedroom on 6 acres just outside of Mission Beach-(for anyone that knows the area at all)...Mission Beach is a cute trendy little tourist town right on some beautiful beaches with cafes, resorts etc...and a gym that is open every day-OMG! For those of you who have read my blog for a while...you may recall that my gym opens at 6 only 3 days a week (and closed for 3 hours in the afternoon)and then 9 for 3 days and closed at noon Saturday and closed all day Sunday...and charges more than a gym that is open every day all day long! And this new gym is cheaper too! Though we have not had a chance to actually visit the gym and see the equipment, the lady on the phone assured me they are a fully equipped gym-I can't wait to see it!

That aside, we are stoked! The grounds of the property needs some TLC...and we are looking forward to digging in. The house itself seems to be in really good shape-and as long as all the inspections are AOK-we settled in a month-woohoo!

Other than that, have had some really good workouts this week. I've been doing my push up challenge training....have you? I do the push up training before each workout session-It really helps to make a killer workout!

OMG...Leg day was Wednesday-for a killer super set I did twisting lunges, holding a 5k plate (ll pounds), 3 sets of 10 each leg-each set super-setted with squats...just body weight-but heels up on a big plate-close together and super low-I could only get about 8 of these on each set....my heart was pounding! I couldn't believe it-then I did the butt kickback machine, then did another super set of extensions with plie squats (legs wide, toes pointing out)-holding a 10k plate (22 pounds), then dumbbell dead lifts. Wow! My legs were still screaming at me 7 hours later!

Have you been challenging yourself? Adding weight, changing the moves? It's all GOOOOOD!
Have a great weekend!

Recipe Review and PUSHUP CHALLENGE

Since I’m only doing TASTY TUESDAY on the first Tuesday of each month…I’ve decided to throw in a few reviews, or kudos if you will, on recipes from other bloggers or well-known cook-books. Not every week-just every once in a while.

This week’s review is of KEK’s SWEET CHILI PRAWNS.


I followed this recipe almost perfectly except there weren’t any frickin’ snow peas at any of the shops (and still aren’t for like a month now-SOMEBODY, PLEASE EXPLAIN!!!)
Soooo, I replaced them with asparagus.

Both hubby and I gave this dish 2 THUMBS UP!!!! Super yum-and don’t forget, prawns are a superb source of protein so you NEEEEEED to try this recipe!

Now, onto the PUSHUP CHALLENGE.

Erica found this excellent website that has been designed to get a person strong enough to do 100 pushups in 6 weeks-And, well hell yeah! I signed up…both on Erica’s site and on the PUSHUP site as well. It’s not too late-we just started the challenge this week-so go on and sign up and put yourself to the test!
Yesterday was the first day of the program-and my lats and tris are super sore-I did my 5 sets with about 60 seconds in between each...then went on to my regular workout.
This week I'm starting on training my bi’s twice a week as opposed to just once a week. This is such a weak spot for me-and after seeing so many chick blogs showing awesome bi’s in the last couple of weeks, I decided-I must work harder on mine!!! So, after the pushup training, I did chest, shoulders and bis= incline flys superset with presses (dumbbell), then did 4 sets of 15's with the curl bar for bis(supposed to be 21's but-I just couldn't push myself after those pushups!), then did a triple set for shoulders of front dumbbell raises, side dumbbell raises each side then bent laterals and finished that off with some reverse Arnold's. We'll see if that doesn't do a little something! Have a great week!

PUSHUPS ANYONE?

Some of you may have read about Erica's PUSHUP CHALLENGE...it's a 6 week program devised to get a person to be able to do 100 pushups. I'm totally up for it! If you want to improve your strength-go on over and check it out and sign up! It'll be fun! And wow...to be able to do 100 push-ups....or like Erica said, to be able to to 50 at one time would be fab! Pushups are such an awesome way to get in shape too..they really work everything. I'm at 20 good form, "guy" pushups right now; I can't wait to see how many I can do in 6 weeks! Go over and sign up; you have nothing to lose and strength to gain!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

12 Weeks out!!

From my annual trip to the states that is-LOL!
I agree with Liz A date definitely gives you incentive and they'll be just starting summer when I arrive-woohoo! So, target is in sight and locked in!

