A Sunny Monday.

Yesterday I started my day with a short cardio circuit, followed by a weights session (back only). I will post my workout plan for this week, later today- for those of you who are interested!

 After training, I raced home to get ready for my day. With an egg white omelette for breakfast and a skinny flat white for the road- I headed into Perth for a Professional Development Session about healthy eating and nutrition for school aged children. It was a valuable PD and I got some great programs and activities out of it that I can use next year in my Health classes. It was refreshing to be reassured that what I am teaching and how I am teaching nutrition to kids is correct. I had a conversation with a graduate teacher over the lunch break, who was eager to pick my brains as to how and what I teach. She too is as passionate as I am about living a healthy, active lifestyle and wanted advice on how she can deliver this ever important message to the kids in an exciting way where the learning transcends the classroom. I guess, the best advice I could give her was to lead by example! If my students are always seeing, hearing and watching me eat healthily, train regularly, participate in community events, recycling, reducing my hours on the computer etc… they are more likely to see it as a lifestyle and a commitment. It’s always interesting to note the changes, after teaching classes about reducing the amount of plastic used in lunch boxes- the following week is always wrap-free! Or if I teach a unit of cricket in Sport lessons, recess and lunch times become a massive cricket match, where there isn’t a spare cricket bat in the school. Wouldn’t it be nice if these “crazes” lasted longer than the week? The moral of this story is- Health promotion in any capacity (healthy eating, exercise, being an active community member etc) needs to be ongoing and consistent. The more the kids see- the more they are going to do!

 I guess this is evident in “real-life” too. The more I surround myself with uplifting and inspiring people, the more I aspire to be the same. I am so lucky to have my best friend who doubles as my training partner! My Instagram and Facebook feeds are always dominated with fitness trainers, progress pics and lifestyle coaches, which keeps me motivated to pursue my goals.

 Speaking of people who motivate me- I have this amazing guy in my life who has had such a positive effect on my life and in such a short amount of time, has challenged and changed me to become a better person. We are super lucky that we share the same passion for life and love to be active and adventurous. After a long day at work yesterday and then running errands after school, my boyfriend (referred to as the American) and I went for a run along the beach path, followed by a swim in the ocean. It was super refreshing having the cold waves break on our sweaty bodies. 

It had been almost five weeks since I’d got in a decent run, so although I didn’t run overly well, at least the first one is down. I’m so used to running on my own, it was exhausting but great running with the American who kept me going (and at a pace faster-than-my-speed). We live on the beach front so have the sun, sand and surf right on our door step which makes it easy for us to enjoy every moment of sunshine! I cannot wait for summer- it is always so much more enjoyable training outside than being cooped up in the gym.

I love having a good Monday- it sets me up for an awesome week.I hope you had a brilliant day too,Simone.