Friday, 28 September 2012

Excuses Part II: I can't work out because...

So time for excuses part two! Think you have an excuse not to work out? Think again!

Part II: Excuses for not working out

Excuse one:  "I can't train today, my <body part here> hurts"

Bollocks - unless it's maybe your back - but even still there is always options. Legs hurt? Train your upper body. Arms hurt? Guess what? Train your lower body! Back hurts? Pool session or low intensity exercise. If it isn't an unusual pain like I've talked about before, then suck it up princess.

Pain is an excuse that feels legitimate because we can actually feel it. Yet, professional athletes all around the world train through that pain every day. Do you think Billy Slater feels like getting up and training after all those heavy hits he cops every weekend? Do you think that it doesn't hurt? Of course it does, but it doesn't excuse him from doing his job and getting up and training every day. If you have a sore finger, or a paper cut, do you not go to work that day because it would hurt to type? No. You get up, you get dressed, and JFDI.

Excuse two: "I'm too tired"

Okay, so it sucks when you don't have the energy to train. I get this all the time, and it is SO easy to use it as an excuse to do nothing. I'm chronically iron deficient, so I have days where I am literally too weak to pick up my own kids, but on those days I still try and do something. I look at what else I need to get done, cleaning maybe, pooper scooping the yard, washing, and I use that as my exercise and kill two birds with one stone. It's amazing how many calories you burn if you throw the pegs on the ground and have to squat/burpee/lunge to pick them up. There is always something that you can do.

"The Procrastination Flowchart" from a friend's Facebook.
Sorry about the language but it is so funny and so true!
Like Mish says, do you think people aren't tired getting up at 4am to go running? Do you think they feel like it? Of course not! But get up and do it and you might just find it gives you energy and makes you feel invigorated. If I can do something on a low day, then you can too it's all about how badly you want it.






Excuse three: "It's too hot/cold"

If you live in the south and think it's too hot, come and see the hoards of men and women hiking up Castle Hill here in Townsville every morning. If it isn't too hot here, it's not too hot there. It's too hot is a very poor excuse in this day and age. Go swimming, do bikram yoga, dance like a crazy person under a cold shower, or here's a thought - turn on the fan or air conditioning! If it's too cold that's even more of a reason TO exercise and warm yourself up! This one is just a cop out, don't give in to it!

Excuse four: "I'm sick"

How sick are we talking here? Cold? Flu? Violent gastro? Scarlet fever? Flesh eating parasite? Unless your doctor has explicitly told you not to exert yourself, or you have been hospitalised, there is probably some form of light exercise you can do when you're sick. Go for a walk and get some fresh air, do something light and relaxing like a yoga DVD or some tai chi. Exercising when you're sick can even improve your recovery, but if it's bad enough you've had to go to the doctor, make sure to ask them their professional opinion, but chances are you will be able to do something.


The only reason you can't work out outside of serious illness/injury, emergencies, or natural disaster is because you don't want to. If you need an excuse at least be honest with yourself and admit today you can't work out because you do not want to. 


xx

Monday, 24 September 2012

Sunday 10: Trends I wish would never see the light of day again!

Okay, so most people who were alive and old enough to remember the 80s can definitely guess what's coming. Fashion is a beast that constantly evolves, and sometimes it means updating snippets of the past. Sometimes those snippets are welcome...sometimes they make us cringe. These are those trends.

10) The Mullet. Do I need to say why? This would have to be one of the worst things to happen to hair since male pattern baldness.

9) Fluro/neon. Not always awful, but it is huge this season. The reason why I hate that this has come back is because it is so easy to do wrong, that just the population as a whole cannot be trusted with it! Particularly teenagers!

8) Acid Wash. Oh 1980's do us all a favour and keep your acid wash jeans.

7) Members only jackets. You know who should wear these? The cast of Grease. Nobody else. They do nothing for anyone!

6) Leotards on the outside. I don't care how good Jane Fonda made it look, it still never should have happened. Especially with leg warmers and a belt. Especially in fluro. No. Just no.

5) Short shorts for men. Think back to the 70s when even men got away with hot pants. Never again please! The only place those short shorts should be regular fare is the AFL field. I don't need to see a bloke's pubes protruding from the bottom of his shorts.

4) Bike shorts as pants. This was big when I was a kid in the 90s, the bike shorts and t-shirt as regular fare. Honestly, I am guilty of this one, but in my defence I was a child! Keep it at the gym people. Never again.

3) The porn star moustache. Think Magnum P.I. The only time a mo of this caliber should be seen is for Movember.

2) Ruffled cravats. Austin Powers is quite possibly the only character to get away with this, and that's because he isn't real.

