When Affirmations Sometimes Do Not Work...

Have you ever been told to do affirmations and that they'll change your life? For many people simply affirming that they're life is great when in fact it's shite is enough to get them to the point where they turn around and make some amazing changes until it does change.

But what if standing in front of the mirror uttering "I love you" to yourself in your most believable voice (that others in the house cannot hear!!!) makes you feel like a complete twat? Worse, after saying that you feel like you've just lied to yourself and now you're even shiter than you were before because you cannot even tell yourself the truth? I did that... for years. Because so many people told me it worked. It did for them, but not for me.

Over the years I've been lambasted for saying that 'affirmations don't work for me' again and again by well meaning people who have used affirmations successfully.

You know what though, lately people have been saying "I know! I've been doing those bloody things for years and my life is still shite/my husband still cheats/I still have acne/I'm still sad/etc etc".

And you know what, when you get to a certain point, it's very possible that affirmations will not work for you. So what then? If you're like me you'll grasp your copy of You Can Heal Your Life very tightly and scream at it "why won't you work for me you FUCKER??!!!"

It's taken awhile to find an answer. This works for me. It might not for you and if it doesn't, keep searching until you find something that does.

For me I discovered that while I couldn't accept the whole truth of "I love myself" I can accept that one day I might be able to love myself. I opened myself to the possibility. What does that look like? To me it looks like this:

"While I might loathe myself right now, one day I might find something about myself that I like."
"While I might not like my fitness levels right now, one day I might. "

This has helped me. Affirming that "I do good things for people and one day I might love myself for this" actually cracks my well protected heart open a little bit and enables me to see what others see.

Saying that "Wow I give a lot of my time away to strangers trying to help them emotionally, that would mean there's a facet of me that's a good person, this means that I am possibly a good person".

This has lead to "at times I'm a great person!" which is a step in the right direction.

So if you're struggling with affirmations, and feel like you're lying to yourself, perhaps try opening yourself to the possibility of your affirmation in the future and affirm that you're heading there! Imagine how you'll feel when you reach your goal whatever it might be. Some of us are so sad, and have been for so long, that sometimes the possibility that something is possible is just the first step to anything. Baby steps. Chunk it down as far as you can.

This is a little something to go towards your mental fitness from me.

Merry Christmas!

Big Change In My Life...

It's been a whole month since my last post. This doesn't please me, but it had to be done. Where have I been? I've been on a journey. Once again I started to slide into depression. This surprised me. I'd been feeling pretty great, there was no reason for my sudden reappearance of anxiety and sadness at the world. It just appeared, as it does, out of nowhere.

So instead of actively trying to get over it, or just letting it wash over me, I tried to go about my day to day stuff and watch it and you know, a lot of it is major overwhelm. I adore my kids but feel like I hardly know them. We all get home from school and work and I am so exhausted that sometimes, not all the time, but often, during the week their little voices are like nails on a blackboard. I cringe because they are speaking to me, and I cringe again because I have put them last.

When I took over my business back in 2007 I didn't realise it would become all consuming. But it did. Don't get me wrong, I love my business! It's a wonderful thing... it gives me purpose, keeps me focused, supports me and in turn I support it. I've met some of the most amazing people on the planet through my business. But something has to give.

So I've spent the last month really sitting down, watching the overwhelm, the panic, the anxiety, the guilt, the sadness, the wanting to run, and decided something has to give. But what? I couldn't' see the forest for the trees. But then I said to my son "you know, if you keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome, some people call that crazy!" and I realised this was me.

Then I saw an inspirational exercise post on FB saying "Do something today that your body will thank you for tomorrow. Then another that said "In a years time you'll be thankful that you started today" and you know, I started running back in 2007. I still can't run 5k. Why? Because I put it last. Here's a list of some of the things that I put in line behind my business:

1. Family (they have to love me anyway right?)
2. Proper food (ironic considering the business I'm in, but yes, often I don't eat enough)
3. Sleep
4. Friends
5. Time with my husband
6. Running
7. Yoga
8. Juicing (I'm the bomb diggity on juice)
9. Relaxation/meditation
10. Happiness

That took me less than a minute to compile.

