A Different Perspective.

Today I stuck with my workout, so you all know.  I’m happy with the progress made thus far, but I was thinking a lot today about the blog and the direction I wanted to take it.  There are just so many things I love to write about besides fitness and health.  I love food, I love writing about life and other random things.  You may not be aware but the reason I was on a hiatus from this blog was because of other blogging ideas, which quickly died because I couldn’t keep up with it.  So I decided to blog consolidate, or ‘consoliblog’ (a word I kind of made up).  I’m created a new blog that will cover just living an overall healthy life, with some personal me mixed into it.  When I say healthy, I don’t just mean body and food wise, but mind and spirit.  Maybe I’ll include hobbies of mine which include photography and being crafty.  But I want a blog that is not just pigeonholed into one topic.

I’m slowly writing on that blog now (there are a couple posts on there so far) and this blog will just be an archive of my fitness journey from beginning to now.  I really do hope that you’ll join me over there – it will be updated a lot more (I PROMISE YOU THAT!) and I think it will be better too.

I give you – SimplyBalancedMe.com. 

Back at the Beginning: C25K Week 1, Day 1

Pretty proud of myself today!  I was able to see my little nephew and work out!  I knew that I had to stick to my plan, and I’m pretty glad I did.  Today I started all over and am doing the Couch to 5k (aka C25K).  With my trusty iPhone I had the Nike + app and this Couch 2 5K app I got a few days ago.  The two work together and help you pretty much go through the work out.  The Nike + app tracks my distance and how fast I go per mile, and the Couch 2 5K app gives me the cues to walk/jog/cooldown.

If you’re wondering what Week 1, Day 1 of the Couch to 5K workout consists of, it starts with a 5 minute warm up, then 60 seconds of jogging, followed by 90 minutes of walking for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes you do the 5 minute walking cooldown.  I started the app when I walked out the door of my apt to the gym, which is almost a 5 minute walk.  Got to the gym and jogged/walked on the treadmill followed by walking back home as my cooldown.  It worked out perfectly!

Here was my result from the Nike + app.  I know my mileage has yet to improve but after a long while of not training I had to start from the beginning, which I think is best for someone just getting back into working out.  You just don’t want to dive right in and eventually hurt yourself!  I could definitely handle the workout, but I didn’t want to overdo it.

I’m super excited though.  I am so happy to be back to working out.  It is true:  working out gives you endorphins and endorphins make you happy!

6 Months, 2 Weeks…

I know it’s been a really LONG hiatus from blogging for me, neglecting this website and I feel really crappy about it.  Honestly, I have been SO busy, making excuses for myself and there really isn’t a good excuse for NOT taking care of myself like I should.  This blog is about me and workin’ on my fitness, and I haven’t been.  I even thought about shutting down this blog but that would just make me go farther away from my goals, which right now is to lose the inches off my waist.  It’s not so much about losing weight, but being able to fit in my wedding dress in about 6 months.

I realized that I actually have LESS than 6 months considering I have to do alterations on the dress because a short girl like me always has to alter a dress.  A few weeks ago I tried on my dress and although I was able to fit into it, it was quite a challenge and I was barely able to breathe!!  I honestly couldn’t imagine being this way on my wedding day.  I’d be so uncomfortable!!!

I’ve actually been preparing myself to come back to this blog.  I started eating healthier, with fruits satisfying my sweet tooth and yogurt and granola being my favorite snack.  I’ve been figuring out menus for the week instead of going out to eat.  Preparing my own meals has actually been fun, and saving money being a bonus over going out to eat.  Being that we have a wedding to pay for, saving every penny we can helps a lot.

Today I wanted to start the Couch to 5K but as I was getting ready it started raining!  So instead, I did Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred, Jillian Michaels style.  I feel good.  I think making a schedule and planning ahead is really important for me to stay on track, so I decided to plan my workout.  You’ll see my week on the sidebar to the right.

To those who have been keeping up with my blog I’m glad you didn’t unsubscribe and still giving me a chance.

Eat Mindfully For Health: Get the Most Out of Every Bite!

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Much of the to do list of eating and living healthy can be achieved by simply using awareness. Paying attention to food and life style choices and actions made daily can simplify the sometimes confusing and contradictory health advice that is available on the Internet and elsewhere. Mindfulness puts the locust of control with you and your body.

What is ‘Mindfullness?’

It is with an understanding of what is meant by mindfulness when we speak of it in terms of eating. Mindfulness is clearly non-judgmental paying attention. Sounds simple and clear enough and this is a great place to stop and do it! Pay attention to what you are doing right now, do it with a noticing, a curious awareness and with out labeling it good or bad -simply notice. Yes, and then if the judgmental thoughts come up… notice that! Being aware of what is present for you in each moment physically, emotionally and physically can free you from reactive patterns and unhealthy habits. Being aware of what is actually happening right now gives you freedom of choice and a sense of balance.

