I Will Do More. Getting active in fun ways in 2015

Dream it. Do it. Do more. I will do.
DO - it's a rather powerful word isn't it?

"Do or do not, there is no try." Yoda

The more you do, the more you can do, so the more you do."
The Pram Diet Book, Random House.

As 2014 is coming to a close and 2015 is just around the corner we are on the brink of that exciting time of year when we seem to find extra enthusiasm and determination. We set goals and dreams, we often start out the new year wanting to be healthier, fitter and often slimmer!
We think wistfully about sports and dancing done in youth, and ones we would love to try.

We plan on fun runs and marathons in the year ahead, we might decide to take up a sport or active hobby, climb certain mountains, run 5k, beat our own running times  - even compete in a sport.

The Australian Institute of Sport has long been a very highly regarded and respected institution and one I really respect; sport and being active is something I personally am very passionate about and think should be heavily encouraged for all children and also parents and adults too, as sport increases our physical activity level in a fun way and makes us healthier people.

Exercise improves your health, helps prevent disease, helps you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, boosts mood, reduces stress, helps ease and prevent depression and has a very important link to reduced Post Natal Depression and also easing PND symptoms. For me exercise was key to getting through and then over my PND, and also boosting my self esteem and confidence and general overall happiness - something so important for us mums.

I also loved the way exercise empowered me and gave me goals and challenged me. I was so proud that I was able to go from not exercising at all, to walking my pram around the block to eventually jogging with the pram 8 km a day! And lost over 30 kilo's in the process.

We all have it in us to be active and find ways of doing it that are fun, exciting and challenging to us.

"DO: MORE is a philosophy, a rallying cry for those who want to devour life and all that it brings. It is a motivator for the doers of this world and a reminder to us all that we should maximize every moment, commit to those things that move us and pursue our passions with an unrelenting hunger."

 The I will do campaign is a new and exciting way to help Australians achieve their fitness goals through the help of the Australian Institute of Sports and Rexona sports ambassadors.
In this campaign everyday Australians will have access to information and articles written by the AIS normally only reserved for professional athletes.

Next year, for me, I will do more by trying a sports class like either tap dancing or ballroom dancing, or maybe go back to my past love of boxing and taekwondo. Something fun, active, challenging and just for me!
I am planning on pushing myself to do more and have fun doing it too and with tools and tips like the I will do campaign I am sure I will get there!

What is your fitness goals for next year?
What is something you would love to do? Or have done?
Is there a sport you would like to try? Maybe you would love to do a fun run!


Live Well. Be Active. Eat Beautiful, Stay Calm. Be Happy.

Bek XX

**This is a sponsored post**

From little things big things grow

When we look up at something we want to achieve or create in our lives, future or a business idea it can often seem very daunting.

As an author I can tell you if I knew before I started writing my first book just how much effort and work was going to be needed I might have gone to the beach instead; but it was approaching it with joy and a little at a time that led me to end up proudly with a finished product.

I have been asked many times was it hard to write a whole book? This is a tricky answer for me anyway because when I write it is me sitting down with creative passion, fingers flying over the keyboard typing away and leaving many an error in their wake. I am not focused on how much is needed or even that much of strict guidelines of what I am writing about rather I am following my inspiration and while it flows I write.

It is a small step to a bigger goal.
I do this over and over until I compile a lot of material and then I actually organise editing sessions for myself. I do this separately because if I tried to do everything at once it would seem such an immense task that I might just get put off or procrastinate. That's me anyway.

I work best by combining little steps into big results.

It has been the same for me with weight loss.

Every little step I take towards being healthier ad's to another little step and another until I step back and realise just what a big change all these little steps created. Instead of looking at my weight after my daughter Lily and saying crikey I have over 30 kilo's to lose or even the 22 after Violet I kept focusing on how far I could walk each day. I had little goals, I actually started with just 2 house blocks and ended up walking 8km's a day! By the time I reached the 8 walking each day was so ingrained in who I had become it wasn't even something I thought about, it had become a regular part of my life, a habit even.

