Moving House

I have decided to move house in order to combine my two blogs and to create a more special place to talk about life and family life alongside my fitness goals.

I hope you can come and join me in The Shed!

Down in the Shed

Layne Beachley on Success

There is a show on the Business Channel on Foxtel called Switzer which I don't really watch all that often - however, the other day I happened upon a really interesting interview with Layne Beachley on this program and it inspired me.

Essentially Layne was discussing her pathway to success in surfing and business.

I'd love to share a few of her quotes from the transcript with all of you:

Layne on Focus and Determination -

“When I turned 25 I was considered a veteran. But I didn’t win my first world title until I was 26. You know, as women, we do tend to get better with age.”
What took her so long?

“I wasn’t ready,” says Beachley. “I wasn’t ready to win. I was still very distracted. I didn’t give it 110 per cent. Once I started to really focus in on it and take all the other distractions out of my life and make that my number one priority then I won and I stayed there for as long as I did.”

This is something that I have found to be so important - when you want to achieve something you have to focus on it and it alone 100%. You can't be attempting to acieve 6 major goals at one time because you simply don't have the enery to give them all the attention they need. The other important point here is that you really really have to want to achieve the goal you are aiming for - you have to want it with all your heart - only then can you truly focus on you goals.

A friend was relaying a story to me last night about a guy he went on a work trip with who was a marathoner - he routinely declined invites out for post work drinks and that kind of thing because he valued his training so much that it was more important to him - he wanted to get up and go for his 20km in the morning and he wanted to be fresh when he did it. It was more important to him.
That is the mindset you need to achieve your goals.

More from Layne:

Beachley says her support networks have been crucial to her success.

“Even though I’ve been perceived as being an individualist, I’ve always had a team of people around me that have allowed me to maintain my focus and have pushed me in a different direction if it looked like I was falling off the rails; have been honest with me, have been trustworthy; people I’ve respected and also have experienced things that I never have so I could learn from them.”

This is another thing I have learnt along the way - it is absolutley crucial to have a team of people in your life who support you and your goals. They have to validate and believe in your approach as much as you do and not be the one who is derailing you. Does your partner constantly try to get you to eat junk with them or go drinking with them? It's not that they want you to fail - they just dont see how much you value your goals -it is so much easier to ahieve a goal when your support crew is behind you 100%.

She looked to those around her – including four times world champion Wendy Botha and Australian surfing legend and fellow world champion Pam Burridge – for advice.

“I basically became a sponge,” says Beachley. “Anyone I could see that had achieved what I really wanted, I asked for their guidance.

Another really great point - find someone you admire, someone who has achieved what you want to achieve and find out as much as you can about how they did it - then do it better!

Layne continues “If you want to stay ahead of your competition, you have to find ways to reinvent yourself; you have to be willing to improve and you have to be willing to learn and acknowledge that you don’t know it all. There’s always another way to do something.”

So, what is Beachley’s advice to women? What are the words they need?

“I’m worthy. I can, I am. It’s about, firstly, having a really positive attitude, having a goal that you can work towards. It’s really important that you have a goal. Write it down. I stuck it on my mirrors in my bedroom and just looked at that through the toughest times in my life. You’ve got a purpose to get yourself up in the morning, that will give you the motivation to overcome any obstacle you can ever encounter.”

Excerpts taken from Layne Beachley interview on Switzer.http://www.switzer.com.au/small-business/women-in-business/feature/behind-every-great-woman/

Full interview can be seen here.

What is a true treat?

Interestingly through the process of finding myself again in the haze of new motherhood I am discovereing interesting things about what I truly treasure.

I have found that time and how I use it has become increasingly important to me.

This is mainly because when I do get those precious few moments to myself each day I have to choose wisely how I spend it.

I find myself getting annoyed if Harris falls asleep while we are out because that means the quiet alone time that I get to spend doing things for me are stolen by being out driving or at the shops.

Sometimes I choose to spend the whole of the first hour that he sleeps in the day doing house work - because I know that means I will get the second sleep of the day all to myself and I can spend it looking at things on the internet, reading, sewing, studying or just watching TV.

If I do manage to get out of the house without Harris, I am usually in a rush to get back again (mother guilt!)

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go out and do something completely indulgent with no agenda - that was to go and just sit at a coffee shop and have a coffee and read a magazine. To not be anxious that he might wake up at any second and spoil my relaxation time - or to simply not be in a rush to finish my coffee because he is squirming in the pram or yelling - was a true treat.

