I was out yesterday and read this quotation, its pretty amazing and we should all stop and think.

One of the major reasons why we fail to find happiness or to create unique lifestyle is because we have not yet mastered the art of being.

While we are home our thoughts are still absorbed with solving the challenges we face at the office. And when we are at the office we find ourselves worrying about problems at home.

We go through the day without really listening to what others are saying to us. We may be hearing the words, but we aren’t absorbing the message.

As we go through the day we find ourselves focusing on past experiences or future possibilities. We are so involved in yesterday and tomorrow that we never even notice that today is slipping by.

We go through the day rather than getting something from the day. We are everywhere at any given moment in time except living in that moment in time.

Lifestyle is learning to be wherever you are. It is developing a unique focus on the current moment, and drawing from it all of the substance and wealth of experience and emotions that it has to offer. Lifestyle is taking time to watch a sunset. Lifestyle is listening to silence. Lifestyle is capturing each moment so that it becomes a new part of what we are and of what we are in the process of becoming. Lifestyle is not something we do; it is something we experience. And until we learn to be there, we will never master the art of living well.

To get the maximum benefit from your fitness training you should be following a specific program.

You need to determine what you are trying to achieve with your fitness program and then design a course that will deliver the results you are after.

If you have program to follow you will be able to record your progress and make changes as your level of fitness increases.

This is particularly important if you are doing resistance training, as it is difficult to know what changes to make if you don’t know what your progress has been.

Recording your progress will also spur you on to better performances.

This helps your subconscious mind to drive you on as you realize the benefits of your training.

Record the number of repetitions that you achieve for each exercise and the weight that you use for each exercise and constantly challenge yourself to do better.

Even increasing weights or repetitions in small increments can add up to some substantial improves in your levels of strength and fitness over time.

Without a record of progress many people tend to continue with the same weights, or the same number of repetitions and wonder why they fail to achieve the levels that they hope for.

If you are training to reshape your body it is also a good idea to record your starting point on film. Taking that 1st before shot is the hardest part of getting started, but it is the one that you will be thankful for. When you look back you will see the changes that you have made, we look at ourselves everyday so we do not see the small changes, however over the course of a month you will see the difference.

Take a photo of yourself before you start your fitness program and at intervals along the way, I suggest taking photos every 4 weeks.

By recording this on film you can look back and the progress that you see visually and this will help to encourage and motivate you to continue with your program, there will be times that the scale is not changing and you may be feeling discouraged, however you will be loosing inches, by looking back at where you were you will see the wonderful changes that you are making.

There is nothing better than visual proof of accomplishment as a motivator.

I know that I have been quiet here, but with moving last week and this week preparing for my exam lets say life has been CRAZY.

I did not get my usual workouts in, but with Mal not being around due to working and a Martial Arts trip I pretty much did it on my own (not complaining ) but moving boxes, furniture etc all day for 4 days you do not need to do anything else.

Yesterday I took my last Can Fit Pro personal training exam and I passed, so I am all finished and really looking forward moving forward. There are a few more smaller hurdles to get through, but they are all business related, I have also been working on a new site that will have all the information of what I will be offering.

As you know from my blogging, I do not like to use machines, I much prefer body weight, kettlebells, medicine balls, sledgehammers, tires, so this is how I will be training my clients. I want to show people that you do not need expensive gym memberships, equipment, that you do not need to spend hours working out.

Most of all I want to show people that working out is FUN.

Had to copy this from OPTs blog ….

When you are doing what you know you are meant to do, there’s no need to struggle.
Instead of difficult or challenging or frustrating, there is simply doing.
When you are merely interested, or when you’re following someone else’s dream, anything can distract you.
Yet when you’re pursuing your very own passion, nothing has the power to stop you.
There is a reason why some things feel right and other things don’t.
Pay attention to those feelings, for they tell you who you truly are.

Well Ive had my Gymboss Interval Timer for a few days now, have to say I love it.

It is simple to use, and has a clip on the back so you can clip it onto your workout clothes. This week I have used it to perform tabatas as well as circuit training.

The beep is loud enough to hear over my ipod, so I still get to listen to my music working out. My girls commented that they could hear it beeping when I was outside and they were in the house ! (the patio doors were open though)

I was thinking about what intervals I could use this for, you can set it to run with 2 different times, and up to 99 sets, so there are endless possibilities.

1. Tababtas (work 20 secs rest 10 secs repeat x 8 )

2. Circuits - you can programme the timer to whatever you like, I set it to 1 minute and 20 sets. I just went from 1 exercise to the next no rest.

3. We run a Martial Arts school, and they do sparring, so we can use it for the 3 minute rounds with 1 minute rest for 5 sets. (Dont think they will like us for this one) Whats great is that once you get the timer set up, and press start you dont have to touch it again, great if you have your bag gloves on.

