Holidays are here!

Today on the last day of term, it occurred to me how enormously unhappy school makes me. The reason for this is purely because of the people.
There are so many people who are just unpleasant, disruptive and unmotivated.
They care for nobody but themselves and spend the majority of the time that should be spent learning, acting like complete douchebags, convinced that they're absolutely hilarious.
I've failed two practice exams because of this disruptive behaviour because they were Aural exams and I was unable to focus and LISTEN. They fail to comply to common exam etiquette and so we all pay the price.
This does not make for a very pleasant high school experience, especially since HS is stressful enough without extra distractions.
It's so difficult to concentrate and focus on achieving excellence when the teacher is too busy shouting in their ear and directing their focus at trying to control these stupid people, their teacher efforts are wasted and cancelled out by the fact that they can't reinforce them and go over it all properly with us.


It. Is. So. FRUSTRATING!


Especially sine next year it gets serious. The subjects I'm taking are English Excellence, Math Combo, Biology, Chemistry, P.E Elite and Health. It's so important for me to do well in these subjects because they are required for the course I plan to take at uni.
By the way, I had an appointment with the school Careers Advisor this morning and we went over all my plans, subjects and future goals and I've come to the conclusion that I'd be better off to stay at school for year 13 for four reasons:


1. So I don't get a shock with the huge step up from level 2 to course work.
2. So I can go further with the subjects I'm taking and gain extra knowledge that will be of use to me for my course
3. To increase the chances of being accepted to any institution I choose to apply for
and 4. To gain university entrance to have something to fall back on.


I have however decided that perhaps university would be a better option for me because after researching the course outlines etc, Massey University seems to be a better choice than Wintec.
anyway, back to where I was...


I want to do a 3 year Bachelor in Sport and Exercise and after that do a post-graduate degree in Journalism. This is so I can be a fitness and health blogger/journalist. I think a University rather than polytech would be a better choice simply to broaden my horizons in my particular area of study.
I want to get the most out of my money and determination.


Only thing in my way is the stupid people who are disturbing my focus! It's ridiculous!!! and UNFAIR.


On a more positive note, it was the last day of school term today and I ran 7k's! Today our percussion group performed in full school assembly. We were so nervous!!! But we had an awesome time and everyone loved it :) There were a few mistakes here and there, but it sounded MINT overall, and that's all that matters.
Afterwards we all went back into the music room and had a MEEAANNN feed! We had chocolate, chocolate biscuits, fizzy drink, chips, chocolate fish, shapes, crackers, lollies... ugh EVERYTHING! I ate so much chocolate haha, it's my secret weakness. I felt so sick after though, that's the most fat and sugar my body has had in one single sitting in months, and I felt sick for two whole periods. 
It was heaps of fun though and I've become rather attached to my fellow bucket-drummers :)


anyway, the chocolate binge is was motivated me to consider running 2k's longer than I usually do. Once again it was miserable and raining but I went anyway. I took it reealllyyy slow because since I haven't run 7k's in months, I can't remember how I pace myself, so I took it really slow so I wouldn't burn out. It took me about 50 minutes which is SHAMEFUL, but I realized that I'm fully able to speed it up because once I got home I felt like I'd only run 5k. The biggest issue was my right knee, during the last k home it was SO sore. I almost couldn't finish because it hurt so bad. I'm really going to have to do something about that so it doesn't get worse. I plan to book a physiotherapy appointment and start going to the gym to strengthen my thigh muscles to help stop the pain. 
Once I got home I iced my knees for 15 minutes which felt AMAZING, and did my arm weights. My arms are getting super buff and I love it :)
I've decided that I'm going use my 5k run's as speed training, just run as hard as I can the whole way, and do some distance training on other days, which will be (obviously) extending my distance. Tomorrow I plan to run 10k's and then on Sunday I'll rest and Monday I'll do a 5k. Maybe I'll drop even more minutes off my time and be within the 20-30 minute range??? that. would. be. SWEET!


