Detox Week!

Following my 30 day challenge, I felt like I needed to check my diet too.

It's almost summer & I'm going to have to expose these shy dry legs & wear summery clothes verrrry soon. 

It feels right to carb up & eat comfort food whilst you're wrapped up in your onsie under a blankie in front of the fire in winter, but as soon as that sun comes out to play, it's time to feel fresh, light & energised.

And I'm so pleased I decided to do a detox (or 2...).
It's amazing how it helps alter your mind set & bring awareness to what we are eating  - rather than just shoving everything in sight down!

I have a terrible 'gowwan then' habit when it comes to yummy things. Whether it's birthday cup cakes at the office (there's 100 people, so it happens often), someones leftover weekend baking delights, a handful of raisins here, a leftover fish finger & chunk of cheese there, I'm often not fully aware of how many extra nibbles I'm consuming in the day.
I believe I eat quite healthily, and I do, but I probably eat too much & have too many 'extras' through the day.

So just like the 30 day Exercise challenge helped me conquer my fear of exercise & make it an every day norm rather than something to dread, this detox has helped make me more conscious of what & how much I am eating.

I have to say, when I list the food used to make up the meal over the 3 days,  it seems really measly, but surprisingly, I haven't been hungry once & quite the opposite, have felt full most of the time. The combination of food obviously works.

And the best thing is, the food is all readily available & affordable. I wanted to feel cleansed & refreshed without spending a fortune on special powders & supplements.

Here you go, from the Hungry for Change Detox Plan :

* Wake up Water
Squeeze 1/2 lemon juice & the squeezed juice from 1/2" knob of grated ginger in to a glass of water.
This apparently boosts your metabolism, hydrates your body & activates the bowels, ginger being a great detoxifier

* Breakfast Super Green Juice
Blitz 2 sticks of celery, a handful of parsley, 2 Kale leaves, an apple, 1/2 lemon juice & half a cucumber together with water to make a thick refreshing & nutritious juice.
This juice is a blend of easily digestible, alkaline minerals, like potassium. And alkalising the blood is important during the cleansing process as it keeps bad bacteria, yeast & fungi in check, which helps prevent cravings 

* Mid morning snack
Celery, Cucumber & carrots cut in to crunchy sticks
(or have another Super Green Juice)

* Lunch : Sushi Salad
Salad : 1 Avo, 1/2 chopped cucumber, 1 grated carrot, Handful of sprouts (alfalfa/ sunflower sprouts), handful of coriander, 1 Nori sheet cut in to bite-size pieces, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds.
Dressing : 1 Tbsp finely grated ginger, 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce, Juice of 1 lemon
Sea vegetables such as nori, are one of the most nutrient-dense plant foods on Earth. They are particularly high in calcium & iodine which help draw toxins from the body.
This is so delicious, so detox or no detox I'll be adding this to my lunchbox options.

 * Afternoon snack
Soak 3 handfuls of raw nuts (almonds, macadamia, pecan, hazelnuts, Brazil, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds)overnight, drain & store them in the fridge in a jar for the 3 days
Soaking the nuts improves digestion, increases vitamin intake as well as all sorts of other benefits as listed here 

* Dinner : Potassium Balance Soup (makes enough for 3 days)
4 cups of water, 4 courgettes, 3 celery stalks, 1 cup of green beans, handful of parsley, 3 medium tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp unrefined sea salt, 2 teaspoons of dried thyme/rosemary or French Provence herbs
Chop all the ingredients up & bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for 30 mins & then blitz to whatever consistency you like (I like mine totally smooth, no pieces)
This vegetable tonic provides an ideal combination for restoring acid-alkaline & sodium-potassium balance to the body's organs & glands.

* Dessert : Chia Seed Pudding (makes enough for 3 days)
Combine 1 1/4 cups Almond milk (or homemade coconut milk) with 1 Tbsp raw honey, 4 Tbsp chia seeds & 1 Tsp cinnamon.
Shake it all together & then divide in to 3 potions & leave to thicken in the fridge (30 mins)

* Calming Chamomile Tea
Finish  the day with a cup of herbal detox tea (Chamomile/ Nettle / Dandelion/ Liquorice)
A deep restful sleep is important during the cleanse as it will help digest unwanted stress hormones which can cause weight gain.

The 3 days were really easy. I feel fresh & eager to continue to eat healthily.
On to Detox No 2
<3

30thirty : It's a wrap!

