Getting Fit Week Five

Although I made my goals smaller for last week (week four) I still ended up failing. I took a day off and didn't go to boot camp Saturday morning so fell behind. 

Last week's goals;

- Do Wii Fit at least three days, minimum 30mins I did one day.

- 500 knee push ups Fail - they don't agree with me, I did 100.

- 500 squats Done!

- 500 crunches I did 400.

- 50 burpees I did 35

- 500 jumping jacks I did 380

- Skate on road once I skated outside twice!

- Skate two hours on Sunday Done and loved it! Cannot wait till next week.

- Put on skates three times I put them on four days.

- Minimum 1.5L water every day Done.

- Four shakes Only had two. 

- Boot camp Saturday morning I didn't want a repeat of last week where I was injured and couldn't skate so I skipped. Plus it was raining.

- At least one Ease into 5k work outs Done. Easier than expected.

Squats are becoming easier and I'm looking at doing more at one time, 100 this week. I've been doing burps in ten blocks and they're also getting easier. Jumping jacks still take my breath away but the longer I can do them in one bulk the better endurance I'll have. Knee push ups suck. I'd rather do burpees than push ups. Yes, seriously.

I skated outside for the first time this week as well. My outdoor wheels are a pretty hot pink and I love using them. The first day (Wednesday) we went to a small park that had a deserted basketball court. It was tough and very bumpy. I fell on my ass a few times. Always the same butt cheek. The second day (Thursday) I was feeling horribly sick, in fact we left our favourite restaurant due to me being sick that morning. It was that day or later this week and I was itching to get a skate in before Sunday. There's an awesome bike trial at a massive, newly renovated park which we went to. Naively I thought that it would be one long bit of concrete rather than little slabs, but no the cracks sucked. I fell on my ass, same butt cheek, a few times again. The problem with concrete is there is no such thing as knee slides, it's knee stops which if not prepared can be a shock. I'm hoping to go back for another skate this week.

I neglected the Wii this week as well. I have no excuse really. It did take me over an hour to complete a 27min workout on it though which is frustrating. Hopefully I'll get to go on it tonight to do boxing, stepping, jogging and cycling. Sleep, children, sleep!

I don't run. I've never been a runner. In fact I'd be one of the first dead after the zombie apocalypse. I need endurance in derby so I've decided to become a runner of some sorts. I'm using the Ease into 5k app to help me. Last week I started it by doing the first day of week one. I just ran and walked around our yard rather than in public. I think next time I'll walk down to the field and run/walk around that. Everywhere else has hills. Why did we move to the hilliest area?

I thought I scaled down my goals for last week but obviously I didn't do a good enough job so again I'll be scaling down.

This week's goals;

- Do Wii Fit Plus at least once

- Skate Sunday

- Put skates on four days

- Skate outside at least once

- Do 50 squats, 50 crunches, 50 jumping jacks, 10 burpees and 10 knee push ups every day

- Minimum 1.5L water every day

- At least three shakes

- At least one Ease into 5k work outs

- One workout video this week

It's been four weeks since I started. I haven't eaten very healthy though so that would have impacted on my fitness. Keeping in mind the picture I posted last week I can see a difference and I'm sticking it out. I'm excited to see even more changes!

Week one

Week four

Let's Talk Speech

Lufflump had his speech therapy assessment this morning.

Since I made the appointment last week I've been nervous and dreading it. Last night I wasn't going to go, just the mister and lufflump. This morning I decided I had to go, it wasn't about me at all. I had to suck it up and get over my anxiety and go for lufflump. And I did.

Lufflump doesn't talk clearly or in English. He has his own language, says the same 'word' over and over again for the same thing. It was cute when he was younger and we thought he'd grow out of it. He's three next month and we've stopped being in denial that he needs help.

This morning we all bundled into the car and drove in peek hour to the therapists' office. Neither the mister or I knew what to expect.

