Feed Your Soul event wrap part 2

I am back into my normal work routine this week after my quick get-away to the Gold Coast for the Feed Your Soul event and I have had more time to process what we learnt.

After Ashy gave us an insight into her life and how she deals with struggles, bad moods and motivation, we got to hear Nicole Joy speak. I didn't know a lot about Nicole before the event. I knew she had an amazing new book out that she had been repping on her instagram account for a while, but I didn't know her 'story'.

Me (in front) and my sister snapped taking some notes during the event.
Image source: Harpa Design on Facebook here.

Nicole is a fully trained teacher with a university degree and all. After years of teaching and hating going to work, she realised it was time she stopped doing what she thought she had to do with her life and started to look for what she really truly loved and what made her happy.

Because she is part Italian she knew cooking was a passion of hers and realised that she could make a living out of it. She told us that she had the opportunity to write her book six months after she started working on her new found passion of writing recipes and cooking clean sweet treats.

It took only six months before her book was out! This blew my mind. To think that someone can have such a strong passion and pursue it so strongly that it becomes something amazing like having a book published in less than a year. Incredible.

Nicole explained that after years of failed job opportunities she knew in herself as soon as she started doing what she loved she was in the right place in her life. Sometimes I guess you just know.

She told us that there is no reason why we all have to be mediocre people. We can all be incredibly successful and bloody amazing if we just go after what we truly want. We need to stop doing things that we think we should be doing or think our families or our partners want us to do, and do more of what we love and more of what makes us happy.

This really resonated with me. We had to write down a list of things that we love doing, it didn't matter how small or insignificant they seemed, we just needed to jot them down. Once we did this, Nicole asked us how many of us do the things on our lists regularly. Most of us realised that what we had written down were things that we truly loved doing, and things that made us happy, but we rarely ever made time for them.

I really got thinking about the things that I love doing and why I don't do them more often. I find myself getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle of work life and push the things I love doing to the side, or say I don't have time to do them, when really, if we want something bad enough, we will make the time. I especially need to make time to do these things more often, because the more we do the things we love, the happier we will be.

A lot of what we learnt were such simple concepts to better our lives but sometimes it can take a while before the penny drops and you realise how much we can over complicate things.

Life is too short to be miserable in a job we don't love because we think we need to do it or need the money, or we think we don't have a choice.

I think we can all benefit from thinking about what we truly want out of life. We can design any kind of life for ourselves, we just have to be brave enough to go for it.

Nicole and Ashy, two inspirational ladies.
Image source: Harpa Design on Facebook here.

E, x

Feed Your Soul event wrap part 1

Hey lovelies,
Happy Tuesday, I hope your weekend was spent doing things that you love! I know I spent mine doing some amazing stuff!

This past weekend my sister and I flew to the Gold Coast for the Feed Your Soul event as mentioned in my post back here.

I promised to report back on the event and all I can say is, WOW. I have learnt so much from this event so I am going to write about the things that I learnt in two posts (so you guys don't have to read an essay! lol)

I was soooo excited for the event but even more stoked when the whole day exceeded my expectations. I had been following Ashy Bines and Nicole Joy on Instagram for some time now and had never thought I'd actually get a chance to chat to them about normal girl to girl stuff, but at this event we did!

As Ashy said in her speech in the morning, a lot of people see her on social media and judge her quite harshly and unfairly because they have preconceived ideas of what they think she is like because of her successes. She reminded everyone that she is only human (an amazing one at that!) and asked that we do not judge anybody during the course of the event.

I was blown away at how well Ashy spoke. She presented herself so nicely and was so approachable. When my sister and I were leaving the venue we even had a chance to chat to Ashy by ourselves and I seriously felt like we were talking to an old friend. She is just like us, she is only 25 (her birthday was yesterday!!!!) and has her struggles just like anybody else.

I found her story super inspiring and I told her I thought she should definitely write a book (which she said she hopes to work on sometime in the future when ever she gets a spare moment, which doesn't look to be anytime soon - this girl is one busy entrepreneur!)

We were treated to raw goodies for breakfast, lunch and snacks including muesli for breakfast and a yummy green smoothie after our boot camp session with the ABBBC trainers.

OMG the training session was great!! I had never done a proper big group session like this one before and it made me realise and understand why Ashy's bikini body challenges work so well. Training in a group makes the session soooo much more fun. My mind was preoccupied most of the time laughing with the girls I had just met or being silly in some of the exercises.

