April

April 25: P.S.P.P.S … Lest We Forget

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Anzac Day has become a very emotional day for southern hemisphere members of the Allies from World War I. On April 25, 1915, young boys and men from Australia and New Zealand landed on the beaches at Gallipoli in Turkey. It was Australia’s first time at war and some say it was the making of our country.

With the Anzacs trapped on the beaches and low lying areas thanks to an almost insurmountable cliff face, the Turkish soldiers defended their land from higher ground. What was supposed to last only weeks went on for months. The heat, lack of clean water and then winter took their toll and the Allied troops retreated, with both sides suffering huge casualties and loss of life.

Today marks the contributions of Australian Forces in all wars since The Great War as well. Around the world, ceremonies were held – dawn services, a minutes silence, The Last Post, military bands and more. We were able to watch the BBC’s coverage of the Queen laying the first wreath at the Cenotaph. On the lighter side, Two Up is played in pubs around Australia.

I always struggle with the “how” of writing about Anzac Day. Here’s what I posted last year on Facebook. I think it best sums up my feelings.

Anzac Day is a sacred day in our lives – one that fills us with wonder and generally renders us speechless. I never know what to write on Anzac Day … about what went before in order for us to live the lives we have now. How different it could, or would, have been. We are the lucky ones. We put on a coat when we’re cold, open the cupboard when hungry and laugh with our friends at the pub. The men on the frontline had no such luxuries and what we take for granted hits hard on days like today. A minute’s silence and standing in awe during The Last Post are the smallest tokens of our appreciation and respect. To those who gave it all and the loved ones they left behind, Lest We Forget.

We had a quiet day, watching the ceremonies and soaking up that sombre history. Later on, we also finished the second season of the French police/crime series Braquo. I’m not sure I’m a great fan and am looking forward to watching something different – something other than a crime series perhaps?!

I’ve been thinking about today’s exercise routine for a while, and how I would call it P.S.P.P.S – push-ups, side plank, plank, sit-ups. So for 15 minutes, while watching TV with too much chocolate cake in my belly, I did all these exercises. Not a recommended time to workout but I do recommend the cake! (I didn’t make the icing – watching my waistline, you know).

Push-ups are becoming easier (yay!). The side plank ones had the dropped hip part from Thursday’s exercise routine and the rest were as you would expect. I haven’t been doing plank much lately (maybe I just haven’t wanted to see my belly hanging!) and could hardly even manage a minute on my toes before having to go to my knees. Time to get back on that bandwagon.

Even though it’s a double postscript, P.S.P.P.S could be something you’d like to add as a stand-alone workout or to the end of any routine? Not a bad afterthought really.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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I don’t have any poppy photos at hand to commemorate Anzac Day, so here are some beautiful cherry blossoms

April 24: Be like a boxer

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Let’s get ready to rumble! Photo credit: http://www.foodielovesfitness.com/ … Please check out her site!

On May 2, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao go toe to toe in the boxing ring in what’s being touted as “The Fight of the Century”. Everyone says it’s been a long time coming, and it would have been better if they’d fought five years ago. They’re now 38 and 36 respectively.

But, hey, everyone’s still fit and keen – the fighters, the pundits AND the punters. Tickets to the Las Vegas bout sold out in less than a minute. Surprised I’m interested in this? I used to be a sports journalist and despite not being a devotee of blood sports, there’s something raw and enthralling about two supremely fit athletes having a good old fistfight. (I’m not a fan of MMA. That’s too brutal!)

So in honour of an event that could be the biggest disappointment in sporting history (I don’t care who wins – Manny maybe?), here are some videos of them training:

  • Why not try Manny’s ab workout for starters? If you can handle watching him blow his nose into a hanky and then hand it to one of his assistants, you can handle anything. Or here’s a longer version (no, not of the snot, the workout).
  • Now, it’s time for Floyd. This man is not short on confidence. He pays someone to pick up his dirty clothes and his nickname is Money. Even if you’re not surrounded by a hoard of well-wishers, be like Money – stick your feet under the sofa and get working on those abs! Or here’s an overview of what he does in training in this music video (language warning: rap song).

