qotd

“It's up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.”

~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

you

Some of us are so busy during the day, we don't make time any time for ourselves.
It is important that you ask these questions of yourself daily....What have you done for YOU to grow and nurture your mind, body, spirit, relationships, creativity and passion?
If you don't have answers for all of these at the moment, then you might not want to consider your day over yet...

no excuses! #05

is YOUR health important ....?
did you get out into the world today and keep yourself active? did you steer yourself in the direction of your goals .... if not, why not?
don't you owe it to yourself to be the healthiest version of you, you CAN be?!

there are... NO excuses!

change

". . . you can make changes or you can make excuses. Your choice."

a great article on "change"

a (little) swim in the ocean

taking off after a quick intake of water and gu!

i got to be on the crew boat again for another swimming first today ... christie and a mate of his, chris, from townsville, were swimming from sth molle island back to airlie beach - a total of 17kms ...
starting at 9:48am .. finishing at 1:46pm - a total of 3hrs 58 minutes ... quicker than last years 14km swim from whitehaven to hamilton island ....
after a week of super yucky weather - rain,  wind and mugginess ... conditions, werent quite so bad today, no rain AT ALL - w00t! starting very choppy and windy though ... a couple of sections where they had to fight the tide, but, then fairly as ideal as you could ask for with a swim in the ocean, facing the elements ... the closer to the coastline, the calmer the waters, being protected but there was not a lot of area for that ...
the intake along the way ... ? chris. 1.8 litres of carb water, 5 gu's and 2 panadols! christie. 1.7 litres of plain water, 9 gu's.
amazing to watch it unfold! inspiring effort - a big congratulations to both swimmers, christie and chris, and to ross, the kayaker as well - (no more touching the shark stayaway'er'er's :D ) no sharks. it must WORK! :D

all photos can be viewed here

qotd

it takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers... but always know - you ARE capable - of anything you want to be... dream. big! and then, go for it! reach your goals!

start over

If you have started out in pursuit of your goal
And you have really tried with your heart and your soul,
But somehow things got out of control
START OVER.

When you have tried your best to do what you should
And you thought this time that you surely would,
But once again, you did not do good
START OVER.

it all starts with you

 

qotd

"Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." Captain Cook.

banana goodness

Who wants a bit of science to finish off their day? Thought you might. :D
Many animals can make their own vitamin C!!!
Humans and other primates cannot: they are reliant on food for vitamin C. Old news that salad vegetables and citrus fruit are good sources, yet less well known that a (increasingly affordable) banana will provide about a quarter of your daily vitamin C needs.
With all the other goodness a banana provides, don't forget to add one regularly to your day ... slowly, the prices drop. (yay)

big pharma

unfortunately, so true.
yet changing to a healthy diet can help so many 'sick' people, be well... NOTHING substitutes a delicious diet of nutritious whole foods, REAL food ...

why do people turn to drugs/medicines when nature has given us everything we need to keep us healthy, alive and full of energy?! naturally.
is it just the promise of an 'easy solution'? a quick solution? we can eat processed junk food and refined sugars because, oh. when we get sick, a pill will help us? or, the nutrition we lack, then comes in a formula?

positive

positive characteristics ...
connecting with the positive within ourselves and surrounding ourselves with positive people in our lives makes such a difference...

qotd

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” Conrad Hilton

rough?

It's been a rough week, but I made it - how about you?

                                                                So. How bout it?

qotd

"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow!" Plato

no excuses! #04

You know when you feel like giving up? remember - you KNOW you can push through and get the results you are after .. YOU - refuse to be stopped too!

There are, NO .... excuses

So. To complain or not to complain? Tired or not tired? The answer here in this photo!

qotd - i choose

absolutely! specially, the last point.
when you are making positive changes in your life - don't let any negative comment others may think/say/express about you, affect your success. some, when they see you getting great results, when they see you are 'changing' in a positive way, like to bring doubt to your mind... and some days, it may take just a small niggle to let that affect you and the choices you make regarding your health .... don't let others opinions, alter the hard work you are putting in, that get those amazing results.

qotd

“Many fine things can be done in a day if you don't always make that day tomorrow” - Unknown

absolutely fabulous

What a great opportunity I was given this morning for an absolutely fabulous session - mother and daughter - coming together and training, intensely!
It was awesome to witness the bond and support they had for each other
Margaret - you are becoming an inspiration for many - and ABSOLUTE PROOF - consistency, sweat, and a good healthy diet - thrown together with determination = 100% results!!!
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln

qotd

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realise.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

a great session!

Sally, Emma, Margaret, Nicola
Misty, Kimberly, Andrew!

