Tag: weightloss

Children, Christmas, Diet, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Fitness, Food, Gym, Healthy Eating, Hobbies, Parents, Photography

Celebrating The Small Things:Week Four

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Celebrating The Small Things:Week Four

This weeks ‘celebrating the small things’ is a little self indulgent as I’m unusually pleased with what I have achieved. I’m usually full of self doubt and always see the negatives in what I do which is really counter productive and something I want to try to improve so here it goes:

Happy In My Work- I recently restarted teaching my ladies fitness kickboxing classes which I have found a whole new love for. Teaching was always a huge passion for me but the more children I had the trickier it became to fit this kind of work in and sadly it stopped a few years ago.
Thankfully the New Year has bought with it some lovely faces both old and new that have made my job an absolute pleasure once again.

Weight Loss Going Well – A New Year, restarting my classes and a big hit of self motivation has seen me finally losing some weight.
I wrote a post a while ago on how the past few years have seen me gaining a lot of weigh which has really bought me down and I’m so pleased that over the past few weeks I have seen some changes for the good.
I’ve banished the scales as these are always a source of disappointment for me and have simply used how I look and real as motivation to keep me going.

Looking Back – Last week the lovely Carrisa over at Little Likely Lads tagged me in a post on Insta Stories that needed me to scroll back through my hundreds of photos on Instagram to find my first ever post.
Of course this task had me stopping and looking over all the photos through the years and made me love this social media platform even more.
Moments captured in pictures are hugely important to me and Instagram allows me to see a whole host of my favourite moments in seconds.

Christmas, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Fitness, Food, Gym

Getting 2018 Off To A Swimming Start

by thejoyoffive3 Comments on Getting 2018 Off To A Swimming Start

Oh yes in only a few weeks all the jollities of Christmas will be over and it will be time to start thinking about the brand new year ahead of us.

After weeks of gorging on mince pies and mulled wine, spending hours in front of the television dipping into the christmas chocolates and feasting on three course meals with the family the first thing on my mind is going to be how to shift all of that winter weight gain!

If I’m completely honest it isn’t just Christmas that is to blame for my expanding waistline it has slowly been creeping on over the past two years and I’m finding it increasingly hard to give off that ‘I’m happy with my body at any size’ vibe!

Over my adult life I have struggled terribly with body image and still harbour a very unhealthy relationship with food that over the years has left me very poorly from under eating and over training to bringing out huge insecurities though talking things to the other end of the scale where I massively over eat and lead a very sedentary lifestyle.

Its not just what I look like on the outside that is an issue, I know I’m currently in a place when I’m not feeding my body as I should and this is leading to me feeling constantly lethargic and lacking in motivation.

My mental health is also bearing a lot of strain as my confidnce has taken a huge battering and I am finding myself avoiding social situations where I might feel intimidated by other women and am making myself feel very isolated at times.

Sitting here writing this has really brought this issue to light for me and although I’m really not a lover of setting New Years resolutions I am going to go into the New Year with a positive mind about getting myself fit and healthy so that I am happy within myself and not letting this have a detrimental effect on my family.

Through a combination of over training in my younger days, being overweight and the general effects of getting older my joints are really feeling the strain these days and I think the best way to get things back on track again is to ease myself into exercise with swimming.

Im not the strongest of swimmers but with even an easy swim burning off up too 500 calories it is certainly a great way to kick start exercise again.

The thought of donning a swimsuit however is filling me with dread but there are some great plus size swimwear options out there to ease the pain.

Once in the pool its not only calories that will be burned; it will also help to boost my metabolism and all the while keeping my joints safe.

Water is also a massive 800 times denser than air so with each push, pull and kick it will give your body a great resistance workout too.

So this new year will hopefully see me facing my fears, changing my way of life and fingers crossed getting some great results!

*collaberated post

Diet, Families, Family Life, Food, Healthy Eating

Everdine:Healthy Eating Straight To Your Door

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Everdine:Healthy Eating Straight To Your Door

We are halfway through the year now and I’m sure that the majority of those healthy eating resolutions fell by the wayside months ago.

I know that mine have been pretty on and off and I have to say that aside from my terrible lack of willpower a large part of me failing is due to lack of preparation and misjudgement of portion sizes.

Being on the go continually means that sometimes I don’t get myself together enough to prepare a healthy, home cooked meal and I find myself reaching into the freezer for the old faithful nuggets and chips.

Don’t get me wrong the children are always over the moon when this happens but is really not good for my waistline and tends to then lead to the whole ‘well I’ve eaten badly so I will carry on’ attitude and before I know out I’ve packed away a whole pack of biscuits!

What I need is something nutritious and filling that I can prepare in a short space of time, so when Everdine got in touch with me to try out their home delivery meal service I was egar to find out how they would measure up.

Their healthy and nutrious meals are created by Mitchelin star chefs who go to great lengths to prepare gourmet meals that can be stored in the freezer to take out as and when needed and ready in around 10 mins.

You simply need to choose from a 8 or 12 meal option that can be delivered weekly or monthly and your delivery arrives to your door in a sheep’s wool instillation to make sure it as perfect as possible for you.