When I focused on including some healthy ingredients each day and making small positive changes it became very easy to make more and more little changes each week and I realised this was why I failed again and again on so many diets-it was too much, too drastic for me all at once. It might work well for some but for me it had resulted in so many years of yo-yoing weight and more failed diets than I can remember!

Sometimes to create that dramatic change and to succeed in our plans, dreams and goals, we can take small steps, tackle it in pieces that all come together for a much bigger picture.

Like the song said, "From little things big things grow."

Never underestimate the power of small positive steps xx

Small Steps to Big Changes

When we want to make changes in our lives.

When we want to get healthy, lose weight or achieve goals it can all to often seem too big a task.
It can be daunting and overwhelming.

Just too hard to start...

BUT..If we approach with small positive steps, one little step at a time we CAN make changes, we can make difference, we can get closer and closer to our goal.
We really can.

With self belief, a positive attitude ( at least most of the time ) and some thinking outside of the square sometimes, we really can take small steps towards bigger changes.

How much of our modern busy lives are now spent inside? Inside buildings, inside houses, inside cars, bus's and shops?

Life just seems to be so fast these days, with always so much to do.
It seems that having some time to relax, take care of our health and active or creative time together as a family is so hard to find. Even finding time to 'just be' and have some personal time out can feel nearly impossible.

BUT...One of the best things we can all do ( and should do ) is make time.

Make it a high priority to find that time each day.
Time to get outside!
Peel our tired, worn out selves away from the TV, computer, sofa and car. Away from the never ending chores and things to be done for a little while and go out of doors..

We need to bring some freshness to our lives.

Get out in that rejuvenating fresh air, smell some garden flowers, walk through a beautiful park, watch a sunset, cook a meal with your children from fresh ingredients picked together from the garden or sourced at a farmers market, plant a garden as a family or through a group, school, church or other organisation and bring some fresh energy into our life.

Be fresh, live fresh, breathe fresh and eat fresh.

It can be so easy to think "I am so busy with everything already-how could I possibly find time to go for a walk? Or start growing some fruit and veggies at home? Or cook a healthy meal Or make that outdoor family time each day??"

But the benefits of bringing this freshness to your life are such an inspiring experience that you can and do find that time...sometimes it may mean saying no to some extra workload, favours or other things you find it hard to say no to, sometimes it might mean creating an organised daily plan or cutting back on things that take up too much of your time or even are just time wasting, sometimes it might mean making a daily 'appointment' with yourself or as a family and making sure its kept!, sometimes it might be structuring family chores so everyone helps more or de cluttering some things in your life like your home to make tasks easier. It could be assessing your priorities and working out what is most important and what really makes you and your family happy. After all being healthy and less stressed brings such a vibrant energy to your life that everyone benefits..

Even a small change makes a huge difference-THINK
Try one new healthy recipe to start with...
Plant and grow one pot plant of something edible to get started...
Go for a short walk on your own as your refreshing 'time out' or as a family as a great healthy way of bonding every other day to get started..
Take up a small creative hobby that really helps you unwind and express your artistic side..

I have learnt myself that once you start bringing some freshness into your life it is just so wonderful and is so inspiring that you never look back.

For me starting a daily walk changed the way I saw exercise and how much moving more made me feel so much more alive and full of energy..
For me starting an edible garden and sourcing and using fresh herbs and ingredients changed the way I ate and saw the food I was putting in to my body and on my families dinner plates..

For me bringing some freshness to my life changed my life and opened my eyes to a whole new and exciting way of living..

Small steps lead to other small steps which all lead to new 'good' habits.

Always look for your self belief and for inspiration....and remind yourself that every step towards a healthier lifetsyle is a step well worth taking.

Rebecca xx

Eating healthy-pregnancy and beyond-FRUIT

Improving your diet to include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains has such enormous benefits to both mother and child.