So many girls I met at this event were gorgeous people inside and out. We all seemed to get along together even though we were all strangers. I guess this is what happens when you put a bunch of like-minded girls together, we all want the same things - to feel healthier and work towards a better life for ourselves, so we all clicked!

I was so surprised at how much I took in from this event. I had never been to a 'motivational' talk as such before and I guess until you go to one, you won't really know how you will respond to the information.

From Ashy's story alone I learnt that believing something negative about yourself can change your whole life and influence the path you are heading down. Ashy truly believed she was too dumb to succeed at anything in life so she put off her aspirations of becoming a personal trainer for years. It wasn't until her life took a path where she had really hit rock bottom that she could muster the strength to apply herself to the personal training course and do what she really wanted to do.

Image source www.transformationcentre.com.au 

It seems so crazy now to think that Ashy thought she could never become a personal trainer! She is running an empire involved with helping women change their lives through fitness and health. Imagine if she had continued to believe that she was stupid and never chose to change her life and apply herself?

It's amazing to think about. I took a lot away from her story. Of course we heard a lot more about Ashy as well but I would be blogging a long time to tell you it all. This is why I believe she should write a book - she has so much to tell that a lot of people don't know about her and assume that success just landed in her lap. This is so not the case.

People need to work hard to achieve their dreams and goals and this event reconfirmed this for me. Sometimes it's easy to think that we are working hard towards out dreams when truly we are just hoping, waiting and wishing things would all come together on their own.

I plan to use this knowledge and work harder towards my goals for sure!

E, x

Feed Your Soul

Are you on instagram, or twitter or any other social media device?

Well I am! You can find me on twitter here, and my instagram handle is elliemaree12.

I love my instagram, and twitter keeps me hella-entertained. I am devastated that Big Brother has ended this year because it has been one of my favourite trash TV shows to tweet through! (Yes, I need a life!)

Anyhow, I mentioned instagram for a reason. I follow the very inspirational fitness and health entrepreneur, Ashy Bines and she announced a few months ago that she and two of her health and wellness friends, Sharlene Fletcher of Live Love Eat Raw and Nicole Joy of Nicole Joy Inspire will be hosting a health, fitness and wellness event on the Gold Coast for ONE DAY ONLY!

When I first saw the event advertised I instantly dismissed the thought of going because I didn't think I could get to the GC in time. Turns out, I can go! 

(Mental note, Ellie you don't live in a remote country town anymore - Sydney is only a quick flight away from anywhere!! Hooray!)

My big sister and I are going together which I think is even more special since we can experience it all together. We're only spending the one night in the GC and have decided that our only free day on the GC will be spent on the beach (since I haven't made it to the beach yet this season - shame on me!)

The event will involve learning to cook clean, raw desserts (OMG YUM!), a fitness training session with Ashy (which I am particularly excited about!), a question and answer meet and great with the three lovely ladies hosting the event, motivational talks, a yoga session and SO much more. It's the perfect excuse to deck myself out in my exercise gear and get an extra boost of self-love.

I am beyond excited!!!

Are any of you attending?! Let me know! I'd love to see you there :)

E, x

Catch up

Hi all, I've been a little slack on the the blogging front as of late with no real excuses except that not a lot of exciting stuff has been happening lately!

I am back into uni full swing and the time is going by sloooooowly. I am currently in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend who lives in our home town which is over 500kms away from where I am at uni so time is always a factor for me.

This term has been rough for me so far. Its nearly been two weeks since I last saw my BF and we have another two weeks before we see each other again and it is killing me! We Skype and talk on the phone all the time but its just not the same. We are both committed to doing what we have to do this year to work towards our careers (he is in his final year of an apprenticeship and I am in my final year of uni) but it doesn't replace the fact that it is super hard.

So this past week, following my whirlwind trip to Filex, I have been more motivated than ever to get in shape and I have to admit, I am loving the motivation. I worked out six times last week and felt amazing for it!

This was after my first workout back - not too bad since I hadn't been working out in weeks!

While I was at Filex I finally got a heart rate monitor/calorie counting watch that I have been wanting for ages! I used it for the first time for my first workout back last Monday and I am in love. I love knowing how hard I have worked in a work out and try and beat it each time I go back to the gym.

The best I did last week was burn 536 calories in one workout! I was stoked! I tried so hard to beat it yesterday at my workout but for some reason I just couldn't get there with only burning 451 calories. I'll get there eventually!!