1) Heeled sneakers AND Ugg boots in public. I would do dark and dirty things so that high heeled sneakers would never see the light of day ever again. Why do they need to exist? They don't! Sneakers are for working out, stalking celebrities, and gardening... oh and SNEAKING. Have you ever heard anyone successfully sneak in heels? Seriously if your outfit warrants heels, just get real ones like a normal person.

And as for ugg boots, they are called UGGs for a reason, they are ugly. Australia invented uggs and we invented them to be worn at home the way all slippers were intended to be worn!


So sorry for the delay AGAIN this week but thanks to a loan from the bank of Dad, I am back online properly now! I bought a new charger Friday (forgetting that it was iPhone day it was a mission given I have a Macbook so had to go to Next Byte!) but it wasn't enough! However, I couldn't be offline for the Emmys, so I had to sort it out right away!

Oh, speaking of the Emmys, next Sunday will be a huge Sunday 10, in fact it will be a Sunday 20 of my best and worst looks from the Emmys Red Carpet!

xx




Wednesday, 19 September 2012

The best Wednesday of my life! Oh, and I'm back online...for now!

Okay so business first, my computer managed to charge overnight and it looks like it needs a new battery and charger which I will need to save for big time! I will postpone my vodcast from this week to next week.

Anyway now that that's out of the way!

Today as you all know is Wednesday weigh in day, and this week is also the 4th week of 12WBT - mini milestone time! Not only have I lost 1kg in the last week, I have also moved from an obese BMI rating to overweight. It's a very momentous day for me as this is the first time since falling pregnant that I've been out of the obese category! I've also lost over 27cm over all which really is the main thing and my waistline is under 100cm for the first time again, since falling pregnant! All that hard work is paying off where it counts and I am so phenomenally stoked!

Also, my little blog here got in the top 20 for last week's weekly surprise! Special thank you to Kath for nominating me, and thank you to all of you, my readers, followers, and random stumblers for giving me the drive to keep blogging! You guys should all check out Kath's blog, Kath Will Be, which can be found on my links page. It's wonderfully interactive and inspiring so please stop by and check it out!

Think this picture sums up my Wednesday pretty well! Good old Nike!




The Townsville crew is also going on an awesome geocaching adventure (complete with bats and bugs) this Saturday for the week 4 mini milestone task. I'm pretty proud of myself for taking the initiative and suggesting the idea, and organising the event, but I'm also super nervous to meet everyone and just because I haven't done anything like this in so long! But, it's time to challenge our bodies, our minds, and our comfort zones and JFDI! Keep an eye out for the recap - complete with photo's of course!

xx

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Technical Difficulties, argh!

So my computer had decided that it doesn't want to charge anymore so unfortunately I will have to postpone today's Tubesday vodcast :(

And since I only have blogger mobile I will be a bit quieter until I get my computer diagnosed which will hopefully be sorted tomorrow! So much cool stuff happening this week why now?!

Xx

Sunday, 16 September 2012

The Sunday 10: Reasons why suits are sexy (on men and women)

Time for my fashion Sunday 10! This week I have my top 10 reasons why suits are sexy - on everyone! So let's get into it!

10) There is something about a suit that exudes status, power, wealth, and authority. A well tailored and styled suit can make you top dog in the board room, and can be the difference between getting the job or losing out to someone else...likely a person in a great suit!

9) They can take you from work to a night out on the town. Ladies swap your work top for something a little more glam, or if you're feeling daring, just go with a sexy bustier under the jacket. Fellas you can take off the tie, or button down the shirt to reveal a fun tee underneath.

8) You don't have to wear it all at once. You can take the jacket and wear it with jeans, you can take the pants and wear it with just your business shirt sans tie, or a great bow neck blouse. You can even take the vest of a three piece and go for a geek chic look with a striped collar shirt and bow tie. When you buy a suit, you are buying 2-3 essential pieces that you can mix and match through your wardrobe.

7) They leave just enough for the imagination. Suits are made to flatter you, to hug curves, broaden shoulders, and make you feel like you've got a superman suit on underneath. Couple it with the status that a suit gives you, and you have instant sex appeal. People just want to know what you're packing under there!

6) No matter what your fashion tribe, there is a style of suit to suit your personality. Be it clean cut and preppy, far out with a crazy pattern, or rough and tumble and a bit rock n' roll, you can make it your own, and showing your personality off is just as sexy as showing off your ta-ta's or muscles!

5) Like the empire line, this is timeless. Humphrey Bogart did it in the 30's and it was sexy, Sean Connery did it in the 60s, and it was still sexy, Harrison Ford and Dennis Quaid did it in the 70s and 80s and yup still sexy! Then even women started doing it like Sharon Stone and Cher, and today we still see some of the sexiest stars alive sporting a simple, yet elegant suit. A good suit will last you a lifetime and help you hold onto your mojo for years to come.