4. I was thinking about my friend who is learning to run, well, she can set it to run for a couple of minutes and then it can beep for the walking phase.

5. Finally I will be able to run my intervals outside, I always avoided it as I hated having to look at the stopwatch. With this after the warm up, I can press start and then sprint for a minute and then recover for 3-4 minutes.

This tiny piece of equipment really has endless possibilities, it really was the best $20 I have spent in a long while.

It is so versatile, as you can programme it so many ways.

If any of you already use it, let me know some of your workouts.

QUOTE: Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.

- Erma Bombeck

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Gaining and maintaining your fitness can be fun and should be fun.

Anything that is seen as a chore is something that most people will try to avoid and it will make it difficult to maintain for any period of time.

Unlike a job where we get paid for doing something that we might not always enjoy, the rewards from fitness are something that are difficult to place a value on.

Obviously the value of good health is more important than most things in life but it is so easy to discount, that we need to look at the fitness program that we will be using to ensure it will be fun and we will continue to use it.

There are so many different ways of keeping fit and many of these can be as enjoyable as a walk in the park with your dog or a swim in the pool every day, a bike ride with your family.

If you are starting on a fitness program that you find difficult and unappealing from day one then there is a good possibility that you will not follow through and get the benefits that you expect from the program

You would be better off choosing a program that might not deliver the same results in the same time but one that you know you will follow through until the end.

If you can find some form of fitness training that you really enjoy doing then you can make it a lifetime activity and enjoy improved health for as long as possible.

Your fitness program should be something that you look forward to when you wake each day.

The fitter you get, and the more benefits that you see from your fitness the more likely you are going to enjoy what you are doing.

Your perspective of training will change, as you get fitter, so you might find that you need to reassess the program you are on and change it as your fitness level increases.

I have been neglecting everything.  These past 6 weeks have been the worst of this year (life).  Not sure I even want to type out everything, as it is so hard to believe.   All I want to say now, is that its time to stop the pity party, find a new place to live, finish my personal training exam and MOVE FORWARD.

Fingers crossed that we manage to find a place that is close to where we live now, I have just got my both of my girls into the same school for the new school year, and I do not want to change that, also we need to live near to the Martial Art business that we run.  Mal has such little time at home at the moment that if we live further away he will not be able to come home to eat before leaving to teach, so that will suck.

I am sure in the next few months I will be able to understand why this happened, and realise that it was for the best, but at the moment I am having a hard time understanding it.

My weight has dropped to 129lbs, the lowest was 125lbs, but I have not been eating so once my appetite is back, im sure that I will be back to 131-133 again.  I have waited so long to break the 130lbs, and it being from this situation does not give me cause to celebrate.

I need to find my focus again, and someone to give me a kick up the butt!  I brought my kettlebells home from the Dojo so I will pick them up a few times a day.  I am planning on taking them to my daughters soccer practice and using the time that shes there to get some practice in.  I really want to get good at the hand to hand exercises.

This week I bought the gymboss timer, FINALLY ! LOL You can set it to run at different intervals, it will beep and/or vibrate so its perfect to clip onto your gym clothes when you are outside.  I have many different workouts that call for 1 minute sets and it is really hard to track the time when you are trying to do the exercises.  Plus think of all the tabatas you can do !!!

My goal for the next week is to make sure I get blogging again, my poor blog is neglected and I have some great material that I want to share.  I need to get back to eating my normal diet again, and not surviving on 3 coffees a day and little else. I will get back into my regular exercise routine.

I keep forgetting to update my blog, we are in the middle of some major changes in our personal lives, no nothing bad, but truly exciting, I’m not sharing to world until we get confirmation ! ;0p

So my day is being taken up with tasks to do with that. There are actually 2 changes and its just very crazy to be going through them at the same time a year ago we did not even think that one of them was possible.

Back in November last year, I knew that this year was going to be GREAT. Even when we went through Mal being laid off in January and being off for a month, I knew that everything was going to be FINE.

A great friend of mine sent me a book called “Dandelion” by Sheelagh Mawe, if any of you are being consumed by negative thoughts, you really should take the time to read it. It really shows yous how much of an impact these thoughts have on you, and how much damage they do.

I really believe in visualisation, and since last fall I know that since shifting my mind to only positive thoughts my life is changing for the better.

This week I am back at the gym 100%, my workout on Monday was slower than normal and I needed to rest in between the sets but I kept the weight the same and just pushed though. I did

3 laps of the YMCA track (=400m)

25 Kettlebell swings (35lb)

2518″ box jumps

repeat all 3, 3 times

Yesterday i tortured myself doing this one

3 laps pf the YMCA track

50 push ups 10 squats

40 push ups 20 squats

30 push ups 30 squats

20 push ups 40 squats

10 push ups 50 squats

Finish with 3 laps of the YMCA track

Lets say today i am feeling the soreness kick in.