RED January - How did I do?

Well not quite the 100% achievement I was aiming for scuppered by a nasty migraine which knocked me out for several days early on, then a few other foot niggles prevented quite as many determined efforts as I had wished but broadly speaking I did OK I guess, and held myself publicly accountable via my Instagram account.

So managed 25 days out of the 31 for a minimum 30 min walk each day which is certainly better than if I'd not signed up to this challenge.

Also my red laces look kinda cool in my grey trainers!

Well I do like a challenge!

After a few months of not really putting myself first, or looking after myself much since losing mum I have decided I needed to kick myself up the behind! I lost over 3 stone 2 years ago, with regular gym days, I completed a swimathon of 100 lengths, and I walked 2 night-time marathons.  I was eating better and making sure I took care of myself, the person who is responsible for taking care of several others and usually put herself towards the bottom of the list! The weight has crept back on lately, not all of it, but a fair amount and it is not helping me fell like me.

Well it's time to climb back up the list, I have been back in the gym, I have been striving to achieve my 10,000 daily steps and I have signed up for a 15km night hike in May and another 5km Race for Life Pretty Muddy run in July (well I did enjoy last years!!). The local Mayors fun run will be early September (only a 3k or a 10k - yet to decide if I think running 10k is mad!!) and the Shine Marathon is the end of Sept which I am strongly thinking of doing again so I can focus my training during the summer.

And this is one of the photographs from last year that I have yet to scrapbook so it will be printed off soon and added to my take-away pile for the forthcoming A Trip Down Memory Lane retreat. I am teaching two classes (one Fancy Pants and one Crate Paper) and a make and take card.  I finished the last class this evening :) and am actually rather happy with it! Sneak peaks to follow next week and of course I will share the final creations after the event. In the meantime here is a layout of one of those two walking marathons I completed, just to remind myself I am awesome and I can do this!!

Throwback Thursday

Another Throwback Thursday - this photo makes me smile so much! A little burred I know but captures the cheeky smile and twinkle of mischief of my youngest Jamie, taken in 2009 just before his 2nd birthday. Hard to believe he turns 8 next week! Where does the time go?

I have been rushing around this week trying to get together bits and pieces for his birthday next Monday. Means I hit my target of 10,000 steps a day this week and achieved my bronze and silver body magic (exercise) awards at slimming world yesterday.

Now if I could only stop the bad snacks between my healthy meals.

I need more fruit & veg to shrink my inches!!

Fitbit Flex and return of the walking

My Christmas present to myself with a contribution from my lovely in laws was a Fitbit flex an activity tracking gadget. I had the Fitbit one previously and it really motivated my but it was attached to my clothing via a clip and I accidently washed it twice! So I rather fell in love with this version that I can wear on my wrist every day. It syncs wirelessly to my laptop (new one from hubby for Christmas - lucky me) and I have an app on my phone as well. I have set myself a target of 10,000 steps a day until the end of January when I might increase it - depending on how I get on. Walking really helps me to clear my head, is great all round exercise and can be done in short intervals so I can fit it in around my busy lifestyle.  I will be walking regularly once I get back in to my daily/weekly routine in the new year and with mum's funeral to start of 2015 I will need the windy wintery walks to blow away the pain. I find they really help and the natural endorphins created through exercise do make me feel better at this difficult time.

I was surprised I made the target today having spent the day decluttering and clearing out my craft room ready for a room swap to the top floor. The boys have decided not to share the larger bedroom any longer but to split up and move to smaller separate bedrooms and we have a craft/computer/games room in the larger room to all be together. It is going to take some organising but I have made a good start today and again the clear out has given me a focus and purpose at a time when I am struggling to know what to do on a daily basis.

Lets see what tomorrow brings xx

Inspiration on every corner

Helloooo blog readers! 

I have been a busy little beaver again (indeed when I am ever NOT busy) with my walking training resumed (6 days a week) and twice a week in the gym doing weights and strength training combined with clean eating 6 days out of 7. I am determined to shape up and shift the very last of my weight and having been a plateau for the last six months something needed to change. The last two weeks have gone very well and I reached my happy place walking in the rain tonight, reminding myself no matter what that the time spent along walking is VERY therapeutic and I fell wonderful after.

It means that other than my crop each month and my ATDML design work I have scrapped very little - and I think another contributing factor to this was a messy crop room. So over the weekend I had clean out - phase 1 and sorted a of couple of bags of recycling and put together a few kits needing just the photos printing off. 

I also did a bit of research looking for new inspiration to kick start layouts. Sketches have always been a good starting point for me, and I love the Shimelle starting point layouts too such as this one. I also have found however than I am inspired visually by book covers, album covers, posters, adverts etc. My theory behind this is because there is usually a small army of creative people behind such images who have studied hard to mix elemnts and their arrangement together such that they capture us, draw us in - appeal to our structured selves or quirky selves, or inspire happiness in their use of colour. Whatever it is it works for me and so I thought I would share such images here. This weekend I am planning on creating a layout inspired by this image.. fancy joining in? Let me know with a comment below if you do!

http://www.lizziemackay.com

Back in the gym/Addicted to Spin

I have been back in the gym this week and putting myself through a couple of spinning classes to slowly build myself back up to the fitness level I was at a couple of months ago.  It reminded me that not too long ago I created a page about my addiction to spin classes using the Stamping Up tag top punch and papers from Simple Stories Say Cheese collection. 

