Listmania Two - My Season

I know that this is a bit late but that is due to circumstances beyond my control - better to link in late than not at all !!!!

Linking in with Deb from Home Life Simplified for Listmania Two this week.  The prompt this week is to share the highs and lows of my season.

My season would have to be spring !!

I love :

- the shoots on plants showing the new growth for the year
- longer days
- the fact that it isn't as hot as summer but not as cold as winter - a bit like Goldilocks' porridge - not too hot and not too cold - just right !
- colours always seem to be brighter in spring
- it is easier to exercise

I dislike :

- the fact that summer is on its way
- you can have some lovely weather and then a reall cold snap hits
- normally means less clothing and so those kilos that seemed to just creep on slowly slowly during winter all of a sudden are exposed

What a great way to spend one-quarter of the year !!!!

Have a great season whatever it is wherver you are.

TFTD :  People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents - Andrew Carnegie

Stanthorpe

I wish I was as enthusiastic about being in Stanthorpe this morning as I was about getting here on Friday !!!! 

While the weather hasn't been great - and we haven't done any walking - we have watched some episodes of Mrs Browns' Boys - we have done some reading and we have done lots of watching of the flood situation, we are now stuck here because of road closures.

Yesterday we packed up and went to check out and the owner had a bit of a chuckle and said words to the effect of "Not so fast - you aren't going anywhere at the moment."  A wasn't sure about that so we drove into town to see if we could find out any more info (not easy on a public holiday in a small town), went to McDonalds to get wifi (for some reason that wasn't that easy either), and then tried to get onto websites to see what we could find out.  Those poor websites just couldn't seem to cope.

Today we have to make a decision - do we
(a) leave and take our chances that the road through Warwick will be opened at some point during the day because it isn't open now and we have been told to check back at lunch time (and if we check out and the road isn't opened, will we be able to get accommodation tonight in Warwick or
(b) stay another day and leave for definite (or as definite as we can be) tomorrow

What to do ?

Linking in with Essentially Jess for #IBOT.

Have a great day !

Things I Know

I had such a different post planned in my head but now I don't have the time to get that one out so this one it is !

Linking in with Miss Cinders at Saturday Morning Ogre Mum - in no particular order ('cos that is how I work) :

- I know that I am loving the Kettle Sweet Potato vegetable chips (but at $3.99 for 90g, I won't be eating them too often !!!)  Maybe I need to learn to make them myself, I mean really, how hard can that be ?????  I hope these words don't come back to haunt me.

- I know that I am hanging out for 3.30 this afternoon when I can leave work and head home to pick up A so that we can head off to Stanthorpe.  He had this great idea last weekend that it would do me us the world of good to go away for the long weekend - so we looked at what was available and booked three nights accommodation at Honeysuckle Cottage.

- I know that I am EXTREMELY HAPPY to have met a doctor who 'gets' me - who understands EXACTLY what I am saying - and who has a solution to put an end to the cr*p that I am dealing with *does a very big very long happy dance*

- I know that I don't care what the weather is like this weekend.  If it is nice, we have packed our walking clothes and we will go for a walk, I have packed some running clothes (just in case the urge hits), if it is miserable we will either drive around and sight see OR watch some 2 Broke Girls, Mrs Browns Boys or Homeland (all Christmas presents we haven't had a chance to watch - bloody cricket and tennis doesn't allow for much time to watch anything else !!!!)

Have the best Friday and an even better Australia Day long weekend !

TFTD : When in doubt, just take the next small step

Listmania Week 1

Joining in with the lovely Deb from Home Life Simplified (and only a few days late) for Listmania One - the linky that she started this week on Monday !!

Currently I am:

Reading : Twilight series (because I have read them so many times I know the story and, as I can't concentrate on anything long enough to keep the story line in my head, knowing the story ahead of reading it helps !!!)

Listening to : Hot Tomato / ABC Grandstand (cricket) / Tennis on TV

Laughing at : 2 Broke Girls

Swooning over : Roger Federer

Planning : A long weekend away to Stanthorpe and a holiday to Tasmania

Eating lots of :  Veggies

Feeling : More out of control than I like

Discovering : That all is not lost and I can work on dealing with my anxiety attacks

Looking at : How I can change my attitude towards K joining the police force

Wearing : Jeans and top

Cooking : Something easy and quick

Wondering : What the new dr will be like that I am going to see

Trying out : Exercises prescribed by the physio to help my knees

Why not join in and learn more about the people whose blogs you follow ?

