Grocery shopping flight plan

If you are like me, you have to shop for groceries and that's where sneaky temptation comes in.  All those chocolates, icecreams, cheeses, soft drinks, biscuits and cakes just sitting there enticingly, waving long sugary fingers under your nose, blowing greasy kisses in your face.

All those colours and lights and deals, how can you pass up 2 packs of Tim Tams for $2, that's under half price!  You can't POSSIBLY leave THAT on the shelf!

YES YOU CAN!  Don't look at it!  Have a look at this instead.

All the good stuff is on the edges of the shops, all along the side.  Now that's not to say there's no temptation there either but far less.  The freshest items are situated on the outside of the aisles.

Most of the other stuff, the processed, pre prepared, sugar and fat laden, nutritionally deficient stuff, is on the inside.

The way I approach shopping is like this:

1. GO AFTER BREAKFAST  You'll feel full after your delicious brekky and less likely to want a donut with extra sprinkles when you see it. Plus you'll be home in time to make yourself a relaxing hot cup of tea, less calories and a 'feet up' reward.

2. HAVE A LIST    Do not deviate! Have a meal plan and check everything at home to find out what you need before you go. It's the wandering up and down aisles that plops you right in the lap of the Land of Temptation.  Michelle Bridges 12WBT gives you a weekly meal plan and a shopping list, so no thinking required there!

3. START AROUND THE EDGES    This is where you'll find your fresh fruit and veges, dairy and meat items, as well as breads usually.   Most of your shopping list would probably be all the fresh items so starting with these makes the whole process a lot faster.

4. SAY NO TO A BAD FOOD CHOICE SPECIAL   You don't NEED 2 packs of Tim Tams, even if it's only $2. Let's put it another way.....you don't NEED those extra calories that may have only cost you $2 to eat but will cost $20 or more for a gym membership for the week to work it off.  You don't NEED the extra fats and sugars that will accumulate and put you on medication that even subsidised will cost more than $2.

5. BLACK BAN  AISLES   There is NO need for you to walk down the confectionary, chip or drinks aisle. Those are WHOLE aisles dedicated to junk.  By totally avoiding these aisles if you have tired children, you also make the shopping experience less stressful for you and more pleasant for everyone.  Need a reminder?  This is a condom commercial (clean, don't worry!) but mothers, tell me this doesn't touch a memory nerve somewhere...

6. USE THE CONFECTIONARY FREE CHECKOUT  Don't stand there staring at the Cherry Ripes singing to you luciously while you wiat for the person in front of you to go through.  Why torture yourself?

7. USE YOUR SPECIALTY STORES  We don't NEED to buy everything at a big supermarket.  Quite often the smaller fruit and vege shops are cheaper with better quality produce.  The butcher or fishmonger will offer good specials too, especially if you visit them frequently and build a 'relationship'.   Support the local people, and do your digestion and health a favour at the same time!

These tips let me get in and out in no time.  I shop for 5 and can be done in 20-30 minutes, if I don't stop to talk to anyone!

What's YOUR theme song?

Good question hey?  I don't think I could set just one song.....I have a few I would use, lyric wise that seem to speak about what I perceive my life to be.

So let's start with what sums up my life in a nutshell......I don't do things always the easy way, and experience is a GREAT teacher.  I might have regrets but I also have a lot of proud moments and wouldn't change anything.  I think if I had to reflect on my life right at the very end, this song would be the words I have to say.

1.  My Way by JACQUES REVAUX, CLAUDE FRANCOIS, GILLES THIBAUT, PAUL ANKA sung by Frank Sinatra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQRSIUNeZTI

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way


Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Yes, it was my way!

2. Feelin' Good - Michael Buble

This is how I feel now.  I feel GOOD!  When I'm out running, the words to this song often run through my head....whether I feel happy or sad or worried, a run clears my head and leaves me feeling good.  It's a reminder that no matter how bad it seems, things always improve so focus onf eeling GOOD!

 Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom in the tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when the day is done, that's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Fooor me

Stars when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Yeah freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
hu
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
It's a new life
For me

And I'm feeling good.....

Finally....I couldn't go without this one!

 3. Wonder Woman theme song  by Norman Gimble and Charles Fox

Self explanatory right?

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
All the world's waiting for you,
and the power you possess.