I was amazed that something so simple could fill me up to the brim of relaxation so easily. It made me realise that my prior thinking - of going out for a walk each day and "treating" myself to a coffee and a cake at a coffee shop- wasn't in reality a treat at all. It was more like something I was telling myself I deserved - but I wasn't really able to enjoy it.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I have learnt to savour those things that are truly treats and to give them the level of importance they deserve.

Recarging your batteries is so important when you have a baby - and ideally you would have a lovely husband who gives you the love and supoort you need to be able to achieve this. Luckily I do and I really don't know what I would do with out him!

I am learning every day!

Rumbling along...

It's funny you know....Shelly posted this post a few days ago and for all the world she could have been talking about me. for that is exactly how I feel. It doesn't really bother me though and that is half the problem. I seem to be happy just ambling along and doing what I can when I can. Although I haven't quite regained the lows of body fat percentage I had before I had Harris, my weight HAS even out back to approximately where it was before Harris and that makes it hard to be motivated. I really should get up and put my work skirt and pants on every day to remind myself that in 6 short weeks I have to wear these clothes again.
But then something stressful happens and its back to the old habits we go again.
I'm sure we will figure it out eventually.

I have been thinking a lot about whether I want to continue to blog because I find it quite a drain on my prescious time alone.

However just this week I have been coming across things here and there and I think to myself - I would like to write a blog about that! and so I think I will try to start blogging again more frequently.

So hopefully you will see me around again a little more often!

Just this past week I commenced a Certificate IV in Breastfeeding Education - the course that you need to complete to become qualified as a breastfeeding counsellor.
At the moment I am really motivated and happy to be learning again. Not studying something seems to leave a bit of a void in my life. I have an incessant need to learn. I am putting the wheels in motion to make a career change in the next few years and I am really excited about it. Unfortunately it will be a slow process, but it does involve lots of study and I am a bit excited about the process as much as I am about the end result. Hopefully - this path will take me to where I have wanted to be all along.

I'll be back soon with more!!!

Two Weeks to get my act together

So for the next two weeks I am going to be focussed and pulled together and get into some good habits - all with the purpose of t rying to regain the mental state that I had prior to having a baby.

I was SOOOO into health and fitness back then - it took up all of my mind space. It's time to find that again - simly because I love being in that healthful place!

Why the next two weeks?

for two reasons:
1. Because I need something to focus on
2. Because Mark is going to whyalla in SA for two weeks with work and it will just be me and the little one at home.

What does that mean? It means that I don't have to worry about feeding Mark and I just have to look after myself.

I have made a deal with Mark that when he gets back I get three times per week where he looks after Harris and I get to go running. The key is thatthose are the times when I get to do my me activity - something purely indulgent and just for me.

That is the activity I choose to have for me.

So for the next 12 months I am going to choose events to focus my running towards and get back to the super state of fitness I had pre little one.

First event? 6km Womens and Girls Jogalong at Weston Park on the 6th of December.

Few and Far Between

It seems really few and far between posts for me at the moment - but the reality is the computer isn't really a big priority for me anymore and because Harris is into EVERYTHING it is difficult to get on here when he is awake.

I ran into someone from work the other day and she reminded me that it is only 10 weeks or so until I have to return to work. Then I remembered that I was meant to be doing daily exercise in order to improve my endurance for work....hmmmnnn that one got forgotten.

It can be a bit hard to find the balance between everything, going to the gym, keeping the house clean and doing things that enrich my life (not that the gym doesn't enrich my life) and then when we have a week where Harris isn't sleeping well or we go away somewhere (which invariably means Harris doesn't sleep well for the week following) then all of the other stuff tends to get a bit forgotten.

A few weeks back I managed to get the house really tidy and I felt like I was on top of everything but now it feels like it has slipped somewhat.

My goals for this week are:

* To get back on top of the home organisation and tidying.
* To drink 3 Lt of water daily.
* To do the tasks I set for myself each day

oh and I have 10 weeks till I go back to work and presently only one of my work pants fit me and none of my skirts - I need to get my butt into get and lose a few kilos!

I was helping mummy in the garden and....

 well I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Day 2 Very Tired

Broccoli from my Garden.

I am very tired today from my big baby weights training program walk (Read 8.5kg baby in a back carrier up a mountain with a dog) and a weights session at the gym.

I am already feeling the DOMS and I'm thinking I won't be able to lift Harris tomorrow.

