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Five easy, feel good ideas to make you fitter and more fabulous this weekend … and maybe longer!

1: Four foods you can eat without feeling any guilt:

Mangoes - a great source of vitamins C and A, and the personification of summer! Depending what season it is in your part of the world, you can enjoy mangoes fresh, or buy them frozen. Add them to a fruit salad, or eat them on their own and feel virtuous (and sticky!)

Baked apples - if you’re craving something sweet for dessert, grab an apple, take out the core and sprinkle on some nutmeg or cinnamon. Put it in a moderate oven (180C) for 20-30 minutes, or until it’s soft. Eat it alone, or with some yoghurt, which is high in calcium and protein.

Summer berries - another treat you can have fresh or from the freezer - berries are an awesome source of fibre, vitamin c and antioxidants. Eat them whole, or throw them in a blender with some yoghurt for a healthy smoothie to start the day.

2: Bust an exercise myth: “If you’re not going to work out every day, exercise is a waste of time”. There are heaps of reasons why people won’t, or don’t want to start exercising, and one of them is because they think there’s no point if they’re not going to be pounding a treadmill ever day. The reality is any exercise is better than none - regular gardening, or walking for as little as an hour a week has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. Anyone considering taking up an exercise program should start slowly, but you’ll still feel (and see) benefits.

3: Walking - how to do it right. Walking is one of the most portable, easy, cheap and effective exercises available. And almost everyone can do it. Here are a few ways to make it really count.

Squeeze your glutes! All my clients are familiar with my obsession with glutes, and the squeezing thereof, but if you concentrate on using your butt muscles, you’ll help strengthen your lower back muscles. But it’s not easy - you have to really practice before it becomes natural.

Keep your chest up, and your shoulders back. Remember those old fashioned posture lessons where you’d have to keep a book on your head while you walked? That’s not quite what we’re aiming for here, but if you can raise your chest, and walk tall, you’ll be putting your body in a better postural position, feel more confident, and look awesome.

Keep your abs zipped up. This helps with keeping your chest up - imagine you’re lifting your abdominals up, and pulling them back - like you’re zipping up a pair of jeans. Press your stomach near your belly button - you should feel the muscles underneath working. This is great to practice even when you’re not walking, but like the glute squeezing, takes time to get perfect.

Breathe! If you can concentrate on your breathing, let your shoulders relax and enjoy your surroundings, you’ve got built in meditation time as well as exercise. Make sure you don’t use your walking time to dwell on negative things, and it will be far more beneficial.

4: If you have a workout planned, and you’re feeling too tired to exercise, eat a piece of fruit 30 minutes beforehand. An apple or pear is perfect, and will give you just enough energy to have exercise, but won’t make you feel uncomfortably full.

5: This week’s yoga pose: Sukhasana Twist. Sukha means happy in Sanskrit, and this pose is a great way to give yourself extra energy, and release tension in the shoulders, neck and back.

Sitting cross legged, make sure your spine is long and your shoulders are back. Put your right hand behind you, and your left hand on your right knee. Gently turn to look over your right shoulder, breathing out at the same time. You should feel a stretch in your spine. Make sure you don’t pull too hard, and only go to where you feel comfortable.

Come back to the centre for a moment, and let yourself be balanced.

Repeat the pose on the opposite side. If you want to deepen the twist, exhale, and gently use your hand for more leverage. Again, listen to your body. Don’t push too far.

This pose also stimulates blood flow, and separates the vertebrae, which is perfect if you’re desk bound during the day.

Please note, all the information on this page assumes you are fit and healthy enough to undertake a basic exercise program. Do not perform this yoga pose if you have a lower back problem, or are more than sixteen weeks pregnant without consent from your doctor.

A while ago I used to get really annoyed when I had cancellations or rescheduled appointments. Now I love it (most of the time). I especially loved it this morning, when I came home at just before 8am and went for a run with Mr Dog, then lay in the park for about ten minutes watching brightly coloured birds fly around. I’d been intending to run at the gym, but then realised I could multi-task, and make my dog happy as well as breaking into a sweat.

While I was home I cooked … really cooked, which I haven’t done in ages, while listening to a mix tape (CD) my brother made (burned) last week. This is the recipe I made, and it was fabulous enough for me to have eaten it three times today. Easy, delicious … everything you could want in a recipe, including chickpeas.