So... change is afoot! Next year I'll be working from home four days per week. I'm naturally waking at around 6am at the moment which gives me time to answer emails before I get the kids ready for school. I can then work from home during school hours doing the newsletters, YouTube videos - which I love doing - and be there for my children when they get home.

One day per week I'll go into the office and do the book work. That is all I should need.

If that doesn't work... then I'll have to rethink. But at the moment I'm excited again. My daughter just turned 14 and it was a shock to realise that I've hardly seen her for the last 6 or 7 years and it hasn't been because she's pushed me away. I've put her and her brother last. I looked at my son, really looked at him and was shocked again! When did he grow so big?

I'm very excited about the future for the first time in a long time. I feel involved and significant. Wonderful!

I spoke to Mr JDF this morning and he said "OK". he's very effusive you see.

Business wise I am scared. It's been a big part of my life for a long long time. It still will be but at a reduced capacity. How will it go without my 24/7 input? We shall see!

First Run In Ages!

The last time I ran for exercise was back in May 2010 in Thailand. At the time I'd been running for awhile.

My style wasn't great and so I'd bought the book Chi Running and when that didn't help, I hosted a Chi Running day at my house! After the workshop my gait improved but that didn't last long. And I didn't seem able to correct it! I saw a physio who filmed me running and I was sooooo embarrassed by what I saw that I never went back. 

My IT bands are tighter than a nun's gee, and I have been working on the Foam Roller (extreme torture device) to loosen them and have had some massages too.

The other day I had the idea that if I ran barefoot, or even in Vibram,s that my gait would fix itself as it hurts like a bitch to heel strike in bare feet or Vibrams.

So yesterday I donned my Vibrams (generously donated by one of my best friends in the world) and off I went. I did week one of Robert Ullrey's Couch To 5 K program (C25K noobs) and in the beginning it was soooo easy! But by the end I was in agony! LOL.

This morning on rising my poor lower legs felt like they were on FIRE! I was so sore. Happily other muscles in my core, arms and legs, even feet, were sore as well, but my lower legs are beyond the rest of my body. I figure this is pretty normal after all, I haven't ran in bare feet since I was a toddler! So some of those muscles that I used yesterday got quite a shock I'd imagine.

A friend on Instagram said Vibrams should only be worn by seasoned runners who have 'plenty of miles on the shins'. I know a few people who either run in them or have run in them and as far as memory serves, the ones who do well are the ones who can run and run well prior to trying the Vibrams. So perhaps I will try another shoe... see how I go. Same instagrammer (@durianrider if you're wondering) recommended 4mm heel drop shoes like Brooks pure flow.

Felt so good to run though! Twas  lovely to be out. xxxx

I've just gotta enjoy it...

I've mentioned before that I have to have an end goal in order to be able to exercise. Meaning, I get as bored as hell if I exercise just for the sake of it and eventually will just stop it. However, if I have an end purpose, a goal if you will, I quite enjoy it.

Riding to or from work, or to the store has been fun. But twice recently, I've gone on rides just for fun. Just for the hell of it and I enjoyed it and didn't even notice! Hehe. Have I tricked myself into the next level of fitness? Perhaps I have!

After doing my 40.7km ride recently, I decided I was up for the Strava Turn Up The Heat challenge. They're giving little badge (online ones, not physical) rewards for those who reach certain levels with the minimum amount of riding for a month to get a badge being 250kms. I eagerly signed up and then watched in confusion as I went from being a bubble of joy to a mass of tension. What happened?

I let it go and decided to wait for a few days and see what happens. For the next two days I looked at my bike and instead of feeling excited, I've felt a bit repulsed. I sat with it for a bit yesterday and worked out that I didn't really want to do the challenge. Signing up for the challenge sucked all the fun out of it for me and turned cycling into just another type of pressure.

With curiosity I decided to remove myself from the challenge and give myself a few days off the bike. Voila! I'm glad I gave myself some time out because once again, I'm excited about riding. And I had also exhausted myself again and not noticed. I've been sleeping in the afternoons and all night as well and am only just starting to feel perky again.