I have been trying to stay super motivated and even managed to convince myself NOT to go to the movies on Saturday afternoon because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the yummy popcorn (its one of my biggest weaknesses!) So I got out of the house and went for a walk! I figure that some exercise is better than none! I was still pleased with the amount of calories burnt on this brisk walk and didn't get any 'after indulging' guilt that I would have felt if I had gone to the movies.

I tracked my walk using the Lorna Jane iPhone app - its probably not 100% accurate but gives me a good idea of how hard I worked.

Its no secret that I am a HUGE fan of instagram and I am constantly finding new accounts to follow for motivation and awesome food inspiration and I attempted my own version of what quite a few foodie peeps are calling the 'parfait'. It was such a yummy breakfast and a nice take on the usual oats that I have been eating every morning for the past week.

Please excuse the blurry iPhone quality!

I made this using whole oats, almond milk, 2 tablespoons of natural yogurt and some frozen blueberries. Super yummy! Try it if you need a refresh on your ordinary morning oats!

That was pretty much my week! Lots of working out but feeling great! I'm determined to continue to work out most days this week with Saturday being the start of my new netball season with a new team! I'm super excited!

What are your goals for this week?

XO

A whirlwind

OMG, last week was a total whirlwind for me. Technically I was on uni "holidays", but there was no holidaying happening for me. I worked full time the entire two weeks break! I can't complain because I got to do some pretty cool stuff while I was working.

At the end of last week I flew in to Sydney to spend some time helping out the lovely ladies that I am interning for at the hottest women's workout wear website Stylerunner! If you are a follower of all things healthy and fitness related, you will know that last weekend was the Australian Fitness and Health Expo (Filex) at the Exhibition centre in the city.

Stylerunner was launching their first ever stand at the event and I went along to help. It was such an amazing experience! I had never been to Filex before so it was definitely overwhelming at first. SOOOO many people came, way more than I had expected! Plus there was so much to see!

Some famous peeps made their way out also including the ah-mazing Michelle Bridges (from the Biggest Loser Australia) and she came and visited our stand and bought some workout wear! I was so star-struck! She was less than a metre away from me and turned to me while holding these Luca Hugh tights and said "These are hot!" It was the coolest thing ever, I swear!!

The gorgeous Stylerunner cofounders Sali and Julie with Michelle Bridges.
(Image courtesy of Stylerunner's Facebook page)

Anyhow, it was a huge four days. I flew in on Thursday and flew back to the Riverina on the Sunday night totally exhausted but more motivated to get in shape than ever before!!

I also got to meet Lindy Olsen (she was super nice!) and Geoff Huegill popped in to our stand to say hi to our Stylerunner Cofounders.

I felt so lucky to be apart of it all.

How has your week been so far? I am back into uni full swing this week with an assignment due on Friday! I hope you are well, wherever you may be!

XO

Back to being motivated

Source: fitfabcities.com via Lorna on Pinterest

This week marked my first week back at uni for my FINAL year! (Cheering!!)

I also find that when I get back Wagga for uni I always get that little bit more motivated to kick start my fitness regime. In my sleepy home-town there are limited fitness classes and the gym is pretty dismal so it is SO refreshing being able to attend several fitness classes a week which makes me feel strong, confident and motivated to continue to get in shape!

Currently I am doing classes five times a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I do 'fit-ball' classes  and Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays I do 'Pilates'.

I had never taken a proper fitness class in either of these classes before this week and I am really loving it!

What is even better is that I found a gym that is running a two month promotion where I paid $20 for twenty classes!!!! THAT IS SO CHEAP! (Since each class usually costs around $10 per session!) I have two months to use up the twenty classes, but at this rate it wont take me long to get through them!

My muscles are sore and tight but it feels good knowing they are working!

I love feeling fit and healthy again, and I am hoping this boost of motivation sticks around for a while if not forever!!!!

Tried & Tested: Amazing veggo recipe!!

I follow a few blogs that post about food and amazing recipes. I am a bit of a foodie, and when I find the time and inspiration I like to try out new recipes for myself or my family and boyfriend (my guinea pig! lol)

This week I tried out the most amazing vegetarian dish by an awesome blogger called "The Good Plate".

Jackie posts lots of yummy recipes, and this is the second recipe by her that I have tried and have fallen in love with! Soooo yummy!

The recipe is called 'Haloumi and  veg couscous with Za'atar, pistachio and yogurt dressing' and it is amazing!

Here is the recipe link  .