While I’m discussing things I’ve consumed today, I’m in love with Nudie lychee, lemon and lime juice, and have had one almost daily this week. It’s taking the sting off my sore wrist, which my osteopath worked on a couple of hours ago. Courtesy of my bike accident there’s a chance I may have a fracture due to *falling on outstretched hand (funky acronym, huh?). Crazy wrists sometimes don’t feel pain right away, and it can take up to a couple of weeks for anything to show in an x-ray.

Whenever I see “x-ray”, it makes me think of a Blue Heelers script where we changed a guest character’s name from Ray to Tony at the last minute. The script co-ordinator consequently changed several mentions of medical imaging to “x-tony”. Several actors were highly confused - perhaps not for the first time.

Today I’m loving: the cute guy from the bike shop (yes, again)

Being Miss M’s mother is generally a fabulous job. She’s funny and clever and we have a really lovely relationship. One of the nicest elements of being a parent is when your child surprises you by showing what a good human being they are.

Yesterday I was taking Miss M to before school care just after 8am. It’s a mutually good thing, because I get to start work half an hour early, and she really enjoys going one morning a week. Miss M’s school has a most fabulous lollypop lady named Gwen, who has been helping children cross the road safely for about twenty years. She’s a truly wonderful person, and cares deeply about the kids, their parents … and the Richmond football club, which in my opinion just makes her even greater!

As we crossed yesterday, Gwen dropped a whole lot of rubber bands on the ground - she’d been trying to bundle them together, and hadn’t had any luck. Miss M skipped ahead of me and picked them up, put them all together and gave them back to Gwen. I know it’s only a tiny thing, and in the scheme of the world probably doesn’t matter all that much, but there are many people who would’ve just kept walking without a second thought. I felt a surge of pride at her little act of kindness - and the smile she had as Gwen thanked her.

After my faith in humanity was shaken a little bit after my bike accident last week, it’s nice to think we might be raising a generation who care about doing the right thing and being good people.

Today I’m loving: the nasturtium we picked by the river, and the idea of eating icecream at the beach in just a little while

Looking for some healthy inspiration for the weekend? Here are five easy ideas to help you feel better, fitter and fabulous - even if you want to wait until Monday before implementing them!

1: Eat something spicy. It doesn’t have to be hot - milder spices like ginger or mustard work just as well as more fiery things like cayenne pepper or chilli. Eating these ingredients can help lift your metabolic rate by almost 50% for up to three hours after you eat. If you’re not a big fan of this kind of food, adding a small amount of cinnamon to your coffee can have a similar effect.

2: Clear some clutter. Anyone who knows me will probably be giggling right about now, but I started getting rid of clutter from my house for the last two weeks, and it feels so good I can’t believe it. If you’re someone who feels like every surface in your house is crammed with too many items, set aside an hour to go through an area of your house (kitchen cupboards are one of my favorites) and cull. You might be surprised at what you’re holding onto. In the Feng Shui world, this also helps energy flow - yours, and the energy of your home.

3: Forget your diet. That’s right - throw it out the window. If you can create a daily calorie deficit of 500 per day, in one week, you should lose approximately 250 grams (1 pound) - a healthy and sustainable weight loss. Exercising more, and making better choices about the way you eat should have you on your way to 500 calories less per day.

This is far less fabulous sounding than the latest celebrity diet fad, but it works. There are no safe or sustainable quick fixes. If you can’t stick to it for the rest of your life, that crazy plan isn’t for you. Instead, try these ideas.

*Enjoy a wide variety of food - including the occasional treat
*Exercise - find something you enjoy doing, or find a friend to motivate you
*Eat enough filling foods to stop you from feeling hungry all the time. Do some research on low GI foods, which keep you feeling full longer
*Eat at least 1200 calories a day. Any less and you won’t have enough energy to be physically active, or mentally sharp
*Set realistic goals of a healthy weight for you, which may not be the lowest weight you’ve been. I used to weigh 49 kilograms, which was dangerously unhealthy. I’m now around 63 kilograms, and healthier than ever before. Don’t think the weight you were at fifteen is what you have to achieve to look and feel your best … especially if you’re no longer fifteen!

4: Here are a couple of ways to save 500 calories (2000 kilojoules). Instead of spaghetti carbonara made with cream and bacon, make a tomato sauce for your pasta. Add grated vegetables like zuccini, carrot, onion, garlic, chopped celery or fennel, capsicum, spinach and basil, oregano or marjoram - and you’ve just eaten something really tasty and also super good for you. The fibre in the vegetables will keep you feeling full, and if you have a larger ratio of sauce than pasta, you’ll avoid feeling overfull.