Have the best day !

TFTD : Don't let your fear of striking out prevent you from never playing the game.
(Given how big a part baseball and softball have played in my life and in A's life, this TFTD is so appropriate)

Today I am Grateful For

What are you grateful for today ?

Things have been a bit tough for me lately so I am choosing to look for the positives around me and remind myself of what I have to be grateful for - that has to go towards chasing the negativity and anxiety away (well at least my theory is that it will help to chase it away so will continue with that thought process unless it gets proven to be untrue !!!)

- I am grateful for a supportive husband, who doesn't understand what I am going through, but does his best to help me

- I am grateful for a trainer who is just the best for me - who knows which buttons to push to get me to perform as well as I can and who is continually finding ways to challenge me to achieve more

- I am grateful for the weekends which allow me to slow down a little and re-group

- I am grateful for an excellent medical team who are helping me to look after my body so that I can work on making it the healthiest that it can be

- I am grateful to live in this beautiful country (even though I wasn't born here) and consider myself a 'true blue Aussie' !

- I am grateful for the support of my on-line friends - I don't know if you will ever realise just how much it means to me.  I really appreciate all the wonderful people that I have met through SM and blogging

- I am grateful that A and I both have good jobs and that we are living a comfortable life - we have been through some really tough times financially, and it is good to feel like we have a little breathing space now

- I am grateful that our child has grown into a lovely young lady - now if she could just find out / work out / decide what she wants to do with her life, that would be absolutely fantastic

- I am grateful that I have grown to love the two dogs that we have - while it has taken a couple of years, they have found a way to sneak into my heart

- I am grateful for aircon, I don't know how I would have survived the evenings over the last couple of weeks at home without it

Linking in with Essentially Jess for #IBOT - so why not link up and share some blog love around !!

Have the best day ever !

TFTD : When we clear out other people’s expectations or the classic things we are supposed to want, we make room to take baby steps toward our true dreams.

Something New To Read

After going for a cycle and then a swim, we dragged our sorry butts off to the shops to get some groceries in order to keep the wheels of industry our family functioning !!

While we were waiting at the check out to pay, I saw a magazine called Women's Fitness.  I should add here that I am not really a magazine person - reading books - yes, I used to love reading (with this bloody menopause and lack of concentration it's just not happening) - but magazines, hmmmm, not so much.

I don't know if it was pretty pink printing on the cover that caught my eye or the Tone Your Legs, Bum and Tum in one easy move headline, but it did catch up my eye and so I threw it in with the other groceries.  After unpacking the groceries, I lay on the couch with it and flicked through before starting to read it.

There were some really good articles in there - most of them were only a double page spread (just long enough for me to read and remember what I had read when I got to the end of the article !!).  These are some of the articles in there :

- excuses people give to their PT (thankfully I have not used any of those mentioned in the article)
- great recipes
- buddying up for training
- multi-tasking and what it does to you
- 10 ways to wake up feeling fresh
- reality check

OK some of these I read but had no interest in.  Some of them I read but I can't remember the details.  But, seeing as it is a magazine that I can keep, I can always go back and read the article again !!!!

If you are wanting a good magazine about fitness with realistic articles and 'doable' exercises - this is a great magazine.

Have a great day and an even better week !

TFTD : Worries are a lot like people - they grow bigger if you nurse them.

Things I Know

As we are both a day late, I am linking in with Miss Cinders from Saturday Morning Ogre Mum for this linky tonight - hopefully some other lovely bloggers will join us as well !!!