Well, as I mentioned in the title, the holidays are here! and I'm really excited :) These holidays I plan to:
Run, blog, study, travel, socialize and weight lift haha.
There are some people that I can't wait to spend some seriously good time with.
Nothing like time with loved ones :)


Anyway, it's 8pm and I'm exhausted. I think i'll go to bed.
Goodnight!
xx


What are your holiday plans? What's your favourite way to exercise, if at all?

Braving the pouring rain and freezing cold in running shoes, shorts, my anorak and Ipod!

Today I just proved the ultimate test of dedication... I hadn't been for a run in 2 days and I was dying to get out an go, but it was absolutely FREEZING outside and pouring bucketloads of rain. I decided to suck it up and get out and go anyway. I was definitely motivated by Caitlin's blogposts on running in less-than-desirable conditions on her blog HealthyTippingPoint.com (which is an awesome blog by the way, I strongly recommend you check it out).

So I borrowed my mothers new red Anorak (second hand), put on my tiny running shorts, laced up my running shoes and off I went! 

WELL, let me tell you..

I. Got. WET. That anorak was most definitely NOT water proof, I felt like I was running through a constant full-force shower! I was able to wring-out my running shorts at the end haha and my shoes had a pond in each. When I was running, I originally tried to avoid puddles because I wanted to reduce wet-feet as much as possible, and I was going pretty well till I got about 1.5k's in and I stepped in what I thought was a very shallow and safe puddle, and actually ended up being a good 2 inches deep. Good stuff lol.

So for the rest of the 5k I gave up caring, despite the fact that the amount of water was so great that it felt like I was running with weights attached to my ankles.

Nevertheless, I ran the fastest 5k I have ever run before! I clocked it in 33 minutes!! That's a new PR! I was so so happy. I'm not entirely sure what caused my huge boost of energy so I was able to knock so much time off, It could've been a number of things:

1. Super-food sushi for lunch

2. Day days rest from any intense exercise

3. A good 11 hours of sleep last night

4. Freezing my butt off and dripping from head to toe with water and just wanting to get home.

Hmmm, probably a combination of all four I'd say?

Either way, I was very VERY pleased, and that just made it more worthwhile having run in such icky conditions.

I find that if I rest for longer than 2 days, I tend to lose motivation, so I try not to go more than two days without running because I forget what the endorphins feel like and I get just a little too comfortable with being lazy, which isn't good.

I think that by setting long-term fitness goals though, that will help me stay motivated to keep running.

Once I got back from running, I removed all my wet clothing, stretched in front of the nice warm fire, showered, then did some weights to help strengthen my arms. I just used a 1kg today.

Oh! Something I've forgotten to mention thus far, I found out some wonderful news yesterday which completely lightened my mood considering that I had a really terrible day and I was generally miserable the entire time.

I made it into Year 12 P.E Elite!!!

I can't believe I did it! Considering I didn't take P.E this year, I am so lucky to have been academically successful enough to prove that I am capable.

Ms Dobben, the Head Of Department for P.E said that she felt I was well capable and that the motivation was there and she expects me to do well. I was so proud that she has that level of faith in me as an athlete, that that alone is enough to keep me going.

I couldn't thank her enough.

P.E Elite will offer so many opportunities in sport which will be so beneficial to me and will also look fantastic on my application to Wintec in November of next year.

An example of and awesome opportunity we're offered is a two day Ski Trip! I love skiing and I haven't been in four years! Next year will make that five, so I'm so excited at the prospect of being able to attend that.

Anyway, I just sent an email to the local newspaper, the Whakatane Beacon, asking them to consider the possibility of letting me write an entertainment article for them. I feel I'm capable and I outlined the reasons why I thought I would be good for the job.

I was inspired to do this after reading one of the blog posts from HealthyTippingPoint about being afraid to ask for things.

I found it really thought-provoking, and instantly decided that I was going to do something I've been meaning to do for months, request permission to write an article for the local newspaper.