Man, what a fantastic way to start Sunday morning!
A solid workout, with some amazing clients - an outdoor warmup, followed by some fun inside! :) (of course it WAS!! :P~ )
Kimberly, Nicola and Emma juiced up oranges and apples before we started - Misty raced home for extra knives! Then everyone pitched in and helped make the rest of our breakfast afterwards... YUM!! (well, besides Andrew who sat back letting the women do the work! hmmmmmmmmmm? sexism?!)

What did I realise!? What an absolutely wonderful group of people I get the opportunity to train with every week! How fortunate I am that every single person brings a smile to my face, all for different reasons ...While all have individual health fitness journies they are on, the similarity for me, is all are an absolute delight to train to their absolute limits. Today. Highlighted that fact.
The ability to bring some of them together with the connection to workout as a group, made for an absolutely fun start to the morning! Loud music, sweaty bodies, tough high intensity workout - done with enthusiasm and great motivation and encouragement for one another - Noone gave up. Noone, allowed anyone else to give up! I couldn't have been more proud of the effort and the united support they had to each other.
Cohesive! Man, what a great Sunday!
Thank you to each and every one of you that was able to attend - to those that couldn't - can't wait until the next one!
Photos can be seen here!

sunday session

have a great session lined up for tomorrow morning at the gym for all my clients. am so looking forward to it ... unfortunately, not all can make it, but for those that can - be prepared to train hard :D in a fun way of course. hmmmmm, or not. let's see :P~ maybe. just train hard! you want results? you gotta work it!

then.... YUMMY breakfast for afterwards ...

• scrambled tofu w/garlic, onion and capsicum (ok, i guess that ones a selfish one for me!)
• muesli (courtesy of capers airlie beach) with natural yoghurt and berries
• wholemeal muffins with baked beans, cottage cheese and avocado
• watermelon, rockmelon, strawberries, grape fruit and kiwi fruit
• freshly juiced orange juice, lemon juice and apple juice!

sweat, then eat! it's gonna be awesome! bring it!

qotd

"Always be mindful of the kindness, and not the faults of others."
                                                                            ~ Buddha

encouragement

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about

it's a killer disease

obesity, the maker of many unnecessary ailments ...
i know for some people, it is hard to think that the year 2020, matters. that the year 2030, matters. but, we need to look ahead, for many are on the road to such sickness ... brought about from overweightedness - and as a nation, the $$$ cost is, and will be, phenomonal. people often think they don't pay financially if they are not overweight, but every working man and woman bears the cost of obesity & related health issues.

overcoming deadly factors such as poor diet, smoking and a lack of exercise should take top priority in the fight against a growing epidemic of chronic disease. do we REALLY need to wait until we are so unwell, at the doctors, reeling back in great horror at what we have become and wondering how to fight off the illnesses we have created, to START making a positive difference for ourselves?

get started. for yourself. today. no excuses.

just 'one a day'

disturbing fact:
if you were to consume four average sized chocolate or confectionary bars each week, this would equate to approximately 83,200 additional calories (or 10.8kg worth of excess stored fat) per year.*

so, what would seven do? that's just one chocolate bar a day - it adds an extra 145,600 calories a year ...
how does this not become concerning? many people think just one a day 'doesn't make that much of a difference' - how quickly, how easily, just a small thing adds up ... then, what other *small things* add up? do you also add just one biscuit a day? just one slice of bread? just a handful of chips? ....
think about what you eat, think about the results you are trying to achieve for yourself, think of the results gained ... when. you realise the small things add up and you are able to eliminate those small things from the everyday .... think of the healthy changes you will create for your body.

cut the extras. and make a difference.

the body

"The body never lies." ~ Martha Graham

So true. How we treat our body, what we choose to put into in, on to it, how we exercise it, maintain it, are all a reflection of our core beliefs about ourselves, combined with a dash of habit.
We are what we eat and we eat what we are, or believe we are.

qotd

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat”
– Theodore Roosevelt

qotd

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

thank you for the support

to everyone today who brought me in good luck gifts - books, cups, a guardian angel, bananas, .... darn, i give an almighty thanks... and to all who sent emails and texts, and who phoned, to wish me well, i am simply blown away ....

i am absolutely fortunate to have such a great support base behind me as i head off to run - knowing i have the encouraging thoughts of many, helping me out - will do my best - let's see if its enough!

ps: wow - on the bananas :) they will be quickly eaten but never forgotten!

focus, on health

Studies reveal that those who exercise for health related reasons as opposed to appearance related reasons, maintain an exercise program for longer.