In no particular order :

- I know that I love lazy days

- I know that today was one of those lazy days

- I know that I LOVED our cycle to and from Surfers Paradise even though we had to cycle into a head wind to get home

- I know that I don't cycle as much as I would like and only I am the one who can change that

- I know that I am (mostly) grateful for the two bakeries that we stopped at in Southport being closed so we came home and had a tuna salad instead

- I know that I loved jumping into the pool today - the water was just beautiful

- I know that, even though I tackled Mt Washmore today, I didn't get to the bottom of it so it will be waiting for me in the morning

- I know that I don't really like watching women play cricket - it just looks so wrong

- I know that I loved my afternoon sleep today and didn't wake up like a bear with a sore head (which is what normally happens which is why I don't often sleep during the day)

- I know that there are some amazing people out there who check up to make sure that things are OK with me and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that

- I know that I am happy that I did the Pay It Forward post both on my blog and on my FB page (if you would still like to join in - please feel free to do so in the comments on this post) and I look forward to sending out surprise mail to all those who responded

- I know that tomorrow is a new day and maybe, just maybe, it can be filled with laziness and happiness and no anxiety attacks

Have the best weekend everyone - take care !

TFTD : Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.

Brisbane Twilight Run

Calling bloggers in the greater Brisbane / Gold Coast / Sunshine Coast area (and anyone inter-state if you are interested).  Are you interested in walking / running ?  Would you like to do the Brisbane Twilight Marathon ?

It is on Sunday, 24th March 2013.  Their website is here for all the details.  They have a training program as well (which starts today) so I will have a good look at that and print it off if I feel that it is something that would work in with my exercise program.

I am going to enter the 10km run - not because I can run 10kms (well not at the moment anyway) but because I want to have a goal to aim for.  I want to be training for a reason.  I want to have a purpose behind what I am doing.

I have to go to see my dr, again, about the symptoms I am exhibiting and I want to make an appointment to see a different physio about my knees.  Between the two of them and whatever I have to do, I am going to get on top of how I am feeling and, come out the other side with a healthy body and a great outlook on life.

If there is anyone interested in meeting up after the run - please let me know.  I am more than happy for you to run with me if you want but, I am warning you up front, I don't run quickly.  I did the GC 10km race in 63 mins - can I do it again ?  I have no idea.  Am I going to try to beat that time ?  Not on your life !  Why ?  Because I am not that competitive.  I just want to run because I enjoy it.  And, because there are more hills than the GC run which was completely flat - as are all the roads that I train on around my home.

Have the best day and take care !

TFTD : When you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged and still perfectly capable of changing yourself.

Pay It Forward

Because it is Tuesday and #IBOT, I'm linking up with Jess from Essentially Jess for #IBOT !!!

I found this on FB earlier this month and thought it was a great idea.  I'm not sure that the people who follow me on FB thought the same as only 2 people responded !!!!

I am not sure if it is because it is a little confronting thinking that you are going to send your address to someone you don't know IRL.  I promise that this isn't so I can stalk you or turn up un-announced for dinner one night - I just know how much I love getting snail mail that is not a bill that needs to be paid, an event to be attended or a request for something from me and I want to share that feeling with other bloggers !!

Whoever leaves a comment on this post and e-mails me their address (PO Box is fine as well) will receive, some time in this calendar year, a note from me.  There may be something small attached - it may just be a card.  But, at a totally random time during the year, if you have left a comment on this blog, you will receive something in the mail.  (Of course if you would like to leave a comment without wanting anything mailed to you - that is fine too !!!!)

The catch ?  If you leave a comment and want to receive some mail, you must post the same offer EXCEPT you can limit it to the first 5 people who leave a comment.  (This can be done on FB or through your blog - whatever works for you !!!)  The post I got was for 5 people but I figure that I don't get that many comments and if I do, I am more than happy to send something to whoever takes the time to stop by and say hullo ! 

My e-mail address is bodyandfeetretreat(at)gmail(dot)com.

Also, if you would like to be included in the daily Thought For The Day that I send out (most mornings Monday - Friday), e-mail me at the above address and I will include you in the daily mail out.

I have been having some difficult times lately so I am looking for the positives wherever I can, working on the theory that the more positives I surround myself with, the more they will rub off on me and the better I will feel.

Have the best Tuesday and thank you for stopping by !!!!

TFTD : Your desire to succeed must overpower your fear of failure.

It's Too Hot To Exercise

...................................... or is it ?????

My sentiments when I woke up this morning and finally decided to brave the heat were "It's just too hot to do anything - maybe later when / if it cools down."  and I was sort of OK with that.

