Tag Archives: exercise

instaweek | my week in instagram

Posted on May 5, 2013 | 8 Comments

Happy Sunday peeps!

I had a really enjoyable week!
Eating right, exercising regularly, achieving at work, catching up with friends, spending quality time with Jay (the hubby) & Harley (the doggy).

coffee meeting with my cool colleague Mike at Peas Please in Alexandrai

coffee meeting with a colleague Mike at Peas Please in Alexandria

arriving home in time to see this; Monday sunset

a good workout

healthy (paleo) lunches

healthy (paleo) dinners

Harley hanging his head in shame after eating all my buttons

Turkish for dinner club with the Jacksons

selfie – what I wore

drinks with the girls @ Baxter Inn

the girls; clockwise from the left; me, Mel, Mands & Amy

blooms on my table – Friday flowers

fruit from the Grower’s Markets; these apples were picked the day before!

Sunday session in the park

I hope you’re all having a great weekend!

→ 8 Comments

Posted in malarkey

Tagged Baxter Inn, Cavoodle, exercise, girls night out, healthy eating, paleo, Pyrmont, Sydney, Turkish food, weekend, workout

WOW | Workout Of (the) Week

Posted on March 12, 2013 | 4 Comments

I’ve got this annoying achilles tendon issue that just won’t go away. I’ve been dealing with it on & off for about 4 months and it’s so frustratingly painful.

That really has nothing to do with my WOW post but it’s just front & centre in my mind (and body) at the moment so I thought I’d share with you…since we’re friends and all!

After not having done a Kettlebell workout in quite some time (the kettlebells were hiding in our storage cage. Out of sight, out of mind!) I thought I’d break them out of hiding for a session in the park this morning.

After listening to a non-animal-loving-fascist berate me for not having Harley on a leash, we got down to it!

**Warm-up:

600m jog

**Kettlebells:

Swing – 3 sets x 20 reps
Squat – 3 sets x 20 reps
Windmill – 2 sets x 20 reps
Round the world – 4 sets x 15 reps [all demo photos by Beth Bischoff via WomensHealthMag.com]

**Finish off with Abs & stretching

It really gets the heart rate up and the sweat pouring; everything you want from a morning workout!

And to cap it all off, 12WBT (assuming this is Michelle Bridges’ support crew) replied to my tweet!

♥♥♥♥♥

→ 4 Comments

Posted in move it to lose it

Tagged 12WBT, exercise, Kettlebell, MoveNourishBelieve, train mean, workout

this week | in instagram

Posted on March 3, 2013 | 2 Comments

making Skinny Cow icecream into a pretty treat!  circa 2010 @ South Coast Bawley Beach; Harley’s first trip away Jay, my hot Monday night date;
late dinner after seeing an FBiRadio presents ‘The Imposter’ movie Amber!!! Had to take this picture of Amber Valletta for Coach at the QVB on George St to send to my friend Tam. Amber & Shalom were our supermodel heros in the 90s!   Feb dinner club with E & Neen at Mexico Surry Hills thanks for the pretty paper stars (that I won’t be shredding) Aunty Sheela!!!  sunrise over beautiful Sydney during my morning jog  running stairs with Harley  little monster – Harley my favourite boat ‘Poppy’. I want. I will also be using this boat to escape the zombie apocalypse (hope the owners don’t live close)!
early morning boxing  my husband’s cool ensemble  this week’s Friday Flowers! Australian Natives.  hello friend. made by Tino @ Mano Espresso  a well deserved Dirty Grey Goose Martini on Friday night at Darling Harbour get ready for colour & debauchery Sydney!!! Mardi Gras!!!  Saturday Pyrmont Grower’s Market in the rain  my skincare routine for the last 6 years…it’s the only skin I’ve got so I’m going to take damn good care of it!  my makeup ritual  50 shades of grey Sydney style… weekend of wet weather I finally hung my recently purchased artwork in our bedroom.
The three paintings are by a Swiss artist named Cristina B.
[contact via @CristinaBStudio on twitter] Saturday night simple pasta for my date home alone with the couch
& Xbox Live movies!!! I will not admit to eating half a packet of skittles!!!  ”I was going to be good Mummy but there were too many other options”!!! Harley the cavoodle
Sunday brunch at FFF Glebe.
Mango smoothie & pumpkin, walnut, chicken salad.

♥

How was your week???

→ 2 Comments

Posted in malarkey

Tagged Amber Valletta, art, artwork, boats, boxing, Cavoodle, chanel, Coach, coffee, CristinaBStudio, Estee Lauder, exercise, fitness, flowers, Glebe, Grey Goose, healthy, Instagram, jogging, Mano Espresso, martini, men's fashion, Nina Ricci, painting, photos, puppy, random, recipes, Revlon, running, SKII, Skinny Cow icecream, stair climbers, stair-climbing, sunrise, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Mardi Gras, Sydney Pyrmont, Yves Saint Laurant

stuff that happened this week | via instagram

Posted on February 24, 2013 | 2 Comments

another week down.
can you believe we’re nearly in March?

