The wash up .. and the winner too!

As you may .. or may not .. know, there has been some crazy arse weather here in the last few days.  Now, after the cyclone has passed and much of the state is flooded and in clean up mode, I will mention that it is hot .. HOT!  The humidity is at least 90% and we are drinking water by the litres .. which is a good thing! 

After I dropped the kids off at school for their first day back, I took the dogs for a walk.  They had been cooped up in the only dry spots on the deck and under the house for four days so I thought they might like a walk around the neighbourhood to see what had happened.
Thankfully we don't get any flooding where we are but the creek overflows its banks and many houses along the track have some nice ( brown ) water views!  Much of the water had moved along leaving the creek extra high.  You can see the flattened trees, bushes and silt where the water came up to.  Again, the dog park suffered from the raging, overflowing creek .. the fence is down .. again.

This is one of the trees that was knocked down along the path .. Baxter needed to leave his mark and photo bombed me!

Moving on to more important wash ups ... The winner of the iPod Shuffle giveaway is ... Robyn!!

Congratulations Robyn!  I bet your new iPod Shuffle will help you out with those long hours training for the half marathon this year! 
Robyn, please send me an email with your mailing address and I'll have your prize sent out to you.

Thanks to Fitness First for donating the iPod shuffle and thank you to those who entered.  I have a few more giveaways coming up over the next few weeks so stay tuned!  You can subscribe to have Fit Mum posts sent to you by email, just pop your email address in the subscribe box above or "like" Fit Mum on Facebook and I'll appear in your news feed!

Stay active Fit People!!

Can you spare a thought?

I had plans of starting my Monday Motivation posts again today.

Then last night the power went out and is still out .. It's only been 14 hours now.

So instead, today's post is to ask that everyone spare a thought for those who are a little worse off than ourselves. The families further north of here that are currently flooded and those who are likely to flood tonight or tomorrow. The bureau of meteorology is now predicting thunderstorms for this afternoon and evening!

I had also planned to so some baking for school lunches and for Baked Relief** ( the fabulous people who are feeding the SES workers and those who have been evacuated from their homes ) however with no power it has made it somewhat difficult ...

Also a reminder to enter The Fitness First giveaway for an iPod Shuffle. I am supposed to draw and announce the winner tomorrow morning. I will endeavour to do so if and when I have power and an Internet connection. Hello McDonald's wifi! I forgot to mention I am also unable to charge the iPad or phone but I'll work on that!
** Check out www.digella.blogspot.com for more info on Baked Relief and how you can help ..

Stay safe and dry everyone!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The weekly stirfry and yoga ...

It seems that the last six weeks of school holidays have flown by and the kids have their bags packed with new school books ready to go back to school on Tuesday! 

I've been trying to get myself back into a routine this week and honestly I haven't had a huge amount of success.  Although, I don't know where the week went!  Surely I've accomplished something?

So far I've only managed 2 runs and a yoga class.  This morning's workout was rained out and where I normally workout in the garage has been cleaned out because Mr Fit Mum decided the floor needed painting!  As I type it has started pouring .. again ... maybe I'll manage some more yoga this afternoon.


My yoga class this week was with a friend of mine who is an instructor.  I've been trying to get to one of her classes for months now and it finally worked out!  And let me say, I worked out too!  It was a small class but that didn't really matter as we all worked at our own levels for the day.  I'm proud to say I managed really well.  I even held crow pose for a few seconds!  This is exciting for me as I've never been able to do this one!



I've also been trying to get back on track a little bit more with my eating.  I'm with everyone else whose eating has been less than fabulous over the last month or so!  When all else fails and my creative dinner powers are just not functioning I turn to an old favourite ... Stir Fry.  This gets a run in our house pretty regularly.  Everybody has a version of this dish in their repertoire and I thought I would share mine .. it's probably the same as yours!

Chopped veg ... I use whatever I have in the crisper.  Last night we had capsicum, carrot, snow peas and onion.
Protein ... We had chicken but you can use whatever takes your fancy!  Or whatever you have handy ..
Sauce ... Garlic, Ginger, Chilli.  How much of these depends on you and your taste.  Mix them together with about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, a squirt of hone and a tablespoon or so of water.


I'm not going to tell you how to cook a stir fry.  I'm not a chef but I think you know what you are doing! 








To finish my stir fry off I usually squeeze a fresh lime over and throw some fresh coriander if I have any and ... voila!  Dinner done and everybody eats it!
I usually serve my stir fry with some carbs, either rice or noodles as the kids and Mr Fit Mum like a little extra ... I don't always have the rice or noodles.  I just prefer to load up on the veg!

 
What's your favourite healthy, nutritious go to dinner?

Where will 2013 take you? plus a giveaway!

Can you believe that we are almost through the first month of 2013?!

The kids will be back at school next week and then all the fun stuff will start! Back into a routine of early mornings, making lunches, school runs and homework!

If you are anything like me you'll also be making sure that you add in your time to keep up with your exercise routine. I haven't been too bad over the holidays, nothing specific but fairly consistent with my training. Or, do you need a bit more of a kick in the backside to get those New Year resolutions rolling ...

