WHY Does Fitness Matter

WHY Fitness.
WHY does Fitness Matter.
What a powerful line that is.
I think the extremely talented people behind the Sunshine Coast publication WHY Fitness Magazine created such a strong title there and as you pick up and read the magazine you see right away the strength continue through its pages. Pages full of inspiration, motivation, information and positive messages of health.

I have been doing a column series for WHY fitness magazine, entitled BFresh with Rebecca Mugridge.
BFresh being the sponsors of the series, a beautiful business that is a foodie's haven in Warana on the Sunshine Coast.

BFresh Market Cafe and Deli is full of lovely fresh produce, an absolute stunning gourmet deli and cheese range (Oh my goodness it is fantastic!!) and all your favourite gourmet goodies and lots of local products!!

The atmosphere is wonderful when you walk in the door and everywhere you look is either beautiful food or beautiful ingredients.

WHY Bfresh with Rebecca Mugridge has been such a fun column to write!

My avocado and coconut muffins!

 What recipes have I featured in the column series??

Fresh Zucchini Noodles with Quinoa Tomato Sauce

Avocado and Coconut Muffins (DF, Refined Sugar Free)

Healthy Strawberry and Macadamia Tarts

Watermelon & Coconut Refresher - perfect for post workout

AND you don't have to be on  the Sunshine Coast to find and read this great magazine you can read it online as well

Check out MY STACK HERE
Where you can read all the issues online for free!

Does Fitness matter?
To me - yes, it does. So much.
|I might not always be my fittest, most toned version of myself (although sometimes I am)  but exercise and moving my body benefits me in so many ways.
It makes me happier and more focused and on track, it helped me get my body after both babies and get through post natal depression, my daily pram walks lifted that heavy cloud of depression, a little bit each day until one day it was a blue sky and even now it is such a mood enhancer. I really notice if I haven't exercised for a few days, I feel shorter tempered, more easily stressed out, sluggish.
Once you get the motivation and habit established to move your body everyday it starts to feel so good that you want to keep going and I just love that about exercise.
You can also read my very raw and personal reasons WHY living a more healthier life  even when it is hard to do so through illness or injury or circumstances, or perhaps especially at those times, is so important to ME here

BEK XXX 

Bek XXX

The 11 yr old girl

"The  11  year  old  girl  stands  by  the  edge  of  the  pool,  the  cool  blue  water  dazzling  with  life  as  the  sun  tickles  its  surface.  

There  is  no  breeze  and  her  hair  sticks  to  her  face  in  the  summer  heat.  Behind  her  she  can  hear  the  excited  voices  and  chattering  of  all  the  other  children  as  they  in  turn  each  make  their  way  along  in  the  queue  and  through  the  gates  to  join  in  the  excitement  of  this,  the  first  day   the  pool  is  open  for  the  summer. 

She  can  feel  the  excitement  building  inside  of  her  entire  being,  she  looks  down  at  the  beautiful,  brightly  coloured  new  two  piece  swimsuit  her  ever  loving  and  thoughtful  mother  had  surprised  her  with  on  this  very  day,  and  smiles,  it  perfectly  matches  the  excitement  of  the  day. 

The  sun  no  longer  seems  sweltering  but  rather  deliciously  warm  as  it  basks  everything  with  its  glow  of  happiness.  She  places  her  bag  on  the  soft  grass,  under  the  shade  and  returns  to  the  water’s  edge.  She  knows  she  should  wait  for  her  friends  but  she  is  so  filled  with  delight  and  thinking  of  nothing  but  the  very  moment  she  is  in,  as  she  is  overcome  by  the  temptation  of  the  inviting  water  and  stretches  her  body  fully  and  completely  unselfconsciously  into  what  she  believes  to  be  a  graceful  and  elegant  dive  into  that  wonderful  water. 
All  at  once  she  is  overcome  with  an  aliveness  and  contentment  as  she  moves  through  the water,  she  bursts  through  the surface,  her  face  covered  in  a  contented  grin  of  pure  and  complete  joy. 
It  is  because  she is  so  overwhelmed  by  the  utter  delight  of  the  moment  and  all  the  glorious  sensations  that  she  is  not  at  first  even  aware  of  the  small  group  of  slightly older  girls  by  the  pools  edge. 
Their  laughter  and  pointing  grabs  her  attention  as  some  of  what  they  are  saying  suddenly  becomes  apparent. 
"What  is  she  thinking,  wearing  a  two  piece!",  "Fat  and  ugly  girls  should  not  be  allowed  to  the  pool".  So  caught  off  guard  is  she,  so  taken  aback  that  her  11  year  old  self  does  not  know  how  to  react.  She  leaves  the  pool,  on  this  day,  this  day  that  was  so  important,  and  felt  so  exciting  and  magical,  this  day  that  she  and  friends  and  been  so  impatiently  waiting  for,  for  what  had  seemed  like  forever. 

