2012 challenge - Great South Run

My weightloss reached a plateau when I went back to work so I decided to up my exercise regime. I knew I need more cardio exercise and the best cardio workout for me is running. The problem with this is that I hate running. I mean I REALLY HATE RUNNING!!!

I'm very lucky in that I have a lot of "fitness" friends. My personal trainer friend, Liz (LC Healthy Living) has just set up a running club for beginners with Catalyst Personal Training.
I was very nervous on our first session. We took things very gently to start with, running for a couple of minutes and then walking for a couple of minutes. Liz was great in giving us lots of tips about technique, what to eat before and after a run, how to warm up and how to stretch properly before and after.

The hour went very quickly and I even (gasps) had fun!!
We were given homework to do. Running 2 evenings in the week with a couple of rest days in between.

The second week was a little harder. Running for 5 minutes, walking for 3. FIVE MINUTES!!!! We even ran uphill. My legs felt like jelly trying to get up that hill, but we all did it.

My homework that week went well, despite forgetting Liz's advice about eating. Apparently eating an apple 4 hours before exercising isn't enough and I had heavy, wobbly legs on treadmill.

I decided I needed a goal.

Sooooo......... I decided to enter the Great South Run. 10 miles!!!

What have I done?? Liz has assured me that it is perfectly achievable with the right attitude and training plan. After all, the event isn't until October so I have 9.5 months to train.

I'm going to be running for two charities; Asthma UK and a Southampton based Homelessness charity, The Society of St James

My fundraising pages are:
Asthma UK : http://www.bmycharity.com/LJAsthmaUK
SSJ: http://www.bmycharity.com/lucyjurdSSJ
Thanks for your support xx

Catching up!

I have been neglecting my blog!
So here's a quick overview of what we've been getting up to over the last few months.

Esme still isn't crawling (aged 13 months) but she has become quite an expert bottom shuffler.

Thomas' asthma seems to be a lot more under control now. His preventative medication was changed back in October and so far his wheezy episodes have significantly reduced.

Thomas is still on the small side, although he has grown a little bit in the last few months. I still hope there are no long term side effects of all the steroids he's been on.

Over Christmas we went to watch an ice-hockey game. My brother is the coach of the Bracknell Bees so we've been to a few games now. This was the first time that Thomas really took an interest and got the bug. He keeps on telling us how he wants to be a Bracknell Bee. So my youngest brother, Daniel, cut an old hockey stick down to size for Thomas and he spent a good couple of hours playing in the garden with his cousin, Cameron

Learning the ice-hockey basics

We also went ice skating on New Year's day. Bracknell ice rink are well equipped for younger children. They have little penguins that children can push around the ice to help them get their balance. It was fantastic to see Thomas' confidence grow during the skating session.

My maternity leave ended in September and so it was back to work for me. Three days a week to start with and as of January full time. I can't say I'm too pleased with that. It's no secret that I'd rather be at home looking after my children, but unfortunately the mortgage needs to be paid!

As a way of supplementing our income and hopefully getting me out of full time work in the future, I became a distributor for Forever Living products in July. The products are amazing and I'm having great fun building my business. It fits perfectly around my job and the needs of the children.

I like Mummy's boots!

Esme's baby

Learning to walk

Fireman Thomas

Gooey Cinnamon bars

ok - This is what these delicious treats are called, but in truth, aren't that gooey.
This is a very simple tray bake that I tried for the first time today. It doesn't contain any eggs, which is useful as my chooks seem to be on strike at the moment.
I make mine in a well greased roasting tin.

8oz plain flour                                       2tbsp Demerara sugar
2tsp baking powder                               2tsp ground cinnamon
8oz soft brown sugar                             2tbsp chilled butter
1tbsp melted butter
8 fl oz milk

pre heat oven to 180 / gas mark 4

mix together the flour, soft brown sugar and baking powder. Stir in the milk and melted butter. Mix well then pour into a well greased tin.
In a separate bwol mix together the cinnamon and demerara sugar. and sprinkle over the top of the mix in the roasting tin. Press little pieces of the chilled butter into the surface.
Bake for about 30 mins.
The butter will make holes in the mixture and go a little gooey as it cooks.
Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into bars.