The point of the post is this, not everyone enjoys exercise just for the sake of exercising. I have many friends who are like that, who will force themselves to move no matter what their frame of mind and they feel better for it when they're finished. Excellent! But there's many of us who have to enjoy it as well. I don't want to finish my exercise vomiting with exertion. As a former bulimic, I've done enough puking. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night because I'm so sore that I'm crying in my sleep. I've done that too!

I'm more than happy to just get my heart rate up, get a sweat on, and get home feeling like "yay me! I've moved today. I'm awesome" and still have energy to do other things and not be dying for pain relief. I'm also happier going at my own pace than I am trying to meet a challenge. I am not really sure why yet, but I'm making excellent progress without it so why not?

Do you exercise no matter what? Or are you like me and need a more gentle program?

Not As Fit As I Thought!

When I did my big 40.7k ride the other day I was stoked! "My fitness is building so quickly!" I exclaimed to

myself. I was so proud and with good reason! It hadn't been long since I'd felt like I was dying with a little 7km ride and now I'm doing almost 6 times that!

However, a few days ago my son and I went and played some tennis for half an hour. I haven't held a racquet in years and I don't know when the last time he did was either so it wasn't serious. Just a little hit around the place. Neither of us is experienced enough to aim well so we spent most of our time running ourselves ragged chasing the ball. It was great fun!

However 24 hours later I can hardly move. What the hell? How does that happen? Doms... Three hours on the bike and I feel fatigued but my muscles are fine, then half an hour on the court and I'm knackered!

I guess it all comes down to doing a bunch of different exercises for all over fitness. I've been focusing too much on just riding.

So I'll get back into my running and also into my Convict Conditioning workouts and build up my fitness in  a more rounded manner. See how we go! In the meantime, it's a magnesium bath for me and time on my favourite instrument of torture. Ouch ouch feel good!

Today however I went kayaking with Mr JDF. We had a great time and were out in the sun oaring around for three hours. We were bummed that I didn't think to activate Strava until we were about a third of the way through our paddle but ah well... can't remember everything!

We took mandarines with us and had them for breakfast which was nice. As a bonus we were then able to have fun spitting the seeds at each other because we're romantic. And classy.

I love being out in the kayak. We saw a couple of things you'd not normally see such as this:

We got a nice couple shot for the fam:

And I did my body a disservice as well! When we arrived back at our slippery boat ramp I shouted to Bill "I'm going to hit this rock... oh no I'm not" and I missed it by just a smidge. Then I confidently hopped out of my kayak and was almost fully standing when my feet slipped backwards out from underneath me and I... hit the rock. Damn the law of attraction. The most obvious damage was the cut on my foot:

There were other injuries too. I can hardly move my left hand but it looks fine. Not even any swelling and for the first time in my life, I'm glad my boobs fell down because it was my upper left chest that hit the rock. I got such a shock I couldn't even speak for a couple of minutes but I got a big hug n kiss from Mr JDF which kinda made up for it... but not much. LOL.

Then I forgot to sunscreen my legs. Again. It's as if there's a part of me that thinks my legs are the only part that tans. So now I look like this:

I like this photo because it tones it down. In reality the burned bits are bright, bright red. Hahaha.

Just as well I started the day with a brief meditation prior to going out so I was all JenZen and completely unfazed by my ordeal:

Have a great weekend all!

Bike Seats Are Torture Devices, 40.7km's In A Single Ride!

This weekend Mr JDF and son have gone camping for the weekend. So it's just my daughter and I. On Friday night I asked her if she'd like to go for a ride to Currumbin early Saturday morning. She said yes! Woo hoo! Big ride ahead...

I woke at 4am on Saturday and thought I'd cancel. Afterall, I hadn't gotten to bed until after midnight and was feeling a little fatigued. While I lay there hoping that shut eye would reappear, I did some online browsing and came across this little ispirational pic:

As soon as I read it I thought 'Yes!' I realised that if I didn't ride, I'd be disappointed with myself later in the day which can lead to all sorts of negativity. I thought I'd see how we went and so a few hours later, Cat (daughter) and I, were off! We left home at around 7.30 am and arrived at our destination at around 9am. Awesome! We spent a little time, about 20 minutes at the beach where my daughter decided to climb the rock. She's been climbing it for years and loves it. However she went to the beach with some friends awhile ago, and they were all too scared to climb it. Weird!