I was worried that lufflump wouldn't interact or listen to them. I didn't need to worry, he interacted with them I say 'them' because we had two therapists as one was learning straight away. They had some animal finger puppets that he played with straight away. He matched them, got the animal they asked him to and made all the correct animal noises. He couldn't properly say what they were but tried his hardest.

He did get bored with pointing at pictures and playing with cups and spoons. There were cars, a monster and a cool bouncing bee to play with instead. We did have a meltdown when he couldn't take the bouncing bee or Ben 10 monster home but as soon as we dropped him off at daycare that was all forgotten.

We haven't received the assessment yet but we are going back on Monday for weekly visits. They said he has obvious speech delays but it's good that he can make the sounds he needs to, he just needs to learn how to connect those sounds to form words. Other than that he's more than fine.

Tonight, after daycare, I've been making sure to ask him more open questions and sound words out. He tries. He tries so hard and sometimes he says the word perfectly (it was 'star' tonight) but then reverts back to saying it his way.

Over the weekend, he has daycare tomorrow, we'll make sure to sit down and try and do what they did this morning. Sit down and make certain sounds. Say the ABCs over and over again. Bring out the flash cards. Watch TV and talk about what's happening. Ask open questions. Hopefully on Monday we'll be armed with some homework to try and get him forming proper words.

Such a boy 

Wonder Woman!

Sesame

Want to play? Join in the fun - My Little Drummer Boys.

Exercise the Pinterest Way

Pinterest is a wonderful tool. It's great for inspiration of almost anything - craft, fashion, food, organisation, design, kid's activities - you name it and it's most likely pinned.

Pinterest

As I'm not a fitness freak, healthy minded person or have ever been motivated to exercise more than a week before I need all the inspiration, motivation, ideas and knowledge I can get my hands on. Pinterest has been brilliant.

I've done the following exercises I've found through Pinterest. I may not have repeated them again straight away but I've done the reps. Some have been easy, some have been hard. Through these exercises I know what muscles need more work than others. I'm learning about, listening to and working with my body for the first time other than when giving birth.

Image

Image

I, of course, have a Pinterest exercise board but here are my top five exercise, fitness, health, motivation boards to follow;
    1. Adrienne's Health & Fitness Board

Health & Fitness

    2. Naomi's exercise Board

exercise

    3. Denise's motivation and exercise Board

motivation and exercise

    4. Amanda's Exercise Board

Exercise

    5. Jennifer's SWEAT IT OUT Board

SWEAT IT OUT

I'd love to know who you follow on Pinterest for inspiration.

Getting Fit Week Four

Week three was a bit of a fail week. 

So many things went wrong regarding my goals. The mixer to make our shakes broke, I got an infected swollen foot, my knee pads didn't arrive, sesame decided that during the night she'd wake every half hour and on Saturday night I slightly tore my quad muscle meaning I couldn't skate on Sunday. I had some positives too like boot camp style group training on Saturday morning. Unfortunately though most goals will not be crossed off.

Last week's goals;

- Do Wii Fit at least five days, minimum 30mins I did four.

- 10 knee push ups every day (my poor knees are starting to hurt from Sunday) My knees were sore from last Sunday I couldn't do it every day but I did make up for it, doing at least eighty this week.

- 50 squats every day Except for Sunday this I did plus some.

- Roller Derby Workout DVD at least one day this week Nope, but I did get my ass kicked by Bob Harper on his Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD. Ass kicked.

- Skate two hours on Sunday I managed a whole ten minutes. The rest of the time I got to watch people skate and learn.

- Put on skates every day Couldn't even wear shoes for a few days let alone my skates.

- Minimum 1.5L water every day Done!

- One shake every day With the mixer breaking I've missed my shakes.

- This workout at least three times this week The only workout DVD I did last week was Bob's. Bastard.

As you can see most goals did not get completed. That's not to say I didn't work out every day, I did but I didn't do the goals I had set out. I'm disappointed but not disheartened. I've noticed a difference in my body, mind and energy levels. All positive too. 