A left with his brother to take MIL and niece to the airport and just after he left my trainer popped over with some more information on something that we had discussed at training on Thursday evening.  He is a very chatty chap and so we stood in the driveway talking for quite a while.  In the meantime A was calling me to say that somehow there had been a mix up and the flight was at 8.25am (according to their tickets which nobody had looked at !!!) and not 11.25am as per their itinerary !!!!!  Huge panic stations from them but the boys managed to organise it and they are on the 3pm flight this afternoon !!!

Anyway, I had a dip in the pool and then went out and did some shopping.  Bought some new togs and so, of course, had to try them out when I got home (as you do).  And then something that my trainer had said to me on Thursday night struck home - I can exercise in the pool !!!!

So this is what I did :

- 10 laps of breaststroke (I ABSOLUTELY HATE water on my face so that is the only stroke I will swim - unless there is a shark chasing me in which case I don't give a rat's bum about water on my face)
- 5 x 30sec running on the spot
- 5 x 30 sec treading water and skulling
- 10 laps of breaststroke

Man, I could feel that my heart rate had definitely increased while I was doing those SO, if I don't get to walk today I won't feel guilty because I know that I have at least done something and pushed my heart rate up for a period during the day.

So, in future when I complain about how it is too hot to exercise please feel free to call me on it because, yes it may be too hot to run but it is never too hot to get into the pool and have a work out in there.

Have the best weekend and take care !

TFTD : When someone tells you 'No', it doesn't mean you can't do it, it just means you can't do it with them.

Things I Know

Today I am linking in with Miss Cinders from Saturday Morning Ogre and Grace from With Some Grace with Things I Know - in no particular order (because I have been listening to the Oscar nominations !!) :

- I know that I have over 300 blog posts in Google Reader that I have not read - I may need to "Tick All As Read" and start over again.

- I know that sometimes I feel overwhelmed because I can't get to read all the blogs I follow  - I can't even keep up with the linkies that I join in !! (I am still only up to #45 from #IBOT with Essentially Jess.)

- I know that even though I am not eating sugar, dairy, wheat or soft drinks, I can put on weight by eating too many nuts and having my portion sizes too big.

- I know that I can't live on tuna and rice salad just because it is so hot and I can't be bothered to eat anything else.

- I know that I am learning so much about my body and what it can (or can't) do.

- I know that I have the best, most encouraging, most supportive PT that I could wish for.

- I know that I am working on being kinder to myself.  Last night I was saying that I was unfit - the truth is not that I am unfit, it is that I am not as fit as I used to be.  I was pleased when I made that distinction in my head because it means that I am slowly changing the negative self talk that has dogged me for so many years.

- I know that I love feeling DOMS on the days after pushing myself at training.

- I know that I need to be open to changing my exercise plans if I start them and find that they aren't working like I thought they would (I thought I had this one in the bag - clearly I was mistaken !!).

- I know that A is working this weekend and I will have Sunday to myself - and I am looking forward to some lovely, quiet 'me' time !!

Have the best weekend everyone - and share the blog love around !!!

TFTD : You are the only person on earth who can use your ability - Zig Ziglar

Being Kind To Myself

2012 was the year that I challenged myself in ways I never thought possible.

2013 is the year that I plan on learning how to be kind to myself.

I am, and always have been, my biggest enemy !  I continually think I should have done better.  If I lose 1kg I think I should have lost 1.2kg.  If I run under 7mins, I think I should have run under 6:40 mins.  If I make bad food choices, I think I am the worst person around who has stuffed up YET AGAIN.  If I don't reach my goals in the (mostly unrealistic) time frames I have set, I think I am just useless and probably shouldn't waste my time trying anyway.

This year I want to learn how to be kind to myself.  I want to try to stop the negative self talk that happens.  I want to be to myself the supportive person that I try to be to others.  A very dear friend has been beating herself up over what has happened over the past 4 weeks and I said she should pretend it was someone else she was talking to, someone who had done exactly what she had done, and see what she would say to them. 

And then the light bulb moment happened for me.  That is EXACTLY what I need to do to myself.  I need to support myself the same as (I feel) I support my friends - give them words of encouragement when they feel like they have failed, reassure them that it really is not the end of the world if they have stuffed up, love them because we are all human and we all have a tendency to sometimes make choices that aren't necessarily the best choices we could make. 

If I can do this for my friends, shouldn't I be able to do it for myself ?