In your satin tights,
Fighting for your rights
And the old Red, White and Blue.

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
Now the world is ready for you,
and the wonders you can do.

Make a hawk a dove,
Stop a war with love,
Make a liar tell the truth.

Wonder Woman,
Get us out from under, Wonder Woman.
All our hopes are pinned on you.
And the magic that you do.

Stop a bullet cold,
Make the Axis fall,
Change their minds, and change the world.

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
You're a wonder, Wonder Woman.

  So what's your theme song?!

To Burpee or Not to Burpee

That is the question.  One I pondered as I saw for another week the neverending rounds of burpees in this week's exercise program........

The world is divided on this basic question.  More important than the Kevin Rudd or Julia Guillard debate, dare I say it, more important than deciding on having a Tim Tam or not....burpees have an effect of dividing groups into the cheer squad and the groaning brigade.


Burpees, upon a minor amount of research, are thought to be  named after a Lieutenant Thomas Burpee who developed the move for his soldiers as a way to keep warm and to develop fitness.

So lets look at the pros and cons.....

PROS or "I LOVE BURPEES, GIVE ME MORE"

Burpees will burn calories like an exploding sun.  This exercise will get your heart rate up high, and is an all body workout for strength AND agility.  Plus it gets you warm on a cold day in a record amount of time and makes you look good at gym.  It's a TAKE ANYWHERE exercise, no equipment needed, do anywhere, although I suspect if you started popping out burpees in Bourke St Mall, you'd get some funny looks. It's a good sculpting tool for shoulders and back, abs, thighs and butt!

 

 

CONS or " PLEASE PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING JUST NOT BURPEES"

 

I literally couldn't find any valid reason to not do burpees, apart from injuries like shoulders etc.  But if you have clearance from a doctor to exercise, no valid reason.  Dammit.  So I compiled my own.

1.  It's hard work!.

2. You sweat like you've been trekking through the jungle on a 50 degree day and it rained on you. Torrentially.

3.It's REALLY hard work!

4 They hurt after a while.

5. It's really REALLY hard work!

Ok see?  No valid reason. Unless you are Chuck Norris. Dammit.

Where do I stand?  Well after the first round of 4 sets of 25, I sat in the THIS IS TOTALLY GUT WRENCHING brigade.  But now after completing a total of 300 burpees in a week, I've come to not mind them much at all, at least I don't dread them and feel I have achieved something when I get through them! So I'm leaning towards the....liking them camp.

So even after the poorly formed arguments here, if you still want to do a burpee, here is a quick tutorial.....

 Finally, I'd like to show you with the Queen of the Burpee, someone I admire immensely and find inspirational....Julie Hoffman.  This AMAZING woman chose burpees to raise money for Heartkids and to make a world record attempt.

Week 3 reflection

Week 3, the week of weary motivation, a health check up and a new excitement....and a killer SSS!

Menu Plans

Another week of yumminess, the favourite this week being a toss up between Alison's Penang Chicken and the Kangaroo with grilled veges...mmmmmmmmm. The kids loved both, especially the kangaroo and had no idea who Skippy was....a bonus in my book. :)

Found the lunches to be a little more fiddly, as in having to cook some of them the night before, when I'm tired and really don't give 2 hoots about tomorrow.  But I'm organised, I'm prepared and it really didn't take long to cook for the next day's lunch.

I learned something new this week...quinoa.  Never cooked it, nor have I ever tasted it but it is now my favourite breakfast for the mornings I haven't had an early morning workout session.

Exercise plans

Planning our exercise sessions had a little something extra this week.  Our bathroom is being renovated and we are currently without any washing facilities.  So workouts were planned around when we needed to shower the most!

A great program although I must admit, after doing the shoulder and bicep program on Thursday and seeing a 1500 m row at the end, just for final blast fun, a little piece of me sat down and cried inside.  As it turns out, my shoulders were fine but my butt!  OOOO my poor butt cramped and ached on that hard little seat...added motivation to get it over and done with!  

Tip for me:  DON'T do a late night session then an early morning one the next morning.  Didn't have the strength I usually had, struggled with the 25 kg chest press when I've done it before fine and wanted to sit down and not play anymore half way through.  But we pushed on and got through it....let's just not do that again.