So I completed my 30 day Challenge this week and fulfilled the tasks I'd set last week ; (all except the walk to work - there was such a  yukky couple of days of hail, rain & windy horridness I just couldn't bring myself to do it!)

Hoorah! ★

So all in all, I completed :

* 4 hrs running/walking
* 380 minutes of Yoga
* x6 15 min Nike+ routines
* 3 hrs other exercises

This totals 890 mins which divided over my 30 days = 29.66 mins. Close enough to my 30 min a day target!

(I do love sums that work out)

And how was it? 
Did it change the way I feel about exercise?

Fantastic & a big fat YES!

The introduction of regular exercise into my daily schedule definitely took away that weekly dread of doing something that I know is going to take a lot of effort & I don't really want to do.
And I've begun to enjoy it.
It's good to feel energised & stronger as a result of performing daily exercises.

28 days to the ultimate mind & body makeover can start so easily at home with a simple change in mindset.

I am now very good  friends with these, (and not just because they're a lovely shade of blue & look hot).

The only regret was that I ended my Health Month with an epic party at our advertising awards, and went so huge that it took me 3 whole days to fully recover. So I was left feeling like a bit of a loser for undoing all that hard work.

BUT, there's no point beating myself up over it. It was fun. I've learnt that moderation is also fine (hopefully I'll remember this lesson the next time there's a party), & I've just got to get back to feeling good.

So to get back on track, besides setting a new regular work-out regime to continue the good work of the 30 Day Challenge, I've decided to do a detox.

I was following Bri @designlovefest 3 day juice cleanse a couple of weeks ago which uses a product called Moon Juice from LA & was wondering if there was a  local version I could try. Then after my heavy weekend, it felt appropriate to do something similar & my hangover repent has fuelled my desire to tackle something similar even more! And it's funny, once I decided to do a short-term detox, I've been inspired from all different sources. My friend @angel7007 introduced me to the Paleo way of eating today & then the latest post on Goop includes a 7 day detox.

I'm actually pretty excited about these two 3-day Detox programmes I found here & here, and I've convinced Warren to join me in the challenge which makes any sort of diet or eating plan a 100 times easier.

How delicious & refreshing do these look!
You can just see the goodness floating in little green love hearts out of them
1st day starts tom
♥

                                                         

                                                      

30thirty : bad week/ good week

Last weeks yoga @ the Virgin Gym was fab. Karin took us through a Moon Vinyasa flow sequence & I haven't felt more open & flexible in years! The movement between the stretches & position holds felt strengthening as well as increasing suppleness & I was so impressed that by the end of the 90 mins, I could do my downward facing dog with feet completely flat on the floor, and it felt good ♥

On the Friday I did the Nike+ Leaner Legs 15 min workout.

But then the weekend schedule fell apart with all the other stuff going on (hair appointments, dinner parties & shoots!). ...
I take it as a good sign that I was aware of that though & I'm now determined to make things up this week.

Motivation Motivation
In the past I'd have probably have just given up. But I can't use skipping a day or 2 as an excuse. I need to train my mind to keep going. It's a bit like my mind set of eating badly & then thinking that I might as well keep eating badly as the damage is already done. Not very logical I know!

Motivation Motivation
I have been doing the Yogalosphy 10 min wake-up routine every morning, since last week and I'm enjoying this start to my day to feel like every part of your body is awake & energised .
This is a keeper & I hope to maintain this daily fix. I can already feel my upper body getting stronger.

So, to make up for my slackness (busy schedule!) last week, here's this week's goals to achieve - on top of my Yogalosophy breakfast workout.

- Monday : 45 min yoga dvd
- Tuesday : Nike+ x2 . (2 bonus workouts : Hope Solo's Unbeatable - those side crunches to burpees certainly gets you warm;  & Shawn Johnson's stretch guide - which I have to say was quite tricky to follow.)
- Wednesday : Tracey Andersons arms and Dr Oz 20 min workout
- Thursday : Virgin gym 90min yoga
- Friday : Walk to work, 30 min run
- Saturday : eek party night!! I'll definitely get 30 mins of dance time in here!
- Sunday : possibly, just a leetle bit incy wincy bit hungover

And go!

Here's hoping that's true!
Motivation Motivation
♥

30thirty : a body like Jennifer Aniston's?

On Sunday evening we watched We're The Millers & did I have serious body envy of Jennifer Aniston. Wowzers, what a bod. Super hot!

I asked Warren if he thought that was one Yoga, and he replied that it probably is, but she's also been working at it for at least 20 years.

So I figured if I start now, I could have a super hot figure like that when I'm 60!!
(What a depressing thought!!)

