I am now living in England close to my family.

I had to leave my kettlebells behind in Canada, and i really lost my way with working out.

I finally got around to ordering a new kettlebell and today I did my 1st workout in 3 months, and did i ever forget just how effective the kettlebell is. My legs were shaking and my core is hurting.

Im really looking forward to making some serious progress this year and getting my body back into the shape it was in in October 09.

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.

The 2 main carbohydrate categories are simple and complex.

Some good simple carbohydrates are honey, fruits, jam.

Some good complex carbohydrates are - wholegrain pastas, rice, bread, vegetables.

All too often nowadays many of us get our carbohydrates from unhealthy sources such as cakes, white bread, sodas, cookies, pies, muffins, white pasta and in turn do not eat enough of the healthy carbohydrates such and fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, these healthy carbohydrates contain fiber which our body needs to aid digestion.

I encourage you to look at your diet and where your carbohydrates are coming from.

If you are starting your day with a sugary cereal switch over to oatmeal, and add some egg whites on the side and you will have a great start to the day.
If you find yourself reaching for sugary cakes at 3pm, try having some fruit and almonds, the fruit will satisfy your sugar craving and almonds add some protein and good fats.

I also encourage you to eat smaller meals more frequent meals throughout the day, this way you are never becoming over hungry and in turn this will help you to not get cravings.

One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease

2. stroke

3. diabetes

4. cancer

5. arthritis

6. hypertension

Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.

The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, avoiding food groups and supplement or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.

It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.

Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:

1. Do not starve your self.

The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.

You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.

Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.

3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.

Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules.

5. Drink lots of water.

Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.

6. Avoid too much sugar.

Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some whole grain bread, brown rice or whole grain pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein rich-foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.

7. Watch your fat intake.

Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.

There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.

8. Exercise.

Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activites and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.

It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.

Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.

Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result to a new, healthier you.

Thanks for your understanding.

My dog Lula is doing much better now, in fact she seems to think that she is ready to tackle stairs again. Mal and I want to avoid surgery so we are sticking to the vets orders and keeping her in just 1 room with nothing in to jump on.

As for working out … huummmm, being super lazy. Not got myself back into a routine yet, just been picking up my kettlebell at various times.

I NEED to get back on track, im feeling soft and squishy again, I do this every summer, I work my butt off in the gym all winter and then in the Summer when I should be rocking the bod and showing off the muscles, I get lazy. I put it down to the kids being off, but thats no excuse when you have everything that you need for a great workout in your back yard. Plus my kids are not babies now and they can come and workout with me, if im going for a run they can ride their bikes or even run with me.

The summer is the easiest time for your nutrition, there is an adundance of locally grown fresh produce, so there should be NO EXCUSES for not eating fresh foods. The nutrition side of things comes easily to me in the Summer, I am just a nightmare with my workouts.

Its time for the major kick up the butt and time to get moving forward.

Im worried about this blog, we really do not know whats happened to it. It says that it is a malicios site and google are blocking it. I have contacted google and also my hosting company. Tomorrow we are having one of our website builders have a look at it.

Im sorry if you cant read me at the moment, I do not steal information from you, if you have opted into my newsletter then I will have your email, but I only use that information to send out workingout tips.

While this is going on, I will still keep blogging.

My poor dalmation is really sick and needing lots of attention. She has herniated discs in her back, we may be able to avoid surgery if she takes it really easy for 3 weeks.

We have given her a whole room and taken away every opportunity for her to jump onto a couch or walk up stairs. She was doing OK but now shes feeling a little better she wants to not be on her own. Its horrible seeing her shut off from the rest of us.

We all take it in turns to sit with her and give her lots of cuddles.

My exercising is almost nothing from since just before the holiday. This needs to be taken care of FAST.

On Sunday night we played parents V kids from my daughters football (soccer) team. What FUN, and boy are these girls fit. Im feeling it in my quads and core the most. It was great fun to do a new sport while having quality time with one of my girls.

i didnt play football as a kid, Rugby was my thing, so trying to control a ball with my feet was hilarious, however I could kick it just fine! I wanted to pick it up and have a run with it ! haha

My goal for the rest of this week is to make sure that Im posting to my blog, It will be fitness related.

Im not sure if some of you are having problems because I have not been posting much so google isnt liking it. I have checked things from my end and we cannot find any problems with it.

Let me know if you continue to receive error messages.

I have not blogged for so long…

I have been super busy and then away on vacation for 2 weeks.

Im back now and ready to get back on track and get swinging the kettlebells again.

I just had an email from one of the readers and she said that her computer is picking this site up as an attack site, I am able to look around it without any problems, but if any of you are also getting this message please could you let me know.

Ill be back tomorrow with a regular blog, for now, its back to unpacking the trailer washing and tending to a very poorly dog. Our dalmation is very sick, she is becoming paralysed we are off to see a specialist tomorrow to see what our options are.