I would love the experience and the exposure it would give me, also the pride I would get from knowing I am good enough to have my work published locally.

That's a step in the right direction towards my ultimate goal of being a healthy eating/fitness blogger and journalist.

Lastly, eats for today included:

Homemade raw Granola and Milk for breakfast with a coffee (of course!),

Walnuts and Almonds plus and Apple for Interval

Marmite on Wholegrain bread, an Apple and four pieces of AWESOME sushi for lunch

and Lean beef with brown rice and peanut sauce for dinner.

nom nom nom!

:)

Goodnight everybody. x

Productive Sunday.

I'm really pleased with myself, because today I had a productive day! And this is awesome because it's Sunday and I'm NEVER productive on Sundays. Usually I lie around all day feeling miserable, contemplating that the following day is monday, and no one likes Mondays.
EXCEPT! I'm looking forward to tomorrow because it's my dear friend Dallas's 17th birthday and I can't wait to give him his present :)
But anyway, today I woke up naturally at ten to 8 in the morning, delighted to find that it was a beautiful sunny day. I checked my blog, read the latest "healthy tipping point" entry as I do every day, I showered, then I cooked a SWEET breakfast for Mitchell and I. My fav, french toast with Wholemeal bread with real Maple Syrup and frozen Blueberries on top :)
YUMMA!
We waited about 45 minutes for our food to settle, I slathered on the sunblock, listened to Red Hot Chili Peppers, then we headed off for our intense bush walk up the Bird Walk (which is a short distance, but heavily made up of almost vertical flights of stairs and never-ending hills). It was HARD OUT! I had forgotten just how much of a workout those flights of stairs are. I was huffing and puffing and totally exhausted, but I kept myself motivated by thinking about how great it is for me and how amazing those stairs will help my butt to look haha. It works! Seriously :D


It was also extremely hot, but I was grateful for the change up in work out, it was a good break from my regular 5k running route. Also, I was able to eat 4 squares of yummy Cadbury Crunchie bar chocolate and not feel guilty :) I've decided to stop feeling so bad whenever I allow myself to have a little treat. I'm so harsh on myself and it's really unfair to my self-esteem and self-confidence. 


After the Bird Walk we exited out Whitehorse drive, carried on up the gorge hill, walked down Hillcrest, down the Rock Pitt steps, down Commerce street, through the Gypsy fair and back home. The whole excursion took about 2 hours and at the end Mitchell stated that that's the best workout he's had in weeks haha. Mitchell is not overly athletic, so kudos to him for giving it his best efforts and keeping up with me!


When we got home we chillaxed with a good movie, "The Boat That Rocked" I LOVED it!! It was so so so funny, and I was so proud to see Rhys Darby repping NZ. It was so good, I highly recommend it to anyone who loves Rock N' Roll and is interested in a light-hearted comedy with lots of naked girls ;]


After that we had our eats, in the middle of the movie I had strawberry Greek Yoghurt with Walnuts, Almonds and Oats and after I had half a can of tinned peaches and some "hot pork", it was so good! And kept me full for ages which is good.


I'm booking my learners license tomorrow! Exciting stuff!!! I'm going to go for  my Motorbike license at the same time. I can't wait to be able to drive, I'll feel so independent, I'm really truly excited at the idea for the first time in my life.


Peace!
xoxo

Cross country recap!