I've decided, even though I am paranoid and scared I'll miss the bar and land flat on my face, that I like jumping chinups.  Even if there's lots of them, and with each one my Clumsy quotient rises higher.

A big thank you once again to my husband Troy who comes to every workout (except the SSS...he was busy so fair enough) and counts for me when my eyes start bugging out of my head, and for showing me how to not compress myself into a pancake with the squat machine.

Challenge

This week's challenge is to write a blog....TICK!  I'm loving writing it, hope you like reading it :P I love seeing people's comments and find it supportive...I'm not alone!  I particularly like doing the reflection posts, it gets me thinking about what worked, what didn't, what I liked and what I have to drag out the JFDI card for.  It's also given me an opportunity to check out some other blogs too.  Loving your work people!

SSS today took me nearly 2 hours to complete and when I was telling one of the trainers at gym what I was doing, she thought it was a pretty tough workout!  Loved the runs the best, had my Ipod in and was grooving along...only realised what I sounded like breathing in a gap between songs!  Steam train anyone?  I DID get some funny looks doing 10 minutes on the tready, then off to do the other exercises and back to the tready again so many times but pfft. Tell you what, that shower was good at the end, even if I did have to sit down a little while until the jelly legs solidified a bit.  Plyometric lunges will do that to you, especially when kettlebells are involved.....

So news this week:   had a health check done and all is GOOD!  Sugars, cholesterol, heart, everything is AOK, signed and sealed.  Doctor impressed with the nutrition plan and exercise plan which helps put me in the low risk category for the nasties....wouldn't be surprised if he joined up next round ;)

Second big news: As you may have noticed, I have a new page on my blog, a Pay It Forward page.  I am almost all organised to do a 50km trek to Williamstown and back (25 km each way) raising money to pay for someone else to do the Michelle Bridges 12 WBT who may struggle paying the enrolment fee.  To date, I have 2 gorgeous superstars joining me for the walk and I have a donation!!! I'm very pleased and really hope this will help someone and maybe become something a group of us will do, the more the merrier!

So my friends, have an AWESOME week.  If anyone tries to take that from you, here are the magic words:

GO FORTH AND BE AWESOME!!!!!!!

It's raining, it's pouring....

The kids are all snoring....LOL  No, seriously, what do you do when you are stuck at home with sick kids, or it's pouring rain and the thought of setting one little pinkie outside to go to gym or for a run has you screaming for the closest doona and hot chocolate?

You work out at home!

But I don't have any equipment I hear you (whine) say ;-) and my favourite show is on television!

Let's rethink that...you have a houseful! And how many ad breaks during the show?  Try some of these exercises and see how many you can do during the break!

Chairs

Chairs are good for tricep dips, mountain climbers,  pushups either hands on chair or feet on chair if you're tough enough!

Sturdy coffee table

Great for step ups!  Also for Hamstring curls and one legged squats.

Floor

A HUGE range of floor exercises!  Pushups, situps, crunches, planking ( come on and join the Y generation LOL) Or try squats, sumo squats, high knee running, stretches and the like.

Wall 

Ah, my favourite...the wall sit.  FEEL THOSE QUADS!

Minimal equipment

Got a skipping rope?  Skip away!  Got canned food?  Hammer curls and bicep curls, French presses...if you can plan ahead you can make weights by filling plastic litre milk bottles with plaster, or seeds and grains, even water!   Got a staircase?  Do some run intervals! Got a hula hoop for the kids?  Thats a GREAT ab workout and a cardio...I love hula hooping, try and aim to keep it up all ad break and you'll feel it!!! Everyone loves hula hooping....

There's so much you can do!  Even a good hard session of housework...put on some GREAT music, move those couches and lunge while you vacuum...good for you AND your house!

Need some more ideas?  Check out these links from Michelle Bridges 10 minute workouts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-9XBj5NnXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lMcFbiZaL8&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr5SeU0NcLE&feature=relmfu

Saying NO Action Plan

I'm sitting in front of a plate filled with the most delectable cupcakes I have ever seen....

Can you SMELL it?  My mouth is watering...mmmmmmmm

But, this doesn't match up with what I want to achieve, or to the clean eating plan I am following.  Can I have just one?

ABSOLUTELY!  But wait!