Keeping in mind how quickly unexpected happenings can impact my goals, I'm scaling them back this week. I still want to do more and plan to but I won't make them a goal.

This week's goals;

- Do Wii Fit at least three days, minimum 30mins

- 500 knee push ups

- 500 squats 

- 500 crunches

- 50 burpees

- 500 jumping jacks

- Skate on road once 

- Skate two hours on Sunday

- Put on skates three times 

- Minimum 1.5L water every day

- Four shakes

- Boot camp Saturday morning

- At least one Ease into 5k work outs

It's a bigger list but smaller goals. The squats, push ups, crunches, burpees, jumping jacks are added to whatever is done on Saturday morning. I also want to do some running during the week so that I can jog more on Saturday, last week I was terrible!

I should be getting my knee pads today so I'll feel more comfortable on my skates and can finally get some extra skating in. After missing skating at last week's training session I'll definitely need to do some extra work this week. 

Next week I'll take a photo - four week photo to see the progress and I'll post it keeping in mind the following;

Image

Why Roller Derby?

Why not?

No, seriously why roller derby indeed. I'm sure my mum would like to know as she doesn't want me to get into it.

There's many reasons why I love and want to do roller derby. I mean, have you seen a bout? It's bursting with awesomeness. If you haven't seen a bout, I encourage you to go have a family outing one night to see one. Yes, roller derby bouts are family friendly! If you really want to see a bout from your own home check these out on youtube.

Back to the reasons why I want to do roller derby;

• It's fun and you have to be fit. I have never been fit or very healthy so this is all new to me. I've done a lot of sports but never stuck with any of them. Netball was the only sport I've done after school and I sucked. If I wasn't getting knocked out by my own team mate (yep, nearly every game) I was 'too aggressive' when defending. So roller derby sounds awesome. You get to beat people up while skating and getting fit. Win, win, win!
• Being in a team that supports each other. It may be my idealistic view of teams but each team I've seen are so supportive of each other. Everyone has to work together to get more points than the other team on the board.
• I love to skate. Inline, rollerblading, or ice-skating that is. You know the saying 'it's just like riding a bike'? Well, I've forgotten how to ride a bike but never forgotten how to rollerblade or ice-skate. Rollerblading is NOT the same as rollerskating though. Rollerskating is harder and I suck. BUT I will get better and that excites me!
• The confidence. Roller derby girls are SO confident. They aren't over confident/stuck up though, they're comfortably confident. Comfortable being themselves, true. All the roller derby girls I've spoken to are so easy to talk to, I could sit down and spend hours just talking about anything and everything without feeling stupid or that I'm being judged. That is awesome.
• Socialising and meeting awesome people. Roller derby is FULL of awesome people. Yeah there are assholes like in every social setting. It's similar to blogging and bloggers, the majority of us are awesome but there are some who just suck at being nice. I want to know these people, the nice ones that is.
• My body type. I'm a pear, no boobs with hips, thighs and a booty. It's a good thing in roller derby. Finally I have found confidence in myself thanks to a sport that isn't just for skinny, athletic, ruler shaped chicks. It's for all body shapes and sizes. That is definitely something that should be celebrated!
• The awesome clothes. I can't say this hasn't been a reason. The outfits are wicked and individual even though each team has a uniform. No two roller derby girls look the same and I love that. What some girls wear I won't wear and vice versa. I love the socks but I'll be wearing tights as my skates are too tight, see individual.

Image

So I ask why not roller derby?

Oh No Vomit Roll!

Lufflump

That little man above vomited all over me and the bed at 5am this morning, had a shower then fell back asleep.

Sesame

That little girl above decided that, today, at eight weeks it was time to roll from her front to back while doing tummy time on the floor. 

I may not have the motivation to blog lately but that doesn't mean life here is boring.

New haircut!

Rainy Days

I found this post hiding in my drafts folder from about a year ago. My blojo (blog mojo) has gone and it's raining so it seems perfect timing to hit publish!