Mindful eating is allowing

Allowing yourself to be with the nurturing and powerful opportunities that present themselves through preparing and eating your meals and snacks.  You begin to access your inner wisdom when you allow the choices to be made from what pleases and nourishes all your senses, by allowing yourself to savor the experience. When the awareness is on what you are doing, in this case eating, you begin to open the doors to your own inner wisdom.
Having awareness of what you like, dislike or feel not one way or the other about is a place to practice the non-judging aspect of mindful eating. As you explore the foods and flavors, textures and tastes you have the opportunity to choose, with awareness, foods that are both pleasing and nourishing.

Mindful eating is a guide

A guide to the physical cues of hunger and satiety giving the power of when to eat and when to stop eating back to the individual, back to you, not a preset time or amount that may work for one person yet not another. For an example: are you hungry just stop and feel the body, be mindful of what the body -your body is feeling. This is connecting your mind with your body and being with what is happening in the moment. The difficulty with “diets” is that many people begin to ignore or fight their own hunger and satiety rhythms. Left unchecked for long periods of time these ignored rhythms and signals leave healthy people open to an array of disordered eating behaviors and in a worse case scenario set up for a full blown eating disorder. Mindful eating is then taught once again as the guide to healthy eating and the body’s wisdom can once again be heard.

People who eat mindfully

• Respect that there are no right or wrong ways to eat but that there are varying degrees of awareness around the experience of food
• Accept the unique experience of their own meal and hunger
• Acknowledge what can happen to the unaware eater and the natural consequence of eating when out of touch with what is
• Direct their choice on a moment to moment basis by checking in with the body
• Have insight about how they can act and choose to achieve specific health goals as they become more tuned into the direct experience of eating and how health actually feels
• See their food, food choices and behaviors as all inter-connected with the earth the people of the earth and the systems used to present the food on the table

Can’t quite see yourself eating in a mindful way?

Try this: Your first drink of the day, be it a tall glass of water or a double latte from the coffee shop on the way to work, drink it with intention, with awareness, mindfully.
Be with the drink and feel it in whatever way it is feeling.
The focus is not on if it is the exact right drink or the right time -all that eventually falls into place when the effort and intention is on what is right in front of you. Drink as if it were the only drink you were ever going to have because it is the only drink you are ever going to drink at that moment!

I’d love to know your experiences of eating mindfully. Did you feel fuller for longer, enjoy the flavours more?

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

Train Hard, Cool Down, Feel Good!

Editors Note: This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. He is currently completing a Post Grad Diploma in Applied Science (Elite Sports Training) and will go on to do a Masters in Recovery.

Some recent research has further emphasised the need for a proper cool down after intense exercise. Japanese researchers looked at the effect of  light activity after an intense exercise session on rugby players. While they found it difficult to validate the of  impact any physical recovery on the players they did find the recovery work acted as a mood booster and left the players with a positive feeling afterwards.

Why would this happen? I think even though the positive benefits reported were mental there is still a  physical process going on here. I do believe a proper warm/cool down  mentally gives you a chance to “switch” off after an intense engaging workout or session.

Physically the light exercise will enable the waste products  produced (during  the chemical processes of energy creation) to be  removed more effectively and will flood the blood supply (including the brain) with freshly oxygenated blood.

So what is intense exercise? A very broad definition I would use  is  anything that gets your heart rate over around 140 bpm in a session or activity (eg a run or sports game)  or takes you to a feeling of hard exertion say over 7.5/10 if you were to score it subjectively (eg a weight session). If you do either of these invest 5 -10 minutes to warm down. I tell my athletes if they do not have time to warm down then they do not have time to “squeeze” in a training session – it’s crucial!

So make sure you include around 5 minutes of light activity (under 120 bpm) at the end of  a session. This may be a walk or cycle or even a swim.

This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. Should you have any questions for Andrew, please direct them to the ‘Ask Me’ section of www.ameliaburton.com.au

The Joy and Health Benefits of Culinary Herbs and Spices

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Herbs (grown naturally in temperate regions) and spices (grown in tropic and subtropic regions) are an incredible and simple way to add flavor and powerful nutrients to your meals. Notice when foods are cooking and the delicious aromas fill the kitchen? The mixture of herbs and spices are releasing some of their aromatic oils to the air exciting the palate and preparing your body for digestion.

The Joy of Herbs and Spices

One of the easiest ways to get involved in your food from the ground up is to grow a simple herb garden. Food takes on a whole new and exciting feel when we have had our hands in the earth in which it was grown. Clipping your home grown dill for lunches cottage cheese or cutting basil for dinners. Pesto makes even the most resistant cook feel more like a creative chef and when we feel good and creative about preparing our food we make better food choices -naturally.

