What’s Your Poison?

I was in the lunch room yesterday discussing different type of exercise and what gets us motivated. Me I am a runner, I love to run and I have gotten quiet good at it. I get up at 5am and go running, I can run anywhere between 16 – 20 km in the morning now. It has taken me a while to get up to this and getting the timing right to do it in the morning. Now when I was explaining this to people I work with I was looked at like I had 2 heads. (I don’t for the record)

From this we got talking about what are peoples poisons when it comes to exercise. 2 of my work colleagues are both bike riders and one of them likes to swim. Now me can’t swim to save my life, well I can but I am not a super strong swimmer nor is it something that I enjoy. Ian Thorpe said he found nothing more boring than staring at the black line that at the bottom of the pool. And I can’t swim in the ocean for long periods of time as I am scared of sharks but have an odd fascination with them at the same time. I am happy to ride a bike as I can listen to my ipod and I guess that’s why I like to run. Music really motivates me and gets me through my work out. My big tip if you want to stay motivated while you run is get yourself a great playlist.

So what is your poison, what exercise do you love makes people look at you like your crazy?

The Wedding Freak Out!

So I know I haven’t blogged in a while, I have been super busy at work and obviously that takes priority. I have also realised this is a good thing as once I have stopped and thought about the wedding I have realised that I am getting married. I know what you are thinking that I have had 14 months to think about this but it has only really hit me on the weekend and I will explain why.

It all started on Friday night, I met with my Uncle who is the MC for the wedding and we started to work through the run sheet for the wedding. May I add the timing on my run sheet was a freaking nightmare! The wedding would be going to 2am if we went off my run sheet. So that was all very nerve racking. On the Saturday I had my hair trial, now I must admit I love getting my hair done. After years of being a hairdresser where you are the person doing the hair and being the last one to get your hair done and it’s always a rushed job. But nope it all started getting a little to real for me! And all I can say is thank god the veil wasn’t there as I would have been beside myself. I must admit I have to thank Lorna she played solitaire while I did her hair for her wedding to stop her from freaking out. So I played angry birds! I am a bit obsessed with that game.

Now my hair was beautiful and I didn’t look like a tranny which is always a plus. Carly did such an amazing job of it as I knew she would but the nerves just hit me like a tonne of bricks. Didn’t help I picked the fascinator up that night!

But the icing on the cake was Saturday night, our best man arrived from London. Now when Dan comes to visit Joe and I just lose our minds as we don’t get to see him all that often and we just love having him hear. But as we stood in the airport monkey balloon in hand waiting for him to get off the plane it just hit me. Dan is here and he is here for our wedding! He is here for our wedding! I think Joe and I just looked at each other and realised OMG we are getting married!

So yes I am in the middle of a wedding freak out, now to answer any questions you may be thinking, Yes I do want to marry Joe and no I won’t go running from the church screaming. Weddings are very overwhelming experience, you feel a tonne of feelings mostly love and fear wrapped up in a package.

So my hope for the next two weeks leading up to our special day is that my friends help Joe and I get through the day and enjoy it. As we really do want to get married we just need to figure out all the emotions that come along with it.

Hello 2011 It’s Nice To Meet You.

So here is my first blog for 2011 and fingers crossed you all like it. I’m hoping you all had a wonderful and safe new year and are ready to start 2011 with a bang! Well I can tell you I’m not, it’s my first day back to work today and I am exhausted! Didn’t sleep well last night and I’m exhausted but I am excited to see all my work family today and catch up on what has happened over the break.

So now that we are in 2011 I have reflected on my 2010 and in the parting words of my friend C it was best said to 2010 don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. 2010 was not a good year for me. I had a sick dad who I had to face that I could have lost and would be walking down the aisle solo next month, I was made redundant from a job I hated (Not that I minded leaving I just wanted to do it on my own terms) and didn’t work for 6 weeks which was pretty scary.

But there was some things I did love about 2010, my trip to Thailand with my beautiful friends. 2 of my best friends getting engaged, my dad surviving cancer and starting a job in a company I love. So I guess that everything happens for a reason but I am still glad to see the back of 2010.

So I have decided to make a few new year’s resolutions for my 2011 to help improve from my 2010.

Firstly I want to have a successful marriage, I realise that this is ongoing but I am getting married at the beginning of the year and they say the first year is the toughest and first marriages have a 41% divorce rate. I don’t want to add myself to that statistic.
Secondly I have set myself the goal that I am going to care less about what people think and concentrate on what is best for me and my family.
Thirdly I am going to eat more fish! Weird I know but it’s a goal I have set it for myself and it’s one I want to hold to as I really should eat it more and I love fish!
And finally I want to start Sportstoga which is a yoga that is to improve posture, manage pain and to complement and enhance your regular training and exercise regime. My flexibility is rubbish and I really want to improve this so this is one of my aims.

So with these few small things in mind these are the things I am working towards for 2011.

Merry Christmas!

