This week I am grateful for.... a healthy living challenge

Earlier this week, I blogged about an exciting offer from Soup Marketing to take part in a new program hosted by the Heart Foundation. Mums United is encouraging Mums across Australia to unite in their quest to raise a healthy, active family. This project couldn't have come at a better time and for that I am very grateful! I have been ummmming and aaaaaahing for months now about returning to a healthier and happier lifestyle. With a burgeouning business and two little cherubs I just haven't been able to set a date and commit. Oh how simple in form motivation can sometimes be!

When my Soup pack arrived I excitedly set a number of healthy living challenges for myself and my family for the month of November. Starting with me, and my dream for months now: getting off the couch and into running 5kms. The C25K program is very simple in premise, and amazingly simple in execution. Start with 20 minutes, three times a week and alternate 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. The program follows the concept of interval training and promises to have you running 5 km in just nine weeks. 

If you're like me and feel a little allergic to running, I guarantee you will be surprised! I downloaded the C25K iPhone app (there's many, I chose the one from Bluefin software) and it gives me handy prompts while pumping out my favourite tunes. Early Monday morning I pulled on my trusty joggers and set out for my first run in........ erm five years....? By Wednesday I was already addicted to the rush of early morning exercise. Ahhhhh adrenalin, how I have missed thee! Week 2 of C25K is much the same as Week 1 and I'm secretly hoping that this fresh burst of exercise will help me in my ultimate goal of shedding some unwanted kilos just in time for summer.

I hope you too are having a week to be grateful for. Why not pop on over to Maxabella Loves and share in the fun xx

Mums United and a healthy heart challenge

Life, in the most part, has been overtaken lately with a flurry of fabric, needles and thread. Miss Goodie Two Shoes has been a life changing and exciting challenge, but as my business has evolved my healthy living has been the first to drop off the list. Gone are my early morning walks and weekly sessions at the gym, to be replaced with bleary eyes, a strong coffee and evenings spent sewing arms and legs. Healthy lunches for the family have been slowly replaced with muesli bars, peanut butter sandwiches and arrowroot biscuits... beans and spaghetti have featured on the dinner menu more often then I would like to admit. With the weather warming I have been promising myself a return to healthy eating and daily exercise, but where is the motivation and enthusiasm when bedtime is rarely before 1am?

Then came a very exciting offer from Soup Marketing to take part in an exciting new challenge hosted by the Heart Foundation. Mums United is encouraging Mums across Australia to unite in their quest to raise a healthy, active family. Through my project with Soup I have been asked to set some healthy living challenges and to report on my progress, the perfect opportunity to remain motivated! We got off on a good start today, replacing our usual sugar laden morning tea with some sliced fruit and these delicious raspberry muffins from the Heart Foundation website.

Raspberry Muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup blueberries

60g (1/4 cup) margarine spread, extra

1 cup (250mL) reduced fat milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a 12-cup non-stick muffin tin with muffin cases.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Mix in sugar and blueberries. In another bowl, combine margarine, milk, egg and vanilla. Mix the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined, using no more than 16 strokes. Spoon mixture into prepared tin. 

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly. 

I hope you too are having a healthy start to the week. Be sure to keep an eye on my blog for details of how you can join me in Mums United, and be in with a chance to win $350 in Myer giftcards thanks to Soup!

We reap what we sow

Okay, I'll be honest. I don't have a green thumb, I tend to either kill plants from kindness, or from neglect. I don't seem to find that perfect balance in between. I dream of being surrounded by the gorgeous sights and smells of a rich country garden, just so long as someone else knows what they're doing!

 So you can imagine my delight this winter as I've watched my little vegie patch grow and flourish. We've had a few hiccups along the way with some pesky aphids and hungry caterpillars, but I'm pleased as punch to be finally picking delicious, vibrantly coloured vegies from my garden.

Today's harvest was some yummy broccolini, cabbage and beetroot.  Yum!

Running man

Week two of building the new 'me' and I'm feeling excited and energised. While my gorgeous hubby is at home feeding and bathing our babes, I have been attending body classes at our local gym. Each afternoon I excitedly anticipate the rush of a racing heart and the bitter sweet burning of muscles. I'd forgotten just how exhilarating an exercise program could be!

While my attempts at exercise previously lacked direction and structure, I'm now spoilt for choice.

Monday = Body Pump 

Tuesday = Body Step

Wednesday = boot camp with a personal trainer

Thursday = Body Attack

Friday = Body Step

As much as I'd love to attend all five classes (yes, I could be a little mad...) I've limited myself to three per week and jogging/ walking every other day. Oh how good it feels to dust off my runners and dig my gym clothes out of storage!