Enjoy x

Weigh in Wednesday

I forgot to post last week -sorry! This was partly due to recovering from a nasty bout of tonsillitis.
This week I'm very excited to announce that I have lost 3 lbs. This has been an awesome week :-)

I'm still spurred on by my new found passion of cycling. My theory is that the less I weigh then the easier getting up the hills will be. I'm also still going to pilates and have been 100% food optimising following the slimming world guidelines.

I'm starting feel better too. I have  loads more energy and confidence. Especially when clothes feel too big or when I manage to do the zip up on a skirt that hasn't seen the light of day for a couple of years.

That target is getting closer!

1 stone 6 lbs (20 lbs) in 13 weeks.
Current weight: 10st 12lbs 5oz

Holiday at Sandy Balls

Last week we stayed at this fabulous place, Sandy Balls near Fordingbridge in the New Forest. Although I love camping, I'm not quite brave enough to do it with the two little ones (maybe next year). So we decided to opt for the 4 berth oak lodge. There are loads of other accommodation options from bringing your own tent to pre-constructed tents to lodges etc.

The lodge had a double bedroom with en suite bathroom and a small twin room and family bathroom. There was an open plan living room & kitchen. The only downside was that we couldn't fit our travel cot into either of the bedrooms. This wasn't really a problem for us as we co-sleep with Esme for most of the night anyway.

This is the perfect location for an activity based holiday. You are in the middle of the New Forest so you have excellent access to cycle paths and bridleways for a family cycling or walking adventure. It was lovely to re-discover my bike. We even managed to get a second hand Burley Cub cycle trailer for Esme to go in.

Thomas at the Toddlers adventure playground

As she isn't sitting up yet we ended up strapping her car seat into the trailer using the belts and lots of bungee cords. I was a bit nervous about putting Esme in the trailer but after checking on the CTC website and reading lots of cycling blogs I was reassured. Esme loved riding in the trailer and could be heard cooing and singing to herself around the Sandy Balls site. Thomas went on the bike seat behind Paul.

Sandy Balls also has an indoor and outdoor pool, which we visited everyday. I think my kids are water babies. It was lovely to see Thomas' confidence in water growing day by day and Esme enjoyed floating and kicking in the water.

On rainy days (lets face it - UK summertime - there's gonna be a few of them) then Sandy Balls has a soft play area for children under 6 and also a range of craft activities that you can book onto. So there is plenty to do.

Looking at fishies in the River Avon (A nervous daddy holding on tight!)

Sharing the babywearing love!

I decided I was not going to put Esme in disposable nappies for our week away and packed most of our cloth nappy stash. There are laundry facilities on site so I thought I'd be able to get a wash in if we needed to. I think I somewhat over estimated how many nappies we'd need. I didn't have to do any laundry and we still had plenty of clean nappies to take home with us!

The kids (excuse the dummy, Thomas was exhausted!)

We had a fantastic time. The active week has really spurred me on to get on my bike and exercise more. We are already planning next year's holiday there. Still not sure if I'm brave enough to camp so maybe we will be back in a lodge again.

Weigh In Wednesday

I didn't post last week as I was away on holiday. In my week away I managed to gain a pound, despite cycling and swimming everyday. Admittedly, I wasn't sticking to the food optimising plan so that could explain the weight gain. A friend of mine did suggest it was a pound of pure muscle from all the exercising. I'd like to believe that, but realistically....er......no.

So this week I have gone back to the Slimming World food optimising plan (except for a couple of momentary weaknesses) and also kept the momentum going with the exercising. I got into some "good" habits on holiday and have really been enjoying cycling and running. I'm hoping to do some swimming again this week too. (My own mini triathlon!)

My biggest motivation at the moment is how much easier the running and cycling is becoming now that I'm carrying less weight around. I no longer have to push the bike up hills or stop to walk half of my running route. Its little things like those that really spur me on.

1 stone 1 1/2 lbs (15 1/2 lbs) in 11 weeks.
Current weight: 11st 3lbs 2oz

Weigh-in Wednesday

2 1/2 lbs this week which means I have lost a whole stone.
A few of my friends have commented that you can tell I've lost some weight, which to be honest, means more to me than what the scales say. I've also started to notice that my clothes are feeling a lot looser now.

I still have another stone to go so I'm going to hold off on that shopping trip until then.

14lbs (1 stone) in 8 weeks.
Current weight: 11st 4lbs 2oz