I don’t own any boxing equipment, other than a skipping rope and a body, but that’s not going to stop today’s sparring time!

First up, do you know all the punches? Jab, cross, hook, uppercut? Go on, step outside the ring your comfort zone and have a go. Here are some different boxing exercises and routines to get the blood flowing:

  • A 20-minute workout from Body and Soul
  • A 20-minute workout from Discover Good Nutrition
  • A routine of punches interspersed with squats, lunges and skipping from Women’s Health – this is the one I did and it took 20-25 minutes. The second and third punching routines are the same but leading with a different foot (and hand), so don’t be fooled by exercise one (like me!) and think you have to do both left and right all in exercise two. It’s split up.

Finally, to finish off all things boxing, check out this heart-warming story about three Rocky fans who got the shock of their lives. We all want to feel like Rocky on those steps! (Cue the music …)

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 23: Tough ab workout and flexibility

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For today’s exercise, I thought I’d search for something different from somewhere different, but I knew it had to be stomach-centric. When I plank, I’m gobsmacked at the pudding that hangs from that area! When the fitness instructors plank, their bellies stay flat and taught. How is it so?! I can’t even ‘blame’ having kids on this excess! So that’s a new goal for the end of fitfor15in15 – to plank without the pudding.

Thanks to the Internet, ask and you generally shall receive. I liked the name of this – Get Fit Fast Ab Workout – 15 minutes of pain – and ignoring the physique of the totally ripped bloke without a shirt, thought I was up for it.

Ahh, no … nowhere near up for it. Apart from it feeling a bit militarised, with the host, Adam Harper, barking at his buddies, “Don’t you give up on me!” *cringe* it would be a brilliant workout for someone who has the fitness levels of, say, Adam Harper and his buddies.

Wowsers it was tough. I couldn’t do any of the exercises properly, or for the entire duration, apart from the side plank hip lower one. I’ve learnt some new exercises though and will try adding them into any homemade routines. The last one, touching your ankles through bent, spread legs, may become a regular. (I really had to giggle at the end of the show, when the host plugs his company’s t-shirts. If they’re so good, shouldn’t he be wearing one?!)

A lot of the raised-leg exercises hurt my lower back, so I did them with bent knees. I realise this made them much easier, but I’m not an advocate of pushing through the pain, yo. Especially when it’s yo back, yo. Overall, I’m not proud of my efforts in that workout, but it’s something to do again and refer back to, in order to keep improving. It’s motivation to plank without the pudding! Plank without the pudding! (A new mantra?!)

One thing I am proud of today is the realisation I’m becoming more flexible. Yesterday and this morning, I was able to touch my nose to my knees for the first time, albeit briefly, but that is a massive improvement from January. Sure it can be contributed to four months of moving, but I also think yoga is making a big difference. I’ve done two yoga classes, here and here, in the past week and I really think my hips are loosening up, which means I can bend further forward. Morning stretches, as part of my morning routine, will have also played a role.

Have you been doing something regularly and noticing an improvement? It’s such a nice boost, isn’t it?! Please, tell me about your successes.

  • Physically Fit: Get Fit Fast Ab Workout
  • Mentally Fit: Sitting in the sun for 10 minutes
  • Nutritionally Fit: Fourth day of fasting on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Nothing today – other than minimal calorie intake 🙂

Wishing you a wonderful day. Here are some photos from my walk home yesterday evening after meeting Iva.

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The long way home

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The sun was a huge ball and created a wonderful sunset glow

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The sun sets on another day in Tulip Military School

Friendship, memories and stuff

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“What a wretched lot of old shrivelled creatures we shall be by-and-by. Never mind – the uglier we get in the eyes of others, the lovelier we shall be to each other; that has always been my firm faith about friendship.” George Eliot.

