The pleasure of walking, yoga noob + social sport?

Yesterday I went on a glorious 4k walk with Kristine and her dog Max

The weather was so perfect, spring is definitely kicking in! It was so great to actually go for a walk just for the sake of walking. I haven’t done that in months and it was so refreshing. The dog seemed to have a great time and I can’t wait until my puppy Coco is trained to walk on a leash I wanted to take either her or my Granddad’s dog Veeta for a walk this afternoon but the sky is BLACK!

So instead I’m snuggled up at home in front of the fire with a cup of green tea and the August issue of Australian Women’s Health magazine.

Oh, and this beautiful face to keep me company

I would really like to give Yoga a good go, every time I’ve been to a class I’ve really really enjoyed it but I don’t know what classes there are available here in Whakatane. Does anyone have any good classes to suggest or any websites with podcasts I can download with good yoga moves? I’m a total newbie and I’m not flexible at all and pretty horrendous at yoga really, but I love the feeling of satisfaction you get afterwards.

I’m struggling a lot right now to find exercise that isn’t extremely painful with my knees. Running is pretty much completely out of the question now and even long distance cycling. Jiu Jitsu is proving to be painful and a challenge as well, hence why I want to give Yoga a go and start walking a lot more. I might start swimming a bit more too because the outside swimming pool is now open down town. I’d also really love to have a social game of something each week on like a Friday or something. Soccer or Basketball etc, just something fun and relaxed, no pressure or anything. If anyone is interested in joining me, let me know! Leave a comment or send me an email: jennyeatliverun@hotmail.com

The perfect Saturday

Today has been an EXCELLENT day! I’m so pleased because nothing makes Sunday’s when I’m working during beautiful weather worse than knowing I wasted my Saturday (especially if there was great weather). We’ve finally had a weekend with sunshine and it’s so nice, I really wanted to make sure that I didn’t waste the opportunity and instead get outside and make the most of the sunshine and fresh air. I made plans with Kristine for the afternoon so the morning was spent with Mum. I took her with me to look at a ball dress I’ve had my eye on and I tried it on for her. I loved it even more than the first time so we decided to put it on lay-by… So exciting!! After that we went to the business and leisure show and got a few freebies. All in all though this years was a bit of a disappointment compared to last years :/ Mostly coz I didn’t get any free exercise class vouchers haha.  Day 3 of my mission to get in shape and get healthy before the ball has gone swimmingly! I’m so pleased and surprised at my overnight diet transformation. I haven’t had any issues with resisting temptation to gorge myself on high-sugar, high-fat foods like baking, chocolate and ice cream. It’s fantastic!!! At this rate I should be seeing some good results pretty quickly.

After returning from the Business and Leisure show I ate lunch quickly and then once Kristine had come over we head off to do the Bird Walk together. I’m so glad to have a friend who is just as passionate about healthy eating and exercise as I am. I’ve finally found my long-awaited exercise buddy! Maybe she’ll help me stay out of the exercise rut next winter?

It was a great walk but my legs were really sore from a 5k run I did yesterday afternoon because I haven’t run in a while and so the stairs were rather unforgiving… Nevertheless we manage to have an excellent time, take some photos and get a good work out!

Yes, I wear overalls with a Veronicas tshirt and a backpack whilst hiking…

Kristine insisted on drinking the water lol. I did not encourage it haha.

We walked to town from there and then to the video shop where we rented “Boy” to watch when we got home.

I made us delicious smoothies with soy milk, cranberry juice, cinnamon, banana, strawberry, raspberry and blueberry. It. Was. AMAZING!!! We watched Boy while we drank our smoothies and it was the best way to relax and rest our legs after walking for 3 hours. I’d been getting pretty hungry too!

I’m working tomorrow but that’s ok because today was awesome ^.^

I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday as much as I did!

xoxo

The glue that holds everything together.

I had an interesting conversation with Kristine at lunchtime today.

We were talking about New Zealand food and how much it differs from Norwegian food and that it’s got waaaay more fat and sugar. I said I was feeling really stink at the way my eating habits have completely gone down the drain this winter and that I wanted to make a real effort to improve my diet as best I can. This led us to discuss the things that sort of complete us. We both agreed on one thing: exercise and a healthy diet is the one thing we both need in order to function as regular human beings. For me I struggle to maintain a positive attitude and enjoy anything if one, the other or both of those two things are out of whack.

Because this has been such a particularly bad winter for me in terms of diet, it’s really important for me to remember what makes me tick and how I’m in control and can make a change any time I want, starting from the next meal. As the title says, having a healthy body is the glue that holds everything together. If I’m not healthy my mind feels cluttered and blocked, I feel gross and depressed. I cannot focus on anything and even the things that I enjoy heaps like writing is dissatisfying, I need to de-clutter my mind before I can do anything else. I literally cannot generate useful thoughts if I’m unhealthy.

Spring is fast approaching and I want to sort myself out now so that come summer I’m already in shape and happy so I don’t need to worry or stress about anything, I’ll be able to walk straight onto the beach in my bikini without a second thought. It puzzles me as to why I seem to hit this wall every winter and lose motivation to exercise. I know it’s one of the things I’m most passionate about and I feel amazing while I’m doing it and even better afterward, but like clockwork I get lazy each time. Next winter I will make it my main focus to try and maintain my routine as best I can without being phased by the cold. There are ways around everything!

Because spring is nearly here, I’m looking forward to having exciting spring blog posts! My blog posts from spring through to summer are some of my favourite, and as the exciting events that follow with those seasons there should be some good blogging to follow

In other news, I have muesli bars in the fridge that I spent an hour working on, using a recipe that I concocted out of thin air. I really hope they’re successful and don’t just fall apart straight out of the tin!

Is there something that is your “glue”? That really completes you and helps you maintain good overall well-being?

Ciao!

xoxo