Taking a break

I've been putting off this post for a little while now.  Lately, I've been struggling to be consistent with my blog posts. When I started the blog, my aim was to post something once a week, leading up to two posts per week. I've found posting just once a week a lot of work. It's actually felt like a chore. I have two young children to look after along with heaps of other commitments, so I'm really struggling to find the time to post content on my blog regularly.

So I've decided to stop blogging, for now. I'm hoping once the kids are older I'll have more time to really put 100% of myself into writing good quality content for you.

I'll continue to be active on my social media accounts, as I love posting pictures and sharing stuff with my readers.

You can follow me on Instagram

You can like my Facebook page

You can follow me on Twitter

This is not a goodbye, just a break for me to get my head around things until I can sit down and write things that I'm truly proud of.

See you around :-)

My favourite... Food!

This week, I thought I would cover a popular topic with all runners. Food! I'm going to cover two different options that I love to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Dinner
First up is dinner, I often like to make meals that will last my family more than one night. I also like to create meals that I can add a variety of vegetables. 

Mince chow mein

My favourite dinner, I can sneak lots of vegetables in this and it can last us two nights. It's the only way we use cabbage in our household too.

Pad thai

I order this when we dine out at our local Thai restaurant. Now I've found a yummy recipe I can make at home.

Lunch
Next is lunch. I often need to make something quick and tasty as often the children are tired and want to get to bed soon after lunch. I often make pancakes or pasta for my children too, plain pasta is the most favourite lunch for them. Cheap and easy!

Brown rice and tuna

A quick and easy lunch, I buy the bags of rice that only take 90 seconds in the microwave. I also add a small tin of tuna, usually lemon pepper flavoured.

Wholemeal wrap with lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum and tuna

Something I've just started having again,  was an old favourite and one day I just felt like something fresh and yummy.

Breakfast
Breakfast can be a hectic time in our household, we often rush out the door with it half eaten. Or often if we are staying home, I let the kids snack through out the morning.

Quick oats

This tastes yummy and is nice and warming on a cold miserable winters morning. I buy the sachets that only take 90 seconds in the microwave. It's great that they come in a variety of flavours and the kids wolf it down!

Peanut butter on toast

Peanut butter on toast, quick and easy, my go to breakfast! This is also my race or training day breakfast.

Snacks
I have also included a couple of my favourite snacks. We often have a morning and afternoon snack in our household due to the children being hungry (all the time!).

Mixed nuts, dried cranberries and dark chocolate with a coffee

A yummy snack, only a handful is enough. I buy from the bins at my local supermarket. I generally only have one coffee in the morning with my breakfast,  but sometimes if I'm struggling to get through a long afternoon, a coffee helps!

Carrot, Kumara and pumpkin hummus with a glass of water

A refreshing snack that's easy to prepare if you keep cut up carrot in a cup of water in your fridge. I also love to use celery instead of carrot, and I also like to use plain hummus too.

What are your favourite meals? Any easy clean meal ideas you have that I could incorporate into my family's menu?

Fitting in exercise while on holiday

I recently went away on holiday to Rotorua, and it made me think of covering this topic in my blog. We only stayed two nights, so I never packed my running gear. But we often go away for 5-7 days and that's when I'd like to continue my training. Below are some ideas that I use to maintain my fitness when I'm on holiday.

Taking your gear
This is the first thing to pack in your bag if you're wanting to still run or exercise while you're on holiday. Make sure you take a couple of full outfits and your shoes and socks. I pack with me two tops, 3/4 shorts, shorts, bra ×2 and two pairs of socks. This, of course,  depends whether you have access to a washing machine and how many days you plan on exercising. For me, I train 2-3 days a week, so for a 5-7 day holiday, I'll only plan to exercise twice. I also make sure I pack some comfortable clothes and shoes incase I plan on walking most days. I'll go into more detail about this later.

Using a gym if one's available
This can be a bonus if you stay in a hotel or motel with a gym so that using their facilities will not cost you extra. Or otherwise, you can see if there's a local gym you can use as a casual. A gym will be great if the weather is stopping you from exercising outside or if you're wanting to use specific weight or cardio machines. The gym is also a great place to talk to locals about trails or walkways and other places that you could explore. I generally go on holiday in summer, so haven't had the need to use the gym. I did once go to a step class with a friend at the gym and I absolutely loved it!

Explore local trails or walkways
Finding walkways or trails is a great way to see local views and places. It is also great if you're needing to run on different surfaces. We generally holiday near the beach in summer, so I love nothing more than running along the beach. I grew up by a beach but now live in a small rural town, so I miss the beach so much! I particularly love running along the beach and then diving in for a swim to cool off. Local trails are also great for an adventure, to explore new places. It certainly makes it easier to get up and exercise when your exploring new ground!

Walk everywhere
If your staying somewhere that's central and easily accessible by walking, this is a great option to sneak in some extra exercise. Walk to the shops, walk to local attractions, walk to the restaurant. It all adds up over the day/week. We always stay in a motel central to Rotorua township so that we are able to walk everywhere. And also when we holiday at the beach, we have a great routine of walking and exploring for a couple of hours every morning.

Creating your own circuit
If you have limited space or time, a quick circuit will ensure you fit some exercise into your schedule. Taking a skipping rope will be great to fit some quick cardio into the start or end of your day. Heading to a local playground can provide you with plenty of options to do your circuit. My circuits combine easy to do exercises that generally need no equipment. Exercises like squats, lunges, step ups (find some steps or a seat), tricep dips (use a park bench or seat), push ups, crunches and planks can be easily done anywhere (at a park or in your motel room).