I love this quote from George Eliot, the pen name of author Mary Ann(e) Evans, who wrote it in a letter to her friend Sara Hennell in May, 1852. It’s stuck to a pin board above my computer and comes from a little 8x8cm paperback book about friendship, given to me by Gabby (pictured below … at our finest).

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Dumb and dumber

The book no longer exists – I ripped out the quote which grabbed me the most so I can see it every day, rather than having it lost amongst my belongings. I’m sure Gabby wouldn’t mind knowing that part of her present has been recycled, because I’ve taken the best thing from the book and it’s being used. Those sentences remind me of our friendship and I smile every time I read it.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary of travelling around Europe and the UK together, Gab and I walked Hadrian’s Wall, in the north of England, in June 2014. What a blissful (and strenuous!) week that was, stomping across such lovely countryside, surrounded by all that history. It was all the more special because Gab lives in Melbourne and has two young boys. Many thanks also go to her husband, Dean, for holding the fort and making this trip possible. So many wonderful memories …

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Exhausted on Hadrian’s Wall

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Gab on the bridge at Willowford

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What a sight! A field of buttercups. We ran through it like excited children

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A little box of goodies for walkers to buy, set up by a young lad keen on some pocket money

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Just glorious

What would you rather have? The present or the memories? I’m very grateful for both, but, for me, experiences and memories mean so much more.

Plenty’s been written recently about a trend that’s gathering strength – selling things rather than keeping them for the next generation. This is a blunt but brilliant story from The Washington Post about adult children not wanting more stuff from their parents. Even my mum and sister are thinking about selling their huge dinner sets which no longer see the light of day, because they know none of our clan are all that interested in them (the responsibilities of an heirloom, stressing about them breaking when used or moving house, and how much space is needed to store them, to name a few concerns).

Do you have unused things you hold onto, because someone gave them to you and there could be tension if they were gone? This can be a really tricky area if you’re trying to declutter or downsize your belongings. We all have a few (or many!) things we keep for sentimental reasons. How do you sort through them all and decide what to keep?

Here are some tips from Miss Minimalist about letting go of heirlooms and more from House Beautiful about sentimental clutter. Maybe something in there will be helpful. And don’t forget to thank your things before letting them go, a la the KonMari Method. Even though it sounds crazy, I think it really helps.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

p.s The exercise story will come next. I’m happy for this to be a stand-alone post.

April 22: Yoga and gardening

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Looks just as good today!

Outstanding weather again. Two loads of washing are drying quick smart on the line, and I’ve spent a few hours in the garden, taking some plants (with permission!) from Liliane’s perennial garden to add to mine. Her flower beds are cramped for space, they’re all thriving so well. Fingers crossed mine handle the transfer. Not feeling confident though, as I don’t think I took enough roots.

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White and purple-flowered perennials add a bit of colour to my garden, which flowers in summer, not spring

The neighbour Ahlem was outside with her children, aged three and two, so we played for a while. They watched me gardening and apart from standing on a few plants they were fun. Neither of them speak much but I had a chat with the daughter for quite a while. She’s a real chatterbox but neither her mum nor I knew what she was saying! Gobbeldy gook! And for the first time, the son, who is very shy, came over for a cuddle. He calls me Ani. So sweet. They go back to Tunisia next week for five months – will be strange without them around.

Exercise today was Dagmar’s yoga, which I mentioned on April 17. You can find the direct YouTube link here. As predicted, it was really soothing, and still a great workout. I didn’t have time to lie still at the end, so next time I’m prepared to be totally relaxed afterwards! Right now I feel relaxed but stressed about the time. Needless to say, I didn’t even attempt the headstand, and just did some wide leg stretches instead. My balance is still pretty horrid.

Right, now I’m off to the city to meet Iva for a German gasbag. Hope I don’t miss the bus!