For the novice find some recipes and try and pay particular attention to the herbs and spices being called for and how they are combined . For those of you who have been cooking for a long time and enjoy it already perhaps you can experiment with some of your favorite herbs and spices and try them in an unusual combination making a signature dish to share with friends and family. Even adding a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice to baked or mashed potato, yam, or squash can begin to open your palate and health up to new horizons.

The Health Herbs and Spices

Besides exciting the palate and preparing the body for digestion by stimulating the production of saliva in the mouth the culinary herbs and spices help to destroy microbes and parasites in foods. They also aid the gut for efficient digestion of the meal while adding important vitamins and minerals to the diet. Generally cleaning and toning organs and speeding the removal of waste products through the colon and keeping the immune system fully functioning .

Common Kitchen Herbs and Spices Health benefits

• Parsley- diuretic, aids edema, fluid retention, indigestion, gas, anti-parasitic, promotes healthy thyroid function
• Capsicum (cayenne)- increases thermogenesis, increases circulation, promotes heart health, aids digestion, enhances performance of other herbs
• Ginger-aids digestion and hypertension, promotes lung function, strengthens adrenal glands (often depleted by stress),relives morning sickness, nausea, gas
• Rosemary- aids strong hair growth, enhances memory function, protects brain from free radical damage, combats fluid retention, topically makes hair shine
• Garlic-has antibiotic, anti fungal, anti-parasitic, anti-viral activity, detoxifies, strengthens blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, enhances immune function
• Peppermint- aids chills, fever, nausea, colic, diarrhea, headaches (internally and externally)
• Sage- aids in mental clarity, circulation, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties
• Basil- used to relive nervous disorders, headaches, rheumatic pains
• Dill- relives colic, indigestion, gas, promotes breast milk production
• Oregano- anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and anti-parasitic, enhances immune function
• Thyme- anti-parasitic, relives muscle pain and tightness, makes cough more productive, enhances immune function

Using the healing properties of the garden as a part of daily life can be as simple as experimenting with fresh culinary herbs and spices, a new adventure in the kitchen to bring about your own healing and well being, go on spice up your life a bit just for your health!

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

Mental Training for Performance: Your Secret Weapon is your Mind

Editors Note: This article is written  by David Hodgeson a Performance Coach, Business Architect  and Advisor. You can visit him at I-Acomplish or read more about him on the About Page

Your secret weapon is something you already have unlimited access to, is more powerful than any supercomputer and can be honed to your every whim. I think you already know what I’m talking about. The answer is your mind.

Our minds perform the most complicated tasks without us needing to think about them. This autonomous control in life’s critical  actions hints at the potential of our minds. They say we use around 10% of our mind. This has proven difficult to prove and disprove. What we do know is that the minds ability to adapt is huge. The potential of our minds is incredible and yet we know so little about it. The following example demonstrates what training our minds the right way can do:

Anthony Robbins Experiments with Mind Training and the US Army

NASA, the US Army and numerous other elite athletes have undertaken some form of mind training. In 1987, Tony Robbins and a number of other Mind Trainers (using Neuro-Linguistic Programming) set about improving the pistol shooting in the US Army, the basic qualification at that time was ‘Marksman’, with ‘Sharpshooter’ and then ‘Expert’ coming above that – a Marksman being able to get 30 hits on target out of 45 rounds fired. Two groups of soldiers were taught side by side – one group getting the NLP based training, the other group – the ‘control group’- getting the standard army training.

The control group took 27 hours to get 73 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with only 10 per cent of the group making Expert. The NLP based group took just 12 hours to get 100 per cent of the soldiers to Marksman level, with 25 per cent making Expert.

So what? I hear you say. Well, these same techniques that are undeniably successful can be easily translated to your training. There are a number of techniques that I can pass on and one of the most easy to adopt is using your imagination to increase your motivation towards a goal that you really want to achieve.

Using your Imagination and Visualisation to Achieve Specific Goals

• First of all, find yourself a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted.
• Notice how you currently feel. What emotions are you experiencing
• Next, imagine that future state, maybe you have just finished a marathon, maybe you have finished a grueling gym workout, perhaps you are in those jeans that you promised you would fit back into.
• Now you created that event in your mind I’d like you to repeat the exercise but this time look at the event and see yourself in it. See what you saw, hear the sounds and feel the emotions that looking at this future event create for you.

Now, you have just experienced your future event, achievement or whatever it was, what does it make you want to do? Do you feel more motivated to move towards accomplishing that goal? Do you notice that you feel a little more excited about achieving your goal and all those events and actions that you need to accomplish in order to succeed?