Shouldn't I be my biggest fan ?  Not my husband or my daughter or my friends - shouldn't I be my number 1 fan ?  Shouldn't I be the one nurturing myself and encouraging myself to the best that I can possibly be ?

For me, the answer to these questions is a BIG FAT RESOUNDING YES  !!!  I should be my biggest fan.  I should be nurturing myself.  I should be encouraging myself to be the best that I can be.

So that is what is am going to do - I am going to work really hard on being my biggest fan - not getting down on myself when things don't go how I think they should, giving myself a break from having to be an all or nothing kind of girl.

Recently I saw this on MINsMASH's blog and it touched me so much I printed it off, cut it out and stuck it on my computer - in front of me, every day of the week !!

 

 

This is my current mantra !!

 

In my endeavour to stay as positive as I can about my life and where it is moving and how I am going to get there, I have re-introduced the daily Thought For The Day e-mail.  Each morning (most times it's the morning !!) I send out a thought for the day (TFTD) - one that makes me think or one that I find is particularly applicable to me at that point in time.  If you are interested in being on this list, please e-mail me your address and I will include you in the list.

 

Have the best day and take care !

 

Linking in with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

 

 

TFTD : Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.  Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice - Steve Jobs

Things I Know

Linking in with Miss Cinders from Saturday Morning Ogre Mum for Things I Know this week.  Why not pop over and link up with what you know ?

In totally random order :

- I know that the influx of negative energy and miserable people that we have currently in our home is not going to affect the rest of my year

- I know that I am loving my new car

- I know that I am doing really well with eating and drinking things which are promoting a healthy body (no soft drinks since the can I was drinking in my previous post !!!!)

- I know that I have missed my online friends more than I thought I would

- I know that the support that I receive from them makes me happy and able to accomplish more than I ever thought possible

- I know that on Sunday our visitors will leave and our life will return to normal

- I know that I have managed to get through this period without having to reach for the Amarula

- I know that I appreciate my parents even more than I did before

- I know that it is nearly home time and I am out of here until next week !!

Have the best weekend ever and take care !

TFTD : Never confuse a single defeat with final defeat - F Scott Fitzgerald

A New Year !

Today is a new day.  Today is a new year.  Today is the day that I sit down and make plans - not resolutions - plans, for what I want to achieve this year.

Top of the list - a healthy body (having my first soft drink for over a week is probably not the best way to start but sometimes you just have to give the water a break !!!!).  My plan is to eat healthily, exercise regularly and listen to my body when it talks to me.

I know that no dairy, no sugar, no wheat makes my body function better.

I know that exercising regularly makes my body feel more energised and work better.

I know that listening to my body when it talks to me makes me more aware of how I am treating it and if I am not treating it correctly, it lets me know (in no uncertain terms).

A friend if mine has told me about mindful eating and I plan on making that a habit when I am eating too - getting rid of the mindless eating that I sometimes find myself doing.

I started exercising on 27th December - slowly building up from walking to nearly running the whole way.  This morning I went for a run.  I have been walking / running with A and the dogs - we walk and then he will take both dogs and I will run up and down a few side roads, join up with them, walk a while and then go off running again.  I have been so pleased with how I was doing.  Yesterday morning I went for a (mostly all) run (only walked about 6 light posts) and felt good except for a little twinge in my right hamstring.  I got home and stretched really well and nursed it along (well enough I thought but now I know different !!!).  Drove down to Kyogle yesterday and it seemed to be OK.

This morning I woke up and decided to go for a run - walked to half way through the foot path to the Broadwater and started to run - not even 1km into my run and I could feel my hamstring.  I was so tempted to just suck it up and do a 5km run but then my head got the better of  me and I decided to just look back home.  So a very short run to start the year but, in all honesty, it is better than nothing - not because of the distance, but the mental side of actually getting out there and exercising.

I got home and stretched and am going to spend the rest of the day icing and resting it BECAUSE THIS YEAR I AM GOING TO RUN MORE than I did last year.  I am going to look after my body so that it can do what it is supposed to do - what it is meant to do - properly !!!!

And, because it is a Tuesday, I am linking in with Jess and her new team at #IBOT

(I cannot believe that tomorrow it will be a month since I last blogged - where has the time gone to ?)

TFTD :  When you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged and still perfectly capable of changing yourself !