Focus, on HEALTH!

keep going

Keep going.
That pain you feel? That's fear melting away.
Like wax off a candle.
That's weakness washing out of your pores like a monsoon.
That's the old you being shed away like dead skin.
That's the new you, rising out of the ashes of your former self.

qotd

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. - Epictetus

qotd

"If you knew that what you wanted was right in front of you, wouldn't you run as hard and as fast as you could to get there?"

grab your goals, don't lose sight of them, and continue heading in the right direction  ...

kids can be a great motivator

Have you ever stopped to think about why you really feel the need to lose weight, get fit, or go after any other goal? Real reasons, beyond a future milestone birthday, wedding or similar function... desire, needs to reach beyond the short term, upcoming event ...

To succeed at your goals, whatever your personal ones are ... your motivation has to grab your attention like new love!! Your motivation - is the BEST reason you can think of for getting up every day, getting active and getting healthy - and, sticking with it.

exercises for seniors

one day lois?? :)

thank you to Lois - the loveliest exercising 75 year old client you can imagine - who found she related to this piece and passed it on to me  :) it's probably suitable for all of us - all ages :D Lois you always bring a smile to my day with your wonderful sense of humour!

The Doctor told me, I should start an exercise program.
Not wanting to harm this old body, I've devised the following:

MONDAY
Beat around the bush, Jump to conclusions
Climb the walls, Wade through the morning paper

TUESDAY
Drag my heels, Push my luck
Make mountains out of mole hills, Hit the nail on the head

choose ... greatness

"success and mediocrity are both contagious. if you want to be great, surround yourself with great people ... and get infected."

qotd

Negative thoughts produce negative effects.
Think positively

everyone deserves to eat

can you survive on this?

I was recently talking to a woman regarding her (attempted) weight loss - she was on a 'recommended' daily calorie intake of 850 calories. Yep - 850 calories - a DAY!!! She had come, wanting to buy some protein powder because .. she was starving. STARVING!!! really?! on 850 calories a day, anyone would be starving!
She was seeing a nutritionist - who was the one recommended she hunt out, protein powder - which 'may help her feel less hungry'. Not on your nelly! EAT?! Perhaps?! Eat more than 850 calories for the day? Then, surprisingly, you may feel less hungry!

There’s no reason weight loss should be an extreme process. Or. Such a negative process.

Further investigation revealed the 'nutritionist' was simply a provider of ... Optifast. I had never heard of this, and could not believe someone would really recommend such a low calorie intake to any human - let alone a morbidly obese woman, who until the point of contact with them had been eating a calorie dense, nutrient poor diet,  - and constantly struggling with depression, low self esteem, alongside the lack of appropriate knowledge to create positive change! With over forty years of attempting weight loss, the current inability to even walk very far without pure exhaustion and pain ... she was desperate to lose weight. Yet uneducated on how, no comprehension on the value of real food, and no familiarity on the ease with which to make delicious, quick healthy meals ... she had hedged her hopes (not for the first time) on this LOSE WEIGHT FAST plan. She had placed - her trust - in someone, whose only answer, encouragement, and motivation was, for her to starve herself !?! Every day.
Definition of exploitation? Taking advantage of a fragile, vulnerable human with a diet that is not going to achieve any positive long term result for her ... that is giving her NO energy to even get out of bed...  850 calories does not even give enough 'energy' for her organs to survive ... starvation, headaches, lethargy, her body, was slowly shutting down.
So - knowing nothing about this  'system' ... what to do when faced with ignorance? RESEARCH! Which I did. To say i am shocked - understatement.

optifast website (actual recommendation of their 'intensive stage' is <800 calories) - please PLEASE don't ever abuse your wonderful body by going on this 'diet' - no matter what you 'weigh' in kg terms ... (this IS of course my personal view - but EVERYONE DESERVES to be ALLOWED TO EAT, no matter what their weight or physical shape...) What joy is there to wake up every morning, knowing you are going to be starving all day long and have such little food to be able to choose from? Knowing, you are going to be starving and struggling from the days beginning to its end, trying to conquer the emotion of guilt if you eat, because you are hungry. During the internal chaotic fight, your body is wondering what the hell you are doing to it? It is a depressing state you put yourself in. Emotionally. You are also starving your brain of vital and needed nutrients for survival ... gosh,  it is as damaging as liposuction, or gastric band surgery, or any other 'quick fix' that promises so much, then delivers - so little.

You deserve the pleasure of eating, - good, healthy NUTRITIONAL food. You deserve, to sit down at the table, to a 'real' meal, that is going to satisfy you - in taste, in satiation, and visually! You deserve, to create change in your body, in a slow, safe direction for overall healthiness - long term ...

a journey

When you have a lot of weight to lose, it is easy to come up with excuses rather than get yourself off the couch and into motion...
So by taking the initial action of getting up and heading to the gym, of joining and being a part of a like minded group of positive people, all with similar or fitness related goals in mind - youve taken a difficult step already. You have ACTIVELY chosen to get rid of the part of you that has become an expert in excuse-making and procrastination, and are choosing to work instead towards a new, healthier you... that's a fantastic commitment!

