Update on Getting Fit and Fine-as

Day One

So today.....

I went for a 40 min walk up and down the hills around our place with Little O. We stopped off at the park on the way of course....a must for Little O. She starts to flap her arms wildly and squeal with delight as soon as we go past the park, so who could resist that? Not me!
I also managed to do my 100 sit ups and leg lifts and some pelvic floor exercises as per the spreadsheet. What fun.

 I stayed in my exercise gear all day....trying to feel fit and fine-as even though I am not....yet. Tried not to notice the muffin tops exploding over the tops of my leggings. Tried not to think about my pasty white legs and arms. Also tried not to think about eating carbs.....

 When Mr PTF came home from work we went for a long walk together. Up and down hills again and we stopped at a gorgeous little park with an amazing view of the rolling hills as a backdrop. Did some push ups and squats while Little O squealed away on the swings. Phew! Exhausting stuff but soo good.

 I ate a reasonably healthy stir fry for tea tonight....however I slipped up. I gave in to the tempting homemade potato chips that Mr PTF baked for himself. My excuse is that they were from the vegie patch and also they had also been  homemade by my lovely hubbie....how could I refuse? I couldn't. Mmmmm perhaps a bit of pilates to work that off....maybe.....maybe not.

Tomorrow is going to be busy but I am really hoping to do some pilates in the morning (using a dvd) and my sit ups etc and if I can possibly do a walk I will but that may be too much.
So, not a bad start for day one....
xo Rachel

On 'Getting Fit and Fine-as for the Festive Season'

HELP!!!!!

So, seeing as tomorrow is a Monday....I have decided to take the plunge and to start my week by going public with my goal of getting Fit and Fine-as ... anyone want to join me?

Am I alone with my muffin tops and jiggly belly and my tuck-shop lady arms that keep wobbling when I wave goodbye?....very demoralising too I might add.

I am going public with this because I think it makes it so much more real...I will have to be responsible and accountable this way.....oh dear....what am I doing?!

I know that when goal setting you are supposed to make them Smart goals.

S-pecific

M-easurable

A-chievable or attainable

R-elevant

T-ime bound

So I guess if you look at my goal.....'To get Fit and Fine-as for the Festive Season', it is not exactly specific or measurable. My definition of fit and fine-as is perhaps to be less jiggly, to lose the muffin tops, to tone up the jiggly bits (belly, thighs, arms, bottom) and to feel fit and healthy. I would love to feel good in myself, to feel more energy and more on top of things. Not exactly quantifiable I know, but that is what I want.

To know if I have succeeded I guess, my skinny leg jeans will need to fit me a bit better, the muffin tops will not hang over the tops of them as much and my tummy will not roll on top of itself when I sit down. Is this too much to ask??! Perhaps I will have a bit more tone in my thighs and bottom and my arms will get a bit more tone too. There...is that specific enough?! I don't have a set of scales so the weight is not such a big deal for me it is mainly to do all the things above. I may measure myself but then again I may not. I think the main thing is to feel better in myself.

For now, I am going to do the normal things we all try to do....eat healthily, exercise more, BUT I have a secret weapon.... a spreadsheet.....

Yes.

You heard me right.

A spreadsheet! Mr PTF is a mastermind at spreadsheets and he takes great pleasure in suggesting one for almost anything....for example, our budget..."we should put that on a spreadsheet", plans to update our house and garden...on a spreadsheet. Our 8 week trip to Europe and all accommodation for each and every day...on a spreadsheet. My daily exercise plan...."hey you should put that on a spreadsheet" and so it is, courtesy of Mr PTF because I get completely lost and frustrated with the different cells and formulas on excel and grrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Now it is rather ambitious I admit, but I have got to aim high...I always do. I will be eating alot more fresh veg, lots of fruit and corn thins. Not so much carbohydrates, much less sugar, no fatty/oily foods  where possible (there will be times where it will be absolutely necessary to have some popcorn both savoury and sweet caramel goodness).

