Hi guys, it’s been a while! I’m planning to restart my blog, I’m thinking if doing more of a general lifestyle blog. Thanks for continuing to follow my blog.
Quick Tip: Give Your Blog a Seasonal Facelift
Last week, Erica gave you some tips for spring cleaning your blog. The start of a new season is also a nice time to make some appearance updates, and refreshing your blog’s appearance can re-energize you as a blogger.
(We’re talking tweaks, not a total overhaul — you probably like a lot of things about your blog, and you’ll want to keep some things consistent to avoid confusing your readers.)
I’ve always admired bloggers who freshen up their layouts while keeping their blog’s feel and branding consistent. Super-popular mommyblogger Dooce changes her header image every month — you can see a collection of all her past headers here — and food blogger Matt Bites creates headers seasonally to highlight the shifts in what he’s cooking and eating.
For the past year or so, I’ve used a version of Ryu customized with a small header image, dark gray background, and bold white…
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Top 3 Fitness Motivation Tips for 2015
Fitness, exercise, physical activity, what ever you call it, it’s all about one thing and that’s moving the body more often to get some kind of health or wellbeing benefit. Whether you’ve just started a new routine or you’ve been doing the same activities are you still getting the results you’re after? I’ve always made sure that I try my best to fit some physical activity in to my life, it helps to clear the cobwebs and gives me the energy I need to keep up with my kids. It also keeps my body in check, the case to keep exercising beats any excuse of not doing anything. Even the celebs with all their pounds and dollars workout so that we adore them and keep buying their products, how else would Kim Kardashian make money if it wasn’t for that famous in shape booty? I’m sure there wouldn’t be such a media fuss if she had a big booty that was flabby!
How can you look after your body, manage your weight, improve your fitness and still beat the mundane routine of knowing exactly what your workout routine will be next week? Fear not help is at hand, I too reached this fitness rut so mixed it up a little. I’ve gone back to running and outdoor fitness workouts. If you’re not sure what to try next think about what you prefer, do like working out indoors, team sports, dancing… the list is endless. Ask friends or colleagues about classes or recommendations for activities. You’ll be surprised about the activities people do, I’ve discovered I know people that pole dance for fitness and salsa dance for fun and fitness! Once you get started follow my 3 tips for getting the most out of your fitness routines next year.
1) Warm it up!
Yes it may sound obvious but it’s easily left out when people are bothered about burning calories, losing weight and just squeezing a workout in to their busy lives. It mentally prepares you and also prevents injury, just imagine trying to start your car in sub zero temperatures and pulling off straight away. Your car won’t play ball and neither will your body if you push it without warming it up. When you warm up the body it releases synovial fluid that lubricates the joints and it gradually increases your body temperature. If you’re short on time I would always try and dedicate a minimum of 10 minutes warming up for a 1 hour workout and 5 minutes or a 30 minute session.
2) Keep boredom at bay
Like anything in life if you know what’s going to happen when you’re in any situation it won’t be long before you get bored, it’s like watching the same movie over and over after a while it gets boring. Saying that I’ve watched Pretty Woman more times than I’d care to mention! Do you go to the gym and spend far too long on the exercise bike or cross trainer? Why not try the rower or if your outside some brisk walking before you start that 5k run. Just remember that exercise can be fun and it always should be, you could try a new sport such as kick boxing or tennis. It’s always worth giving something a go once. Keep it fresh and fun and you’ll be on the way to staying fit and fabulous.
3) Time to sweat
When you exercise hard enough to break in to a sweat then your body will naturally release any toxins that have been stored in the body. It’s a fab way to release stress after a hard day at work or at home with the kids. Depending upon your own fitness levels a brisk walk could be enough for you to break in to a sweat. Before you step it up it may be worth having a check with you physician or GP.
I’ll be interested to know how you get on, so feel free to comment and share your experiences.
100 Calories
So, it’s been a lovely sunny weekend in Nottingham! I’ve been happily chomping away on crisps and treated myself to a lemon muffin. I’m not one for calorie counting when it comes to maintaining my own weight, however I’m well aware that it works for many people. This led me to think about calories this weekend, ‘sad I know’. More importantly I started to think… ‘what does 100 calories look like’?…..I didn’t really think too much about how many calories were in my muffin, but I’m damn sure it was more than 100! I chose to remind myself what 100 calories looks like rather than any other number simply because I know it’s sufficient enough for a snack. So I managed to find something quite quickly from the good old NHS.