When we left, we took a more direct route home stopping at the local fruit shop on the way home for some oranges and some of these coconut date things:

I ate 5 of those suckers. I was out of energy by the time we reached the fruit shop and only around 10-15 minutes from home, but I had a few hills and wasn't sure I could make it. A few minutes after eating the datey-coconutty things, I was off again! We got home and I managed to do a whole bunch of housework on top of everything else.

The only downer to my ride was the pain inflicted on my lady bits. This thing is an instrument of torture:

I'd go as far as to say that at a guess, this bike seat was designed by a woman-hating man who had an abusive mother who wants any woman who rides to feel like they got kicked in the vag. Literally, by the time I got home, skin had been removed. Like the poor thing had been scoured with steel wool. Thank goodness for Coconut Magic's wonderful oil. I've been applying that to the grazed area and it's helping immensely. I'm going to invest in a new bike seat, and a pair of riding pants with no seam on the crotch. It's either that or let the 'delicate area' get tough skin like an elephants knee or an old person's heel. Yetch! Nobody wants that! That being said, I'd rather have a bike with a torture seat than a bike with no seat at all.

I'm extremely happy with myself. This ride covered 40.7kms which is around 18kms more than my previous longest ride and it was just a few short months ago that I'd ride to work (around 7kms) and arrive a sweaty, puffed out mess. Progress is made! Exciting!

Some more pics for you because I like sharing photos:

Cat & I

Got the bikes locked up nicely. Cat's almost as tall as I am now, she needs a bigger bike.
$0 per litre

 Shame the view is so ugly. Fancy riding all the way for that!

The fate of the oranges. Was very refreshing!

Worth coming home to. I love my Patchy cat!

Got comments? Questions? Please leave them below. I love it when I come online and there's feedback on my blog! Have a great day! <3 Jen

Workout Zits... Annoying Little Buggers

Have you ever started an exercise after a long period of very little or no exercise only to have a mass breakout later? Or after changing from a bad food diet to a great food diet? I have. Many times! It's called detox people, learn to love it as I haven't.

When I was in my 20's I went 'healthy'. For me, this meant that the majority of my foods were cooked at home except for Wednesdays when I could eat whatever I liked. I kid you not, within a week I had the worst acne ever. After three weeks I complained vehemently to a friend who explained it was just bad stuff coming out of my skin. No one knew the word 'detox' then.

With exercise this happens because the exercise gets everything moving. It's helps us get more oxygen in, our blood pumps through the body faster and our lymph system gets a clean out. With the skin being one of the bodies major elimination organs, you can bet your bottom dollar that it's going to show up somewhere. The stuff that comes out of my skin appears on my neck usually, but when I exercise, I also get pimples on my chin and forehead.

I'm in my forties and yes I feel a little ripped off about this. I know it's a good thing, better out than in right? But seriously, if I'm doing good I wanna be looking good. I always thought that only teenagers and drug addicts had pimply skin. Not healthy women in their fourth decade of living! Grrrr... what to do about this?

In the past I've actually reverted to my old eating habits or ceased to exercise to clean my skin up! I never said I was smart. A lot of other people say that I am, but I think the previous sentence proves that I'm right, they're wrong. Ha!

This time though, I'm going to keep going. I'll be washing my skin more just in case, and being careful in the sun etc, but I'm getting this stuff out. It's not as bad as they used to be way back when I drank alcohol daily and junk food almost daily. Back then the acne presented as minature mountains of pain on the side of my neck. The zitters I have now are mostly tiny but very red, and they sting! But they are better than the others that I used to get that were similar to boils. Better out than in, better out than in, better out than in. This too shall pass dammit! And I'll be all healthy and glowing and people will stop me in the streets to oooh and aaaah at my gorgeous dewy epidermis.

I plan for my skin to be a glorious glowing fleshscape that my own kids will be jealous of! Hehe.

So yes I'm a 40 year old zitter head, but who cares! Where would that stuff go if it wasn't coming out? Perhaps the body would have to make a 'bin' for it (tumour anyone?).

43.2kms!!!

Woo hoo! 43.2kms this week! So far. My goal was 50kms this week so I'm on track!