Well today I ran the school cross country for the first time in my entire LIFE. So that alone is a serious achievement for me.
UNFORTUNATELY, It didn't go too well for me, for reasons which are entirely my own fault.
The worst thing that I did today was not drinking water. I had my 1.5 liter bottle with me as usual, but because I have this ridiculous fear of having to pee whilst running, I didn't drink any of it. So the only liquid I had had all day was a cup of strong coffee at 7 in the morning.
It did not go down well at ALL. 
I felt absolutely dreadful through the entire duration of the short run because I was running in the boiling hot sun feeling dehydrated and suffering Acid Reflux. I felt like at any time I was going to vomit acid.
YUCK. I had to WALK a little bit of the way because I was in too much pain, I was so disappointed in myself.
Another bad mistake I made was not wearing sunblock. It was boiling hot and the sun was less than forgiving on my bare, exposed arms, legs, ears and face and even though I don't think I got sunburnt, it was on my mind the entire time. I hate getting sunburnt because it's so bad for you.
Finally, I need to start running regularly on rough-terrain. At one point in the track we had to run through a paddock, and the ground was so bumpy and uneven, I was terrified I was going to twist an ankle.
Maybe next time I'll tape up my ankles?
I also wish I'd worn a hairband to hold back my fringe because when I was running through the paddock it was ten times more difficult to concentrate on my footing because I couldn't see properly.


Overall, I came 27th. Now that is still a massive achievement for me :) Because in my history with cross-country, I've never made an effort and I always wound up coming within the last TEN people.
That's embarrassing.
So despite the less than favourable conditions, I'm happy with my placing :)
I know I could've done much better if I had've taken in to consideration those factors, but what can you do?
Next year I'll do even better.


Some things I'd change or will do better next year:
1. Stay hydrated throughout the day and bring a small water bottle with me.
2. Tie ALL my hair back
3. Wear plenty of sunblock
4. Wear less heat absorbing clothing
5. Train on uneven surfaces more often.


I'm a little embarrassed that as a runner I didn't do better, but it'll give me a chance to prove myself next time.

Interval training.. ugghhh

Since we're doing a P.E module at the moment in Health, it calls for outdoor activity obviously, and I couldn't be happier! There's nothing I enjoy more than getting outside and being active,  but MAN, today we did a fitness/cardio activity, and far out, it was HARD! I'm trained as a long distance runner, which means when I run I start out slow and gradually build up to a fast, steady pace. So when we do sprints, after about two, I burn out.
I hate sprints.
Something I did notice though, is that by the 8th round, I was still able to sprint as hard as I had during the first, whereas the rest of my group had slowed significantly.
I'm fitter than I thought :) So even though I was lagging behind for the first few rounds, it paid off in the end.
I really should do more interval training, it's so good for fitness, It would be highly beneficial for me.
Usually I do half an hour of interval training, I make a 30 minute playlist for my ipod and for each song I do a different action. So for example, for one song I would jog, the next song I would skip (with a jump rope), the next song I would walk and the next song I would sprint.
But I rarely do it because it's so tiring. I think I'll change things up though, I'll go to the park instead and sprint/run fast around a lap of the field, then walk one the sprint one etc.
I prefer to be in open spaces, I usually do interval training on my tennis court.
Mum lent me a book called "Deliciously Natural", and it's a bit of a family heirloom, my Grandma bought it for mum for her 24th birthday when they were both hard out marathon runners, Mum said that that book helped her IMMENSELY, and when she followed the guidelines she said she had so much energy, she was able to knock several minutes off her running times!
So I've been reading up to help me learn new ways of eating and staying healthy. So a new and improved diet, combined with some serious, regular interval training should help me reach my goal of 5k in 25 minutes or less :]

Makes me excited just thinking about it!!


Something I truly HATE with a passion, is being hungry. Argh it's such an awful, frustrating sensation! Usually, I pack a really decent lunch for school, have a huge breakfast and balance my food out well so I'm full most of the time and don't get hungry, but today was awful.
I completely underestimated the amount of food I would need to re-fuel after P.E and I got SO hungry, I was really upset and grumpy for the afternoon.
Being hungry sucks because you can't concentrate, it's hard to function properly without adequate energy, and it especially sucks at high school because you can't do anything about it! Since you're responsible for packing your own lunch, if you don't bring enough, tough shit!
I also hate that they don't allow us to snack during class. By "snack", I don't mean eating a sandwich, cup o soup and various fruits, I mean little things like bags of nuts, crackers and muesli bars to help us re-fuel when we start to lag.
I hate skipping meals too because it's so bad for your body and makes your body GAIN weight during short periods of time, and I like my body to have a healthy, balanced metabolism and meals! So today I was seriously pissed off.


