2016 a year of positive challenges

Its funny how every time the calendar clicks over to a new year we have an overwhelming urge to improve ourselves.

Isn't that something we should think about everyday. I want to do that. I want to wake up each morning & think about what I can do, to be better than I was yesterday.

 I want to be a better wife, mum & friend. Relationships are something that we should all invest time in, especially family.I will be making time for a few girlie coffee dates with friends & dinner dates for the dream guy & I to catch up with friends together. As well as the usual mum time, I have lots of things planned for the kids as well.

My little Christmas reindeer, he falls under the family & fitness category, lots of love & walks for Ralph in 2016

I need to be fitter & healthier. I was on the right track in this department & feeling awesome but the festive season took over & here I am a little chubbier around my middle, bloated, uncomfortable & out of routine when it comes to working out.Oh, how easily I can be distracted.

 So time to find a little discipline & get back on track. I ALWAYS feel better for it!!!

I am desperate to improve my career options this year, maybe work for myself or maybe an employer, we will just see how that pans out. I am doing some pretty full on research into what option of study will work best for me & get me into a role within the interior design world, whilst working & maintaining life as we know it.You know, the current job, household duties, parenting etc etc.

There are so so many course providers, each teaching the same syllabus but with their own trademark style. The prices vary incredibly from college to college & then there is the option of attending face to face classes or online study.Do I do a diploma or just a cert IV. If you have any experiences or recommendations in this area all advice will be taken on board .No decisions have been made at this point......eeeek!!!!

I am a little photography obsessed at the moment, that is my relaxation, it really does transport me to my happy place. Its always on my mind as to how I can improve.
 Practice practice practice I think is the best way. I have decided to learn a little about editing this year & have already started trying to learn how to use Lightroom & will incorporate that with Photoshop, which will also be useful for creating design boards in the interior design world. I have noticed that just through the tutorials I have done so far on Lightroom it has made me put a bit more thought into how I take my photos, so winning already.

I have also joined up with a couple of photo challenges in hope that I can complete  365 days of photo's, or should I say 366 seen as though it is a leap year.Having someone set a theme for the day really challenges you to be a bit more creative. No doubt some of my photo's are going to be boring as some days you just have no mojo but I do hope to produce a few snappers.

 So far I have joined the
 Fat Mum Slim photo a day challenge
 &
 Finding Myself Young 52 weeks of memories challenge
I am yet to join a 365 day challenge, at this stage its just my personal mission. So  once a week I will post the weeks worth of photo's on here or you can catch me on instagram @dreamhousetrish
I think most of these will be taken with my iPhone. As much as I would like to do them on my DSLR the best camera is the one you have on you && for me its my phone. I have no major rules on this aspect as its all for fun. Its not convenient to carry a bulky camera. I often find my best photo opportunities arise when I am out walking or running, luckily my phone is also my workout tracker so I always have it on me & don't have to miss out on the opportunity.
My last personal challenge is to be a better blogger. Blogging has changed since I started but I haven't really moved with those changes so expect to see some new stuff going on around here as well. Firstly though I would like to get back into the routine of regular posts before I get to carried away. All will evolve slowly over time I think.

So how about you, any goals for 2016, I would love to here about them.
Happy New Year everyone, lets hope its a great one full of good health & happiness!

CHEERS
Trish xx

A plan to kick start clean eating & working out

So if you've been reading my occasional blog posts for a while now you would know I started off the year with so many good intentions, especially in the fitness & nutrition department.

 I was also going to blog super regularly. As always I haven't followed through on ANY of these plans. I am really disappointed in myself for this as I don't even have a real excuse, other than I have over promised & under delivered.

No point whining, it is what it is & I am the only one that can change these things.

You can go back to January read about my original plans on how I intended to get Fit & Healthy if you like or we can just start from scratch, togethor,today.

I have a few issues that hold me back from achieving my goals, the biggest one of all being terrible sugar cravings. That stuff really is addictive & the more of it you eat the more you crave it & the more you make it TABOO, the more you crave it.

I read this great article

So you want to stop craving junk food

from the My Fitness Pal blog & it really makes a lot of sense in saying that we need to learn to just allow ourselves to have a small serving of the foods we crave & even if you feel like more give yourself permission to have another helping on another day.

No more TABOO foods should help minimise those cravings, time to action some portion control instead.