We are having evaporative cooling installed tomorrow so no gym for me - but I am planning on doing some gardening and a session on the spin bike!

That's all I can write for now because I am soooo tired (and I have to tidy up before the contactors want to come into my house!)

Fitness Monday

The Michelle Bridges program is split into Fitness and Toning - alternating each day. Today was Fitness and me being my usual self couldn't help but add to it. I guess I am probably a little fitter than many who would do a program froma book (but probably not much!)

Today's fitness session was a circut of two rounds, consisting of the following - each being 20 reps.

* Fast low step running Rt Leg
* Fast low step running Lt Leg
* Push Ups on Knees
* Freestanding body weight squat (and I just realised I forgot to do this entirely!)
* Standing shoulder Press with light weights
* Static Lunge with support
* Standing biceps curl with light weight

Abs
* Crunches
* Crunch with Right twist
* Crunch with Left twist

I also did 25 minute on the treadmill - 20 mins at 6% incline walking at 6.5min/km and 5 mins or 1 km running.

The great thing about this program is that it is designed to be able to be done either at home or at the gym. So if for whatever reason I am unable to make it to the gym (and with limited Childcare hours that is often the case)I can still get it done at home.

I found out this morning that due to increased membership they are limiting the childcare to 20 places per session - with 2 sessions tunning each morning AND you have to book them in on the morning of the day you want to go. It does make it that little bit harder and if you ask me I think they should just extend the childcare to 2pm. The gym offers a reduced fee membership for "Off Peak" times which allows you to go between 9am and 2pm each weekday. Considering that Childcare is only available between 9am and 12pm it really limits when you are able to go.
Next year I am going to have to change to the more expensive membership so I can go in the morning before work or in the evening (not that that will probably happen because Harris is always mr Grumpy pants in the evening). I might change gyms though - I'll have to wait and see next year.

I got thinking while I was at the gym that perhaps I needed some new gym clothes - my two pairs of leggings were a little threadbare and prone to falling down. I also decided that I needed a new pair of running shoes. When parts of the shoe are falling off it is probably time! So after I was finished at the gym thats what I did!

Now I just have to make sure I keep using it!

And So...

I come to the sombre realisation that in Two and  a half short months I have to return to work...BooHoo...

I am 100% positive that this is going to hit me like a steam roller even though I know it is coming.

So I am begrudgingly going to attempt to be all  grown up like and start being super organised and doing things properly and such so that it doesn't come as SUCH a massive shock to me and I lose the plot entirely.

Last week we were confirmed a place at the child care centre which is located on the hospital campus. I cannot tell you what a relief and weight off my shoulders that was! I was secretly stressing about it I am sure. Having Harris at this childcare centre will make it so much easier for both of us.

Once I get back into the swing of it all and Harris is a teensy bit bigger I am hoping to ride my bike to work at least twice per week.  We only live 5km from the hospital and I'm hoping to pack us both up and ride up there each day - that may be wishful thinking but I will at least give it a go. Mark can collect harris at 4pm on those days because he finishes work an hour or so earlier than I do. 

I am going back to work 3 days per week and I think I will stick to working that until we have finished having kids and they are at school. I think it is a nice balance.

What I want to do before we get to that point though is try and increase my stamina again and start going back to the gym properly. I am going to start scheduling it into my diary and making it part of our day and working the other things that need doing in around that and the general household organisational things. As boring as it may seem, I think it is important that I stop living in the little fairyland of coffee mornings and shopping and start living to somwhat of a schedule again. After all it will be enforced once I head back to work.

Its probably going to be hard and I'm probably not going to like it - but hey thats what life if like sometimes!

A while back I bought the Michelle Bridges book - "Crunch Time"  - I'm going to try and follow the training plan in there for the time between now and going back to work - just to increase my fitness and help me to not be so tired at the end of the day.

Having a baby is fun and I love playing with him all day but I think it is time to get down to business again.
My leg is still a little twingy but I'm hoping that some stretching each day will help it along.

So I'll hopefully be updating here a bit more in the coming weeks!

Hints and tips

Not much of anything except babycare going on in my world at the moment. As it creeps closer to the time I am planning on returning to work I find myself wanting to spend more time with Harris. I have had a sore leg for the past few weeks which has hampered my desire to get back to running

I thought I would do a post on the things I could and couldn't live without when I first had Harris. I didn't really overbuy but there were things I barely used.