  • Physically Fit: Yoga and gardening
  • Mentally Fit: Sunshine and gardening; meeting Iva this afternoon
  • Nutritionally Fit: More smoothies and salmon for lunch; no doubt a few beers to come
  • Minimalism: Taking plants from Liliane’s thriving flower bed to add some colour to mine – no charge!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 21 #2: Walking from the city and gardening

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Call off the search dogs! I’m alive!

I mentioned I’d write again after walking from the city, but that idea went out the exhaustion window. It took two hours to walk home (which was a nice surprise as I thought it would be longer) and when I arrived, Rene was finishing repairs on the ride-on lawnmower in preparation to do the garden. So yep, you guessed it, I dumped my backpack on the bench outside our house, and walked straight over to him to help. Thank goodness for leaf blowers and ride-on mowers! Three hours later, I flopped on the couch (after a shower of course!) and after another three hours, I was asleep on the couch. I stumbled up the ladder into bed.

Part of the plan to walk home was so I could stop at a new animal shelter to ask about volunteering. I’d seen a picture of it in a free local magazine so was keen to see if I could be put to good use. Searching in the forest where I thought it would be, I asked a woman with a very funky short grey crop hairdo, who was walking her dog, if she knew where it was. “It hasn’t been built yet,” she said. “Maybe next year.”

Serves me right for not being fluent in German! I’d completely misread the article and thought the place had opened already. What makes the story even more bizarre (aside from my silliness) is the woman who I spoke to, well, her husband is involved with trying to get the shelter built. How about that for a fluke? Of all the people to ask, Heidi was the best person possible. She was very knowledgeable about the whole procedure and said some residents across the river are against it being built, because they’re worried about the noise travelling. If all goes to plan, the shelter could be finished by the end of summer next year.

Anyway, here are the photos from yesterday’s walk:

And here’s the finished garden. My arms were shaking from using the leaf blower to clear all the leaves (the leaves! the leaves!) out of the garden beds and off the concrete areas. (Rene is a stickler for dead-leaf decimation. I follow his orders.) Then I jumped on the mower to finish with this:

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Look at that freshly mown grass!

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Look at that leaf-free garden!

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Look at that ball-crazy dog called Boy!

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Look at those flags in the wind (and look at the lovely grass too)!

  • Physically Fit: Two-hour walk from the city to home; using the leaf blower (damn heavy thing!)
  • Mentally Fit: Meeting Leonie for lunch, walking, beginning French crime show “Braquo”
  • Nutritionally Fit: Smoothies, salads and strawberries
  • Minimalism: Fail – could have used a broom instead of the leaf blower. I’d still be in the garden though …

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 21: A lovely surprise

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Thank you, Karie!

Don’t you just love surprises?!

Karie, who lives in Singapore, sent me a postcard which arrived today! It’s put an extra spring in my step – so much so that I’ve decided to walk home from the city this afternoon. It takes about three hours, I think, and I’ll stop at an animal shelter directly on the path to see if I can register as a volunteer.

Yesterday, on my fasting day, I had a coconut water, fresh strawberry and raspberry smoothie. It was so delicious, I made another one today with quinoa rice milk, banana, strawberries and raspberries, and some vanilla protein powder. Loving these smoothie breakfasts!

The yellow tulip from the end of yesterday’s post is in full bloom today. I hope it lasts in the wind! Thinking of everyone in coastal New South Wales and Sydney who’ve been battered by that crazy weather, which has killed three people, cut power, brought down trees and eroded the beaches. Mother nature at her worst. Such a shock.

I’ll write more this afternoon when I’m home from the walk.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 20: 5km run, walk, run, shuffle, walk, run … argh!

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The first tulips of the season from the self-pick farm. The stems were quite short but I wanted some colour

Today was a beautiful day and the wind was cool and strong – not enough to stop me going for a run. Well, that’s what I thought as I was leaving the house!