Next up its time to tackle the exercise situation, the plan here is to just make sure I do something 3-4 days per week rather than 6 days a week sometimes twice a day.

I am a real self punisher, so I set these harsh, unrealistic goals of  an extreme exercise regime & perfection in the clean eating department & when I don't achieve it I punish myself with lots & lots of negative self talk & I don't allow myself any luxuries, like new clothes, shoes, haircuts or even a massage on an aching body. This sets off a vicious cycle then of stress & emotional eating, followed by bloating, weight gain & more negative self talk.

How am I going to tackle this craziness, by being kind to myself, loving the body i am in & trying to add some sort of consistency to my training.

My training program is going to consist of a minimum 4 workouts a week. To start I don't care what the workouts consist of, as long as its challenging at the time. It could be weights, a circuit, a brisk walk or some interval training. As long as I am moving & breaking into a sweat it doesn't matter.

I know when I get into the habit of exercising regularly my body then craves water & good clean food, so one really does help the other.

So thats my plan to kick start clean eating & working out

No TABOO foods just portion control & healthy choices 

Workout consistently 4 times a week with reasonable intensity. 

Do you suffer from these issues as well?

How do you tackle the problem?

CHEERS

Trish xx

Fit & Healthy- Week 2

One week in & I am happy to report I am ridiculously sore EVERYWHERE!!

A crazy statement I know but you do have to experience some level of discomfort on the path to being fit & healthy.

I worked hard at cutting down on my sugar intake just as I had planned.

 I did suffer some withdrawal symptoms, mostly just a dull headache that lasted for 2 days & I was a tad moody/snappy.

Sorry kids :-)

The week went well during the week, but I did unfortunately fall of the wagon on the weekend as far as my nutrition is concerned, having a few cookies & pizza one night for dinner.

 I also enjoyed a few glasses of wine as planned.

My training was fantastic all week. I completed week 1 of the Couch to 5 k program plus added an extra 2 walks.

I also managed to do a weights work out for every muscle group.

At this stage my weights program for this first 4 weeks consists of 3 -4 different exercises for each muscle group with 3 sets of up to 12 reps. I am trying to set my weight so I do lift to failure by the third set & its working a treat, hence the sore muscles.

This weeks plan of attack

Nutrition - 

Keep trying to beat that sugar addiction.

I have made some clean sweet treats to help with that, you can get my protein ball recipe 

Here

I will share more recipes as we go along some using protein, some without.

I will also be cutting down on my carb intake at night which will also reduce my dinner size, something that is necessary as I eat far to large a meal at night considering I am not doing anything physical.

Training -

I will tackle Week 2 of Couch to 5K

  I will  continue with my weight training program but this week I am going up my ab training to twice a week  as good core strength is the foundation for everything & i would like to pick a muscle group each week to target a second time, this week I think its going to be shoulders.

I did weigh, measure & take a couple of BEFORE pics last week as a measure of how I am trekking but I know if I check in on those stats to regularly, I tend to self sabotage, so I will just keep at it for a few weeks, until I can feel some changes in my clothes, before I worry about those tasks.

I do however fell less bloated & a little more energetic already.

I will be participating in the February

Maxines Shape up Challenge

so perhaps I will wait until then to measure my progress.

Remember, If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't work!!

If you would like to catch up on last weeks post you can read it  here

How are your fitness & nutrition goals for 2015 coming along?

CHEERS

Trish x

Fit & Healthy Week 1

For most of my life I have been interested in fitness & nutrition.

I was a sporty kid & then started working in the fitness industry at the age of twenty as an aerobics instructor.

This is me in my mid twenties after 2 kids. I used to love teaching Les Mills classes & still enjoy participating in them if I am ever in a gym.

I studied  to become a personal trainer & nutritionist. I even started my own personal training studio & worked in this industry until my early thirties, when baby no.3 came along. 

The hours became to challenging with a family. Most clients needed to train early in the morning or after work, the busy times in a family home.

 Sadly I let my qualifications go by the way side & eventually my healthy habits became more inconsistent.

 I have never fully abandoned my healthy lifestyle,I just became inconsistent & that doesn't get results, or at least not the results I wanted.

I'm not particularly over weight or unfit but I am about 5kg away from where I would like to be.

I want to be able to run 5km & see some muscle tone.

I want to go clothes shopping & not have to shop for clothes that hide my muffin top & I want to be able to have a photo taken & not think argh, look at that chubby face!