4) Now this one is a little bit naughty but what would this list be without some naughtiness! Suits are fun for your partner to take off, or maybe even for you to take off for your partner! The untying of the tie, the slowly undoing (or not so slowly undoing!) of buttons, removing all those layers is ready made foreplay, no matter how you do it. 

3) The suit does the work for you. All these things above boil down to one thing: built in sexy. From the accentuating of your shape, to the allure and power, to the built in foreplay, all the work is done by the suit. All you have to do is work it!

2) There is a suit to suit everyone. No matter what your shape, height, size, or colouring, there is a suit out there for you.


1) Just look at it! Look at this...                                  






















...and this...
Need I really say more? There's a reason why it's James Bond's true weapon of choice.


I apologise for the delay this week too, I was having some technical difficulties! Next weeks Sunday 10: The top 10 trends I hope never make a come back (but probably will or already have!)

xx 

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Coming Soon: Tubesday!

So I have been thinking about it for a while and I would really like to do a weekly video about something important to do with body image, health, self esteem, or something along those lines. I have decided to do them on Tuesdays and call it Tubesday (ba-doom-doom-cha).

From time to time I might even get some of my friends to help me out, if they're willing, especially for videos about body shape. 

So this means of course I'll be creating a Youtube channel at some point too for you to subscribe to, and am also making a Facebook page to make it easier for you to follow and share the blog online.

So while I get to work on my first video (my Saturday nights are just a mile a minute, huh?) think about the kind of things you would like me to address in these videos.

My first vodcast will (hopefully) be this Tubesday the 18th of September, and I will be talking about something extremely important to me, and that's talking to your kids about body confidence.

I hope I don't have a face for radio!

xx

Friday, 14 September 2012

R U OK? Day

So yesterday was R U OK? Day here in Australia, a day dedicated to asking all your friends and family the question, with the aim of preventing suicide and promoting good mental health. I have noticed something about this day though, and it's that it seems to really confirm the fact that misery loves company. Sometimes the last thing you want if you're not quite OK, is someone to ask if you are, even if you're not considering taking your own life! 

What I observed yesterday was that most people I know are really just getting by. They're OK, but some aren't necessarily good, most not great. They're not ready to kill themselves, but they could be better. They could be healthier, they could be happier in their career, or they could just do with a little extra money like me. That made me not so OK to know that.

I also observed that there was a seriously bad ju-ju going around the whole day yesterday, and I can't help but think it was everyone's inner misery guts being invited out to play. Maybe it was everyone being forced to actually ask themselves if they're OK, even if nobody else did, but whatever it was, it seemed that literally everyone was having a bad day.

I was feeling really crap yesterday too, hence the lack of bloggage. It was pay day, and once again once the bills were all paid and all the calls were made to the billers about how I needed a payment arrangement because I'm too poor to pay it all at once, I realised exactly how crap we are doing financially. Really I knew it already but when I went to the store to buy a set of digital scales and couldn't even afford to spend $20 on it, well let's just say thank heavens nobody was there to ask me if I was OK, because I would have broken down into a blubbering, snivelling mess who didn't have any tissues in her bag. I went to visit some friends which perked me up a little, but by the time I then went to the physio and handed over more money I really didn't have (in exchange for more bad news but that's another story), and stopped for petrol at a disgusting price, I was back in the land of not being able to afford digital scales. Then, I got home to find something wonderful had happened.

I had a missed call from my good friend - maybe even my best friend - here in Townsville, with a voicemail saying she'd dropped by but I wasn't home, and she'd left a surprise for me at the door. I went and checked, and there hiding behind the esky/chilly-bin/cooler (take your pick) was a set of very stylish, but simple, digital bathroom scales. At first I freaked out because I panicked that I couldn't pay her back, but then I just was so grateful I cried! I couldn't even pick up the phone to call and say thank you, so I had to do it over Facebook! I never would have thought a simple set of scales could mean so much to me.

Later that night it got me thinking, that maybe after getting everybody so down on R U OK? Day, the day immediately following should be Random Act of Kindness Day, to perk up all those people who weren't suicidal but not quite OK either. 

So for all my Aussie readers, maybe sometime over the next week, if you can, do something nice for those friends and family who are just doing it a little tough, because I think we could all use a pick me up after yesterday!

And for all my other readers around the world - in the US, UK, Germany, China, and South Korea so Blogger stats informs me - don't forget to take the time to check in on your friends and family and ask them "R U OK?" and follow it up with a random act of kindness. You never know, you might just reassure someone that everything will be okay, or you even might save a life.

xx