Could I stop at one or justify why I should have another and another....I've worked so hard, I deserve it, it's a special occasion, I don't want to be rude, it won't matter, I'm STARVING because I skipped brekky or lunch?
Have I planned ahead so that I could do a little extra workout or I've adjusted my snacks for the day so I can incorporate the calorie count in these little sugar bombs or have I just 'worried about that later?"

Resisting temptation is GOOD for the self esteem.  You feel good that you were strong enough to say no.  But the other part of you, the inner labrador, or my temper tanty 2 yr old is going off their HEAD, weakening my resolve until i cave in or am in a grumpy mood.  So I have come up with an action plan to saying No.

VIVE LE RESISTANCE!!!

1. BE INFORMED  What exactly am I eating?  What is the calorie content roughly? Where's the nutritional panel? Why am I so seduced to the yummies? To have knowledge is to be armed.  If I know ahead of time what I will be indulging in, then I can plan ahead. CalorieKing http://www.calorieking.com.au/ is an easy resource to be able to calculate if I need to. Checking the nutritional panel can identify the hidden sugars in the low/no fat foods you think are good for you.  And knowing WHY I'm eating is important...am I sad?  Angry?  Or am I celebrating? What could I do otherwise to get out the emotion that doesn't involve food?

2. PLAN AHEAD This week I have 2 dinners out.  I adjust my meal plans accordingly to not snack so I can enjoy the dinners and I check out the menu online before I go to the restaurant so I know what I will order and not get dazzled by the beautiful menus.  I plan my workouts around these occasions too, whether it be afternoon tea with the girls, dinner with my husband or a work function.

3. DISCIPLINED THOUGHTS AND WORDS I watch my language! when I listen to myself talking to others, am I positive?  Or am I using over exaggerations?  I am SOOOO hungry (no you're not, you're bored or just saying something for something to say) Am I thinking about food all the time? Am I using negative thoughts and words against myself, making me feel bad and more likely to eat my body weight in chocolate maltesers?

4. IF ALL ELSE FAILS....RUN! If nothing is helping, a good run clears my head and within a couple of minutes, I'm thinking better and reminding myself of what I want to be doing and how I don't want to go back to what I was.

And if you need a mental picture...just think....the cat is the cupcake.......

AND you are the dogs!!!!!

NO EXCUSES!!!!!!!

Playtime with your inner kid

My daughter took part in her first gymnastics competition today.  There were lots of little girls all tippy toe running and kicking just like Tinkerbell all over the place, and a few hardy boys who seemed to be tapping into an inner Ninja Turtle rather than Tinkerbell!  I thought to myself, I remember when I could do 'bridges', when I could cartwheel non stop the length of the yard and handstand?  Why not?

So what happened?  Why can we swing off, up and over monkey bars for an entire playtime at lunch and not bat an eyelid but now, try to get across and be barely able to hold our own body weight?

I think we forgot how to play, being so in a rush to 'grow up'.

Now I'm all for not growing up ( thank God I work in a kindergarten, growing up isn't in the job description) but for some reason we've equated growing up with not moving.  Growing up means we don't hang around at one of the greatest free gyms of all, the playground.

Let's look at a playground.

Swings (not pictured): ooo...do an ab class then get on the swings, those suckers work the abs too! Not to mention the push/pull motion of the legs as you try and get the swing to go ALLLL the way over.....remember doing the jump off at the peak?  Good squat jump landing there. ;)

Monkey bars: What a no brainer!  Good for chinups, pull ups, my daughter does a 'Mr Whippy' which is holding on to the bar and swinging your bottom half around as fast as it can go...oooo there's those abs again.  Pull yourself up and hang upside down then get up again....still can't do it myself....

Climbing net: gets your quads, calves, biceps, triceps, abs...it's a full body workout climbing these things!  And kids race each other up them!

Slides: What goes up must come down.  For that 5 second thrill ride of flying down the slide, kids will run around and climb the ladder 5000 times.  So there you have cardio, all the climbing net muscle groups and a mini rest on the way down!

Let's not forget running, impromptu gymnastics, balancing,  bicycling/scootering, rolling down the hill, rock and tree climbing, kicking the footy or playing beach cricket....

Next time my kids go to the park, I'm taking my heart rate monitor....I reckon an hour at the playground with the kids would be at least 300-500 calorie burn!!!!