In 2013 I participated in the Maxines 12 week Shape up Challenge & got great results, but then got sick, which really played havoc with my health for about 3 months .

 I just never got back into the habit after that, we then moved house & well here I am, with no excuses now other than failing to start!!!

This was my final photo after the Maxines challenge,I wanted to lose just a touch more after this yet here I am 18months later & 2kg heavier.

Plan of attack

As Nike suggest I am going to "Just Do It!!!!"

I am starting with the Couch to 5k running program, they have a great app for your phone & a nice lady tells me when to run & when to walk.You only need to do it 3 x a week which is very achievable.

If you want to burn fat you need to do some cardio, you need to challenge yourself.

I walk most mornings but its not a challenge so it is only useful for maintaining my current weight & fitness level.

I've done this program before it  really does make the progression from walking to running reasonably easy & if you are struggling you just repeat the day or week until you are ready to move forward. 

I have my own gym set up at home so there is no reason I cant do a weight training program, nothing to stop me but laziness. I have written myself a   program so I can do a little something each day.There are however a wealth of great programs on bodybuilding.com if I want something a little different.

 The best results come from lifting weights, changing your body shape & boosting your metabolism.

Once again, it has to be challenging to work

I will also be cutting a lot of crap from my diet, mostly sugar, just making small changes each day over a few weeks until I am eating clean again.

Baby steps to form lifelong good habits, rather than an all or nothing attitude.

So feel free to join me, I will be updating once a week on how I am going, results or no results.

You can document your journey in the comments if you like or would any fellow bloggers like to join me & we could make a link party, a great way to share training, motivational tips & recipes.

What are your thought?

Have you lost your way & need a little boost to get going again as well?

CHEERS

Trish xx

2015 ALREADY!!!!

Seriously, 2015 already!!!

How quickly did the past 12 months pass us by ?

We had a nice night ringing in the new year with some lovely friends.

We made the most of where we live & all walked to the river to watch the 9pm fireworks & then back home to count down until midnight.

I have lots of plans for the new year, how about you?

We have lots of plans for repairing & rejuvenating our home, it will be a slow & ongoing process as we will be trying ever so hard to save for each stage rather than create debt for our reno's.

So having a strict budget & sticking to it will be a priority, sounds boring I know, but it will pay off down the track.

Lucky this big guy is clever & we wont need to hire to many outside trades, I will be the chief designer & lackie whilst he does the clever stuff.

My kids all have big years ahead, full of change

No.1 is going into her 2nd year of studying Graphic Design at Billie Blue Design College & living & working in Sydney. She has really made a great life for herself & enjoys city living.

No.2 Has just completed a Cert 4 in Business Admin & is now on the lookout for employment. She has a huge list of goals to kick this year & I have no doubt she will achieve them all.

No.3 Is just about to start High School & is maturing at a rapid pace. He really is looking forward to the change & plans on tackling it with great gusto

&

No.4 goes into primary school, she really is growing up way to fast.

2014 was full of ups & downs for us, it does sometimes feel like every time we are getting ahead something changes to pull us back again. Generally after a lot of frustration, life heads in a new direction & it sorts itself out again.

Career wise this has certainly been truer than true.

I will be looking for the perfect part time job, I have no real direction there, do I return to hairdressing, look for something sales orientated in line with my last job(New Home Sales consultant), work in retail, preferably homewares or home furnishings or learn something new.

I think it will be dictated more by the work hours on offer & what works family wise rather than passion.

I have been very inconsistent with my fitness & nutrition over the past 6 months & it shows.

I feel very sluggish & my clothes have become a little to snug for comfort.

Its time to get back on track & build regular exercise back into my daily routine . I really do need to cut back on the sweet treats & wine

This may hurt.......

So to cut a long story short, my goals for 2015

Happy kids

Happy husband

Renovate our home

Save Money

Eat healthy

Exercise

Get a job

& have a few adventures along the way.

How about you, do you have any major resolutions?

Happy 2015 everyone, here's to a healthy, wealthy, smooth sailing 2015

CHEERS

Trish xx

Fit bodies are built in the winter

I have just embarked on what I believe will be an annual event for me

Maxines Challenge

I participated in this challenge last year & one of my girl friends actually won the event so I can say without a doubt that the results you see are real.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience  & whilst I have regained a small amount of what I lost in last years challenge it only happened recently when I got sick & was unable to exercise for 3 months.