She  tells  her  confused  friends  that  she  does  not  feel  well. She  walks  calmly  and  quietly  most  of  the  way  home,  until  she  reaches  the  quiet  secret  spot  she  has  spent  so  many  a  wonderful  day  with  her  good  friends,  it  is  there  where  she  feels  safe  and  alone  that  she  releases  her  hurt  and  weeps  uncontrollably  against  her  beloved  favourite  tree  until  her  young  body  can  cry  no  more. 

She  had  always  known  she  was  not  a  small  girl,  always  been  described  as  'solid',  but  it  was  not  until  this  very  moment  that  she  had  ever  been  truly  ashamed  of  how  she  looked  and  felt  such  intensely  awful  feelings  of  herself. 
She  went  home  that  day,  but  didn't  tell  her  mother  of  whom  she  was  close  to,  she  never  told  her  friends. 
She kept the hurt inside. 
A  ball  of  hurt  that  would  grow  and  follow  her  into  adulthood,  effecting  her  self-confidence  and  starting  an  all-consuming  obsession  with  her  weight  and  food,  and  keep  her  from  ever  truly  feeling  completely  happy  and  loved.

When  she  was  blessed  with  a  daughter  of  her  own,  she  was  inspired  and  moved  by  this  beautiful,  pure  and  precious  girl,  so  full  of  radiance,  so  full  of  life. 

She made a decision. 

She was  going  to  change  her  life.  She  was  going  to  embrace  a  healthy  and  active  lifestyle  and  become  a  positive  role  model  to  this  precious  baby  girl,  she  would  show  her  daughter  that  you  can  achieve  amazing  things  when  your  heart  is  in  it,  she  was  going  to  find  herself  belief,  find  her  inner  beauty,  find  her  inner  strengths  and  be  the  great  woman  that  the  11  year  old  girl  had  always  wanted  to  become,  and  she  did.

I  was  that  11  year  old  girl  "


My journey has never been an always smooth one or a perfect one. It has had ups and downs like most people, but I am always grateful for this experience in my life and for the fact that I do have a body type that truly does put on weight so easily, yes, I am grateful for that element in my DNA because that has made me a stronger version of myself, it has given me awareness of my body which I might not have personally had otherwise and made me aware of what does and doesn't serve my body well.
It has made health a big focus in my life, it makes me feel really proud when I am in fit, toned and in top healthy form, made me really proud when I lost 30 kilos'after baby number one and 22 after baby number 2, the old fashioned way, no tricks or fast fads just lots of exercise and eating well, it gave me inner strength when I faced my hardest challenge of all battling a full on virus and the triggered auto immune dis-ease reaction in my body after it, through the medication that helped me but made me gain weight, it gave me the strength to never give up on myself, to know I will get back to fit and healthy.
It makes me always determined and motivated to get back there, even when it is hard, even when battling illness or injury or life's emotional roller coaster, it drives me to get back to being healthy and happy,strong and fit,  it makes it important to me, it has made me grow, it has made me, me.

Bek XX 

Find Your Passion For You

Find your Passion for you!

As mums one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the tools to live a healthy, happy, and positive life and the best way of doing this? Is by living one, ourselves…

‘’Because: a healthy, happy mum means a healthy, happy home.’’

To be a mother is to truly, wholly and selflessly love another.
More than you ever thought possible.

To be a mother is to hold the hopes and dreams of your children forever in your heart.

Shedding a silent tear that they never see, in a moment that stays with you forever and they forget in an instant.
Feeling their pain like it happened to you, marvelling at their wonder as they discover the world around them, feeling their joy as they discover things in life that brings to them moments of pure uninhibited happiness.

It is feeling so deep that you truly are at the centre of another’s whole world; you are being a source of comfort and safety. Healing the hurts; drying the tears, easing the pain and being that rainbow of love amongst the unpredictable weather of life that is being their ‘mum’.
That knowing, that something is wrong in a quick glance.