I'm a little irritated because I pulled a few muscles today from sprints because the teacher never offered us the chance to stretch afterwards -_-
Frustrating.
I plan to do 15minutes or so of yoga tonight though because it's my "rest" day, so hopefully that'll ease some discomfort.


Anyway!
I have a super busy night filled with meal-planning and studying, so I'm outties.
xoxo

Maths or no maths?

I feel like I've had a really productive day today. I woke up at 9.30, had a yummy breakfast of All Bran with chopped Banana on top. Then I went on the computer for a little bit, caught up with bebo/myspace/facebook comments etc, then made plans with Mum to go to the Hub to buy a new sports bra and running shorts for me.
I was sooo happy to get a bra and new shorts. I didn't have a sports bra at all previously and that made running extremely uncomfortable, also I didn't have any decent running shorts so it was cool to get some of them.
Once I got home I made myself lunch which was a smoothie with Spinach, Banana, Frozen Blueberries, Pineapple juice and two teaspoons of Spiralina powder. I was a little nervous with this one because I've never put Spinach in a smoothie before, but it turned out really great! You could barely taste the spinach and it just tasted really nicely of pineapple :)
I also had a slice of bread with a little bit of peanut butter on it, folded in half as a sandwich for pre-run fuel. I waited half an hour after I'd finished eating to wait for my food to settle, and then off I went on my 5k!
I got to test out my new sports wear, and I have to say, I am 100% satisfied with how they worked for me. The shorts were brilliant, and I can't express how great it was to run with a bra that has good support.
I ran harder and faster than I've ever run before in my life because I'm speed-training. I was STUFFED by the end, but it was totally worth it :) I really enjoyed it.
It's cross-country on Thursday, so hopefully I'll get a better place than 6th or 5th to LAST like I have over the majority of my life haha.
My time was 38 minutes, that still seems like a lot since my goal is to run 5k in under 25 minutes, but I knocked TWELVE minutes off my usual time! SA-WEET! That is such a great achievement for me and I'm so proud that I accomplished that.
I stretched and did a bit of yoga once I got home, but I don't think it helped much, my legs are quite stiff at the moment.
I chilled out, listening to some music for about an hour and then sat back and watched Gossip Girl, in the ads I made afternoon tea which was a small tub of fruit yoghurt and once slice of toast with two slices of edam cheese and tomato on top, YUMMAH ^.^


Anyway, so once Gossip Girl finished, I got a phone call from a very old family friend who I haven't spoken to in months, she's a really good friend of my Mum's and I've known her for my entire life. She rang to speak to me about the fact that I'm not taking maths next year, because she herself is a teacher and understands the importance of keeping your options open, so now I'm thinking about maybe taking maths instead of Physics... just to be safe.
I'll speak to Miss Deely, the year 11 dean tomorrow about it. I'm really starting to come around to the idea of keeping maths next year. I don't wanna destroy my future before it's even begun... well not so much "destroy" but make it considerably more difficult than it needs to be.


peace and love.
xxo

Laryngitis and 5 minute chocolate cake.

Well I'm home sick again :( Just as i recover from the bloody flu, I come down with Laryngitis! grrrr, It's a really inconvenient time of year for me to be getting sick. We have 7 weeks left altogether of school before NCEA externals.
The work load has increased and the seriousness of it has increased, so for me to be getting sick and needing to stay home, it's not very good.
However, this has given me all new inspiration to bake! Something which I've always been afraid to do coz i've never really been very good at it and because sugary foods scare me... :S
I don't know why, but whenever i am in ill health i'm always more likely to eat unhealthy :/ i wonder why that is.
This afternoon i made a 5 Minute Chocolate Cake, using a recipe i found on Rigel Suicides Flickr account and it actually tasted really really good!