 

I had a mixture of classic and vegetarian options from things such as pulled beef ragu spaghetti and paneer of sweet potato kofte biryini to rainbow vegetable pad Thai and Cajun blackened salmon.


I’m ordinarily not a fan of microwave meals as they are full of rubbish and you end up with an unrecognisable lump that you need to pour into the plate.

Everdine meals however are full of flavour, and beautifully presented. They are in fact the closest to home cooked I have ever seen in a ready meal.

They were packed full or flavour and were surprisingly filling with a burst of flavour in each mouthful.


I used my meals over the course of a couple of weeks and stuck to healthy meals for the rest of the time plus regular exercise and managed to loose just over half a stone.

At just over £6 a meal I will certainly be keeping a stock of these in the freezer for those last minute meals in a bid to keep this weight loss up.

*I was given these meals for the purpose of this review and they are all my own, honest opinions.

Children, Exercise, Families, Family Life

Getting Kids Active In The Great Outdoors

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Getting Kids Active In The Great Outdoors

A while ago now I wrote a post about the sad decline in outdoor play and it is still something that I am very passionate about.

Getting outside has a huge number of benefits; many of which you might not have even considered:

  • Boosts Mood all children have some level of stress or anxiety, even if it isn’t glowingly obvious to us as parents. By getting out into the sun they can get a boost of serotonin from the sun that will help to lift their mood and help them release some of those feel good chemicals.
  • Sleep Stimulation the brain contains the pineal gland that is stimulated by the sun. This helps with promoting sleep so anything that can help induce this is a winner in my book.
  • Improves Vision it has been found that children who play for extended periods outside have better distance vision than those that play inside.
  • Builds Social Skills without the use of electronic stimulation or other distractions, being outside makes it easier for children to come together, socialise and make strong friendship groups.
  • Builds Immunity that old favourite ‘the five second rule’ is always used in our house and I really don’t worry to much about a bit of dirt. Getting ourside and getting dirty allows the immune system to build itself which in the long term will help your little ones fight off the bigger nasties that childhood brings.

For me though the biggest benefit to outdoor play is exercise.

With obesity increasing twofold in the past decade it is down to us as parents to educate our children on the effects of exercise and try to get them into our everyday lives.

What child doesn’t love a trip to the park to jump on the play equipment and have fun.

They are having fun whist exercising and not even knowing what wonderful benefits it is having on them.

Outdoor play equipment allows children to build their gross motor skills, promote well being, build self confidence and put in those foundations for healthy living habits for life. 

What do you do to get your little ones out in the great outdoors?

*collaborated post

Allergy Free, Dairy Free, Diet, Egg Free, Family Life, Food, Healthy Eating, Nut Free, Recipes

Sticky Asian Salmon

by thejoyoffive4 Comments on Sticky Asian Salmon

Along with most people after the indulgences of Christmas, New Year is the perfect time to get healthy eating regimes back on track.  In my experience as a personal trainer most people fall off the wagon due to unrealistic goals and being to strict with themselves.

The word diet immediately puts fear into people’s heads and food plans that are not suited to your personal choice means that they stop before they even really begin.

I am a food lover and find that if I keep my meals flavoursome and varied I am much more likely to stick to them.

A favourite in this house is my sticky Asian salmon that we serve with rice noodles and stir fry veg but is equally as yummy with rice or simply on its own.

Sticky Asian Salmon

  • 3tbsp runny honey
  • 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • Thumb sized amount of grated ginger
  • 2tbsp soy sauce
  • Half a side of salmon
  1. Line a baking tray with enough foil to sit the salmon on and cover over the top.
  2. Mix together all the above ingredients and cover the salmon
  3. Leave to marinade in the fridge for 30 mins or overnight if you can
  4. Cover and place in a preheated oven 180 C/gas mark 6 for 20 mins
  5. Cook uncovered for a further 5 mins and then serve
Diet, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Fitness, Food, Healthy Eating

The Overindulgence Of The Summer Holidays 

by thejoyoffive9 Comments on The Overindulgence Of The Summer Holidays 


Every summer I tell myself the same thing.  Get up early to train before the kids are up, keep your healthy eating regime going, keep treats to a minnimum.  Every year this falls by the wayside and I end up losing fitness and gaining more than a few pounds!!


The word ‘holiday’ just sends me into relaxation mode and that would be fine if I had a couple of weeks of indulgence, but seven whole weeks is way to much and I am beginning to suffer from it in many ways!


My clothes are all that bit tighter, my skin has become dull and grey and I’m now lacking that get up and go I have when I’m following my usual routine.

The piles of meat at BBQs, gallons of ice cream and trays of cream teas all washed down with a few glasses of Pimms have had me reaching for help with acid indigestion on more than one occasion.


It is back to the routine of school next week which means I can get things back on track with a bit of help from my personal trainer hubby.


I shall be donning my boxing gloves, crying at the burpee jumps and sinking a whole lot of smothies to get me back into tip top shape.


If you fancy following me on this journey I will be posting a weekly diet and exercise plan and charting my progress as I go.  Keep an eye out for next weeks first post.