Off to See the Wizard!

Well, ok, maybe not the wizard...but off to see the the fam & friends back in the states...YEEHAW!

Tomorrow I bus it up to Cairns and jet off early Friday morning.  I've decided to take this next month in the states off from regular weight training. Usually I still get into a gym about 3 times a week...but I'm taking this opportunity to truly heal the hip so when I get back to Aus I can really get into the running and hit the weights safely again. I never really gave my body much of a break after the comps; though I didn't work out with the weights-I was still pounding the pavement a bit and of course training clients-which is not a sit down job!

So, I will probably go into the gym just a few times for some very light shoulder and bi workouts...and walk AND do yoga every single day. John and I went back to the drawing board to find some stretches I had not yet tried..and came up with a good little routine that I started yesterday...and I swear I think it may work! I  am already feeling much less tightness in the hip area. I'm stoked! To not wake up with the huge ache in my hip and lower back area was very nice! So, I'm going to keep at that routine and I'll let you know when I get back how that turns out.

I won't be posting much here...probably some updates and pics occasionally on FaceBook-how will you ever cope?! LOL

Hope the rest of your week is super and have a great August! Stay strong & focused! Eat well and take care of yourselves!

Ciao for now!

Ernestine is Back and Stronger Than Ever!

Back in February I posted this about the fabulous Ernestine Shepherd who started bodybuilding at the age of 56 and was competing at the age of 71! Well I was flipping through my morning blogs and saw a poste here talking about beautiful Ernestine again. It turns out that she now,age 73, not only does the weights (and can bench press 150lbs!) but runs 80 miles a week. Is that just not the most fabulous thing?! It inspires me that's for sure! Can't wait to get back on it and hit the road!
That should get you moving for the weekend!
Cheers all!

GOOD MORNING PEEPS!

How are you today? I have been a busy bee getting ready for my trip to the states next week. Organising clients, the garden, the house... Also been doing some therapy on the hip and hammy-darn it!

Went to a sports masseuse last week...going again today; been icing it all daily now. I know the hammy will heal-these things just take longer than I was hoping-but as many of you know, the hammy is notorious for taking ages to heal; I think I actually got a bit of a tear there. But just got to keep up the therapy for now. As far as the hip...that I just have to keep manageable-so I won't run again until I have some proper running shoes. I'm pretty sure running on this uneven country road with improper shoes is what aggravated it.

So, having said all that...am I still working out? Heck yeah! You know me better than that! I'm just not doing legs...have had some fantastic upper body workouts. Just because a person has an injury in one part of the body does not mean to sit around and eat bon bons all day and neglect the rest of the body. My nutrition has tightened up a bit too since I'm not getting any of the running or HIIT stuff in.

So, there ya go! How are you doing? Have you let something get in the way of your fitness and health? Hope not!

Oh, I won't be doing Tasty Tuesday recipes until I get back from the states. Just not making anything particularly new or interesting right now.

Cheers all!

My new FAVOURITE shoulder move!

One arm incline lateral raises.

These are AWESOME!
Here is an easy to understand demo.

Thank you Jody at TRUTH2BEINGFIT.COM!

Have a great week!

WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY!

I was watching CNN the other night, and they had a story on that really touched me. It was about a theatre group (Nalaga’at Center) made up entirely (I believe) of deaf, blind and deaf AND blind performers. How wonderfully inspiring is that?! People that cannot see or hear, performing their hearts out on stage...and apparently quite well as they have now toured from Israel to Canada to the US. To me this just hits home the point, once again, that if someone really wants to do something, they really and truly can!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Ciao for now!

TASTY TUESDAY!

First off is this yummy gluten free banana cake that I made over the weekend. BIG HIT! Everyone gave it 2 thumbs up...so I have to share!

For the banana cake...this is about what I used
1/2 C almond flour
1/2 C brown rice flour
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs grapeseed oil
1/2 C apple sauce
1 whole egg
3 whites
2 bananas
1tsp ginger
1tsp cinnamon
2 T brown sugar

Mix it all up...if it's too clumpy, add some more applesauce. Comes out similar to muffin mix consistency rather than cake batter.
I put it in a muffin tin (actually one of those silicone ones) and sprinkled a tiny bit more of brown sugar and cinnamon on top and baked for a little over an hour at 180C...start checking for doneness after 45 minutes...each oven is a bit different.

Next item...I don't have a picture of it...was too busy visiting to bother!
I used a recipe that I have posted a link to before...the original recipe is CHIPOTLE ORANGE CHICKEN...but instead of chicken, I marinated prawns...peeled and cleaned.

I marinated them for about 3 hours in that sauce.
Chopped up a red capsicum and a yellow one...stir fried those with some garlic and olive oil for a few minutes. Set that aside, then threw the prawns and marinade into the wok, cooked till almost done...added the capsicum and cooked till prawns were finished. Served over rice...total hit! You can add some chili pepper to the rice while it's cooking for a little extra heat too...yummo!

Enjoy your week!