The best part about improving your diet during pregnancy can be that fresh fruits and vegetables can take on an almost extra dimension in flavour and smell as your senses are so much more alive when you are pregnant.

Many a pregnant woman has been able to smell the best apples from afar and the ripest sweetest strawberries, it is almost like we gain an extra sense!
If you have ever had trouble getting yourself to eat and enjoy fruit and raw vegetables than pregnancy is an incredible time to get to know them all over again.

It is often the way that as mothers we will cut up fresh fruit for our children's healthy snacks and then just grab whatever for ourselves because we somehow don't see the value in ourselves and our health enough that we are worth the effort and time it takes to create healthy snacks for ourselves.
Have you ever cut up a juicy orange for your children, fresh crunchy stalks of celery and carrot or refreshing watermelon, eaten a piece and then marveled at how good it actually tasted and wondered why you don't do this for yourself? Instead of just quickly grabbing some biscuits, a coffee, sandwich or crisps?

When you have a sweet craving do you always address it with chocolate, lollies, cake or fizzy drink, have you ever tried some fresh fruit instead? It really might just pleasantly surprise you! Not just think of it and dismiss it as 'boring' but actually made a fresh fruit snack for yourself? While there is nothing wrong with having some chocolate or cake here and there, break it up with some fresh fruit and you'll really notice a difference in your health.

There can almost be a built up 'it's healthy so it wont be as exciting or appealing' resistance at the mere thought of tucking into a banana, some rock melon or an in season mandarin as adults.

We can also put such little value on fruit that we will not buy it at the supermarket because it is too expensive-instead falling in to the marketing trap of cheap junk foods, for example not buying a bag of oranges for $5.00 and instead spending that same $5.00 on an impulse buy of a special like 2 family blocks of chocolate for $5.00 or jam and cream buns on special buy for $5.00.
We might even be very happy that we got these as a 'bargain', where as see the oranges as rudely expensive.
Maybe even perhaps because they are grown on a tree?

Is it in fact possible that because we have such great access to fresh fruits and vegetables throughout most places in Australia and because they are something that is produced from a plant that we overlook just how much hard work and effort actually can go into bringing these fresh ingredients to our supermarket shelves?
Because they can be so readily available to overlook their actual significance and how fortunate we are to have such access to them all?

Or are we surrounded so much with fresh produce that it is no longer exciting?

Or does the fact that it is 'healthy' put us even subconsciously off?

Or have we learnt bad eating habits from our parents and just decide that we don't like fruit? Even if maybe there are many types we have actually never event tried?

When the craziest thing of it all is that if we did buy that in season quality fresh fruit instead of an unhealthy alternative not only would it taste delicious and be really satisfying but our bodies and health will respond positively too this great anti oxidant filled fuel.
The simple undeniable fact is you feel great when you eat great food. You feel flat and sluggish when you eat too much of these 'non' or 'sometimes' foods. The difference is huge.

Tips for turning yourself into a fruit lover

Go quality over quantity. While it can be tempting to always 'bargain buy' especially if your on a tight budget you can end up wasting your money in the long run if your left with uneaten fruit going off. If you can sometimes pick up some great cheap fruit that still tastes OK that by all means do so! But remember that no fruit is a 'bargain' if no-one eats it in the end.

Buy as fresh as you can afford. That cheap bag of apples that are a bit bruised and probably very old and even soft will not be full of fresh flavour that makes them a great delicious healthy snack-so unless you are planning on baking with old fruit go for fresh. 5 Gorgeous oranges that make 5 exciting and healthy morning teas is far better than a whole swag full at half the price that are left to go off in the fruit bowl because they tasted awful.