So Christmas is here and I am on my last day of work so I thought what better way to finish this year than a festive blog. So as I have mentioned before I am not the biggest Christmas fan but I am a fan of time off work. The sad thing is though at this time of the year the road tolls climb so I would first like to say please be safe of the road this holiday season and take my fiancés advice drive like everyone is trying to kill you. So in other words be alert.

So the other things I wanted to mention in this blog is that I may not be the biggest fan of Christmas but I am a big fan of spending time with my family. So enjoy the time that you have with your family as a lot can happen in 12 months and you need to treasure every moment. I know Joe and I will as we have become an Aunty and Uncle for the 5th time yesterday and we are very happy to have another niece especially as it is the first from Joe’s sister Ness and fiancé Vaughn. Congratulations on baby Arielle you both got the best Christmas present you could ask for and Joe and I can’t wait to meet her.

Another thing to consider to do over the break if you are staying in Sydney is to do some touristy things. I know Joe and I take for granted all the amazing things we have on offer in Sydney so we have decided to take the ferry over to the zoo and have a day over there. I haven’t been to the zoo for at least 10 years and the last time I was on a ferry I was vomiting off the back of one in Thailand! It will be nice not to ride a ferry without a hangover. The other thing is taking a drive to the blue mountains and doing a bush walk, they have some great tracks up there with waterfall and amazing wildlife.

And finally for a lot of my friends and family who I know have had a really rubbish year and are ready to kiss 2010 good bye. I hope that 2011 brings a lot of love, wellness and hope as I know you all truly deserve it.

Merry Christmas and have a safe New Years

Love Danielle x

Christmas Making You Fat?

So as I mentioned in yesterdays blog the silly season is definitely here. Everyone I have spoken to has a million and one Christmas parties and luncheons and are consuming their body weight in food and alcohol. So I am doing a pre-emptive strike and going to do a detox prior to the Christmas day and see if I can move a little weight so I won’t blow out of Christmas Day and the New Year break.

Now when I say detox it really not the right word for what I am about to explain and I’ll explain why. I was explained this method a few years back by a friend of mine who has said this is a great thing to do after holidays to get your body back to some normalcy. This method is 3 days and you can have you lose up to 3kg depending on how much weight you have to lose and size that you are. I on average will lose a kilo or 2 over 3 days but I don’t have much weight to lose.

So the big questions you are asking is how we do this? I will warm you it isn’t pretty but it does work.

It is 3 days or protein! And that it! No carbs, no sugars and no vegetables or fruit. So let me explain how this works.
We have all heard of the famous Atkins diet that made Jennifer Aniston look like a lollipop head, this is based off that diet but not to the extremes that the diet follows. Now as most people now when we up our protein in our diet we tend to eat less carbohydrates and will lose weight. So for this “detox” (I use this word lightly cause I have no idea what else to call it) we cut out the carbs and stick to a protein only diet. With protein diet plan, you can lower your carbohydrate and calorie intake.. When you lessen carbohydrates and calorie, you permit protein to consume body fat while encouraging weight loss.

So the next thing is why 3 days? Well the answer to this is simple your body cannot survive with no carbs, carbs gives us energy to function and long periods without them our body just goes into shut down. So by doing this for 3 days our body goes into shock, it starts chewing the carbs in our body and then starts moving into the fat. Now I know people who do longer than 3 days I have never done it myself but I wouldn’t recommend it by the 3rd day your body will be adjusting to the no intake of carbs and settling in this is the best time to shock your body again. If you are to go over 3 days my suggestion is no more than 5 days.

So what can you eat? Well here is a list of things
• Eggs (no more than 2 a day)
• Fish
• Beef
• Lamb
• Pork
• Seafood
• Chicken
• Turkey

And that’s about it, there is to be no dressing, sauces or gravy. You can use salt and pepper and olive oil if you pan cook anything but that’s it. The other rules for this to work is you need to eat every 3 hours, you need to keep your body fuelled so you can keep going, you also need to consume 3 litres of water a day.
There is a few things to expect while doing this, on the first day you may get a bit of a headache and will feel tired. I recommend taking some panadol and going for a lie down if you can. This happens as your body is trying to figure out what is going on and is wondering where your carbs are. I will warn you the first day is the hardest! The second day does get better, you are more in the swing of things and you body is starting to adjust. The final day is a breeze so your body will now be adjusted that there is no carbs hence why on day 4 we start introducing vegetables and fruit back in.

So once you have finished your 3rd day you will find that all you will be craving is fresh fruit and veg. The three days of protein will have gotten rid of any artificial sugars you have in your body and it almost resets the clock so to speak the 4th day becomes important. On your forth day introduce your fruit and vegetables back in try not to eat any dairy or wheat if you can. You will notice a few things on the fourth day you will not eat as much your body will now be in shock again as there is fruit and veg in your body and it hasn’t seen it in 3 days so the shock to the system happens again. 3 days of protein will make you constipated so you will more than likely go to the bathroom within 30 minutes of the fruit and veg hitting your system. If you can avoid any artificial sugar on day 4 and 5 great if not it’s not real problem. This is a great way to kick start a diet or to lose a little weight that you may put back at Christmas.