Talkin' Tabata

Hello blog land! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty darn good. Got a couple new fab recipes for tomorrow's Tasty Tuesday and had a great workout yesterday-did un-assisted pull ups for the first time in about 2 months...got 3.5 on the first set, 4 then 3. So, not too bad. Jog today was pretty good...hip/sacro has really been acting up lately though, so I'm going to make an appointment with a local sports massage therapist who is supposed to be really good-we'll see!

I just wanted to talk a bit more about tabata-which I absolutely love! I have mentioned it many times in the recent past, and have posted a few links with the scientific info about it; it is a form of High Intensity Interval Training...or HIIT, and I just thought I'd share my actual program. I am firmly convinced that consistent tabata is what has increased my stamina for jogging-it just makes sense really.

The basic protocol for Tabata is 20 seconds of fast hard exercise w/10 seconds break...doing that for 8 rounds which equals 4 minutes and you're done. Of course this gets easy pretty fast..so they have heaps of different variations so it doesn't have to get too easy or boring!

When I first started doing Tabata consistently during my comp prep, I would do 20 seconds of THRUSTERS w/2.5K dumbbells (5.5lbs), and then 20 seconds of mountain climbers. So a total of 4 each for a total of 4 minutes with one minute rest and then do it again-9 minutes out of my day, that's it! After a while though, the mountain climbers just weren't cutting it, so I switched to jump rope...kick ass! That gets the old heart going.

I did that 3 times a week for about 3 weeks up to comp.

Now, I do the Tabata twice a week and slightly different. I am still doing the thrusters alternating with the jump rope, but for 30 seconds on 10 seconds off. I do that 8 times and on the last round of jump rope, I go for an extra 15 seconds-total of 45 seconds jump rope (this was not my idea, John just sort of makes me do it...LOL!-but I know it's worth it!)

Have you tried Tabata yet? If so, what variations have you come up with? If not...get on it! It's so invigorating!

GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!!!

Have fun at the ALL FEMALES this weekend!

RUNNING AGAIN!

And lovin' it!

I have done a bit of jogging off and on over the years-but have never yet been able to go past even a full 1/2 hour as something always gets in the way; knee pain, side ache, reflux, or just plain head games-me telling myself that's as far as I can go. So recently, I'd been sort of toying with trying again since i'm just not getting a proper cardio blast from the brisk walk-and started about about 2 weeks ago-just jogging on Wednesday mornings-I wait till about 45 minutes after I've had my toast and coffee-for it to settle; besides it's still winter and the sun takes forever to come up!

I did ok...and then funny enough Kelly O started blogging/vlogging about taking up jogging again too. She has also made many attempts over the years and dealt with side stitches and mental blocks and had given up a number of times. Well, reading her blogs about trying again-and all of the wonderful tips people have given her has really inspired me to go at it full on! So yesterday I jogged for 25 minutes straight and it felt awesome! I'm going to start jogging twice a week now...I'm shooting for 30 minutes by the time I get to the states in 3 weeks.

I think that one thing that may be helping me is the fact that I've being doing TABATA pretty consistently for a few months now and this most likely has helped to increase my stamina.

Of course, one of the reasons I now believe I have had some issues in the past, is my running shoes. I love my Brooks and have even recommended them to other people-but the fact is, on these country roads especially-I just don't think they are cutting it. So, when I get to the states I'm going to check out some good quality running shoes....right now I'm leaning towards the Asics that Kelly mentions; many people recommended them to her and she has now tried them and quite likes them-they sound super comfy too! I'm also going to invest in some of the Underarmour bras she mentions as they really do look awesome! I commented to Kelly that I don't need magazines anymore-I just watch her vlogs  to find out the latest and greatest..LOL! And when she talks about it taking 3 hours to get on one of those other cross back sports bras-she ain't lieing...LOL! Of course, I have to try the stuff on and see how it all feels...I'll let you know how I go!

I don't really have an "ultimate goal" in mind-though some day it would be great to do a charity marathon! For now, I'm shooting for just being able to jog for at least 45 mintues straight...lol. It is just such a fabulous form of cardio!

How about you...is there anything you've tried over and over but have given up on? Get back on that horse and figure out a way to tame it! There is always a way if it's something you really want to do!

How are YOU?

Are you taking care of yourself? I sure hope so! Me; I’m doing really well, thanks for asking!

I read an interesting blog recently at TRUTH2BEINGFIT…Reinventing Ourselves. I just thought it was a really interesting topic. Have you ever reinvented yourself? I suppose as we get older, we learn new things and grow-so we are constantly changing who we are; change after all , whether we try or not, is inevitable. But have you ever actually taken a step in such different direction that it is completely outside of the “mould” you have made for yourself?

I think people that take on health and fitness lifestyles for the first time sort of reinvent themselves-not just on the outside but inside as well since they are now taking care of themselves, caring more about food & nutrition and of course exercise. In a way, I feel like I reinvented myself the day I came clean about my addiction. It has brought a whole new perspective to my life and how I now deal with things and of course it’s given my blog a whole other road to travel..hehehe.

How about you? What really huge changes have you made that might qualify as “reinventing” yourself?