Please follow the link below for some 100 calorie snack ideas/inspiration.
<a href="http://http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/What-does-100-calories-look-like.aspx “>http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/What-does-100-calories-look-like.aspx
Weekly Photo Challenge: Object
Great tips here, just the inspiration I need to get back to blogging!
Happy Days
How can you get your happy on when life want’s to say ‘No’? Start with simple steps each day to create your haven of happiness.
1) One area of your life that can affect overall happiness is sleep deprivation. So, learn to switch off by limiting stimulants such as tea and coffee before bed. Try to establish a sleep pattern and a routine like reading a book before bed, it will help if you can get in to bed each night at the same time.
2) Get outdoors to make yourself feel happy. Exercise releases feel good hormones, anything from a walk in the park to digging the garden helps put a spring in your step.
3) Think positive challenges rather than problems, a proactive approach is always best.
4) Improve your self esteem by getting a hobby, whether it’s going to salsa or stamp collecting if it makes you happy, then do it! You’ll get a sense if achievement and enjoyment too.
5) Finally, we all get stressed occasionally. Food and alcohol may temporarily numb emotions but it’s not a long-term solution. Deep breathing, reading, yoga and even knitting can all help to keep you calm.
<img src="https://nadzzee.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/20140222-130725 Continue reading Happy Days
Mid-Year Goal Boost
Summer has arrived and It’s the perfect time of year to get focused. Whether you’re aiming to get bikini body ready or simply want to start leading a healthier lifestyle, you can set yourself mini goals to focus on each week. It’s the perfect way to achieve that goal you have like losing 10lb’s or a long term plan for eating a healthier diet.
If you want to achieve your goals successfully it’s important to break them down in to manageable steps. One of the key principles of successfully achieving your goal is behaviour change. This way you start to build new habits in to your lifestyle.
As a trained and experienced motivational interviewing practitioner I’ve worked with many client groups in the NHS and with the British Heart Foundation. During this time I’ve been able to establish a range of methods and tools that have helped groups of people and individuals to achieve their health and fitness goals.
One other main principles to setting goals is to ensure that any goal you set is SMART.
What is a SMART goal?
S- Specific M- Measurable A- Achievable R- Realistic T- Time Specific
An example of a SMART goal would be that you want to eat healthier, to make it SMART you would change it so that it’s more focussed. Try this to start with in your first week;
I’m going to replace my croissant for breakfast with porridge on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This makes the goal more targeted and easier to define, once you’ve achieved this in week 1, you could aim for making healthy changes your lunch time meal at work. You can choose specific days until you start to build a habit.
Start to apply these principles today, remember it’s about changing your behaviour long term and not quick fixes.
How about you? Are you working on a health or fitness related goal at the moment? Maybe you have advice for others you would like to share or you use motivational tools to help you along the way. Whatever works for you I’d love to hear from you.
For healthy meal tips and healthy breakfast ideas try BHFhttp://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-on-a-budget.aspx
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/breakfast.aspx
Get Fit and Fabulous
Fitness, exercise, physical activity, what ever you call it, it’s all about one thing and that’s moving the body more often to get some kind of health or wellbeing benefit. Whether you’ve just started a new routine or you’ve been doing the same activities are you still getting the results you’re after? I’ve always made sure that I try my best to fit some physical activity in to my life, it helps with the random brain fog I get from time to time and gives me the energy needed to keep up with my kids. Oh, and of course it helps to keep the body in check.
How can you look after your body, manage your weight, improve your fitness and still beat the mundane routine of knowing exactly what your workout routine will be next week? Fear not help is at hand, I too reached this fitness rut of running and Zumba and I was beginning to get bored. How do we allow this to happen? I guess we just think something is better than nothing. I’ve recently completed my first Race for Life event, ‘I assure you, I’m not a runner’. Having a goal helped to inspire me, as a result I’m planning to keep running. What do you want to challenge yourself with?