Had a great cardio session this morning. I did hill repeats-but each time I got to the top of the hill-I did 5 plyometric squat/jumps...or jump/squats-man was I dripping after 25 minutes of that!


And this was yum! (and reduced fat!)

Generally, I'm only posting recipes on the first Tuesday of each month...but this was so tasty and I was so proud of myself for remembering the recipe after seeing it in a magazine at the hair salon (perked up the hair colour-woohoo!)...and then converting it a bit to be less fat-I just had to share!

I cut 1 & 1/2 squares of reduced fat pastry into 9 rectangles. Then mixed up about 3/4 Cup of reduced fat ricotta- with an egg and a handful of fresh basil-chopped. I then saute'd ( I'm sure that is totally spelled wrong!) about 1/2 cup or a bit more of swiss brown mushrooms, then 1/2 a chopped tomato (a big one), and threw in a bit more than a handful of chopped spinach-lightly saute that. Spread ricotta mix onto the rectangles, then mushroom mix on top and bake for 20-30 minutes at 200C. These would be even better, (in my opinion) and will be better next time, by adding some kalamatta olives and/or feta or goat cheese!

Have a fab weekend!

Strength training will make women bulky & overly muscular....

Can you believe people....men & women.... still believe this?! Thank goodness there are blogs, magazines, websites, tv shows etc. out there that debunk this mythical crap! Unfortunately, not enough women are listening...

"A recent survey in the JOURNAL OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING RESEARCH revealed that many experienced, resistance-trained women are not lifting at the prescribed intensities for maximum muscle fitness strength, bone health and fat loss." from FitnessRX-women....(of all things!)

HEY LAAAAADIES! Wake the f*** up! Sheesh! I've had women mention to me that when they work out with heavy weights, there clothes fit tighter because they've bulked up....YEAH, FOR A FRICKIN DAY! Blood gets pumped to the area you've stressed out and that spot ends up with a fuller, rounder appearance...then it's gone! Figure and Bodybuilder peeps, day of competition CASE IN POINT! We pump up backstage in order to make the muscles appear huge and full-hours later...poof-like magic, it's all gone!

You will not end up HUGE by simply adding a few extra pounds to the barbell...or by actually using the barbell (that's the long bar used for bench press, squats, rows etc..and you put weight on the ends). Take a look at the ladies that I use for "motivational pics", take a look at me, take a look at other bloggers.....Chicks only get HUGE when they really TRY to get huge. That is their motive....without that motive (and super, duper hard work and occasional extra substances!), they do not get huge-and you will not; I can pretty much guarantee that if you are eating a proper balanced diet of protein, carbs, and healthy fat, and you work out with some real weight-you will not get huge.....try it...really! However, you will be strong and shapely! BONUS!

INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS.-
Albert Einstein

Just in the mood for some motivational pics!

Got nothing to say today except THINK LEAN, MEAN & CLEAN!

Here are some good pics for the fridge!





Cheers Dears!

How to Live to 101 Without Trying

No, it’s not a fad diet (you should know me better than that!) This was a show on SBS recently about certain unique communities in various parts of the world that live longer than people anywhere else on earth and of how a group of scientists has dedicated their lives to uncover their secrets. The specific towns they are studying are the remote Japanese island of Okinawa, the Californian town of Loma Linda, and Sardinia, Italy.
These towns are all different in their culture and eating habits-but I did find a couple of common threads. One commonality I found very interesting was the fact that each of these communities had some sort of faith or spirituality as well as a “village” type of life. And intertwined with this was the low level of stress in their life. Not that they never had to deal with stress, but it seemed that they were able to cope with it through their faith or spirituality. And of course, most of us know that stress is a huge inhibitor to a healthy life-as it is a very big factor in causing certain types of illness and disease.

Another thing, of course, was they were all simply active. Whether working out with actual weights, or doing Tai Chi, or involved with family. They weren’t sitting around watching tv or playing on the computer (hmmmm)-but actually living life! In Loma Linda, there is a 92 open heart surgeon-still doing surgery on people!