When I Googled how she managed to look like that in the film, in turns out that it was a lot of hard work & a diet of vegetables, with the odd baked kale leaf as a 'treat'. So I really don't think it will be possible for me, even if I have until I'm 60 to accomplish it (especially without the $$$ million incentive she had) . 

I just like food too much, and living on vegetables isn't really living in my books.

But I thought I'd give her yoga  moves a go. 

It's a really nice 10 min routine instructed by her trainer Mandy Ingber and I've done it for the last couple of mornings as soon as I get up. 

There's too much to cram in to the mornings between waking up @ 6am & leaving the house for school/work @ 7.20am that I couldn't squeeze a whole workout in (and I'm not ready to set the alarm any earlier), but this feels like a good start to the day & will become part of my weekday routine.

30thirty : 2 weeks in!

I think I enjoyed my gym session yesterday!

And I think that if I hadn't had so much sewing to to do, I'd have done some more in the afternoon.

And I think I was slightly frustrated that I didn't have time to do more!

Am I hooked?!!

I took a friends advise to challenge my body by altering my treadmill settings. So rather than doing the usual 5km's @ 7.5 kmph, I did interval training, running @ 10 kmph for 1 min, resting @ 5.5 kmph for 1 min, for 20 mins (total 2.6 km). It felt good to push my running.

I followed that with 5 mins @ a gradient of 7.5 and 6 kmph speed to use a different muscle set again and then headed to the nice empty room they do normally do the group classes in, to do a 15 min leg work out with Nike+.
Tough but good.

              

Not looking my best! I was sweating buckets especially from the Jump Wood Chops & Drop Squat Jumps, but I think I managed better than I'd have been able to do 2 weeks ago & my goal is to perform them with as much ease & comfort as the Nike+ trainer!

I left the gym this Sunday morning, feeling invigorated!

Maybe going to the gym once a week builds it in to something to dread, & now that I'm conscious of exercising on a  daily basis, it didn't hold the usual fear.

There's hope!

30thirty : Dance Off

After Wednesday night's Nike+ workout & 90 minutes of yoga last night, the backs of my legs were a tad tight today, so I just couldn't manage anything too taxing today.

After work we often have a dance in the lounge with Lula before her bath time, so this evening Warren had one of the itunes concerts playing through the apple TV and Lula & I jumped around the room.

A little bit of activity (which is better than none), and lots of fun with my squish on a Friday night.

She's got some moves!

30thirty : Vinyasa Yoga

I went to a 90 minute Vinyasa Yoga Class at the Virgin Gym last night. And I can honestly say I really enjoyed it!

Whilst I was driving there, I was thinking how I didn't really want to go, that I was going because I have to and for the 1st 20 mins I couldn't take my eye off the clock, waiting for the class to hurry up & finish.

But as we got in to it, I loved the stretches.

Vinyasa Yoga is a series of continual movements linked together with synchronized breathes and whilst I knew most of the postures from previous yoga classes, the flow was quite fast at times. But between my Planks, Chaturangas & Upward facing dogs, I could feel the benefits for muscle strength & flexibility. My hips were crying out in some of the movements but I know with more practice I'll be able to connect the posture with a more steady controlled breathing & continue to get stronger.

I might be able to get hooked to this & I'm looking forward to next Thurs.

I've had a break-through!

The only hindrance was trying not to retch on my inhales when I was close to the stinky gym mat. Eugh. Most unpleasant. My own yoga mat is a priority now.

I also became very conscious  how old my lower legs & feet were looking when I was sinking in to my half pigeon! I definitely need to invest in some good exfoliators & body butters (and time) to nourish my skin as well as my soul.

It's all about making a little effort & making time. And I'm realizing that.

I tend to rush things. I'm so busy ticking the list & thinking of the next thing I need to do & I know I need to learn to be more present. It's just hard to balance that when there's so many thing I want to do!

x

30thirty : NTC

I mentioned the NTC App the other day.

My Yogi/fitness/health conscious friend recommended it to help me in my quest to conquer my reluctance to exercise :)

I'm new to the iPhone and have been getting more & more in to it over the past couple of weeks, enjoying the Apps & functionality of it. And Nike+ looked like a fun App to interact, track progress and set goals with.

I chose x2 "Get Focused" 15 minute workouts to target specific areas.

Crikey!

The 1st was Better Butt. And the 2nd Ab Burner.

I didn't have the equipment - a medicine ball for the abs workout & dumbell for the better butt set. But
I struggled to get through it using just my arms as a weight so there would be no way I'd have completed it with that extra burden!