:)

Self-delusion is pulling in your stomach when you step on the scales.

Paul Sweeney

qotd

To succeed in life - replace Mere Existence with Serious Living, Tardy Excuses with Sound Purpose and Indulgent Excesses with Self Control

what being overweight does to you

our weight? it's so much more important what we are doing INSIDE to our bodies than the physical appearance which is often the main reason most want/decide to 'lose weight' ... unfortunately 'i want to lose weight so my heart functions at its best' is not a common incentive for 'losing weight' ... but, perhaps it should be...

read this article ...  incentive?
it should scare the living daylights out of us! all.
the unnecessary strain we place upon our internal organs when overweight is enormous, and DOES affect everything we do and how our bodies function ... short term, and definitely, long term!
read it, take it in - no new information in the article really, just an eye opening visual and description that should prompt everyone into an active and healthy lifestyle .... no matter what weight we are.

no excuses! #03

But seriously though... what was your excuse?
Great question ... did you exercise? Did you go for a walk? Did you eat nutritionally? There really is NO excuse for not looking after ourselves in the best way we can.

This photo should be a big inspiration to everyone!

What a smile - this little dude shows everyone that nothing is impossible - when you head out into your day, give it everything you have... enjoy every moment, be passionate for life.

And ... if you ever feel like giving up - DON'T - give 110% to your goal and the rewards will come ...
Be. Motivated. Be. Inspired. And allow... NO excuses!

today, remember ...

mindful eating

M ~ make yourself a priority
I ~ inquire ~ why am I eating? - hunger, avoidance, temptation, routine, habit, boredom, beliefs
N ~ noise ~ avoid distractions, be present when eating
D ~ decide now to allow & accept ~ practice non-judgment
F ~ feel ~ allow, accept and welcome all feelings.
U ~ understand ~ practice understanding and compassion
L ~ love your body….. all of it!

E ~ enjoy the process and experience of food and eating
A ~ avoid being overly hungry – stay between 4-7 on the hunger scale
T ~ taste ~ temperature, aroma, speed, texture and experience
I ~ listen to your body ~ hunger and satiety cues
N ~ nurture yourself on all levels ~ mind, body, being
G ~ give thanks ~ practice gratitude for all that you are

a bit of fun

Diet Diary
Monday
I am going to start a diet, one I have not tried before.
You just liquidise your cabbage, then a cabbage drink you pour.
But then I'll need some chocolate. Just a little piece of chocolate.
And when I've eaten all my chocolate, I won't buy any more.
Tuesday
My friend said try the detox, it is wonderful they say.
It is beans with everything, I think. The pounds just fall away.

yes we have no bananas

It seems we are still a while away from being able to purchase cheaper bananas, but, regardless of their price, - nutritional value for money, bananas are still a cheap food to buy compared to a lot of processed foods out there.
For those that live in the Airlie Beach area, the market man still sells bananas at roughly half the price of the supermarkets on a Saturday morning - heck, at the price, maybe its worth a trip to Airlie Beach!

banana power - significant antioxidant power, low glycaemic index, cancer fighter, for healthy blood pressure, healthy and happy insides and weight control

no excuses! #02

This is just pure inspiration ... isn't it!?
when we lay in bed each morning with our list of excuses filling our heads of why we can't get up and exercise, even knowing how wonderful we feel when we DO ... or at the end of our work day when we once again use excuse after excuse to instead go home and sit in front of the tv screen ... think of those that ? .... *are*
Get up! Get out there - push yourself beyond your comfort zone ... see if it helps set you on your way from feeling lethargic to feeling GREAT instead!

I can't, isn't a reason to give up, it's a reason to try harder.

get back up

"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. So, love the people who treat you right; pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life; getting back up is living."

It can take a lifetime to realise the truth of those words but once you do, they can turn your life around.

qotd - just do it

• Every day someone in the world begins chasing their dreams.
• Every day someone in the world realises one of their lifetime dreams.
• Every day someone in the world begins to stop regretting and start living.
• Every day someone in the world lets go of the past and embraces the now.
• Every day someone wakes up with a smile of joy on their face and the wonder at being alive.
• Every day someone becomes the person they were meant to be…
  Why? Because they made the decision to JUST DO IT.           Nike

qotd - indeed!

there is never any time better than *right now* ... to begin your journey towards a healthier lifestyle ...

nothing's impossible

Alice: I simply must get through!
Doorknob: Sorry, you're much too big. Simply impassible.
Alice: You mean impossible?
Doorknob: No, impassible. Nothing's impossible.