Instead of having fish in batter with chips, skip the batter and grill your fish, and make a baked potato. Have some low fat sour cream on the potato, or make a dressing from lemon, garlic and a little olive oil to pour over it. Add a salad of baby spinach leaves, tomato, cucumber with a splash of balsamic vinegar and you’ve got a great meal.

Go for a walk after dinner, and you’re practically perfect!

5: Yoga pose of the week: Chair rest*

Ever feel exhausted, or like you need to relax after a busy day? Then this is the pose for you.
Find a place where you won’t be disturbed for at least three minutes. If you can spare the time, ten minutes will make you feel like a new person. Get yourself a chair, and a mat or towel to lie on. Lie down on the floor, and rest your calves on the chair in a position which leaves your knees at 90 degrees. Let your arms rest beside your body in a comfortable position, relaxing your shoulderblades and neck.

Now focus on letting your whole body relax - there’s nothing else to do. Think about your ribs expanding to the side as you breathe, and see if you can make your breath slightly longer than it normally is. Don’t force it if you can’t. Stay there for as long as you comfortably can, then keep your legs bent and roll to the side. Rest there for a moment before you come back to a sitting position.

The benefits of this pose include relieving fatigue and overcoming stress and anxiety, as well as assisting lymphatic drainage and blood flow. Try it, I think you’ll like it.

*If you’re more than sixteen weeks pregnant, or have any problems with your lower back, please seek medical advice before performing this pose. All the advice on this page assumes you are in good health and have no special dietary restrictions or needs.

This post is just a test of a new plug in I’m using. Thank you for looking!

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This title seemed quite apt, because last night was Miss M’s school production, and she played the pivotal role of a dog. When I say pivotal, I may be stretching the truth, but to my slightly biased parental eye, she was the finest dog up on that stage. And she did a rendition of the Charleston which will live in my mind forever. Perhaps not totally authentic, in the 1920’s jazz club sense, but the best one I’ve ever seen.

School productions always mark one of those times when I can’t help getting teary. This time I laughed as well, because it was clear Miss M was in her element and having the best time, but I still cried - not sadly, but proudly. She looked so cute, having rightly decided she’d do a better job of applying her makeup than me.

Yesterday afternoon she spent some time with Mr Dog, doing some last minute characterisation before the big event. She followed him around, carrying a notebook, and when I snuck a look at what she’d written later on, it just said “ears!” Hers were made of fake fur, but she still managed to work them well.

Today I’m quite exhausted from a post 9.30pm bed time, but it was worth it. Here are some pics of the dog in question.

Body surveys must be the flavour of this month, since both New Woman and Cosmo are publishing their results. This is all truly scary, and I’m starting to worry about Miss M growing up in a world where this kind of thing is what young women are thinking about.

Then I flick through the pages of this magazine looking for articles to critique, and see the models they’re using, and my confusion over why people feel inadequate is gone. Less than one per cent of the human race looks like these women, and no exercise regime or diet is going to get you the genes these girls have naturally.

On Page 170, there’s an article on Celebrity Fitness Tribes, which gives you a run down on which celeb trainer is whipping who into shape. Interesting … kind of.

Now we come to Page 172, and I can feel my blood pressure starting to rise. Most of the time, these articles only have minor things I feel I need to criticise. Sadly, this whole page is the kind of thing creating confusion and misinformation about fitness. I can sum this up in a couple of sentences.

No amount of “back fat”, “muffin top”, or “bra bulge” will be changed by doing resistance work. None. Do cardio. Eat less. By all means do some weights, but don’t expect fat loss from doing them, or from any amount of abdominal exercises. It won’t happen. Read this month’s Cosmo for some great myth exploding on exactly this subject.

This gets no stars, and I’m going to go and sit in the corner and breathe deeply for a few minutes to recover.

Time to wake up to a new body - Pg 117

Cosmo has a ten page spread, incorporating the (sometimes frightening) results of a recent body survey, hints on fitness and diet.

Reading this, it seems most people are confused about not only weight loss, but what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. The amount of young women suffering from eating disorders and obesity is scary - and that’s just among the readers of this magazine.