The 'voice' takes you through the 1 min exercises and there's a video you can watch that demonstrates how to perform the moves + written instructions, so it's really clear & easy to follow & broken down in to manageable chunks (in theory!)

It was hard! And painful. (And not that fun)

My body had the shakes after both workouts.

I wish it was easier.

Maybe that's what drives people to stick at it . To get stronger, so that it becomes easier.

The App's great though with lots of options on types of training with different levels & progress reports to map your goals.

And I have to say, now that it's been 10 mins since I finished it, I feel fine again, my core isn't in spasm & I suppose 30 mins of effort isn't too much to ask of my lazy body.

Phoof.

x

30thirty : walk to work

It was such a beautiful morning today, I decided to walk to work.

An easy way to get my 30 min exercise for the day in before the day has started & then I don't have to stress about it when I get home for work.

Or so I thought.

It was such a  lovely walk along Main Road. But, I'm quite embarrassed to say it only took 10 mins!!! 15 mins at the most. In London I'd have walked that distance (or more) just to get to the Tube station.

I knew a lived close to work, but had no idea it was that close!

So I'll be walking home this evening & will be making more of a habit of preparing a change of clothes the day before & choosing my trainers over the steering wheel.

30thirty : Dr Oz's 20-min workout

This evening I was planning on trying my new NTC App out but it's been so long since I registered my Nike+ account that I have no idea what the login details are & will need to reset them tom.

So I had to default to this routine that I had also bookmarked at some point (in the past 2 years)

Dr Oz's 20 in workout from Oprah.com

I'm not quite sure why I had saved this particular routine to try out - I can only assume that I must have read somewhere that it would turn me in to a supermodel whilst still being able to eat do-nuts maybe.

Oprah is hardly the fitness role model of the century and I don't think I've ever bought an Oprah magazine. But the trainer is celebrity trainer so must know a thing or 2.

Anyway, despite Joel's cheesy look in his red vest, it was surprisingly a really good strength-building work-out.

You're supposed to keep your tummy tight, face relaxed & breathe normally - NOT THAT EASY Mr  Harper when I'm doing my 1st push ups in a decade & trying to hold a plank. But if that is going to make me long & lean I'll keep trying.

It took me 30 mins & the number of reps gave my arms & legs some serious burn. That can only mean some good stuff is happening, surely?

I have to say, from the floor exercises I did at the beginning of last week, I had a constant tightness in my legs during the day at work. Reminding me of the leg lifts & squeezes I had repeated.
And that felt good.
It felt good to feel the muscles being used.
So does that mean I'm starting to enjoy the sensation of exercise?
I can't say I'm addicted quite yet, but I'm working on it.

x

30thirty : Cardio gym session

So it's been a week since I started the challenge! Woo Hoo!!

Apart from Friday being missed, it's been quite successful although I have to say it's been tricky to think of exercise every day, especially as there's been so much on in the evenings. Definitely a mind-shift as I'm used to just doing my Sunday morning gym run & then forgetting about it again for a week

But, disappointingly I put on 1kg this week. Eek!

I'm not too surprised really; it's been freezing here, so it's been necessary to eat more! A couple of mornings I've treated myself to a hot choc & a crunchie. And I've had a couple of extra muffins that I don't normally have. And on top of that I've had 2 nights out eating at restaurants including wine & cocktails. Not to mention the delicious cakes, quiche, hangover sarnies and milkshake I had at the baby shower yesterday.

Never mind. Today is Sept 1st. The 1st day of Spring. The sun was out & I'm going to keep going with the exercise programme + think a bit more carefully about what I'm eating & cut out cakes & biccies!

So @ 7am this morning I did my usual treadmill run, but just 20 mins. 2.5km

I like going to gym at the crack of dawn on a Sunday. There's only about 10 people there, so I can sweat, pant, turn bright red & look like I'm in need of medical attention without fear of bumping in to anyone I know!

Then I did 10 mins on each of the machines : Bike, Step Machine & Treadmill to test which burns most calories. I'm not sure how accurate those gym machines are, but anyway. Whenever I'm at the gym, the girls on the step machine are always skinny with neat little bottoms - is that from the machine (in which case it's definitely worth persevering with if I could get a tight backside), or are they skinny anyway? Not sure.