Whenever it rains kids go crazy. It's science. They can't play outside like usual, no going to the park, no fun adventures. Especially, if like me you don't drive. Public transport and rain just don't mix well. It's science.

That means being stuck at home indoors. Boring.

Kid's energy levels don't change with the weather like adults (rainy days = day in bed). So what to do?

We dance. Favourites at the moment include 'I Like To Move It' from Madagascar 2 and 'El Buzzo' from Toy Story 3.

We play with balloons. Lots of balloons.

We draw. We draw using a magna doodle type thing, pens, highlighters, pencils and chalk.

We play blocks. We make tall, short, big and small houses.

We watch movies. Favorites at the moment include Shrek 2 and 4 and Toy Story 3. Some rainy days we watch way too many movies but we make up for it on other, usually sunny, days.

Rainy days can be fun. They can be action packed. 

To use up energy we usually play under blankets or chase each other around the house. It uses all lufflump's energy up and makes me exhausted too.

What do you do on rainy days?

Getting Fit Week Three

Week two was a good week! I love good weeks.

Last week's goals;

- Use Wii Fit at least five days Done. My Wii Fit age was 20 all week. I did 30 minutes two days, an hour one day and 10 minutes the last day. I didn't go on the Wii two days this week as it was just too hard with two kids to look after.

- Fifty knee push ups in total I did eighty this week. 

- Skating for an hour Tuesday night Fail. I explain more here.

- Skip for at least five minutes three days Fail. I did it twice this week for less than five minutes. When did skipping become hard?

- No caffeine I had coke on Saturday night. Vanilla Coke. I'm still happy as I've cut out coffee daily. Man, I miss it!

- Six glasses of water every day I passed this if 1.5L of water is six glasses. I have no idea but it's a hell of a lot more water than I'm used to.

- Be aware of and limit amount of sugar consumed Chocolate fail. It's just too yummy. Same as ice-cream. Damn.

- One shake with egg and banana at least four days Done. We added berries and yoghurt too. Delicious!

I'm happy with the goals I achieved. While I didn't skate Tuesday night for an hour, I did skate on Sunday morning for two hours. I didn't skip for five minutes three days this week but I did at least twenty squats every day. I exercised for at least ten minutes every day last week even if it was just stretching. 

Wednesday night I went to Northern Brisbane Rollers Recreational League info night. I signed up with 39 other people to start phase one of Rec League. My Roller Derby career is starting from the very bottom. The mister bought all my gear for me including Sure Grip Rebel with have a better plate than the standard. Apparently that means I can skate on them for longer than I would with normally as the plate would be what I'd upgrade first (apart from wheels, I can't wait to get pretty pink indoor wheels). 

Sure Grip Rebels

Sunday I fell on my ass three times, once taking some poor girl with me after my skate clipped hers. I was definitely wobbly on my feet but I was able to keep up and do what was required. We learned how to do a single knee stop, double knee stop and baseball stop. My knee pads are on order, hopefully coming this week, so I had to hire pads. Those pads weren't the best for what we were doing. I've got a lovely bruised knees.

A couple of hours after practice, it's bigger now

If I want to get better at skating and progress to the next phase in six weeks, I'll need to practice more than just Sundays. It's scary but damn it's fun. A whole lot more fun than scary. I'm enjoying it so much already and can't wait until next Sunday. 

I need to work on my thigh and butt muscles as on Sunday my legs were giving way and I was definitely struggling to get back up off my knees. They're also what's most sore today, but not as sore as I expected. I can get on and off the toilet with relative ease. 

This week's goals;

- Do Wii Fit at least five days, minimum 30mins

- 10 knee push ups every day (my poor knees are starting to hurt from Sunday)

- 50 squats every day

- Roller Derby Workout DVD at least one day this week

- Skate two hours on Sunday

- Put on skates every day

- Minimum 1.5L water every day

- One shake every day

- This workout at least three times this week

I really want to start c25k this week but I think next week will work better. If I get the chance I'll start it this week but I don't want to put it as a goal.