For every tear and tantrum there is a beautiful giggle and a smile that touches you deep inside your heart. For every exhausting night there is a cuddle and a look that makes you want to cry with love. You can find yourself being surprised, shocked and left speechless more times than you thought possible and feeling pure delight, immense pride, overwhelming happiness, exhausting responsibility, pushed limits, joyous laughter, anxious worrying and wonderment all at the same time
You can feel so tired, exhausted and mostly unthanked but you've never felt more fulfilled, wanted and full of love.

It is the indescribable moment of complete and pure, timeless happiness that is that special unexpected hug- when time could easily stop.

As mums we gladly give all of ourselves for our family. We endlessly put ourselves last.

We often juggle so many balls at once.
Multi-tasking, balancing the work/life/family act, it’s so easy to let a few things slip to make it work and unfortunately one that is allowed to slip through so often, for so many of us is our own health and happiness.

And the things is if you are not healthy you cannot be truly happy and if your not happy you cannot be truly healthy either. You need both.

You only need to talk to those who are ill or have gone through illness or injury to realise just how important your health is and just how much we take it for granted.
How much we have to lose.

We need  to see how important we are before burnout. We need to accept we are not invincible.
Burning out can happen to any of us.
Crashing from exhaustion, losing a sense of self, feeling frustration, sadness or even anger at our reflection in the mirror, comparing ourself to others and making ourselves feel miserable. Stressing out of every little thing, worrying too much, eating our emotions, going without, neglecting ourselves...
Prolonged stress we know leaves us vulnerable to illness, stress in fact is one of the most dangerous causes of so many scary things that can happen to us and our health.

We need to sit down and really think about how important our health and happiness really is. Look at those little faces and really think, if I don't take care of me and I burn out how will I take care of them? We already make our kids and our family's health and happiness a priority - but what about ourselves? 

We are at the heart of our families, we care, nurture, teach, nurse. We entertain, advise, guide, feed, comfort, and love. 

We love unconditionally and give all of ourselves without a second thought, and we love doing it, glowing fiercely with love and pride.

What we don’t do anyway near often enough is shine some of that love and support on ourselves.

Our family is so very important to us and we are so important to our family. So we need to start being important to ourselves too.

Sometimes it can all seem to big, too hard to find our happy, healthy vibrant place and this is why support and inspiration is so very important.

That is why I am such a strong advocate for all forms of support for women and mums, for taking time out for yourself, joining networking and socialising groups, support groups; for having a hobby or passion on the side that is just for you, for scheduling in some time in your day to go for a walk, even if it is with the kids as well, it is getting you out into that fresh air with the benefits of exercise to our bodies; or for taking a yoga class once a week if you can or finding a gym you like with a creche or a mums fitness group.

Why I am an advocate for doing things that make you feel nice like wearing the dress you like when you go out - even if it is only to the supermarket and to wear some lipstick if it makes you feel pretty or your favourite earrings, it's why I think it is a great idea to pack yourself a lunchbox too - not just the kids for the day ahead, why I think you should occasionally buy yourself a bunch of fresh flowers for your home, just because they make you feel happy, why I think every food shop you do should include one special item that is just for you and your health and absolutely why I shared my very personal story and my burnout after having my first baby in my book, The Pram Diet and why I am just so in love with...  

Nourished 

by the very inspiring Kirri White and Corona Brady

If there was ever a present that you should treat yourself too that could make a hug positive impact in your life or were able to pick for yourself from your loved ones - this would be an incredible one.

An investment in YOU.

To find out about this amazing program and how it can help you, support and inspire you to find your passion for YOU and become your most vibrant self click HERE

Beginning on October 1st, Nourished is a completely unique offering – combining the latest nutritional advice and holistic health practices with life coaching, neuroscience and eating psychology.

Nourished is a Loving Approach to Mind & Body Health and provides all all the tools you need to incorporate healthy choices for your mind and body into your daily routine (or your money back!).

Co-creator Kirri is a certified life coach with a Masters in Psychology, an eating disorder survivor, and proud mamma to three glowing young girls.
Kirri helps women reclaim their lives and celebrate their worth, combining science-based therapies with the wisdom of the heart.

Main body and opening text (c)RebeccaMugridge2013

Healthy, Happy Mums book - Coming Soon