Now, I’m not sure what the Loma Linda people were eating-they didn’t really show that, however; though the people of Okinawa and the Sardinians had very different eating habits (the Okinawans ate no meat and the Sardinians were very much meat lovers), they were both eating REAL food. The Sardinians were eating lamb that I’ll bet was straight off the farm, cheese most likely from the farmer down the street, and of course wine! The Okinawans were eating lots of veg from the local market, and lots of tofu (may have to re-think that one AGAIN!), aaaaannd-They stopped eating when they were full-WHAT A CONCEPT! No processed chips, frozen meals or sodas here!

Another interesting point that was made on the show was that the Okinawans that moved away to American cities had children that ate an American diet all ended up with problems like high blood pressure & obesity. So, it seems to not just be a genetic factor that was keeping them healthy.

Basically, the conclusion I draw from all of this is as follows:

Eat real food in balance, stay active (physically & mentally), be involved in your community, and perhaps add a bit of spirituality into the mix.

Staying balanced is really the key.


Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food. --Hippocrates

Killin' it this week!

I just have to say it I'M ON FIRE! I had an awesome chest & shoulders session on Monday (still feeling the pecs today!), and then maxed out on every leg exercise I did-God it feels good to back on! Each exercise I did, I used the heaviest weight I've ever used-Gotta' love that!

Just got to push those limits....don't compare yourself to other people-push your own limits-keep trying to do better than you did last time-it feels awesome!

I'll leave you with a pic-not for comparison but for motivation because you know this chick had to challenge herself to look this way!

TASTY TUESDAY!

SPRING VEG & CHICKEN RISOTTO


(adapted from a Fitness Rx recipe)

1 cup Arborio rice
2 large chicken breasts-chopped
1 tbls olive oil
1 cup asparagus-cut up into thirds
½ cup leek
2 carrots, peeled & chopped
1 cup chopped mushroom (I prefer the swiss brown!)
4 cups liquid stock (I used a mix of chicken & veg)
½ tsp lemon juice
½ C freshly grated parmesan

Bring broth to a simmer in a med saucepan. Do not boil. Keep warm over low heat. Cook asparagus in boiling water for 3 mnutes. Drain, set aside. In a large non-stick skillet add olive oil then leek & carrot. Saute for 5 minutes, stir frequently.
Add rice, cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, stir in 1 cup of broth and add chicken. Cook until liquid is absorbed then stir in a half cup of broth and until almost absorbed and continue ½ cup at a time until all absorbed. Takes about ½ an hour. Add asparagus, then stir in cheese and lemon juice.

326 cals, 5.1g fat, 31.9g carbs.

Pauline....

I'm sure many of you would have already read this blog...but for those of you who have missed out-HERE YA' GO....

CHANGES I WOULD LIKE TO DO TO DEFATTEN AMERICA

For those of you who don't know who PAULINE is...take a look at the pic up above and....

Maybe it's just me, but I think this girl is on to something!

Beautiful Book...

I just finished this book, and even if you have no interest in Buddhism, I highly recommend it. It's a thoughtfully written book about about a Buddhist woman who confronts cancer. For me, it really opened my eyes to Buddhism in "real life". So many books about buddhism make it difficult to imagine in everyday context-but this book just really helped me to bring more awareness to my daily life.

Here is a review from Amazon...

To an outsider, Buddhist meditation can appear self-indulgent, time frittered away buttressing an intransigent ego. To an insider, such as Sandy Boucher, the dividends of meditation can come at unforeseen times, under extreme circumstances, such as facing down malignant cancer. Boucher, a counterculture patchwork of pursuits and causes, sews together a memoir of suffering to rival any proof of the Buddha's first noble truth. Although her surgery is a success, like so many other cancer victims Boucher's battle with chemotherapy causes the most damage. Having lost her home, her lover, and her health, Boucher collapses into the spiritual arms of her longtime meditation teacher Ruth Denison. Parallel to the drama of the cancer, we are treated to a minibiography of Denison, who proves to be an oasis of sanity in the desert of Boucher's life. Honest, occasionally compelling, and often unusual, Boucher's story contains glimmers of Buddhism's light amid many shadows of human frailty. --Brian Bruya

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!