This “detox” isn’t for everyone so think long and hard if you can handle doing this. Also one more thing to remember it’s only 3 days we can do anything for 3 days, good luck and let me know how you go.

Getting Into The Christmas Cheer

So apologies I haven’t blogged for a while but I haven’t had the inspiration to blog about anything. Oh and I am getting slammed at work and by the time I get home I’m to tired to try write.

But I am starting to get inspired to blog about some things and I thought as were coming into Christmas I would blog about my lack or Christmas cheer.

Over the last ten years or so I have not been particularly keen on Christmas, I have no reason for my dislike for it and Christmas hasn’t done anything to piss me off but it just seems to be something I really can’t be bothered with. I think I missed out on the Christmas cheer gene, my mum loves Christmas. Our house looks like something out of the Griswolds with tonnes of Christmas gear all over the place. Both my sisters like Christmas but I think that’s partly due to the fact that they have children so the kids get excited for Santa’s visit (Don’t ask any of them to sit on Santa’s knee as there not really down with that) But my sisters have to do all the stuff like eat the cookies that are left out and nibble on the carrots that are for the reindeer.

I don’t really like the present aspect either, I am at the age that I make enough money that if I want something I buy it and thinking of ideas for presents that people can buy me just does my head . Oh and I hate buying Christmas presents as well, now I do not begrudge buying my family presents especially my nieces and nephew cause it gives me an excuse to go into TOY R US and remember the days that I would beg my mum for a new Polly Pocket. But the crowds are so frustrating and people seem to turn into complete idiots the minute they walk through the sliding doors of the shops.

My poor fiancé who really likes Christmas is stuck with this scrooge of a fiancé who hates doing the Christmas tree as there are more pressing things to do with my time then this like online shopping.

But I do have to admit there is a few things I do like, firstly I like that it’s a day off from work. Let’s face it we all do. I also like the food it the one day of the year that everyone goes all out and you eat like it’s your last meal on earth. But the big thing I love is that I see my family, it’s one of the few days that we are all together including my cousins and Auntie’s and Uncles and this year especially as it’s my sister who lives in Bega’s year to be in Christmas so I get to see her, my brother in law my one and only nephew who calls me Roxy and the beautiful little Amelie who has just started to walk.

So maybe I am not a scrooge I may just be a selective Christmas goer who would just likes little aspects of this holiday season.

Can Work Out Clothes Make You More Motivated To Go The Gym????

Last weekend I was doing a clean through of my wardrobe throwing old clothes out and I found in my draws some old workout clothes. Now back in the day before I became the fashionista that I am (Well that’s a big joke) I was a Supre loving gym clothes wearing lady. Oh yes I would wear those terrible black tights that would go see through after 2 washes and there stinking hot singlets don’t breathe. Ah the good old days, now back when I use to wear these clothes I thought I was hot shit, well that was until I got to the gym and I saw people in this really expensive gym gear. So I pose the question is what you wear to the gym influence how you train.

Now firstly when I was in my Supre loving days I was boarder line with an eating disorder so I would have workout naked if it came down to it if I meant I would burn calories. But my best friend Corrine would always have nice workout clothes and I would wonder how I was going through 20 pair of tights and you were only going through one. So I decided that I would invest in some expensive workout clothes and man do they make a difference. Now there is a few reasons why I think this makes a difference, we all like to dress nicely and like to be commented on our clothes and I don’t think that theory changes in the gym. So when I put on my snazzy new tights they had patterns on them that made my legs look thin! It was like a pair of skinny jeans but more comfortable. And the tops had padding and man did I look like I had some boobs on me! Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a lot going on in the chest department. So I went to the gym to give my new clothes a workout. Now I use to do a lot of pump and I run a lot and my beautiful Supre tights would continually be falling down and I felt like an idiot running a million miles and hour or doing a pump class trying to pull my tights back up. So I decided I would test them on a treadmill, I ran for a full hour and my tights didn’t fall down once. I did pump and they stayed right where they were supposed to. This started leading to a few things I could run faster as I could use my arms to steady myself in a run and not worry about pulling my tights up, I could have more weight on my bar and not be concerned that I would have to balance the bar on my shoulders and have to pull my tights up! Amazing!

Now I know in previous blogs I have payed out on meat head in the gym (Did I mention one of them reads my blog and pulled me up on it whoops) and say how they love to stare at themselves in the mirror. Now I’m not calling myself a poser but it is nice that when you leave in the morning that you look good and that get reaffirmed when you get to the gym and you still look nice. Now I don’t go to the gym to get men’s attention and all ladies know we dress for each other not the boys. Unless your this lady in my gym who really needs to cover up, I’m all for being comfortable but you need to have respect for other people too! So I like that when I do a class and I quickly check myself in the mirror that I look good and usually cause I am comfortable I tend to push myself a little harder.

My recommendations for some good workout clothes are
2XU Tights http://www.2xu.com/2xu-landing.html
Running Bare http://www.runningbare.com.au/
Addidas clothing http://www.adidas.com/au/homepage.asp