Because of my location (living in the bush of NSW) our local supermarket didn't have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for so I left a few things out, but it still tasted super yummy.

 Yummy!!

Bought it! Push bike love... found one finally!

You might remember that I was talking about buying a new push bike in my post back here and I mentioned a 'Giant' beach cruising looking bike that I had been lusting over since early January.

Well it turns out that they dont make that particular bike anymore, but thats OK cause I've found a better one! AND its ordered and heading my way before Christmas! *Jumps with excitement*

I was cruising through Facebook and found a link to Reid Cycles and saw a picture of the EXACT style of bike that I have been searching for. It was love at first sight. I quickly jumped online and located my dream pushy.

Here it is:

It's this exact colour (it also comes in watermelon - (which I was tossing up between), lavender, red, white, yellow and blue)! The only thing I couldnt get was the white wire around the basket (something about being on further order, blah blah so I settled for black but thats OK. Its no big deal!)

I am so excited for it to show up!!! I can see myself now cruising to town with my groceries in the front! Haha

I am even more happy about the price! It was a good $200 cheaper then the last bike I was looking for, PLUS a 10% discount, its like hitting the jackpot!

The guy that I spoke to on the phone (Allan was his name) was so helpful and funny! He made ordering it so easy and quick. I love a helpful salesperson.

Another step closer to living a healthier life with this new addition. Check out Reid Cycles here.

Realisation

Happy Monday friends!!!

I hope you have had an awesome weekend wherever you may be in the world! Mine was amaze-balls!

I travelled down to Victoria on Friday afternoon to spend a weekend with my entire extended family at my Uncle's 50th birthday bash! It was the best weekend that I've had in a while! I love spending quality time with my family, I am a true believer that people come and go but family is forever.

My extended family with my Uncle. We got commemorative jumpers made so we could surprise my uncle with a slogan printed on it about the party! We were like a flash mob, I loved it!! 

After about 600km of traveling over the weekend I had plenty of time to 'get inside my own head' to think a few things over.

I've come to a realisation or even a 'revelation' about my outlook on body image, fitness and health. I've decided to give myself a break from mentally beating myself up about my body image.

I don't eat junk often at all. In fact, I have no bad food in my house at all so it is rare that I splurge. I'm over obsessing about the thought that I am suppose to be so skinny and I am accepting the fact that I am no model and don't need to have bones sticking out to look good.

Plus, I believe moderation is good for everything (except water, I think we should drink more of that!) and if I have a slip up and eat a chocolate once a week, I don't need to mentally punish myself. If you don't eat it everyday, its OK.

Source

I think exercising is awesome and more people should do it more often but there is no need to punish ourselves if we couldn't get to the gym for an hour session one day, a 4km walk around the neighbourhood is better than an hour on the couch, its still exercise after all and calories are still getting burnt.

I wish there was more emphasis around the world about accepting who we are. Yes, we all want to look like Jen Hawkins and have long, slender bodies with no fat content, but the reality is that we can't all be like this and thats OK.

I'm OK with it, I am going to continue to exercise and eat healthy, organic foods that nourish my body but I will not punish myself for being a normal size 10 woman.

Ahhh, it feels good to vent about it! Sorry for the rant peeps! I hope you all have similar outlooks, but its OK if you don't! Drop me a comment with your thoughts!

Have a great day! x

Get on your bike!

I have been a big, fat, lazy frump over the last 3 weeks and its time to get off my butt and do some exercise!

My biggest problem is the uni holidays! I love them, but my exercise regime does not.

I live away from my home town for university and am a member of an awesome gym (Anytime Fitness) that I love to bits and I make the most of my gym membership when I am here in Wagga for the uni term.

Sadly, my little old home town located in the bush does not have an Anytime Fitness gym, nor does it have a decent gym that I am willing to use. Our town has been protesting and petitioning for a decent up-grade to our local gym for a long time but nothing changes and sadly I do not feel comfortable paying $9.60 EVERY session I go to the gym when the machines are old and half don't work properly! (Okay, my little rant is over now.)

Anyway, I'm determined to not rely so heavily on my gym for a source of exercise while I am at uni now. It turns out that when I do get home again I fall apart at the seams and get so depressed that I can't sweat it up at the gym like i would in Wagga so I end up doing nothing... nothing!!!!!! 

This is totally unacceptable in my books, especially with summer looming in on us at a fast pace!

Today I did a jog/run for around 3km outside in the fresh air. I must admit, it was a lot tougher than in the comfort of my gym on the cross trainer (why is that??) but none-the-less it felt great!