So far today I've worn my skates, done 30mins on the Wii, 10 knee push ups, 50 squats, drunk 750mL of water, and I'm about to go make a shake. I got the luxury of a 10am sleep in today too. The mister is at work, sesame is in her swing and lufflump is doing the exercises with me so it can be done. Mind you they're having a good day today. Ask me on a day when the kids are cranky and I'll probably bite your head off.

I feel good. I feel stronger. I can see changes in my body already and it's exciting. 

Simplify Your Life Week Thirteen #syl12

Ok time to catch up on the Simplify Your Life challenge.  I apologise in advance for the bombardment of these posts as I catch up. I'm quite behind as I had a break from this during my blog break too.

This week's challenge is to check up on the goals that were made in week six. 

Goal: Clean and organise daily, even just ten minutes a day.

This is happening! Even on lazy days something gets done even if it's just the dishwasher being packed or a load being washed. It could be better but with a newborn and toddler our house will never be spotless every day. We don't really enjoy cleaning so would rather do more enjoyable things. 

Goal: Spend more time as a family actually doing stuff, not just sitting around doing nothing.

With the mister no longer working on weekends we are definitely doing this. Last week was a big week of that. Lufflump is talking more and we are all a lot more happier than we have been in a long time.

Goal: Be mindful daily.

This has changed lufflump more than I could have thought. He's talking and connecting more with us which is wonderful. I'm enjoying looking forward to the day and backward on what the day has been. Obviously with lufflump's changes this is very important and must be continued.

Goal: Eat well and exercise daily, even just for ten minutes a day.

I'm exercising more than ten minutes a day! Today, for example, I've exercised for an hour on Wii Fit Plus and have done additional exercises including knee push ups, squats and planks. I'm enjoying exercising and can already tell a different in my arms. Eating well is a bit of a struggle though but a good work in progress. I'm having shakes filled with goodness daily, having nuts as snacks, and drinking more water. The difference I'm feeling is more than worth it!

Goal: Spend more time reconnecting with and visiting friends.

I suck. I've been to lunch a few times with friends and seen a couple more but not every fortnight like I planned or would like. 

Goal: Delve further into Buddhism.

This goal hasn't been reached, not even slightly. This has been put on the back burn while I get fit and spend quality time with my family.

Goal: Budget, be firm, consistent and stick to it.

Budget, what is that?! We haven't set a budget but are more aware of our finances as the mister is no longer working two jobs. The mister rides to and from work so we save money on fuel and parking tickets. Eating healthy is a lot cheaper than eating junk so we are also saving money there. We are still living week by week but with two kids, minimum hours and forking out for a new sport it's understandable. It will get under control and we aren't stressing, that's important isn't it?

Goal: Build a small veggie garden.

We haven't yet done this. We want to though so this is still in the plans.

Happy family!

The goals I'm yet to reach are still reachable and I'm not crossing them off the list yet. The ones I have reached I will continue as they are worth it!

Simplify Your Life Week Twelve #syl12

Ok time to catch up on the Simplify Your Life challenge.  I apologise in advance for the bombardment of these posts as I catch up. I'm quite behind as I had a break from this during my blog break too.

Change. 

Oh how my life is changing right now. From not having the energy to get out of bed to exercising daily. From the house being a huge mess to being reasonably tidy. Just ignore the massive pile of clean washing waiting to be folded and put away. From being distant with lufflump's life and day to focusing and playing with him, being mindful.

Change can be so wonderful.

We had a horrible day on Tuesday. Lufflump was sick, not sleeping, vomiting and cranky all day. Sesame wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms and cried almost all day. I was home alone, this mister is working during the day this week rather than at night. I was supposed to go to an adult learn to skate lesson that night but after a day like that I was over everything. The mister came home, got handed the kids and I locked myself in the bathroom. I couldn't look at anything to do with Roller Derby, instead finished reading a book on the Kindle app. I was ready to give up.

I would have given up but the changes I've made so far are worth more than one bad day, one bad night.