Sunday brunch early morning workouts12WBT recipe Basil Pesto Spaghetti made with basil from my balcony garden!getting my shellac onTuesday workout & dinner Wednesday workout buddiescoffee meetingone of my tattoos – Liebe means love in German. My Mum is German.view from my Thursday workoutWilliams family pawsThursday night celebration with colleagues; 12 years at Dimension Datacolleagues & friendsthe food at est. is amazing! what you get from a 3-hat restaurant!hanging with the coolest chick Elly; my hairdresserFriday flowers on my table; dahlias & hydrangeasHarley has two settings: on & off!Saturday 12WBT SSS session IMG_20130223_105812 post epic workout; smashed & cant move
meal planning; 12WBT penang chicken only 300 cals per serve!my new artwork from Cristina B Studios is ready to hang!Williams family circa 2011

♥

hope you’ve all had a wonderful week

→ 2 Comments

Posted in malarkey

Tagged 12WBT, beach, cooking, exercise, food, healthy eating, Instagram, Michelle Bridges, workouts

weekly fitness roundup | week 1 | 12wbt

Posted on February 18, 2013 | 10 Comments

You know that feeling of accomplishment you get from sticking to a punishing schedule? Yes?!!! Well that’s what I felt like this past week being back on Michelle Bridges’ 12 Week Body Transformation program.

My calorie intake is capped at 1200 per day
&
I am doing 6 days training per week.

Here’s my round up….

Monday:

Monday workout

6am outdoor training session; interval walk/run, running stairs, steps-ups & abs.

brekkie – banana bruschetta

dinner – fish with chickpea, tomato & spinach salad

My BFF Gracie stayed the night & loved this dinner too! We’ve committed to doing the 5km Color Run in May in Newcastle! Isn’t she supportive?! Can’t wait!

dessert – fruit jelly

Tuesday

Tuesday workout

6.15am Body Pump class at the gym.

brekkie – apple muesli

dinner – steak with green beans & mushroom sauce

This is one of my fave meals! The sauce looks creamy but it’s made of Philadelphia extra light cream cheese for cooking, dijon mustard & mushrooms – and only 283 calories – yum!!!

dessert – fruit salad

Wednesday

Wednesday workout

6am outdoor interval walk/run & abs

brekkie, coffee, dinner & dessert

brekkie – avocado & eggs on toast
dinner – potato, spinach & feta frittata
dessert – fruit jelly

Thursday

Thursday workout

6.15am Pump class

macchiato & brekkie – avocado, beans & rocket on toast

dinner – beef with avocado & corn salsa & mini-cheesecake bite for Valentine’s Day dessert

Friday

Exercise Rest Day!!!

brekkie, lunch & dinner

brekkie – banana bruschetta
lunch – mushroom frittata & salad
dinner – pita pocket pizza

Saturday

Saturday workout

The aim was to burn 1000 calories but this tough workout got interrupted by a thunderous storm that forced us shivering & completely drenched, in white t-shirts, running the 1.5kms back to the car!

brekkie – eggs, ham, tomato, cottage cheese & spinach

lunch – pumpkin, avocado, chickpea salad

dinner – Japanese

Sunday

Sunday workout

Body Balance class. Jay even came with me & loved it!!!

brunch – coffee & pumpkin, walnut & chicken salad

dinner – homemade beef burger & wedges

♦

Keep training hard!!!

→ 10 Comments

Posted in 12WBT, move it to lose it

Tagged 12WBT, exercise, fitspiration, health, Michelle Bridges, nutrition, weightloss

fitspiration friday | pump

Posted on November 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

I’m so pumped that I’m getting back into Body Pump lately!!!

It’s been about 6 months since I did Pump regularly; I’ve been opting to do my strength on the gym floor instead, but I get bored so easily and going back to Pump takes all the thinking out of my workout and let’s me just do.

Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday you’ll find me sweating it out, and to make it into an all round cardio / strength session, I jog the 1km to my gym before the class.

5.30am – up & at ‘em!

6.10am – waiting to start (low weights while my slipped disc heals – see, no excuses!)

7.30am – and done!

Happy Friday!

→ 4 Comments

Posted in malarkey

Tagged Body Pump, exercise, fitspiration, gym, Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, Les Mills, strength training, weight training, weights

for whom the bell tolls | fitspiration friday

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 16 Comments

I love working out with Kettlebells. They make you feel warrior strong!

Here are my top 5 kettlebell moves:

Kettlebell Swing – the ultimate in total core workout
Kettlebell Sumo Squats – the king of the squat!
The Kettlebell Snatch – power & strength
The Kettlebell Windmill – a little tricky to master but great back, shoulder & core move
Kettlebell Halo – core & upper body strength

Doing a 15 minute kettlebell workout at the end of your run or power walk is a fantastic way to insert that intensity that burns fat.

Or feel free to do a full body kettlebell interval workout using a Gymboss timer to keep you structured and fast-paced meaning you’ll get a cardio & strength session in one.

Apologies for not explaining all of those moves, but it’s too difficult to put it down in words. They say a picture paints a thousand words so here are a couple of Youtube clips I found to give you a good understanding of what your form should look like when you’re using kettlebells.