What exercises do you do when your on holiday? How do you make sure you exercise while on holiday?

Image from beewellforlife.com

How to wear your hair while exercising

This was the topic that actually encouraged me to start my blog. I couldn't find any good hairstyles that would work with my long hair (thanks Mr Google), and especially when I was getting sick of my hair flicking in my face! I still haven't had much success in finding different styles to try, but the ones below are what I use often. If you know or use a different style that you think will work with my hair, please leave me a comment so I can try it out!

Simple pony

This style works really well, and is my go-to when I'm in a hurry out the door. I can wear this hair style all day and then go for a run without having to worry about restyling my hair. The only downside with this style is that often my hair flicks in my eyes and mouth and that can be annoying! Also, I find my hair sticks to the back of my neck in warmer weather and that seriously bugs me.

Pony with plait

I'm using this style more and more. It means less whips to the face and looks quite 'athletic' I think! I can quickly put my hair into this style,  as I often have my hair in just a simple pony. I'm a stay at home mum with two young children, so I need to put my hair up everyday. I can quickly transfer my hair from a simple pony to a pony with plait in less than a minute.

Messy bun

When done right and tight, this can be a great style when it gets hot or when you're wanting to do something different. This can be quite hard to do with my long hair, but all I need is an extra hair tie and I'm good to go! I like that this style looks great and is practical. And it keeps my hair off my face and neck. Gold!!

If you know or use any other hairstyles, it'll be awesome if you could share them with me.  Then I can do an updated blog about my favourite hairstyles to wear while exercising,  instead of posting the only three styles I know! 

How to survive Winter

We've been having quite a mild winter here in New Zealand, up until a few weeks ago. Currently, there's a cold southerly wind making it feel very cold! A lot of people I've spoken to have been getting sick and it doesn't seem to go away, a pesky cough and runny nose even after a couple of weeks. And even my family didn't escape these bugs, we were down for a good 2-3 weeks. So, I thought this Blog post would be great timing.

What motivates me?

The one thing that really motivates me is losing weight. My youngest child is nearly a year old and I'm desperate to lose my pregnancy weight. I've found after two pregnancies, my body shape has changed. I've come to realise my body will never be the same again. But I do hope to lose weight overall and to especially lose some weight on my flabby tummy. I find running really good for this, it is high impact so you burn a lot more calories compared to walking.

I also get motivated by the thought of improving my fitness. I find the more frequent I run, the easier it feels. I found it really difficult to not run while I was sick, and I certainly felt a difference with my first run post-sick. It felt like I had to start from scratch again. I also notice a difference in my every day life when I'm fitter. It's easier to chase after and play with my kids, and I find I'm more confident to walk places instead of driving.

Lastly, I get motivated because I want to feel healthy. I find my mood changes a lot when I'm not running. And I'm amazed how quickly this changes after a run. Even my family notice I'm a lot happier when I'm exercising regularly!

What keeps me running?

Sometimes I find it really difficult getting out the door for a run. But then I remind myself how I feel after a run, that runner's high. I feel happy and energetic after a run and by visualizing this feeling, I get motivated to run.

I also want to be a role model for my kids. I want them to see me exercising regularly and that it's a normal part of every day life. I want them to participate and enjoy exercise knowing that it's helping them to be and feel healthy.

So what do I do when I'm sick?

Rest. I think this is important. It's your body telling you to slow down so that your body can use all it's energy on repairing itself and fighting off whatever bug/virus you've got. Sleep when you can, spend time watching tv, reading a book, doing puzzles etc.

Drink lots of water. Your body functions a lot more efficiently when it's properly hydrated. Have a drink bottle nearby to sip from and also try to drink a glass with every meal.

I also take vitamin C when I'm sick to help my immune system and drink a Lemsip before going to bed to give me that extra pain relief. Vicks vapour rub is also a favourite of mine, it helps to clear a blocked nose and smells really nice too.

I also enjoy having lots of warming food when I'm sick. Soups, casseroles and cups of tea to help rehydrate.

What are your tried and true tricks to helping you get through Winter? Let me know so I can try it out for next time!

Image courtesy of Bloggerfit.com

Race= entered

I have entered a race! I have entered the 5km distance at the Whangamata run walk festival. It is on the 6th September 2014, and I have competed in this race before. It's nice and close to where I live, so thought it'll be the perfect starting point.

Whangamata is a gorgeous beach town on the eastern coast of the Coromandel peninsular, only about an hours drive from my house. Quite often busy in the summer, it is a great holiday destination. My partner's family have been going every year for a long time now, so they know Whangamata quite well. There are a great range of shops, in particular, the surf shops are excellent!

The course of the 5km is all on-road and is a loop, starting and finishing at the Whangamata area school. 

From the website, 'All three courses take in spectacular views of ocean beach & pristine bush-clad hills along the way. The pride of the Coromandel, Whangamata, boasts a wide range of recreational choices including:  surfing, fishing, kayaking, tramping, mountain biking, birdwatching as well as plenty of shopping, arts and crafts, plus great cafes, restaurants and bars!'

I did this same race in 2010 with a time of 36 minutes, I'm aiming to better this time with 35 minutes or less, I would be really happy with 34 minutes! 

Currently, I can run 5km in about 40 minutes, so will work on increasing my speed with incorporating speed intervals into my training runs. I'm hoping that now I'm slowly getting better, I'll be able to get back into a good running routine.