Each strip is 2" wide (to fit in the punch) and they are a variety of lengths. You could repeat the design with slightly shorter lengths but then the same number of pieces again upside down so you have a page full of tags with more room for photos or journaling.

This page was created for ATDML February gallery and the other layouts from the team and I can be found by clicking on the hyperlink above. Hope you enjoy them!

Up for a challenge

Well I have not been the greatest at blogging this month - probably because I have been living in the gym! I signed up to a six week nutrition and exercise plan and have been in the gym 4/5 times a week and preparing healthy food every evening to ensure I stay on track. I had a very successful first 2 weeks losing half a stone but haven't lost any weight since though my body fat has reduced by 6%.    If I am honest it is definitely the eating habits that I struggle with most - I am either 100% focused or I'm not and I cheat myself. So today I have been good (well it is Monday) and hope to have set myself up for a good week ahead. I also started two additional exercise challenges this weekend and today completed day 3.

The first is a plank challenge - I can hold for about a minute at the moment but decided to undertake the challenge from day one to build up my stamina. I fully expect to be struggling with this challenge by day 12!

The second challenge is a squat challenge from this website. I found this link on Pinterest and rather than have my Active Board  full of nice images I thought I had better rise to a couple of the challenges! Day 3 completed today and yay... no squats tomorrow!

Hope these may inspire you to join me (or you can simple read and laugh knowing the pain I am putting myself through!!)

Another physical challenge

Those of you who know me will recall I have trained for, entered and completed two nighttime walking marathons. May last year saw me complete the MoonWalk in London and the September before I completed the SHINE marathon (having already completed in a Swimathon in the April and a 15k nighthike in the May). I then injured my hand in a boxing class and didn't train at all from mid August last year until December when I joined a new gym and started trying to bring my fitness back up.

It isn't the time of year to be out walking - nights are long, it is bitterly cold and it just isn't plain safe to be out walking unless it is daytime and with work five days a week and a family it's just not great.  However I have rediscovered my love of the gym and have been going at least 4 times a week doing a combination of spin classes and circuit style classes. I also want to be able to run 5k and then hopefully (maybe!) 10k and so I looked at signing up for a small 5k challenge - you know, to give myself a target. Of course the obvious choice is the Race for Life and look what I discovered when I went to look at dates in 2014...

Pretty Muddy!!  So guess who is signed up for October 2014? - Plenty of time to master running 5k non stop and combined with gym interval/circuit training I am hoping the thoroughly enjoy this event! I love their byline - Cancer plays dirty, but so can we! Just a bit more than a 5k with the muddy assault course thrown in, but after a walking marathon of 42k (26.2miles) a simple 5k run seemed, well, not very challenging! Saying that I currently can't run for much more than 2/3 minutes before I want to stop but as with everything practice will improve this I know. I may even try and undertake the couch to 5k challenge again!! Who knows!!

Project Life - week 1 of 2014 in photos

Well I have thus far in 2014 managed to keep up to date with my Photo 365 challenge, I have posted to instagram more often too (@mafswife), and I am on day 10 of a 30-day green smoothie challenge. I have been to the gym every other day so far in 2014 doing a combination of spinning classes and body pump/boxfit and I am happy to say I lost weight last week for the first time in a few months. I have been off track with my healthy eating and training ever since I bust my left thumb up last summer but it looks like I have my mojo back!

I also have week 1 project life layout completed and most of week 2 planned out with the photos to print off ready for scrapping this weekend. So I haven't photographed my week 1 layout yet but here are my photos.

Flowers for Nan & Grandad x 

Cinema to see American Hustle & 12 Years a Slave

New Scrapping goodies

Spinning classes at the gym

Playing with my new Soup maker

Read my new book from Ellie "The Edge of Never"

Walk the Walk - not long now

Under three weeks to go until I tackle my second walking marathon, still 26.2 miles, 42km raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer. I am doing a cake sale at work to raise funds next week, having a "buy a mile" event at my local slimming world group and hoping to receive a few sponsors too!

It has been a lot of training, indeed this weekend the longest preparatory walk of 35k is due (I blistered last year at this stage!) but at least the weather has perked up a little and no matter how uncomfortable, tiring or difficult the training gets I know it is nothing compared to what sufferers and their families endure at the hands of the cruel disease that is Cancer.

Every penny counts and so if you are so inclined I would be thrilled to receive your support for this worthy cause. Either pop some cash my way when you next see me & leave your details on my sponsorship form, or pop on line to the just giving page set up for my pal and I who are joint fundraising together as so many people know us both - Team Annielene. Thanks you, and wish me luck!

Sticking the boot in!

Today was another crafty day following an entire weekend away last weekend indulging in my favourite hobby. For a change up, and because I knew I'd have taught the weekend before we had a guest designer this month and Kirsty taught the class with the Simple Stories Urban Traveler papers I had sourced from Mel & Jill at ATDML.  I was thrilled when she demonstrated that the class involved inking up the sole of her young son's wellington boot with Tim Holtz Distress Stains to make a muddy footprint on the background of the page!! Combined with ink splatters and some subtle spraying and the added photo/paper section I was thrilled with my completed layout. Of course I wasn't smart enough to have photographed it in daylight and if I take it now the light will fail me and not show the true colours and effect achieved on the page so this will have to be something I do in coming days.

Off to make tea now, then maybe a little more creating before an early night as I am walking to Ally Pally tomorrow for the craft show/marathon training. The event is just 4 weeks away and I am a little behind on walking training even if my overall fitness level has improved. I even managed to get through an entire spinning class this week! get me!