I'm not sure what plans I have for 2013 yet but I do know that I'm dividing mine plans / goals / intentions into categories .. Health, Fitness, Work, Family.  I'm not sure if this will work as this will be the first time I try this .. I'll let you know!
I don't have any specific goals / intentions for each category as yet but I do have a few ideas rolling around in my head, I've just got to sort them out!

Have you made any resolutions / goals / intentions to

start exercising ... again ...

make those "lifestyle" changes ( there is NO DIET words being used! )

join a gym ...

 

Sometimes we all need a little bit of an extra push to get ourselves so what better way than to win a little piece of technology to help you out on some of those tough workouts!

 

Fitness First are giving you the chance to win a Green 2GB iPod shuffle RRP$55 to make those workouts just that bit more enjoyable.  Who doesn't love working out to music?  Some research has even shown that upbeat music can help you stay motivated during your workout and train harder so you can maximise the benefits of your exercise session! 

 Here's what you need to do to enter ...

 

* Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your goals or intentions for 2013 are ... If you are posting anonymously please leave me some details so that I can get in contact with you if you win.

Additional entries ..

* Head on over to Fit Mum's facebook page to "like" it and share with your friends. Let me know in your comments.
* If you are a tweeter .. tweet about the giveaway .. "follow @Fit_Mum and RT for your chance to win a green 2GB iPod Shuffle from Fitness First!  www.fitmumsblog.blogspot.com.au #giveaway"

And the fine print ...
This competition is hosted by fitmumsblog.blogspot.com.au and the prize is one green iPod Shuffle valued at $55. The prize has been donated by Fitness First. The competition opens 22/01/2013 and closes 12am 29/01/2013. The winner will be drawn 30/01/13 at random with the help of random.org and will be notified by email as soon as possible after the draw. The prize will be posted to the winner within 21 days. The competition is open to entrants with an Australian address only. I was provided with a complimentary iPod shuffle. Should the winner not contact me within 48 hours the prize will be forfeited and re-drawn.

 



 

 

 



Do you workout on holidays?

I do. I know, most people use holidays as their time off their training program. I wouldn't say that when I'm on holidays I follow a strict training program .. well, even when I'm not on holidays I'm not following a strict training program at the moment either!

I find that when I'm on holidays I usually revert back to running. I love it as a way to check out where everything is and do a bit of exploring. Our holidays at this time of year are usually at the beach and I think that this has got to be one of the most relaxing and enjoyable running environments.


Yesterday there was no formal training, however we did take a couple of long family walks to explore. We found some great walking tracks / running tracks that I tested out today.

This morning my run got rained out .. I will mention here I was happy and it would be MUCH more enjoyable than the 37 degree day that was forecast! So much more enjoyable that I was actually able to run this afternoon about 4pm! I know this doesn't sound very ground breaking but where I come from running at 4pm on a normal day in summer is just craziness because it is still so hot.

Miss "11 in 5 days" came with me this afternoon, which can be a mistake sometimes as she will outrun me.


We ran along the coast near where we are staying. It included a little beach run also. Did I mention the stairs that we needed to run to get down to the beach and back up to the track? Yep I did a few laps of those stairs just to change it up a bit. I'm still unsure about how my legs and calves will pull up tomorrow ...


Not sure what I will do tomorrow yet but another short run is on the cards and I think I will add one of those nasty little body weight cardio type workouts so that I can burn through a few of the calories I consumed this evening when I nibbled on some of the cheese platter before dinner! Really, I didn't have more than one or two .. or four mouthfuls .. Really ...

What is your exercise routine like when you are on holidays? Do you stick rigidly to your program or do you wing it like me and do whatever takes your fancy as long as you are moving?








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another year over and a new one to begin!

Hello!  I cannot believe that it has been over a month since I have been here!  I thought it best to take a break during the end of school and holiday time.  I know you know what it's been like .. kids finished school, Christmas to prepare for, social gatherings to attend .. it just didn't seem to end!
I'm back now for the new year, well sort of anyway ... Here's what I've been up to ...
I resigned from my job at the gym.  Time to move on and more importantly spend some time with the kids over the holidays.
School finished up for the year .. but not before I spent most of the day sitting at the swimming carnival so Miss 10 could race.


 

Christmas lunch was at our house this year ...

















And then we ventured to my sister's house with my family

New Year was spent with family and friends .. a pretty quiet night!

I have made sure I have stayed active as much as I can.  Lots of walks with my friends .. and workouts in the garage!





We are now off on holidays for a week or so and I am looking forward to getting away and spending some time doing not much at all!


While I'm on holidays I'll be doing a little reading ... I am finding this book really interesting and I think it will most definitely be a worthwhile addition to the library.


Stay tuned as I'll be doing a review for you .. And there could be a giveaway too!

Speaking of giveaways, there will be another exciting one coming up when I return from holidays!

I'm hoping that I will be able to spend a bit more time around he this year, fingers crossed!

With that in mind I would love for you to let me know if there is anything you would like me to chat about, or would like more information about. Make sure you either comment here or send me a message on Fit Mum's Facebook page .. You know I love to stop for a chat!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas, New Year and holiday season and I look forward to the exciting new challenges of a new year! Make sure you stop by!