Adventures of late. 12 week challenge.

Hello Hello!
It's been a while since I've spoken about fitness or the challenge....
Don't worry, I haven''t neglected the 12 week challenge... completely, well at all really. I have still been working out like a motherf***er but let's just say the Easter bunny came... and I caved at the sight of a Lindt bunny... and maybe a hot cross bun.... and possibly a few other random chocolates.... Never mind.


Over Easter my bf and I decided that it was a good time to get away and have a little holiday. We wanted to go up the coast, and he had been dying to camp. After hearing great reviews from friends who go every year, we decided to go to Crescent Head. Crescent head is midway between Port Maquarie and Coffs Harbour, which for those who don't know is on the Northern Coast of N.S.W. Which for those who are geographically challenged... is in Australia.

We split the drive in two and stayed with relatives in Canberra for a night both ways. This meant that it was pretty much two drives of 7.5 hours.

If you already follow @poodlestalkers on instagram you may have already seen some of these pictures (taken from my iphone). If you don't already follow us... you should start :)



A cider by the beach.... heaven!





Apologies for the quality of this image!



How amazing are these photo's! Crescent Head is such a beautiful place and is only a small little town. I really recommend it for those who want to relax.

We ended up coming home a day early because it rained and we were on the verge of a camping disaster... think flooded tent.

We must've looked like we were really struggling with our tarp because numerous fellow camping neighbours often came up to us with their "camping advice". It was borderline embarrassing, but funny at the same time.

I'm  not sure when the next camping trip will be... I think we will have to be a little more prepared! Such a great few days though and I managed to sneak in some amazing beach runs.

Speaking of running, and fitness.

I completed my first long run a few weeks ago. If you remember I was really nervous (you can read about it here) because I'd never run over ten km before, and this run was 15km.

The fun run was a fundraiser for The Royal Children's Hospital.

The race was completely fine! I had a really steady and good pace going and I manged to run the whole way. My finishing time was 1 hour and 33 minutes. Not too bad at all! Especially for a first time 15km effort!

The orange t-shirt I have on below is hideous.... they should have chosen a better colour for the run and maybe more people would've bought the extra fundraising item.



All nervous for my 15km run!





Spot me!



12 week challenge: Healthy Habits.

My last WOW was a "strength" WOW.... which is not really my strongest attribute! But I'm working on it! It included:

•  Bench pressing for 2 mins as many as you can (at quite a weight... it was hard work I tell you).
• Bench pressing for 1 min.
• Dead lifts, as many as you can in 2 mins. I had to modify my weight because I had a sore back... but it was still really hard!
• Dead lifts for 1 minute.
• Weighted lunges on one leg for 2 mins.
• Weighted lunges on the same leg for 1 min.
• Weighted lunges on the other leg for 2 mins.
• And then again for one minute......

If you're wondering what I'm talking about when I mention a WOW workout... then read here. Remember... this isn't the only workout I do in a week. I usually exercise 5-6 times a week, the WOW just being one of those.

Moving on... I thought this week I would share a little bit about myself and some of the changes I have made to my lifestyle.

CHANGES

• I've stopped adding salt when cooking or seasoning... Hard to do but so much better for you. It's crazy how much hidden sodium is in all the food we eat! I always check out the nutritional stats on the back of products. You may get carried away looking at the kj/calories, fat or sugar... BUT DON"T FORGET THE SALT!!

• I've started taking Chlorophyll "Chlorella" supplements. Fellow Poodlestalker Holly bought be a Women's Health subscriptiion for Christmas (she knows me too well) and I saw "Chlorella" advertised. Did some research and thought I'd give it a try. If you want to find out more about this product you should click here. But basically it is a detox tablet that helps to naturally flush out toxins, metals and pollutants that we breathe and digest every day without even knowing. Just a tip... If you want to start taking these... startly SLOWLY... one a day... they get you going... if you know what I mean...
• I've added a protein shake into my daily diet. I have previously pictured this Whey dominant powder in our Super Orb Recipe. I usually have 1-2 shakes a day and it's great because I can have it on the go (usually in the car on the way to work) (Let me stress... I do not encourage a 'liquid diet' and I in no sense encourage people to not eat.) You can buy it now or read about the nutritional facts. I swear by this powder and it's great for people who want to maintain lean muscle, lose the fat and feel fuller for longer!

• MOST RECENT change: I've added another supplement into the mix. It's by the same brand 'Evolve' and it's called L-CARNITINE. There's a big spiele about it on the previous website I linked... but to cut a long story down... L-Carnitine basically is an amino acid derivative that helps the body break down fatty acids and helps the body use fat for energy! Good-bye fat!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a little snoop into my current health/fitness route. Let me know if you have any great products or have any questions.

We love hearing from you xxx

APP REVIEW: Nike training!

Lacking motivation... try this app.

There is nothing worse than going to the gym lacking interesting exercises... I'm sorry but a leisurely stroll/jog on the tredmil does not excite me. When this lul happens you quickly lose motivation.

Recently, I've been feeling overwhelmed and exhausted and have been finding it difficult to think outside the square with my personal workouts. Usually I run or do PT... but lately I've been having to make up my own little sessions.

So I downloaded the free app 'Nike training'

.

You open up the app and these are the options you choose from for your workout.

As you can see, down the bottom of the screen you also can choose the option 'My Workouts'. This setting is a list of the workouts you have saved as workouts you like and would like to do again.

You then choose an appropriate level of exercise depending on how much exercise you do a week.

You then choose a workout you want to try. It also tells you how long the workout goes for.

Clearly I chose 'Get Lean' and Advanced. I chose the Razor Sharp Workout... for no reason... just a random choice. It's great you can set up a playlist to go along. I didn't for this session as I was so busy trying to concentrate on the demonstrations for the exercises. These are a list of some of the exercises you do and how long you do them for.

This is more of the list... the list is quite long! Hard work I tell you!

If you don't know how to do a particular workout such as a "Frogger", you can flick through the steps of the move to tell you how to do it.

At the top right corner you can see a video idon. If you click this image the app launches into a video of the Nike woman doing the exercise.

This is part of the 'Get Focussed" section which I thought was really helpful. Sometimes I like to do a whole session on my arms and then the next time work my butt/legs. This section is also good if you have an injury and want to steer away from say using your calf muscle.

Overall, I loved this app. It's interesting the whole way through and has great visual effects.

The only thing is... the first time you do the workout it can be hard to workout the whole time.. I was frequently watching demonstrations of the videos. It is important though, because you need to know how to correctly do the exercise.

The good thing is, the workout countdown only counts down actual exercise time and does not count the demonstration times.

I will be using this app again for sure!

Give it a try and tell us what you think!



Nike Training Club
Reviewed by Poodle Stalkers on Feb 19 2013
Rating: 4/5