Here's the results in the most calorie burning order, then I've also rated in effort level (3 being most effort)

1. Treadmill. 10 mins = 88 Cal (1.23km running @ 7.5kmph). Effort 1
2. Stair master. 10 mins = 57 Cal (29.5 floors @ level 3 & 4). Effort 2
3. Bike. 10 mins = 50 Cal (5.6km @ level 1). Effort 3.

So that works out quite well. I hate cycling & really struggle to do even 10 mins, so the fact that it burns the least calories is fine & I don't feel like I'm missing out too much.

And running comes most easy I guess (that statement doesn't mean I find it easy I must point out, I need banging German Techno tunes blasting in my ears to keep my feet moving & to concentrate on not having a panic attack!)

So running seems best for me, but maybe I should try & include some stair-climbing in the hope that I could sculpt my bottom in to a tight peach!

Here's to week 2!

x

30thirty : Sat eve stretches

So I have to admit it.


I missed a day.

My social calendar is NEVER as full as it was last week, and on Friday I honestly couldn't squeeze one sit up or lunge in to my day! The weather was grotty so a lunchtime walk was out of the question, and as soon as I got home after work I spent 2 hours starting a baby shower gift for Saturday before heading out in to town for dinner & cocktails with friends (which I have to say was fantastic fun, so 1 day off isn't too bad, especially as collectively over the week, the 30 mins was technically covered - listen to the OCD in me, I can't bear not ticking the list!)

On Sat, after a slight hint (bit worse than that!) of a hangover, morning swimming for Lula, rushing to finish sewing the gift & then hosting our friends baby shower for their twin boys they're expecting soon, I was exhausted. But rather than collapse in a heap on the couch, whilst Lula watched a movie before bed time, I spent half an hour on the rug in the lounge, in front of the glowing fire, doing a series of stretches, to complete the week and relax in to the evening.

x

30thirty : Womens Health Yoga dvd

My yoga-loving, lovely friend Fi told me about a great freebie in Womens Health this month. For a bargain R32 you not only get a magazine full of health tips & stories, but it comes with a FREE 45 min yoga workout.

I've just finished doing the routine now & I loved it.

I haven't been to Yoga at the gym for a few months, but I remembered the positions & could follow the instructions easily.

How the instructor can do those poses & talk & breath at the same time is mind blowing.
And inspiring.
I found some of the routines a bit fast, but it's great being able to follow the dvd & I'm determined to keep doing it to feel stronger. I feel like yoga brings out your weaknesses but in a positive way if that makes sense. If my hip wasn't flexible, the leg was shaky or my arms unable to fully extend, I was fully aware of it, but not in a defeated way - it makes me want to improve.

(And bonus, one of the articles on page 109 looks like another great 30 minute work-out for another day)

Namaste.

x

30thirty : lunchtime desk moves!

So I knew today would be a tricky one for my 30 min challenge. Straight after work I have a beauty appointment & following that a client dinner so I'll only be home waaaaay after my bed time.

This meant that I needed to do my 30 mins from my desk today.

Not as easy as I'd hoped.

I Googled 'Exercise for the Office' but most of them involved calf rises at the photocopier & running up & down the stairs like a lunatic (not going to happen, especially wearing high wedges like I am today. I'm more likely to break an ankle than tighten any glutes)

I was way too self-conscious to try these too. I tried a couple of seated crunches but was concerned that someone might think I was rocking myself in anxiety. And squats? Across the studio? I don't think so!

Cosmo's solution didn't work out for me either - arms rests on your chair is required for their workout.

But I managed to do a few of the leg raises I found in here  and repeated them a few times through the afternoon along with some Kegels & some seated bottom squeezes.

It's surprisingly difficult to clench & resist whilst still working though so I had to do it in 2 min & 5 min bursts & keep count on a post-it note.

Not a great work-out admittedly, but it was something.
Those stretchy bands would have been a better to use under my desk I think.
♥

30thirty : ♥ your lower body

So today really was quite a challenge.

Straight after work we headed over to the Poops for our regular Tues evening dinner (for Show & Tell). We only got home at 8.30pm & I still need to make a nautical-themed bunting order up.

But part of this 30 day challenge for me is working out where to fit 30 mins in to my day, and finding time for even just a leettle bit of exercise (my best excuse for not exercising is that I don't have time inbetween work, Squish, home love & sewing)

But I did it!

Well technically it was more like 20-25 minutes, but it still counts!

Before I switched in to my onsie & started cutting stripey triangles to make in to bunting, I did this routine. I've had it 'stored' on Pinterest, for, well, quite a while so it was good to finally try it out!