TASTY TUESDAY!

First off for this week is roasted butternut squash-super easy and super yum!


I only used about 1/2 of one-peel and slice into thick pieces.
Brush both sides with olive oil. Brush one side with honey and bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 C (400 F) then flip and brush other side with honey-sprinkle feta crumbs and bake for another 15 minutes. TOO EASY!

Next is just a link-but I did make a small change-I baked these yesterday and they were, once again-very easy. They are gluten free, coconut flour blueberry muffins from ELANA'S PANTRY These are packed with protein-especially since I used 8 whites with 4 yolks rather than 6 whole eggs. I added a tad more coconut flour as well-I ended up with 6 muffins.

That's it!

Ciao for now!

There is no "easier" addiction

The term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user himself to his individual health, mental state, or social life.

I recently had a comment left on my blog by a fellow blogger who I know wasn't trying to be insulting; we've blogged back and forth for a couple of years now...had a few tit for tats-all in light hearted blogger style.

Today, though, I just felt I should address the comment as I feel very strongly about what she said. And don't take this as a personal attack hon...your comment simply triggered something that I felt I should respond to.

She mentioned that she thought it was easier to deal with an alcohol or drug addiction (and probably gambling, shopping etc-though she did not state that) because you can't live without food-where you can live without alcohol or drugs. Hmmmm-this to me just sounds like another excuse. Sure you can't live without food-but you CAN live without cake, cookies, chips, soda pop.

The fact is-when you have an addiction-you FEEL like you can't live without whatever it is that has "control" over you. I know that when I was letting alcohol take over-I literally felt like I would explode if I didn't drink it. I got so antsy and irritable and consumed by the thought of alcohol-I did whatever I had to to get it on that day.

One day I hid all of my tampons and claimed that I needed to go to the shops since Aunt Flo was visiting and I was completely out just so I could go and get wine because I was out of that. I HAD to have the alcohol that day.

Its' still about choice. And I finally chose to not let the alcohol control me. But until the day I made that decision-I truly felt I HAD to have it. And even now, I get those feelings...sometimes I'll be in town getting groceries and of course the liquor store is right next door and certain thoughts enter my mind about how easy it would be, or how I can handle a few glasses, -but I now choose to not go into the liquor store. Just like when you are in the grocery store-you can choose to not go down the cake isle. It's your choice. Yes, it's hard to control the urge to not overeat, just like it's hard to control the urge to drink alcohol, or gamble or take drugs...it's bloody HARD! I'm not saying dealing with a food urge is easy...I'm not saying that at all. But, I still think it's an URGE...you feel the urge to overeat...food addicts have said this themselves...it's an urge.

I know I'm going to get flack for this...but if you really read what I've said...I have not said that food addiction is easy-so please don't tell me that my addiction is easy to deal with. You have never been addicted to alcohol. You have no idea.

Listening to your gut

When is the last time you were really hungry? Or sat down and truly enjoyed a meal? So many people rush around with heaps to do, they eat on the go stuffing whatever is at hand into their mouths...often not even knowing what they are eating let alone actually tasting it.

There is the other side of the coin too; eating on strict time schedules...whether you are hungry or not. Again-are you able to enjoy the process of eating and taste the food. Even if it's super healthy whole food that's full of nutrition and flavour, if you are not hungry-how could you truly enjoy it?

I know, these are not new concepts or topics; many books have been written, many blogs have been read... Some people give names to this "way" of eating...personally I just call it "eating".

I do believe that much of the obesity problem is due not only to a lack of nutrition, but simply bad eating habits. Not paying attention to whether a person is truly hungry or just stuffing their face out of boredom or because the clock states it's feeding time. I know, I know-I myself would stick to a strict eating schedule when prepping for a comp-and if you are getting ready for a comp-you should stick to a strict schedule-it's what the comp prep is all about-simply fueling the body; and of course all that extra training one does for comp prep needs to be fuelled!

However, for normal, everyday life, and attaining a healthy body-which means having a certain amount of body fat (sorry but yes, if you are a woman, having under 10% body fat might look fab in pics-but we all know, that is not healthy for extended periods...even Pauline Nordin knows that!)...eating good, nutritious, REAL food and eating when hungry as opposed to just eating for the sake of eating AND, of course, regular exercise of some sort is how I believe it can be done.

Obviously, one size does not fit all, Kelly O has correctly pointed this out many times. In the end we have to find what works for us. For Kelly it's EAT STOP EAT...which involves some weekly fasting; it's helping her to really learn when her body is telling her she's hungry. Charlotte just recently mentioned that right now, in the winter time, she's just not hungry in the morning and prefers to eat more at night...and that's just what she's doing. She is not hungry until 2pm...of course-she eats really well. She has a handle on what nutritious and real food is; I certainly wouldn't recommend that to someone that is not in tune with there body and would wait until 2 and then scarf on a box of donuts!

Getting to know your body takes time...but if you take the time-you truly can teach your brain to listen to your gut. No matter what your age...you can train your brain-this has been scientifically proven! Give it a go, listen to your gut!

Have a great weekend!