Concentrating

Concentration, the elusive beast that inspires my most creative forms of procrastination. At uni I discovered donating platelets was a guilt free way of procrastinating but as I haven't been well I am resorting to writing here instead. (Hello GT, LS and DP. I fear our lack of communication in September may have lost everyone else!)

Seeking inspiration for this blog I stumbled across this line, 'concentration is like a muscle, the more we exercise the stronger it becomes' and felt it was a very appropriate quote to remember today as I sit staring at the pile of text books beside me writing my exercise blog!

So what exercise have I done today. Nothing. What am I going to do once I leave this law library? I am going to walk to the top of Mt Eden. It is only a 7km loop from my house, a mere walk in the park in light of the fact Chloe and I are meant to be walking a 1/2 in a few weeks time...will report back tomorrow with photographic proof that I went and hopefully fresh inspiration to take on all of the peaks around Auckland over the coming summer.

Happy Labour day everyone. I had better go and labour. *sigh*

P x

Starting the day on the right foot...

This morning I was woken by a friend jumping on me. Luckily he is a good friend and gives pretty great hugs otherwise this post might have been on how starting the day annoyed leads to bad decisions!

Once awake I realised I couldn't push 'snooze' and felt much more alert because of it. I usually have the best exercise intentions when I set my alarm at night but when 6am comes around I can hit snooze without really waking & the desire to get up to exercise is outweighed by how snuggly my bed is. 

After a quick google on the topic I came across http://www.thedailymind.com/how-to/17-ways-to-wake-up-feeling-fresh-in-the-morning/ which I wanted to share with you because I'm feverently hoping I'm not the only one that hits snooze!

As it is a long weekend let's toast not having to work tomorrow and waking up more energetically in the future! 

P x

Informed decisions

There were two articles that caught my attention this week, especially in light of our whole 'make better 50/50 decisions' philosophy.

Both served as a reminder to be wary of 'health' branded foods, especially drinks. 

The first was, 'Are you drinking yourself fat?' 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/9317865/Are-you-drinking-yourself-fat

I consciously try to avoid alcohol during the week to avoid drinking empty calories but invariably a social event pops up that I can't resist and a glass or two of fermented grapes are consumed. 

If similar temptations crop up for you over the long weekend, the image from the second article written by Les Mills might help...

Happy Labour weekend everyone. Enjoy the sunshine for me, other than some very necessary walks I will be in the Law library studying. *sigh*

P x

Time to focus on "i"!

Where does time go?

I wonder if anyone will read this, so much time has passed since I last wrote I wouldn't have been surprised if you had all lost interest.

Perhaps that is what happened to Chloe and I, to a degree, over the past month. Or, perhaps it was a reflection of how time disappears as we all face the challenges life constantly throws at us.

I'm currently sitting at VTNZ getting a new license because mine had expired. Where on earth did the last decade go? How am I old enough to refer to my life in decades?! 

10 years ago I was 16. During that year I was fortunate enough to go to Fiji with my family and for the only time in my life wore a bikini. I was motivated, enthusiastic and excited about figuring out what was to follow high school. More bikini's, boyfriends and success were not only dreamt about but somewhat expected, my how those post tertiary/GFC/redundancy/real world expectations have changed. 

Life is hard, sometimes devastatingly cruel and repetitive. There have unfortunately been numerous events in the past few months that have left me feeling helpless. How do you make sense of the unexpected, of trauma, of illness? Perhaps there is no sense in these things and chasing it is as futile as wishing we were born with different bodies. For those who have faced any of those things I send you my love, my unconstrained, unlimited love. At the end of the day it is the only balm we can give each other.

It is also the balm I keep reminding myself we should all give ourselves. Whether it be in the form of nutritious food, heart pumping exercise or peonies...as it is peony season I am very partial to the latter! 

So as we leave the dredges of winter behind I am recommitting to this blog and the basic principle behind it. I am going to make better decisions when it comes down to a 50/50 split and am thrilled to have my partner in crime along for the ride. Because the biggest element that has changed for me about expectations is the realisation that everything takes work and the more effort you put in the more likely bikini season will be and for everything out of our control there will always be alcohol! (Ha probably not consistent with the health focus of this blog but I refuse to lie to you all!) 

My newsfeed this morning had the following messages (clearly 'liking' health focused pages has worked for me!) on it which I wanted to share with you all. Join us, wherever you are, in changing what you can control for the better.

Oh and be nice to each other, the butterfly effect is real. Wink at a stranger and I bet he will be nicer to everyone he interacts with afterwards and so forth...

P x

*wink*

[No exercise today but I have been walking Mitch as much as possible ahead of Chloe & I's 1/2 marathon & have started swimming again which is bliss! Re weight, too scared to check. Mood, pleased to be back on the bandwagon]

Teaser....

I know I am overdue a blog post but in the interim I thought I would share this

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3909772

Oh and the view from the top of Mt Wellington at noon, I didn't walk but Mitch will ensure I hit the pavement later.

Chin up, it's hump day!

P x

I can't stop watching this!

A motivational clip....