The recipe is: 
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil or butter/margarine
1 egg
splash of vanilla extract
splash of almond extract
handful of chocolate chips

mix dry ingredients in a large 18oz mug or bowl. add wet ingredients one at a time, mixing each thoroughly. add chocolate chips last. microwave 2-3 minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!




I plan to make my mum's famous mars bar muffins tonight, so i'll keep you posted!
xoxo

Anorexics + My heart break coping mechanism.

I heard the most disgusting thing the other day, my friend told me about a few girls at my school who have begun starving themselves to lose weight. This topic of discussion arose because I mentioned a noticeable loss of weight in one of the girls, to which my friend informed me of her "effective" diet regime. I couldn't believe it. I am so disgusted by the prospect of people STARVING themselves to achieve weight loss. I can barely look at her now. 
I just find it so damn frustrating that there are some people out there who are so stupid and naive, that instead of developing a healthy eating plan, combined with exercise, they eat NOTHING! Hoping to lose a few kgs!
Look: Is it really worth it??

IT IS SO BAD FOR YOU! AND, you end up looking disgusting! It affects your physical appearance in terms of skin complexion, hair, teeth etc. It is awful to feeling a constant hunger, and have it be so intense, ALL THE TIME. If affects your sleep because you're so hungry, it affects your concentration because your brain can't function properly without adequate fuel, your muscles don't work properly because you have a severe lack of energy.
Not to mention that usually, it makes you look bloated because your stomach has no food to digest.
Also, i have never in my entire life met a guy who finds girls that thin attractive at all. Most of them, in fact will proudly admit that they love a bit of booty/curve to a woman!
When you go on diets such as these, or other ridiculous plans where you change your eating habits for a certain amount of time to lose a bit of weight, what people fail to realize is that the second you start eating normally again, you'll gain all the weight back on! That is why it is so important to simply eat a healthy balanced diet with food from all the different food groups, incorporated with regular exercise and you will be a happy, healthy being.
I know what i'd rather choose... obviously.
Another girl my friend told me about, I was so, SO disappointed to hear that she wasn't eating, because she's always been such a beautiful, confident girl who's so sure of herself and "doesn't care what other people think"... Well obviously she does.
I think my school need to make a bigger deal about this type of thing. It's generally just "swept under the carpet" and not dealt with, when during teen years, it is absolutely paramount that this issue is addressed.
I intend to see the Deputy Principle about it and ask them to somehow address this and see if we can't get a message through the heads of those stupid and naive enough to believe that the healthy way to be is by not feeding themselves.


Anyway, on to my next point which is that of my coping mechanisms when I'm upset... which i was rather a little while ago.
It seems funny to me that over the last couple of months, i seemed to have developed a new technique to help me deal with grief/heart break etc. Instead of curling up in a little ball and bawling my eyes out like I use to or binge drinking for a week like a mate of mine use to, I set fitness goals.
I sit there, more determined than ever, and set a bunch of goals and start planning the actions i will need to help them become a success. I spose it just gives me something to concentrate all my energy on... Stops me from becoming a hermit or something. I'm quite glad that this is how i react now. it kinda gives all the bad shit a silver lining..
Here's the list i wrote out about half an hour ago when I was very very upset, it's kinda like my fitness bucket list:


1. Start doing weights regularly at the gym.
2. Take up boxing.
3. Learn to surf.
4. Do yoga everyday for at least 30 minutes.
5. Win school x-country one year.
6. Scuba dive.
7. Run a half marathon.
8. Run a full marathon.
9. Do a triathlon
10. At some stage in my life, become a yoga instructor.
11. Become a black belt in martial arts/martial arts expert.


Having these long-term goals to work towards helps me stay focused and think of the positive. It gives me a genuine reason to get out of bed when all i want to do is curl up and cry.
I run a lot when i'm sad. It helps me run out all the pain.. I just run until i can't run anymore and my chest feels like it's about to burst, and my knees feel like they're going to snap and my body is so covered in sweat, it feels as though i've been drained of all liquid.
That is the best therapy for me. I truly helps me cope with shit.


