Fitness- Keeping Track

I am exactly 3kg away from my goal weight, and I am finding that sometimes I need to hold myself accountable for what goes into my mouth and how much exercise I do. Enter my secret weapon- http://www.fitday.com/. I thought I would share this site with you becuase it has been a huge help for me ever since I started my weight loss journey four years ago before I got married.

Fitday is a free website that allows you to track your weight, body measurements, food intake and exercise. I find it really easy to do as I am on the computer at least once a day anyway, and I can quickly enter in what I have eaten, my weight for the day and any exercise that I may have done, as well as my weekly body measurements. It really helps to see how far I have come.

Being an American site, there are some foods that it does not recognise, but there is a custom food feature so that you can copy the Nutritional Information into the programme and then it saves the information as a custom food. You can also look up your recent foods so that if there is a food you eat regularly, you do not have to search for it every time.

Fitday is a great way for me to keep track of any issues I may have as it also shows me if there is any vitamins and minerals I am lacking, the balance of my fat, protein, carbs and alcohol intake, and also my percentage of  the RDI of certain things such as Iron and Calcium, which are important for my age and gender. You can also set your own specific goals to suit your needs.

Please note that I do not get anything out of reccommending Fitday to people, nor does Fitday know that I am promoting them. I just want to share how great this website is and I hope that you check it out.

What a week!

Well, for the past week I have not really been able to jump online as I have had a sick wee boy who just wanted cuddles all day. My thirteen month old son developed a temperature of 40 on Wednesday afternoon, which persisted until Friday night. He would not eat and was sleeping far more than normal. Four doctors visits in three days did not provide any answers, and finally antibiotics were prescribed due to a suspected ear infection. However, on Saturday night my son developed an allergic reaction to the antibiotics so it was off to after hours for a check up. Luckily I was able to continue with my plans of holding a scrapbook workshop on the Sunday afternoon, but it was nice to get more cuddles when I got home as my boy still wasn't 100%. Another doctor's visit on Tuesday morning confirmed that his temperature and rash had resolved, and today I finally feel like I have my smiley toddler back, grabbing my food and having lots of laughs with Dad. When a child is sick, it makes you realise how much of a joy they are and I am loving hearing his laugh again.

Food: Red Lentil Curry

My husband and I like to think that our lifestyle is quite healthy, and I try to have at least one meat free night per week. One of the dishes that gets the thumbs up is this Red Lentil Curry. This serves 2 but you can alter the ingredients to suit.

Ingredients: Pictured above, we have 1 finely diced onion, cooking oil spray, 2 tbs red curry paste, 1/4 cup tomato paste 1/4 tsp each of curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric, cumin, salt, sugar, minced garlic and minced ginger. not pictured but also used in this recipe is one can of diced tomatoes, undrained. You can use a plain can of tinned tomatoes, or if you would prefer a flavoured version for a bit more depth you can use Indian or Savoury tomatoes. To serve, you also need 1/2 cup raw basmati rice. I cheat and cook my rice in a slow cooker while I am making this curry, but if you do not have a rice cooker then you can use the absorption method of cooking.

1. In a large skillet or saucepan, saute the onions in vegetable oil spray.
2. While the onions are cooking, combine the curry paste, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chilli powder, salt, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a mixing bowl. Mix well. When the onions are cooked, add the curry mixture to the onions and cook over a high heat stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato puree and lentils and reduce heat, allow the curry base to simmer for 3-4 minutes and then add the can of tomatoes.
4. Serve over rice.

This is what the finished product looks like. Please bear in mind I am not a food photographer! This smells and tastes absolutely wonderful, and you do not even miss the meat. If you want to add some diced lamb, however, I won't hold it against you. I hope you try this soon and enjoy!

Craft: Baby Boy Card

I had a friend's Baby Shower this afternoon, and as usual I wanted to give her a handmade card. I started off with some Royal Blue cardstock, which I cut to size and then scored using my Creative Memories 12 inch Rotary Trimmer. I then changed to the small wavy blade and cut some pale blue paper. I inked the edges of the waves to give a more defined look. I then punched three scallops out of stripy brown paper (from the Paper Album Lullaby Kit) and also inked them for a defined edge. I placed a brown ribbon above the pale blue paper, and then above that put some blue polka dotted paper, although you cannot see the polka dots very well on this photo. The teddy bear was already made up in part of an old die cuts pack I found, as well as three royal blue squares. I inked these with brown ink also, and placed some corrugated sticker lettering on the squares. My last step was to add some pastel blue brads on the top of the card.

The inside was pretty simple. I used a vellum quote from the Expressions of Baby Boy pack, and adhered it using Frosted Splits. I then cut off a small strop of blue polka dot paper to write my salutation as the lighter background makes it easier to read.

And there you have it, my Baby Shower card! Most of the products and tools I used can be found on this website and are available to purchase.

Haircut

Today I had my first proper haircut in a year! When you look after a busy boy all day, it is easy to forget about yourself. Lately, I have been looking scruffy and after getting an awesome deal for a half price cut and blow wave on GrabOne, it was time to get a chop.

Before pic: Note the random blonde ends from my last dye job over two years ago!

After: Chopped a few inches off and put layers through.

I was inspired by this Gwenyth Paltrow look, even though I will never look like her. 

I am really happy with how it turned out, and love my new look! It is still long enough for me to put into a ponytail when exercising, but now I can wear it out again without looking like I have just woken up. Thanks to Janelle at MJ One Hair Studio on Antigua Street.

Fitness- Wheelie Fit Mums

Today I had my first session of the year with Wheelie Fit Mums. For those of you who don't know what Wheelie Fit Mums is all about, it is an exercise programme based in Christchurch's Hagley Park. A group of us do cardio and strength exercises with our buggies, free weights and tubing. It is a great way for mums to get in shape and spend some time with their babies as well, as I know how difficult it is to fit in exercise when you have a baby or toddler.

I really love doing this type of work out as I push myself more in a group environment and it means I am not giving up as I do not want to look like the weakest link! Each 50 minute session definitely makes me puff and sweat, but I always feel so much better afterwards. The group of ladies is lovely, and we all encourage each other.

There are free trials available so if you are in Christchurch, have a baby or toddler (as long as they can fit in a buggy) and want to be part of a fun group exercise session, then you can check out Wheelie Fit Mums on http://www.wheeliefitmums.co.nz/

First post-Hello!

I have created this blog to share my cooking, scrapbooking and paper crafts, and fitness ideas with people. I hope to post at least one topic per category each week. As a Stay At Home Mum, most of my ideas revolve around the fact that I have very little time to myslf, so the ideas I will be sharing are fast, effective and usually affordable or worth the money. I hope that anyone who reads this will enjoy what I have to share.