Happy Friday!

→ 16 Comments

Posted in move it to lose it

Tagged exercise, fitness, kettlebell workout, kettlebells, warrior

obstacles | wednesday workout

Posted on October 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

A couple of week’s ago I lost my Polar heartrate strap. It literally blew out the kitchen window never to be seen again (I live on the 10th story of a large apartment block, so it is literally lost forever). I’ve been feeling weird working out without my Polar tracking my heartrate and calories. It’s like I have no evidence!

Yesterday’s workout was sparring in the park with Jay.

1km jog warm-up
3 x 150-count fast punches; straights, hooks, uppers
5 minutes random number call-out combos
7 sets x step-ups with high knees & ascending/descending punches (20/40/60/80/60/40/20 reps)
5 mins reactive sparring (blocking and punching
7 sets x push shoulder block combined with ascending/descending punches (20/40/60/80/60/40/20 reps)
Abs
Bear crawls

→ 3 Comments

Posted in 12WBT, move it to lose it

Tagged boxing, exercise, fitness, fitspiration, health & fitness

the day before

Posted on September 15, 2012 | 5 Comments

My Saturday started with a 7am airport run to drop my BFF Gracie off for her trip to Yackandandah for her sister’s 30th/engagement party.

Jay continuously makes me laugh (lucky I married him)!

No husband, I didn’t pick these from ‘the side of the road’. We don’t live on the hillsides of Switzerland!

After brekkie we caught the light-rail into the city to pick up our event packs for the Bridge Run which is part of the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival.

I haven’t actually run a full 9kms (5.6 miles) without stopping before….and I’m nursing a foot/knee injury, so I’ll take it easy and see if I can jog the whole thing!

event pack

Nothing too special in the event pack with the exception of the Mrs May’s Trio natural bars which are to die for! In Australia you can buy them from Coles, Woolworths & IGA. From the event stand I bought a deflatable water bottle and shoe money/key/ID holder which are totes awesome!

Run start (bottom of the grass area) at Milsons Point

[via]

the north side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Sydney CBD in the distance)

[via]

the Bridge is closed down from 4am-11am for the runners

[via]

I’m excited about running tomorrow because it was one of my 12WBT 4 week goals; to do a fun run! Tick!

While we were in the city we did a bit of shopping in Pitt St Mall & had lunch in Westfield. I ~~blew~~ invested my allowance at Sportsgirl, Forecast & Myer on some colour block pieces, before we had a delicious & nutritious lunch at Iku Wholefood which I am completely obsessed with!

shopping & tweeting isn’t recommended!

Cobalt Forecast Blazer, Chartreuse Sportsgirl Peplum Top & Trent Nathan Orange Enamel Cuff

Lunch – brown rice, pickled cabbage, leafy greens, white beans & Mediterranean couscous with tahini vinegarette (vegan)

It would appear I am also obsessed with Twitter…

I bought some extra brown rice & white bean salad to have with grilled chicken for dinner tonight. We’ve got a quiet night in with an early bedtime as it’s race day tomorrow!!!

Saturday 14th September 2012 sunset over Blackwattle Bay/ANZAC Bridge – view from my loungroom

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

→ 5 Comments

Posted in je voudrais la mode, malarkey, move it to lose it

Tagged exercise, fashion, Forecast, nutrition, running, running events, Sportsgirl, Sydney, Sydney Running Festival 2012, Trent Nathan

12WBT | week 2 in review

Posted on September 10, 2012 | 12 Comments

I’m not particularly happy with my performance this past week.

I had great workouts but I slacked off with counting my calories half-way through the week and although I didn’t binge on bad food, I’m sure I did exceed my 1200 calories during a couple of days…I’ll have to see how it pans out on the scales on Weigh-in-Wednesday.

my Week2 workout summary

Monday (day8):

Monday workout calories burnt

5km jogging with Jay & Harley. I love love love my running track!

Pyrmont Bay 6.30am

Tuesday (day9):

Tuesday workout calories burnt

Strength workout at the gym:

10 min warmup on the Xtrainer
5 sets x 15 reps Legpress 60Kgs
3 sets (per leg) single leg lunges x 15 reps holding 15kg barbell
3 sets (per leg) single hamstring/glute extenders x 15 reps 25kgs
3 sets x 15 reps chest press 20kgs
3 sets x 15 reps overhead shoulder press 7.5kgs
3 sets x 20 reps bicep curls 17.5kgs
3 sets x 20 reps tricep dips
3 sets x 15 reps back rows 25kgs
Abs
stretching & roller

Wednesday (day10):

Wednesday workout calories burnt

Boxing workout in the park with Jay as my trainer! (boxing drills, foot work, head movement, pyramid circuit, combos & sparring.)

Thursday (day11):

Thursday workout calories burnt

4km jog with Harley.

Friday (day12):

Friday workout calories burnt

A session with my Personal Trainer Joe at the gym. I recorded a lot less calories than usual because my Polar played up and stopped working for about 10 minutes…Joe smashes us (Jay works out with me) and we did a huge arm workout followed by the most awfully intense Ab workout. My abs are still sore…

Saturday (day13):