What helps you deal with emotional strain?
What would you have on your bucket list?


xoxo

Hot Pools, Nintendo WII + Hed PE.

I just got home from Karla's house, we had the mintest night! It started with Kelsi, Karla, Leonie and I going to the hot pools. That was really cool, it was just us four chicks and it was great to chill and just chat and gossip :) Also the hot water was HEAVEN on my poor sore muscles :( They're really bad today, but the hot water helped. Also, i have a nasty ass cold at the moment so that makes life ten times more difficult. But nevertheless, i had a really awesome time ^-^ We got some SWEEEET photos too! And a video :) Leonie's camera has this righteous case which goes underwater, so we have some photos which will have you trippin' balls!
Anyway, so the pools close at 9.30pm so we had to get out. We had some sweet chat in the changing rooms, but there was this pain in the ass little kid who kept butting in to our conversation, must of been like 3 or 4 hahaha.
We parted ways with Leonie at the gate and Kelsi, Karla and I continued onwards to home. I wasn't going to stay over at Karla's because I'm really sick with a bad cold and I thought I should have an early night (god knows i needed it, i was feeling dizzy and falling asleep at like 10!), but instead i decided to stay :) We got to Karla's and spent about an hour sitting at her breakfast bar with our various beverages- sparkling lemonade, hot ribena with honey, coffee, water and cordial, just chatting about anything and everything. Eventually after relocating to the floor in front of the fire and chatting for a few more hours, we hit the hay. Three of us in one queen size bed haha, it was surprisingly comfy! And i went to bed first so i was freezing and really happy to have two people to assist in warming it up. Snacks were salada crackers with Edam cheese. We woke up around 10.20 and after chatting about yummy food for 15 minutes or so, all decided we were hungry and wanted eats so we went and got brekky :) Breakfast for me consisted of  THEN.... THEN we busted out the Nintendo WII!!! Boxing yeeeee! :D MAN that is one hell of a work out! It was great, i just had to think of someone who highly fucks me off and i was good to go haha. My arms are so sore now, if you did that for 30 minutes you'd have your high intensity cardio DOWN! Best thing was, when the Karla's parents went out, we put on music really really loud and it was mostly Hed PE, so the style of the music fit perfectly with the nature of the activity we were doing. We spent some of the day sitting outside on the deck enjoying the sun which was nice :)
Kelsi went home around 1.30pm and Karla and I watched Jumper and she cooked lunch. Lunch consisted of two chicken burger patties and two scoops or so of chips. not overly healthy, but it's not something i eat often, so what the hell.
We then watched Kill Bill 2 which was gnarly as fuck and after we played a good ol' game of Tennis on the WII and golf, baseball and once again, BOXING!
I left at around 6.15pm, came home, had a shower, and here i am :)
I had such an awesome time!!
Can't wait to do it again ^.^


Love you all.
xoxo

Spring is in the air!

Spring is finally here and I need a job!!! Unfortunately enough for me though, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon due to the recession :( I have no money at all which is proving to be a problem since I'm starting to get serious about maintaing a healthy lifestyle. 
For me, a healthy lifestyle consists of mainly 3 aspects:
1. Eating well
2. Exercising regularly/getting enough sleep etc.
and
3. Understanding and connecting with the spiritual side of things.


For the last 6 months or so, I've been running on-off. I'll get into it and go hard everyday for about a week and a half and then gradually slow to a grinding halt and do NO exercise at all for up to 3 weeks. Not a pathway dressed for success :S So starting now, I am beginning to identify ways to keep the exercise consistent rather than "yo-yo" as it were.
Some of my new ideas regarding this which i intend to put into action immediately are the following:
-Allowing my body adequate time to heal by resting every second day,
-Changing my jogging playlist each time to give variety so i don't lose interest.
-Reading motivating messages and blogs such as http://www.healthytippingpoint.com and http://www.operationbeautiful.com to give me a nudge in the right direction.
-Having an ultimate goal to aim for, and
-Not pushing myself too hard, if i only feel like running for 30 minutes one day rather than an hour, listen to my body.