1) Always warm up
Yes it may sound obvious but it’s easily left out when people are bothered about burning calories, losing weight and just squeezing a workout in to their busy lives. It mentally prepares you and also prevents injury, just imagine trying to start your car in sub zero temperatures and pulling off straight away. Your car won’t play ball and neither will your body if you push it without warming it up. When you warm up the body it releases synovial fluid that lubricates the joints and it gradually increases your body temperature. If you’re short on time I would always try and dedicate a minimum of 10 minutes warming up for a 1 hour workout and 5 minutes or a 30 minute session.
2) Beat the boredom
Like anything in life if you know what’s going to happen when you’re in any situation it won’t be long before you get bored, it’s like watching the same movie over and over after a while it gets boring. Saying that I’ve watched Pretty Woman more times than I’d care to mention! Do you go to the gym and spend far too long on the exercise bike or cross trainer? Why not try the rower or if your outside some brisk walking before you start that 5k run. Just remember that exercise can be fun and it always should be, you could try a new sport such as kick boxing or tennis. It’s always worth giving something a go once. Keep it fresh and fun and you’ll be on the way to staying fit and fabulous.
3) Sweat it out
When you exercise hard enough to break in to a sweat then your body will naturally release any toxins that have been stored in the body. It’s a fab way to release stress after a hard day at work or at home with the kids. Depending upon your own fitness levels a brisk walk could be enough for you to break in to a sweat.
Before you step it up it may be worth having a check with you physician or GP.
Fancy running to get fit? Try this running club for starters!
Get Your Happy On
The sun is shining but it doesn’t mean instant happiness for all. How can you get your happy on when life want’s to say ‘No’? Start with simple steps each day to create your haven of happiness.
1) One area of your life that can affect overall happiness is sleep deprivation. So, learn to switch off by limiting stimulants such as tea and coffee before bed. Try to establish a sleep pattern and a routine like reading a book before bed, it will help if you can get in to bed each night at the same time.
2) Get outdoors to make yourself feel happy. Exercise releases feel good hormones, anything from a walk in the park to digging the garden helps put a spring in your step.
3) Think positive challenges rather than problems, a proactive approach is always best.
4) Improve your self esteem by getting a hobby, whether it’s going to salsa or stamp collecting if it makes you happy, then do it! You’ll get a sense if achievement and enjoyment too.
5) Finally, we all get stressed occasionally. Food and alcohol may temporarily numb emotions but it’s not a long-term solution. Deep breathing, reading, yoga and even knitting can all help to keep you calm.
Go get your goal!
Summer is around the corner again, we’re all thinking about getting in shape ‘but how am I gonna get fit’ I hear you cry?! It’s the perfect time of year to get focused and to start setting some small and manageable goals. If you’re not sure where to start, why not give walking a try? Just going for a brisk walk a few times a week for 30 minutes can make all the difference. If you like a good healthy challenge try going for a bigger goal that you’d like to achieve. You could enter a 5k or 10k if you’re feeling super fit and ready to give something new a try.
If you want to achieve your goals successfully it’s important to break them down. One of the key principles of successfully achieving a goal is changing you’re behaviour. This way you start to build new habits in to your lifestyle. As a trained motivational interviewing practitioner I’ve worked with a variety of client groups to help people to achieve their heath and wellness goals. One of the main conclusions I’ve came to whilst helping people is that you need to find what works best for you.
One other main principles to setting goals that is pretty much universal is that all goals need to be SMART.
Here I’ve broken down SMART goals? I’ve used an example of changing you’re eating habits. You can apply this model to exercise too.
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Achievable
R- Realistic
T- Time Specific
An example of a SMART goal could be starting to eat healthier. Now let’s make it SMART, you would change it so that it’s more focused. Try this to start with in your first week;
I’m going to replace my croissant for breakfast with porridge on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This makes the goal more targeted and easier to define, once you’ve achieved this in week 1, why not add healthier food to your lunch time meal at work? You can choose specific days until you build a habit. Start to apply these principles today!
Remember it’s about changing your behaviour long term and not quick fixes.
If you’re looking for advice on healthy eating, visit this brilliant blog by Frances Huntley on all things healthy fresh and foody! http://soupcong.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/foody-fact-the-humble-parsnip/
Do you have any healthy food or fitness tips you would like to share? How are you doing with your goals this Spring/Summer?
For healthy meal tips and healthy breakfast ideas try BHFhttp://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-on-a-budget.aspx
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/breakfast.aspx
Happy Healthy Lives 