It didn't seem too challenging, but I'm happy to ease in to things this week. Next time I'll try the harder versions of each exercise & do 3 or 4 sets instead of 2.

The great thing is that it's easy to follow & you just need a wall!

However, I do need to buy an exercise mat - our slate tiled floor wasn't the most comfortable.

x

30thirty : with Tracey Anderson

At the beginning of the year I saw this post on Goops blog & made a mental note to try it out - one day!

Well now that day has come.

As part of my 30 day/ 30 min challenge, I did this workout at home this evening.

I don't really have idols, but out of all the famous people out there I do admire Gwen & have been following her blog for a while. She really does know how to live well & live right. So if it works for her, maybe it could work for me?

I grabbed a tin of baked beans & a tin of creamed corn, and I was set.

I had to replay the video a few times & pause the computer to do my reps, & crikey, did I feel it!

My arms have never been particularly strong, so I definitely felt the burn there & then discovered a few lost muscles in my bottom too!

I think it might take more than 15 minutes to get a bod like hers or Gwens, but at least it's a step in the right direction on my quest to get over my fear of exercise.

Day 2. Tick.

30thirty Challenge

Today I decided to set myself a 30 minutes/ 30 day challenge.

Life's good. I'm happy, I love making our nest at home, our Squish is just amazing, Lula by Emma is fun & moving in the direction I'd hoped, we had a fabulous holiday to Thai earlier this years, we have plans...

But the one thing I just can't get my head around is exercise. If I absolutely didn't have to do , I really wouldn't. But I know I need to and that it's supposed to be good for us. I just don't like it - at all.

A few years ago, following my knee op (which can I just mention was caused on my 1st day of yoga, when I had had a similar thought that I really must do some exercise, and yoga had seemed a gentle introduction to it....), I had a sudden concern, that now that my 1 leg was weakened, if someone were to chase me, I wouldn't be able to escape swiftly!

So I set myself a challenge to learn to run, and by the end of it, run the Kysna half marathon.

I trained strictly 4 times a week, following a 10 week running program & at the end of it, completed my 21.5km run. BUT I felt cheated. During the whole training process & the following years after the race when I trained much less vigorously, but maintained a bit of jogging in my weekly routine, the endorphines NEVER kicked in. I never experienced the 'buzz' of running, and every single time, I just did it, just to get it over with & then dreaded the next time.

Runners say that once you start, you just can't stop & that once you've broken your pain barrier, it's easy. Really? Why after 7 years of trying this daft activity, have those words never been uttered by me?!

Even now, every Sunday morning, I get up at the crack of dawn & run 5km on the treadmill. It doesn't make me feel particularly good. I just do it, because I feel I should & I can't wait to get my exercise for the week out of the way.

So this morning, whilst I was pounding away at the gym, I thought that I'd try & change this pattern & mentality...

It takes 30 days to break a habit right?

Maybe I'm just not exercising enough, and if I do more, I'd feel the benefits & start to LOVE it?!

And now that I'm older, maybe things will be different? I'll possibly feel the benefits of feeling good naturally, better?

I must say that recently I've been feeling a lot stiffer. A bit less flexible as I crawl towards 40. And if  I spend any time kneeling on the floor cutting fabric or making things, I have to say it takes me a while to straighten up. And despite my 8 hours sleep a night, I'm often tired. Maybe there's just not enough movement in this body of mine to keep it feeling invigorated & alive?

So I know I need to exercise to stay fit & healthy, mobile & younger looking (I threw that last one in hoping that I can get that with the package for free?!)

And the 30 days starts today.

The idea is that I have to do at least 30 minutes of exercise, every day for 30 days.

Hopefully by the end of it I'll be running with the determination of Forrest Gump & have the flexibility of Jane Fonda and energy of one of those cheesy models in hot pants & running vest on the front of a health magazine and will be craving more & more!

Here's the start of the 30/30 Challenge.

I started the day with my usual 6am Sunday trip to the gym:
5km run on treadmill @ 44 mins. (10 min walk - 30 min run @ 7.5km ph - 4 min walk)
5 mins each leg on flexibility machine to stretch out (level 100)

Then it was such a gorgeous day, that after a quick shower & delicious brekkie, we headed up the mountain with Squish to look for bugs, tadpoles, mountain waterfalls and the ultimate destination of our walk, the mountain pond with gold fish. Such a beautiful sunny Cape Town morning. Amazing views. Happiness.
1- 1.5 hr gentle walk

I must say, that as far as today's exercise goes, I can actually say that today I enjoyed it.

Let's see how the next 29 days go!

x