I ran for an hour the other day and i felt fantastic for it, (aside from the fact that my knees felt like they were on FIRE and i had to ice them for 20 minutes afterwards) had it not been for my knees, i could have gone for at least another half hour. I rested the following day so as not to overdo it and today, i plan to run my little heart out again for hopefully an hour :) I will leave in roughly ten minutes, i fueled up with toasted pita bread with sanitarium peanut butter on top.


There are some things I feel I MUST do, 1. Buy a new sports bra, 2. Go see the physiotherapist about my knees, 3. Go to the gym and do weight-lifting, 4. Take up kick boxing and 5. Buy knee support thingy's from rebel sport.


As a 15 year old girl, mid-teens, I believe that now, during these adolescent years it is absolutely vital that we learn and practice to make healthy food decisions, prepare food and understand the importance of regular exercise. In your teens, this is where most of your major growth and development will occur as you go through the process of becoming an adult. Therefore supporting my opinion that having a healthy lifestyle is absolutely paramount as it can help prevent illnesses such as osteoporosis, heart disease and reduce the risk of cancer.
It took me a very long time before i realized how important it is to properly take care of myself, because if i don't, who else will?
I've started eating far healthier, making sure i have reasonable proportions of protein and calcium at breakfast to help keep me full for longer throughout the day. I make sure all the food i eat is good for me, with the occasional treat ^-^
I'm currently experimenting to see which foods work best for me to keep me full and give me good energy, and I'm staying well away from bread, sugar, trans fat and salt.
I drink at least 1.5 liters of water a day and usually 2 glasses or so of milk. I eat about 6-7 small meals each day usually between 250-600 KJ.
I plan to buy a camera so i can start taking photos of my running successes and my food choices, i feel like that alone will be a good motivation for me to keep up the healthy eating and exercise!


The school cross country is coming up on the 17th of September and for the first time in my entire life, i plan to actually run and COMPETE. Usually on cross country day i've either wagged school or just walked the course.
This year I'm going to try for REAL.
I probably won't do all that well, but i hope i do, and it will give me something to look forward to and aim for.


Ok, so I basically just covered the first two aspects of my idea of a healthy lifestyle so that just leaves the spiritual side.
I've always had the most trouble with this aspect believe it or not. It's always been a huge problem for me and i've never been good at it. Lately however, there have been a bunch of different things that have been helping to make it easier and more understandable.
I'm teaching myself how to be in a good mood the majority of the time.
I started by slowly leaving the people who I used to be surrounded by that were just downright unnecessarily negative, they always brought me down, and began being around happy people who are always positive and in a good mood ^-^ I was AMAZED at the difference it made to my mood!
Also I discovered http://operationbeautiful.com and that made such a huge difference to my personality. I was so touched by the movement, i felt motivated to take part myself and in doing so, made MYSELF feel 1000000000 times better about myself, whilst hopefully making others feel the same. It's worth it just to know that it could put a smile on the face of ONE individual.
I visit the site daily to read the new post-its and they always make me feel so happy and confident and beautiful and i think Operation Beautiful are a huge reason why i feel so happy and positive now.
I'm also learning to really relax and take time out to be in total peace and quiet at least for a few minutes everyday, just to do nothing. It's brilliant.
And finally, I've decided to do everything with PURPOSE and be more honest about my feelings and try to consider my own feelings more often, because as an amazing and beautiful friend of mine pointed out, she recognised a pattern occurring in all my friendships, and that was that I constantly put everyone's feelings before mine just to keep the peace and i ended up becoming extremely stressed and pushed to the limit, so i need to be more aware of my own emotions and to make sure my friendships are a give/take thing rather than just give.


That was the longest post I think I've ever done haha.
Well, i'm glad to get that all down :)
Have a brilliant night everybody.