Page 123 has a lot of information on yoyo dieting, cutting out carbs, detoxing, and how much weight is healthy to lose in a week. Since most of these subjects are my absolutely most hated myths around health and fitness, I’m loving the answers Cosmo gives.

Page 124 explodes common exercise myths (well, exploding might be a bit over the top …). Again, all good advice.

I challenge you to read this article and think honestly about what your beliefs about your body are. Do you believe life would be easier if you were your ideal weight? Would you use amphetamines to help you shed kilos? Are you more concerned about your weight than the environment? How can we make this obsession with a perfect body more positive and healthy?

****

The Three Month Bikini Body Makeover, Pg 175

Summer must be coming, because we’ve got a new round of bikini body workout plans. My old boss in the gym used to say whenever the Jenny Craig ads were on television was when everyone would start working out. Guess Jenny’s working her magic, because he was right!

This issue has weeks 1-4 and focuses on strength. All the exercises can be done with body weight or light hand weights, so it’s perfect for beginners or someone who just wants to work out at home. Also good for the gym if you wanted to vary your current routine.

All these exercises are fine, except the straight leg crunches. From the picture, you can see all that’s happening is the model’s neck is straining. There’s no reason to keep your legs straight when doing crunches, and most people will find this position makes their back arch. Bend your knees, push your back into the floor and let your abdominal muscles do the work - not your neck.

On the plus side, this article pays a lot of attention to cardio and diet, and has a four week food makeover plan. This includes portion sizes, when to eat, what to eat, and my all time favorite: swap “this” for “that”. There’s also a real life person who is undergoing the plan, which is a great incentive if you’re thinking “I can’t do that”.

Very minor complaints, in all, a good read and worthwhile buy if you’re looking to sharpen up your look for summer. ***

Also in this issue worth reading:

Pg 180 - AJ Rochester - What’s with weekend eating?

Pg 79 - Love yourself secrets (we all need a little more of this, don’t we?)

I’m drawing a long bow with the title, but it’s been so long since I’ve written anything, so cut me a little slack while I get my brain back into gear, okay?

It’s been an odd few days, with a lot happening, yet very little happening. Allow me to run it down for you in order of importance.

Since approximately 6.47pm last night, I’ve been appreciating life just a little bit more, since I had my very first official accident on my bike. It was the car driver’s fault, I handled it as well as I could, and I was able to first walk, then ride away from it, but nevertheless, it was quite intense.

As I lay in the middle of a wet street with my bike on top of me, there was a restaurant full of people who’d witnessed the accident eating stir fry, and none of them felt the need to ask if I was okay. They felt totally cool with gawking at my predicament, but clearly didn’t want their food to get cold. In my book, that’s bad behaviour. The driver who caused the accident stopped, which is great, because they don’t always, and was very apologetic. I was so happy to be alive and unscathed, I rode home before I noticed my front wheel was massively buckled, then I kind of went into shock, spending several minutes babbling at my brother who’d come to take me to dinner. After a plate of pork ribs, all was well again.

So the upshot of the accident is today I spent a huge amount of money on a new bike which has hydraulic disc brakes - state of the art apparently, so next time some crazy maniac pulls in front of me illegally, I’ll be able to stop before I run into them. And that’s got to be a good thing. I’m sad to see my lovely old Revel bike go, but it’s time to upgrade, and I don’t want to be skidding under someone’s car thinking “damn, if only I’d shelled out some dough on a safer bike” before I die.

Next - last weekend we actually bid on a property. And didn’t get it. And we were pleased we didn’t get it. And the upshot was there’s a new exciting development stemming from our insane bidding frenzy, which may work out well. For anyone who’s come for news, the phone call hasn’t come yet and it’s after six so I’m not expecting it now, but as soon as anything happens, you’ll know straight away.

That’s about all my news. Oh, and I taught Monday afternoon yoga for the first time in six weeks today, and it was gorgeous. Gill, you had the best spot in the sun for resting pose - I was quite jealous.

Tomorrow night is Miss M’s production, in which she plays a dog. The only female dog. I imagine she’ll steal the show, dog-wise. I have to apply makeup to the little actress before we leave, so it’s all her dreams come true at once.

Today I’m loving: a) being alive, b) the cute guy who installed my pannier frame (maybe I need a new helmet too, and some big time help choosing it?), c) Gill’s gorgeous spring posy which smells so good it’s almost criminal, and d) getting my scarf back after leaving it at the movies last week.