Must have's
-sling/baby carrier - I have a baby bjorn and a baba sling but I could easily have bought a hug-a-bub and used it just as much. (And I just bought and Ergo baby carrier - but they are better for when the baby is bigger)
-Stretchy escape proof wraps- the baby may be small but they are certainly a good escape artist
-reusable cloth breast pads - these were much more comfortable than the disposable ones
-a baby bag that is comfortable, not too heavy when packed and that you love-I have two; a fancy Oroton one that I hardly use and a smaller lighter one that I love!(mine is from H is for Handbag)
- cloth flat nappies for wiping up after baby (Didn't think I would actually use these and they have been invaluable)
- a car seat/capsule
- my walking pram

What I didn't use all that much

- baby oils, powders, shampoos and washes. Babies don't really get dirty and usually have very dry skin, the only products have really used is Weleda nappy rash cream and moogoo moisturizer
- port a cot - we were given one and I haven't used it yet
- snuggle bed


other things
- I did't use our highchair until Harris was 6 months old and am glad I did' t buy one before hten. Hairchairs are possibly the most annoying creation on the planet. They get filthy, snap your fingers off when you are trying to clip them up and are brilliant food hiders - if you can borrow one to figure out what you need in a high chair then do that!)
- I didn't buy Harris a play mat with dangly toys until he was 2 months old and then by the time he was 6 months, he was destroying it so much that I had to pack it away. I would buy second hand You can pick up some great bargains on ebay!).
- cloth nappies would have been difficult for me to manage when Harris was a newborn but now I love using them. Green kids pocket nappies are great as are baby bee hinds.
- don't buy too many newborn nappies in bulk -we had three boxes of 108 and he was out of them before we could use them up.
- don't buy an expensive baby bath - ours from ikea was perfect for 14.95!




That all I can think of for now!

Thinking about running

I've been doing a lot of thinking the past few weeks - about running and fitness and exactly what I want to do with that aspect of my life - now that it is not my priority.

I think that I do want to continue to have running as part of my life and that I need to work on making it part of my routine again.

I realise that I am going to have to make a concerted effort to get back to the mindset of regular training.

I need some points in the future to work towards and measure progress against.

Every month here in Canberra there is an organised run called the Women's and girls Jogalong. It is 6km and run through a big park kind of near my place. I was thinking of making this run a little goal to complete each month - to measure my progress against.

I do need a bigger goal at some point in the future but I also think that to get to where I want to be - I need to take small steps.

It is very appealing - now I just need to do something about it!

Harris on the box

Funny!

Centered and Grounded

Hello ! I'm back - for how long - who know's! But anyway...

Yesterday I did the Canberra Times Fun Run, which is a 10km course down one of the main roads through Canberra, past parliament house and finishing up in the park that runs alongside Lake Burleigh Griffin.

For the first time ever I really wasn't in it to race myself or anyone else or the clock. I probably walked at least a 1/3 rd of the course. But - I hadn't trained and I knew I wasn't fit enough to run 10km.

However - Yesterday was 7months to the day that Harris wass born.

I spent a good portion of the run congratulating myself for even entering and for being able to run the parts that I did run. Afterall - it has been about 18 months since I have run much more than 5km.

I think yesterday was good for me because it was a bit of a turning point for me - doing the fun run yesterday made me realise that I have done what I didn't think I would be able to do. I had a baby and came out the otherside unscathed. I can still do the things I did before I had the baby. Sure - Harris makes my wants come second because he is my priority - but slowly but surely I have learnt to fit in what I want to do around him.

My whole focus on life has changed and the things that used to take up so much of my mental energy are not so important to me anymore.

He has made me centered and grounded - having hime has shown me what is truly important in life - having him has taught me to have much more respect for what my body is capable of - and to have more respect for how I look. In all honesty - I simply cannot believe that I ever criticised my body before.

I realised doing the run yesterday that before now I really wasn't ready to get back into running - to begin to do something that is purley for me. I did enjoy running yesterday and I remembered that I do enjoy running as an activity. It is empowering and makes you feel free.

so - here's to getting back into running aver the next year or so. I can't wait to be running fit again and to actually enjoy being out there!

Blog Fatigue

I think I have blog fatigue....I'm sure it's a diagnosable condition by now.

Symptoms as follows:

- Lack of desire to blog
- Lack of desire to read other blogs
- Blogging leaves you feeling drained


I'm sure it will pass.

Until then..,... I'm having a Break.


(ahhhhaahah...it DOES exist see link)