Last night I sucked up every doubt I had and went to a Roller Derby Recreational League info night. I was so anxious going but I was also excited. Unfortunately my body is still learning that adrenaline isn't always a bad thing. The info night was fascinating and reaffirmed that this is one change I am very keen to make. In fact, I'm signed up to start very basic skating and roller derby training for six weeks starting this Sunday morning.

Image

I could have let my negative thoughts and feelings take over the passion I felt for roller derby and getting healthy. I probably would have before. I would have given up and moved onto something else and probably given that up to. I've changed. My thoughts have changed. It feels good.

I'm so glad life is moving on. The mister is happy with his fitness, riding around 15kms every day. Lufflump is communicating and talking so much more. Sesame is, well, a newborn. 

Life is good.

Riding a Horse Park Style

WARNING: No sound

Want to play? Join in the fun - My Little Drummer Boys.

Week That Was

Last week was a big week! So big that I've decided to wrap it all up in a post which I don't usually do. Here goes in hopefully the order of the week.

                                                                                                                           

Andrea from Fox in Flats started her Arm Party Dare which I wrote about and joined in.

1, 2, 3

4, 5, 6, 7

It was so much fun and I still had a bunch of bracelets and wrist wear I didn't use. Thank you Andrea for this awesome dare!

                                                                                                                           

The wonderful Lisa from Madam Bipolar put a call out for guest bloggers. I love and admire her blog so jumped at the chance although I didn't think my work would be good enough. I wrote about my experience with Trichotillomania titled The Road to Blue Hair.

www.madambipolar.com

Lisa's encouragement and lovely words were all worth it as were the comments left on the post. If I help one person by reading my story then I'm more than happy. Madam Bipolar is one of the most informative, interesting and real blog out there on the interwebz.

                                                                                                                           

Thursday night my mum, lufflump, sesame and me were fortunate enough to receive an invite to the Dreamworks new area at Dreamworld. The lovely ladies from Reprise Media gave us the full VIP treatment by feeding us good quality food and drinks, giving the kids goodie bags, letting us run wild in the new area and securing awesome seats for the Madagascar live show.

Balloons, food, drinks, goodie bags, kids and parents!

Sesame slept the whole time even through the show and lufflump ran wild! We went on the Dronkey Flyers, MAD Jungle Jam and a pink horse on Shrek's Ogre-Go-Round. We met Shrek, Princess Fiona, Puss, and the three Penguins from Madagascar.

The Shrek Ogre-Go-Round

Attacking people with Suger in the MAD Jungle Jam

Lufflump loved the show. It was hard to stop him from getting up on stage but being his first live show that's understandable. He just wanted to play with Alex! He also loved his toy, Gloria the Hippo. He slept with her in his arms that night and has played with her ever since. A new fave for sure!

Bloggers took over the first two rows!

Thank you Megan and Reprise Media, Dreamworks and Dreamworld!

Fave photo of the night!

                                                                                                                           

After Dreamworld we stayed at my mum's house until Saturday. I also managed to come down with some horrible illness causing headaches, swollen glands and temperatures. It's always a good break staying down at mum's. 

First smile captured on film, burping sesame, lufflump all set up, squished in the back seat of mum's car

We went to the beach, the mister did some jobs for mum, I was able to go to bed super early, sesame slept reasonably well and lufflump always loves running around there. 

                                                                                                                           

Saturday we left mum's and went to a Rave event at New Farm park so the mister could get some fire twirling in. Last time he fire twirled lufflump was only a few months old, if that. We had a lot of fun, dancing and enjoying being out with friends. As you can see in the video poor lufflump just wanted to play with the fire like his daddy. Please excuse the crappy video.

                                                                                                                           

Sunday the Easter Bunny came! Lufflump doesn't like chocolate and EB knew so he brought olives instead of eggs and hid toys around the courtyard for an Easter hunt. EB hit the nail on the head with lufflump's presents, he was so happy!

Olives!

My dad came over with chocolate and we all watched movies together. Easter remains a fun holiday!

Easter hunt!