Shop for fruit you actually like. Ingrained habits can be hard to shake, sometimes we might buy the same fruit our parents did-whether we actually like it or not.Or what we have just always bought our family.
Do you always buy the same variety of apples? Have you ever tried other varieties? Do you skip a whole isle in the fruit section because everything there you are sure you don't like-or maybe you have never actually tasted? Is there some types of fruit that you actually love but you don't buy because they are generally more expensive so you can't justify it? When there are perfectly fine other fruit types you can buy and fill your fruit bowl with at a much smaller cost, never mind that you might not be actually very keen on them though and so therefore will be unlikely to end up eating any, leaving them instead for the rest of the family or even worse to just go off?
Do you find yourself buying some fruit each week just because you feel you should? Not because you actually really desire to eat it? This should tell you that you are not buying fruit you actually overly like.

Go for whats in season. Try and be more flexible with your shopping and eating habits, buying whats in season ensures you are getting your fresh produce at its peak and there is alot better chance of it being fresher and even having traveled less food miles to get to you. Some of the healthiest societies are those that's diet varies greatly depending on the season. For example the fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and sometimes even grains they eat in colder winter months being very different from what they eat in the more warmer summer ones.

Be creative. It can be all in the 'how'. Just plonking an apple in a lunchbox or grabbing an orange doesn't always make it a 'first pick' snack, sometimes just that little bit of preparation or presentation makes all the difference in the world.
Such as a juicy orange might sound great on a hot day but the thought of sticky fingers and the mess required to eat the said orange can be what causes it to be overlooked in favour of something much easier and less messy to eat.
That same orange peeled and cut into segments inside a container that has been chilled for easy access could be a most exciting and refreshing snack that you might even find yourself grabbing before an unhealthy option.
A chilled miniature fruit salad of chopped watermelon, blueberries and grapes can be just as appetising and fulfilling as some unhealthy biscuits-it just takes some effort to put together and the making of ourselves and what we eat a priority in our busy lives.
We can become 'experts' and creative inventors when it comes to great tasty and fun ways to get children to eat their fresh fruit and vegetables but not put even a little of this effort into ourselves.

Buy fruit as a snack; find yourself near a supermarket at around lunch time or when you are feeling peckish? Before heading to a takeaway stand, grabbing a choccy bar or pie have a stroll through the fresh fruit section, do the blueberries look especially tasty? Is their some really lovely looking bananas or apples? Give it a go, you'll probably be very pleasantly surprised and feel so good afterwards.

Take fruit to events; going on a family outing to the beach, park, a football game? Take a watermelon or bag of juicy oranges along, such a great way for everyone to enjoy some refreshing and energizing fruit together-also a great way to cost costs of buying expensive nibbles while out.

Great fruit tempting ideas:

Freezing fruit; it really adds a whole new dimension and is just beautiful on hot days. Frozen grapes, strawberries, blueberries and banana's all become like beautiful cool summer treats. You can eat them as is for a refreshing snack or blend them with some yogurt for a chilled delicious smoothie-also a great way of storing excess fruit when you can bulk buy cheap in season.
Add a little flair; dress up some chopped fruit with some low fat custard, yogurt or even ice cream for a delicious fruit salad you will excitedly devour.
Try serving it different ways; think grated apple, thinly sliced pear and cubes of mango.
Blend it; you can't beat a fresh delicious fruit smoothie for a power boost of great nutrients and a great healthy snack or breakfast.
Serve fruit nibbles when entertaining; platters of chopped fruit, fruit 'kebabs', fruit and low fat cheese combinations-get creative.
Be prepared. When you come home from shopping spend a few minutes and cut up some fruit for easy to grab snacks in the fridge-yes chop up some watermelon and rock melon, put it in an airtight container in the fridge, you will be so surprised at just how much more you will find yourself grabbing this for a snack when its easy and convenient.


So what are you waiting for? Go get a great refreshing fruit snack!

(c)RebeccaMugridge2010

For more great ideas on eating healthier including supermarket shopping tips and advice and also great easy recipes check out The Pram Diet Book.
Available through Amazon, Angus & Robertson and even most Australian libraries.