I hope you're having an energetic day too.

 

A health kick up the butt

When it comes to being overweight there's only so much complaining you can do before you need to get off your butt and do something about it. I've had my time, lazing on the couch eating peppermint chocolate and cheese twisties, whinging about my expanded rear end and flabby arms. I look back, and find it hard to understand how I got here. I used to be incredibly fit, healthy and very active. I would run along the beach in the morning and attend gym classes in the afternoon. I loved cooking fresh, healthy meals and wouldn't dream of filling my trolley with chocolate biscuits and salt and vinegar chips. I rarely ever drank Coke Zero, in fact I never even drank coffee.

So what happened?

My two beautiful little babies is what happened. And I certainly don't say that as if I blame them for being overweight. Nor would I take back a single second of our lives together. I would, however, take back some of the poor dietry decisions I made when I was pregnant, and the excuses I made for regaining an active lifestyle once my babes were born. At the same time I need to be sympathetic to why and how I got here. I was very sick with both my little ones, and survived on a diet of high energy, high calorie foods. Full cream milk was the only thing that stopped the persistant reflux. I was too tired to get out of bed let alone exercise while I was pregnant. And then there were the sugar and salt cravings...

When Oscar was born I attempted to regain an active lifestyle and lose the extra 10 kgs I was carrying. I did manage the odd gym class, and pounded the pavement when I could muster the energy. I tried to cut out all those high calorie foods and introduce more lean protein and vitamin rich salads. But something had changed. I couldn't just go to the gym when I wanted to, nor could I prepare and sit down to enjoy a healthy lunch. Regaining my old lifestyle wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. I started eating on the go and opting for coffee with friends instead of pulling on my gym shoes. This was the life of a new mum, and I was loving every minute of it.

Forward two years and the birth of Mathilda, and I'm facing a slightly steeper uphill battle with the bulge. Again I've tried to shift those extra kilos through diet and exercise, but its been pretty hit and miss. Two babies don't leave a lot of 'me' time, and my eating habits have transformed into a diet of coffee, muesli bars, tiny teddy biscuits and whatever lunch and dinner Oscar refuses to eat. I have the option of either accepting this is life for now and enjoying every minute, or making a concerted effort to change.

So here I am. At the crossroads of being happy with my weight or getting off my butt once and for all and doing something about it. I've decided the latter. With some much appreciated help from hubby I'm going to make more time for healthy eating and exercise, and in the process make a much happier, more confident 'me'. A 'me' that can spend more time laughing and less time complaining. A 'me' that is going to love slipping into her favourite pair of skinny jeans and holding her head high.

I look forward to introducing you to the new 'me' next time we meet.

Cooking with the Heart Foundation

I recently took part in my first Soup marketing project, and boy was it fun! "Soup is Australia's first word of mouth marketing agency, and is for people who love having their say and want to be involved in shaping the future of brands and products". Does that sound like you? Well pop on over and become a Soup Mama too!

I was chosen to participate in the Heart Foundation project about saturated fats. The challenge was to cook some tasty treats using margarine instead of butter and see what my family and friends thought of the results. What a perfect excuse to have some friends over for morning tea!

Soup included a book of yummy recipes to try out, so Oscar and I have had a fabulous time cooking cakes, scones and quiches for our friends. As someone who has never cooked with margarine, I was surprised by how delicious the food was, and how well margarine replaced butter in some of my favourite recipes. I'd always thought margarine was highly processed and no good for you, turns out I was quite wrong. Some brands of margarine have less than 15% saturated fat, a mere drop of the 50% or more saturated fat found in butter!

An unexpected bonus of this project is I've been making a lot more of Oscar's snacks from scratch instead of relying on store bought fruit bars and rice cakes. Not only have our morning teas been delicious and healthy, we've been having so much fun cooking together. 

I thought I'd share with you one of Oscar's favourite recipes from the Heart Foundation project, I hope you enjoy baking and eating it as much as we do! 

Apple and Sultana cupcakes

Ingredients

2 medium green apples, peeled and grated

1 3/4 cups self raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

2 tsp ground cinammon

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup low fat milk

125 g salt reduced margarine spread, melted

1/2 cup sultanas

zest of one lemon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake papers.

2. Beat margarine, sugar and eggs using an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat for about 5 minutes or until thick and creamy.

3. Add the grated apple, milk, sultanas and lemon zest. Beat on low until combined.

4. In a separate bowl sift together the self raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinammon. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until thoroughly combined. Do not over-beat as this will toughen the mixture.

5. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack.

6. Most importantly, ENJOY more then one!