So, I will be drinking  alot of this

(More about this awesome water next post!)

I will also be munching on this

and alot of that

and maybe some of this mmm mmm

Now that the weather is much warmer I have noooo excuse to not go for a walk and Little O absolutely lurrrves going outside for walks, especially if we happen to stop at the park for a swing and a slide. 

I 

JUST

HAVE

TO

GET

OFF

MY

BOTTOM

AND

DO IT!!!!!!!!

And so I will. Feel free to join me if you want. Wish me luck, I will keep you posted on my progress!!

xo Rachel

On 'thrifting' and hard-rubbish crawling

Hard-rubbish Collection

This weekend we went up to Melbourne to visit family. On our way up I spotted people's hard waste sitting innocently on the nature strip out the front of their houses. In Melbourne every so often, the council send out a notice to homes that you can get rid of any hard waste such as old mattresses, chairs, broken furniture, fence palings, wood, almost anything really and they will come and collect it free of charge.
On spotting this hard waste....something started to happen to me....my eyes started to quickly scan the streets, my heart started to beat a little faster, my fingers where clenched with excitement....could their be any treasure amongst all the rubble? Was I going to spot my long coveted items....ie a pie cooler, a shabby chest of drawers, a vintage mirror...anything that I could possibly do up? Mr PTF annoyingly, did NOT slow the car down to an extremely slow crawl along the streets, as I would most certainly have done had I been behind the wheel....this may have been to do with the fact that we are currently trying to de-clutter our house and garage in order to sell the house and move and are not wanting to accumulate any more junk vintage treasures. Or perhaps it was the peak hour traffic? Anyway...as we sped by all the potential treasure, I resolved that this weekend I would go on a thrifting/junk crawl around the streets of Melbourne.
The next day as we were going on a walk to the park....item no. 1 was spotted! A beautiful old wooden screen door. I love it! My lovely hubbie had to go back and get the landrover and pick it up after our walk....on the condition that it would have to stay in Melbourne until we move. No probs there, as long as I could keep my beloved old door! In the afternoon item no. 2 was snatched up as I drove home after a beauty appointment. A lovely old wooden chair....perfect for the verandah at Pear Tree Farm.
That night after dinner I talked Mr PTF and my accommodating sister into coming on a junk crawl with me. In the cover of darkness we drove around the streets near my family's home. It was quite hilarious at times jumping in and out of the car, swallowing our pride and perusing peoples junk. I am happy to report however that it was not in vain. We had success! I found a wicker basket, perfect to store Little O's ever growing pile of toys, some old gardening tools...to appease Mr PTF, and a gorgeous white bed head, which I have plans for (more about that later).
So successful were we and so many more streets to cover than we could possibly do that night, I determined to go again the next morning.
Its true....
I had junkit fever.
I had it bad.
Almost to the point where I was having withdrawals and was anxious about the fact that there could be vintage beauties out there....waiting for me...and I could not get to them fast enough.
Oh dear.
I convinced my other sister to come with me the next morning and for some reason she said yes. So off we went. Well, what a morning! 2 and a half hours later we came back with a car full to overflowing with vintage goodness. We found gorgeous old wooden chairs, a big metal trash can (Oscar the grouch style) a lovely vintage map of the UK in a black frame, a white lantern, an outside table for my mum a green vinyl foot stool, some huge near new white picture frames and a blue and white ottoman/dressing table stool. We were pooped, but rather pleased with our car full of loot. In fact the only reason we came back was because we literally could not fit any more stuff in.

With more than one raising of the eyebrow from my dear Mr PTF on our return....he agreed to help me unload my goodies and even admitted that some of them were bargains....a big admission indeed.

Here are some pics of some of our finds.
I didn't have my good camera with me so unfortunately these will have to do.

So there you have it. A weekend of junking. What fun I had and what fun I shall have fixing all my treasures up and finding places for them all at Pear Tree Farm.
No bites yet for our place, its been on the market for a week now....fingers crossed.
See you soon
xo Rachel