So this year I have bigger goals to kick .

I am aiming for ABS, I haven't seen them since my late 20's so its time to rid them of 15 yrs of padding....eeek!!!

I am going to post the occasional recipe or update on how I am going with it all, from time to time to share with my challenge buddies & anyone else that likes to follow a clean eating lifestyle.

Don't worry, there will still be plenty of the usual stuff as well.

I try to be a little thrifty on the challenge & still follow the nutrition plan as close as possible, after all its a system that works so why mess with it.

This is my version of a protein ball recipe that I use to replace protein bars

Enjoy!!!

Choc Chia Protein Balls

¾ cup Protein Powder(Vanilla or Choc)

½ cup Almond meal

½ cup Coconut

1 heaped tablespoon of Tahini Paste or Organic Peanut butter

3 tablespoons of Cacao Powder

2 tablespoons of Stevia or Natvia

3 tablespoons of Chia Seeds

Cold Water

Mix all dry ingredients, then peanut butter. Slowly add water until you make a sticky  paste. Be careful not to add to much water or you wont be able to roll it into a ball.

Roll into balls just like you would a rum ball & roll in some extra coconut, it makes approx. 20 balls

I sometimes add peppermint essence or even 3 tablespoons of goji berries to change up the flavour.

Macro breakdown is approx. depending on how many you make

Calories.per ball 64

Protein 5.5g

Carbs 1.5g

Fat 4g

Feel free to follow the challenge over on the Maxines Facebook page.

CHEERS

Trish xxx

CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE

Its the word that sums up the year ahead of us here at 

'Dream House for Trish'

Challenge No 1

Building the dream house as owner builders,

This is the progress so far, just a hole in the ground which has been affectionately called

"The house hole"

One day it will look more like this!!!

Challenge No 2

As some of  you know we are starting our own online home wares store.

I know there are lots of them around but I need to create an income that works around my kids & my shift working, house building husband so I will be working very hard to build a store lots of people love.

At this point we are just a face book page while lots of work is going on in the background on a website for us to go live.

I have some stock ready to go, just  finalising the details on the website now.

Drop by for a sneak peek if you like, feel free to like our page & share the word. Any assistance to get our name out would be greatly appreciated, just as much as any advice, product recommendations or wholesaler recomendations.

Dream House Decor

Just a few of the stylish items we are going to sell.

Challenge No 3

Last year I did a 12 week transformation Challenge & while I was pretty happy with the results I achieved I still have a few more goals to kick, so as of Jan 13th I am embarking on another 12 week challenge.

The photo above is 12 weeks of hard work, I lost a mere 4 kg but over 40 cm. I learnt how to get back to eating clean & training hard.

I had really let myself get very unhealthy over the past few years & actually got back into fitness at the dream guy's suggestion as a way to manage my stress. It was the best thing I ever did. I am certainly a happier girl & have so much more energy as well.

This time around I am starting with a reasonable level of fitness & a bunch of healthy habits so it wont be as big a shock to the system.

Don't you just love the difference a spray tan makes." If you can't tone it, then tan it!" is what my spray tan lady always say's.

I'm sure there is  a more specific title than spray tan lady, perhaps Tan Technician. I do apologise for my ignorance.I get my tan done by my massage therapist & she is awesome in both roles.

Challenge No 4

Staying on top of homework & school commitments.

I really hate homework time.

Of course everyday living as a wife & mother brings about its own challenges & I am hoping to tackle them all with gusto!!!

What challenges do you have ahead of you?

Do you have a word that sums up the year ahead?

Happy 2014 everyone.

CHEERS

Trish xxx

Project Resolution

I prefer to call them goals rather than resolutions, I feel like it gives me a better chance at succeeding...crazy I know!!!

Can you guess what this goal is going to be?

Ah yes, you are close.....

My goal is to be

CONSISTENT!

If I am consistent with my exercise program, eventually I will build my fitness & strength & eventually I will loose a few kilograms & eventually I will get back to being a Yummy Mummy....yes that's right, I was once an awesomely fit healthy & super toned mum, but, unfortunately I let it all go & joined the land of the flabby sloths...bummer.... it really does hurt when you have to get fit again!!!!!

I am also continuing on with my goal to be a fabulous & creative photographer so I am joining

Darcy from Life with My 3 Boybarians in her project 52

This weeks theme is "Resolution"

Do you make resolutions or set goals?

CHEERS

Trish xxx