After last Monday’s effort, where I felt I could run my best time on the 4km track, I started off on the 5km loop and within 800m had an ice-cream headache. Mine comes inside my ears and it feels like both ear drums will explode. The wind was cool and fierce and before I knew it, I had to walk. That’s the first time I’ve ever had to walk this year. Couldn’t even manage a shuffle in some parts. I’ve been told it could be because I’m dehydrated but I thought I had that covered today. 😦

While it was disappointing, and slow, it was still good to be outdoors, taking in all this:

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Leaving our property and heading into the woods

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I stopped running about here. Windy!

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Nice view of the Alps

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Soon this will all be yellow rape seed

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Clouds and sunshine … and wind!

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Even walked most of the downhill

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Empty animal houses on the homeward stretch

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The cows were back in the sunshine at my favourite property

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The Alps and cows again

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A study in cow

I spent a lot of time on the computer today, listening to the Tibetan bells and ocean sounds, setting up a Google+ account for fitfor15in15. I wonder if it will be worth the trouble?! My friend Kate from The Outdoor Diaries helped out. Thanks Kate!

  • Physically Fit: 5km walk/run
  • Mentally Fit: Setting up Google+ for the blog. It still needs a lot of work and I need to learn more!
  • Nutritionally Fit: Third fasting day on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Avoiding the Icebreaker website. I love their gear!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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I didn’t plant this tulip in my garden! The wind must have brought it here

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Same goes for these two!

April 19: Walking around the Schwarzsee

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No, no, not the Black Sea, the Black Lake! The Schwarzsee is about an hour’s drive south of Bern and today was my first visit there. Very pretty, still some snow up high and a crazy dragon.

We followed the Witches Walk (Häxewääg) around the lake for about 90 minutes, stopping to take lots of photos. Unfortunately most of the ones with the snow-capped mountains were taken into the sun, so they didn’t turn out so well on my phone, sorry.

But it was wonderful to be outdoors after binge-watching “The Killing” for too many hours yesterday. We only binge-watched the start of season four for a few hours tonight. 🙂 Enough to make me forget I hadn’t written the blog today!

Here’s a little tour of the Schwarzsee:

  • Physically Fit: 90-minute walk around the Schwarzsee
  • Mentally Fit: Being outdoors; planning our next holiday; watching more of “The Killing”(!)
  • Nutritionally Fit: Coconut water & fresh fruit smoothie; steak and three veg!
  • Minimalism: Making a mushroom, shallot and bacon steak sauce off the top of my head, from scratch, no recipe required. Not really a great minimalism example, but something I’m proud of!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 18: Squats and binging

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Doesn’t the word binging look like bing-ing and not binge-ing? Ahh, how I love the English language.

Well, we’ve done a lot of binging today – I made Anzac biscuits using molasses instead of golden syrup, and instead of being biscuits they all melted together to form a giant slab. But it still tastes ok. Here is the story of the Anzac biscuit, with a recipe from legendary chef Margaret Fulton, from the ABC website.

And we binged all afternoon on season three of “The Killing”, which I am happy to say is now finished. Only six episodes of season four left to go for this program. It’s been good, ok, sometimes brilliant, sometimes funny, but sometimes I have had no sympathy for the lead character, Sarah, at all and if I don’t have any feeling for them then sometimes it’s hard to really get involved. Peter Sarsgaard played an incredible role in season three – he stole the show and I really enjoyed watching him.

Today’s exercise was pretty basic – squats, lunges and some push-ups for 15 minutes, in front of the tv. My friend Karie, the runner, recently mentioned she was proud of her arms, and they were in good shape. I asked for advice. “Push-ups, push-ups and more push-ups,” she said. I’m going to add push-ups into every routine!

  • Physically Fit: 15 minutes of squats, lunges, push-ups etc
  • Mentally Fit: Finishing season three of “The Killing”
  • Nutritionally Fit: Ate too many home-made Anzac biscuits
  • Minimalism: No contribution

Wishing you a wonderful day.