This was an example of a simple way that training your mind can help you achieve your goals. This technique works for everything. Have you used visualisation in your training before?

David Hodgeson is a Performance Coach, Business Architect  and Advisor, having created a niche in goal setting, performance and motivation. He works with the most respected organisations in the world and has brought their visions to life. David creates business and personal blueprints, assembles the right team to make the blueprint a reality and keeps everyone motivated throughout the process of accomplishing the goal. You can visit him at I-Acomplish

The World’s Simplest Marathon Training Plan

Written by: Amelia Burton

Many people who have a dream of running a marathon push it to one side because they are filled with the fear that it’s too much training, they don’t have the time, or they aren’t fit/strong enough. Well I am here to dispel that fear by showing you in the simplest way possible a training program for anyone who can currently run 10km without stopping. If you are an experienced marathoner wanting to run a PB (personal best) then this program may not be detailed enough for you.  But if you are a first time marathoner, or an amateur, then this program is exactly what you need to get fit enough to complete 42.2km.

The five ingredients for a successful marathon training program

1.       The 10% rule: A good friend of mine David (who leads the Kirribilli runners) once taught me the golden rule of marathon training; only increase your miles/km 10% per week. This reduces the chance of injury and allows your body the time to acclimatise to the extra running.

2.       One long run every week: As soon as you start running one long run per week, your body will become so much stronger. 30km (18.6 mi) is the magic distance. Once you can run this, you can run a marathon. The more long run’s you get in leading up to the race, the stronger you will finish.

3.      Stretch: I will say this once: If you don’t stretch your entire body properly and deeply, you WILL get injured. I hate stretching after a run because I am tired, hungry, hot, thirsty, so I do what one would call a pseudo stretch (aka a pathetic attempt to stretch). It certainly isn’t good enough, therefore I go to a semi-private pilates class twice per week. Yoga is also incredible for runners. Pilates should be a reformer class focussing on flexibility. Try before you buy because some pilates studio’s don’t put enough emphasis on stretching. If you want to cut costs, buy a yoga DVD and follow that twice per week.  Whatever it takes pleeease stretch, and not just a pseudo stretch!

4.       Speed sessions: Not all your training runs will be long runs, in fact you will see that short speed sessions are part of your program. They will get you running faster and strengthen all your running muscles which helps cope with the longer distances.

5.       Join a running group: This will not only improve the quality of your training but it adds an essential fun, social aspect to running. I do a long run with the Sydney Striders every Sunday, and they put on a breakfast spread afterwards. I look forward to this run as much as I look forward to my Friday night pub crawls (well almost as much!). Google ‘running groups’ in your local area and find out the fitness levels catered for. If you are Sydney based, the Sydney Striders and the Kirribilli runners are fantastic running groups. They are also great for running visitors who want to see more of Sydney on foot.

The 16 week training plan in Kilometres

Click here to view a larger, printable version of this program.

The 16 week training plan in Miles

Click here to view a larger, printable version of this program.

Training notes:

• Shorter distances are to be trained at a faster pace. Use Mc Millans calculator to determine your pace.
• For longer distances do not worry about your speed at first, just get through the distances at a steady pace. It is about how long you run for, not how fast.
• Pick one short run per week to be a bit of a time trial. Record your times each week and monitor the improvements. Don’t be alarmed if they don’t improve quickly, you won’t necessarily get much faster training for a marathon, but boy will you get fitter!
• Fit in a second stretch workout somewhere in that program. I’d be tempted to do it on your shortest distance day, that way you have Saturdays off completely.

Training tools

• Heart rate monitor with GPS: These can be expensive (around AU0) but I wouldn’t train without one. Garmin 405 is by far my favourite. The Polar GPS is second in line.
• Map my Run: If you don’t want to fork out money for a gps, use Map My Run to map your routes so you know how far each workout is. It’s not hard and doesn’t take long. Create your own profile so you can save and share your runs.
• McMillans Calculator: This is an awesome tool where you can punch in a time you did for pretty much any distance, and it will tell you how fast you should be running for other distances. You can read more on McMillans if you want. Minutes per Kilometre are the units we use, and that is what your heart rate monitor with GPS will use too. It’s runners speak, you’ll see!
• Beep test: Or any running fitness test really. I suggest you do one at the start of your training so you know how much you have improved. Always record your heart rate at the very end and exactly 60 seconds after you finish. Sometimes fitness shows itself in the rapid recovery time more so than the test itself.

It’s as simple as that! Follow the training program but ultimately listen to your body. Occasionally you will need to skip a workout, and that’s better than having a slow, frustrating run. If you feel you need more guidance, you can use a marathon training coach to give you a specialised program.

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