Join in on the fun over at Katrina Chambers blog and post your pics of your exercise for the day with the tag #exerciseshot on Instagram and Twitter :)

I've been dying to get outdoors but my motivation has been poisoning me to think other wise.

I've also been dying to get a new push bike so I can spend even more time exercising without the feeling of really exercising!

I love to cycle. When I was in Europe I think my love for it grew and I have been in love with this bike for about a year now and I think this Christmas I will give it to myself as a gift!

What do you think?

I'm in love. It also comes in pink (which I adore being one of my fave colours) but I think I like this minty green colour best. I love this colour and its a little more subtle than the pink.

The bike is called the Suede City women's bike by Giant and it is a little pricey (like $499!) Sounds a lot, but I've test ridden this beauty and it is nice!!!! You can even use the straps on the back to attach a basket for the shopping! haha I love it!

I'll add it to the Chrissie wish list (which is starting to get a little long now! lol More posts about that soon!)

Have fun, get exercising! ;)

Skinny Smoothie

Boy do I love Pinterest.

Its been an obsession of mine since I signed up early this year. So many awesome ideas, trends and inspiration to be seen and re-pinned!

I was scrolling through some pins yesterday and saw this recipe for a "skinny oatmeal smoothie" via Lauren Conrad's pins. The recipe comes from here originally and is a perfect morning brekkie substitute for your usual cereal or eggs if you're trying to eat a little healthier!

Recipe includes:
1 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries or strawberries (I used mixed frozen berries)
1/2 cup low fat yoghurt (I used natural greek yoghurt)
1 banana
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup coconut water or another liquid (I used a small splash of almond milk)
1 tbsp of honey

{ Blend all ingredients until smooth }

Yummy! I think this recipe is such a good one because I usually have all of the ingredients at home which make for a quick whip up and its done!!

•  

Eating clean

This week I am feeling a little under the weather... AGAIN!!

I don't know what it is about this winter but this is the THIRD time I've been sick! Thats totally not normal right??

Anyway, despite feeling a little lousy and getting back into uni study, I am determined to stick to my "eating clean" plan as I mentioned here.

I tried a new recipe from the Clean and Lean book and it was delish!

I adapted the recipe a little according to what I could get at the supermarket and what I like etc (can you believe it that on a tuesday there were no spring onions in Woolies??! I mean I live in a decent sized city, this is something we get used to in the bush, not the city!)

Any-who, the recipe is called the Chicken and cashew stir fry and its a winner in my books.

Before I started cooking a lot I used to whip up quick stir fry's using frozen veg mix, some chicken thighs and chuck on a heap of Master-foods marinade for flavour because it was an easy meal and it was impossible to stuff it up! This recipe has no sauce or marinade as such in it but is so full of flavour it doesn't need it! I'd never go back to my old ways of making stir fry now that I've tried this.

Instead of shallots I just used half a brown onion and I added in green beans and only one chilli because I thought it would be quite spicy but I think it actually could have done with the extra chilli, I couldn't really taste a "hot" sensation, it was a good spice.

I definitely recommend this! Drop me a comment if you want the full recipe!

Clean eating = yum!

Cutting the CRAP

Its an all new term at uni starting next monday and that means a few new things around here.

One. New subjects to study, new classes, new assignments and new people to meet.

Two. New "kick-start" into a healthier lifestyle.

I'm cutting the crap from my life and by crap I mean CRAP - Caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods.

Some of you may have heard of the "Clean and Lean" diet or eating plan. Well its kind of new to me but I am diving right into it and enriching myself with new, healthy knowledge on how to change my life and become a healthier and better version of myself.

Clean and Lean is a book written by James Duigan and you can purchase it here.

Ever since I started reading through this book it got me thinking more consciously about what stuff I have been putting into my body and the damage some of the junk could actually be causing. Of course, for me some of the "changes" mentioned in the book that need to be made are pretty drastic and I am going to attempt to attack this in the most sensible and realistic way possible but most importantly, I am going to try and stick to it for a long time.

This "diet" isn't really a diet, its about a lifestyle change and its an exciting one!

Have any of you attempted the 14 day kickstart program by James? I am thinking its time to tackle this one and see if I can get results and ultimately a healthier and leaner body!

I'll be updating more info soon, stay tuned, or join me! Grab a copy of the book from a store, online or from your local library and we can cut the "crap" together!