Not a huge post but I'm so happy with myself, and that's such a rare thing! 

 xxx

First 20km ride done. Yay ME!

So this morning Mr JDF and I hit the road on our deadly treadlies (80's Aussie kids anyone?) and set out for a ride. You can see where we went on Strava by looking up Jen Does Fitness but basically we went from our home in Robina, through the back streets to Burleigh, then along the beach as much as possible until we reached Miami, then home again. Once we were near home we realised we were near the magic 20km mark so we kept going until we got there and apparently, according to Strava, I did 21kms! So proud of myself. It was just a few short months ago, a 7km ride felt like I was dying. I would come inside and collapse and nearly vomit.

Today, I managed to come inside, stretch for a few minutes and do a blog post all while drinking a litre of yummy pineapple, watermelon and orange juice. Carbs!

While it was overcast it was a lovely day. We stopped to take a photo and whaddya know, some lovely lady took a photo of the pair of us.

Dawwwwww... aren't we gorgeous! Actually, the beach is more gorgeous. If you're murmuring to yourself "they're ruining the view" that's perfectly understandable.

There was hardly anyone on the beach at all. A beautiful time to go. If you're ever on the Gold Coast, hit the beach around 6.30-7am. There's plenty of sand, and the water is beautiful.

We have a lot of fun riding together. Much more so than sitting in a restaurant... as you can see here:

After viewing that pic, we laughed so hard we couldn't ride for a few minutes. Laughter is important. We've been together for 17 years so we need to be able to laugh together.
There was a lot of people on the footpath or road beside the beach however. Many who looked like they'd been fit for a long long time, but also many who were obviously struggling. A few obese people dripping with sweat and huffing and puffing and you know, they were so inspiring to me. I envy the people who seem to do it easy, though I don't begrudge them. That's a lot of hard work, but I want to keep going when I see others like myself who are just starting.

I was starting to tire as we got home but I wasn't feeling like I was going to die like I did when I first started writing here. I probably could have gone another 10km's but I'm not supposed to be pushing myself hard because of the possible compartment syndrome dammit so I'll have a massage this week and see how I go. I raised an all over body sweat and felt my heart rate soar so I did my body some good today.

I felt so happy with my achievement when I got home as you can see here:

I like that photo because it makes my boobs look awesome. Must wear that shirt more often!
 

Now it's time to shower, and get on with the rest of the day!

10 Tips On Getting Your Sedentary Kid Moving

This post is for people who have kids who are a little older (around the ages of 8-12) and afraid of getting out there and moving. This sadly happened to us. We were so busy building our business that we didn't do a lot with our kids. They would have friends over, or go to friends houses, but they didn't show a lot of interest in team sports and we didn't push it.

My daughter found her own way and got into mountain bike riding with my husband in a minor way and now likes to play basketball, but I was horrified when I found myself with an 11 year old son who was afraid of riding his bike and no-one to blame but myself. All he wanted to do was sit on his play station, or XBox, or iPad etc etc. He didn't want to talk to anyone and if he wasn't allowed to be on screens he'd just go to bed and stare at the wall. This is not normal childhood behaviour! This is not a good thing. On top of this he was as moody as hell, becoming anti-social at school and we had several other issues. This article freaked me out a bit and I saw the wisdom in it particularly this section:

Have you ever heard of a school shooter who’s hobbies are kayaking, rock climbing, and fly-fishing? If that seems absurd – and it does seem absurd to me – we might be onto something.  I don’t think that those hobbies can create a school shooter. There’s just something abut the natural world that defuses anger.

A few months later my son is loving getting out on the bike, or going kayaking, and wanting to learn tennis and join soccer next year. Awesome!

If you're looking for advice on how to get your mini couch potato out and about, here's a list of things we did and that you can do too...

(Most of the personal examples I give here are about cycling as that's what I do most with my son. We also go kayaking but it's mostly cycling. You can tailor what you do with your kiddies to your own style.

1. Introduce exercise slowly. We made the mistake of taking our son on what we thought was an easy ride. And it was easy for us simply because it was flat and there were no people around. We had overestimated our son's comfort levels on the bike though and returned to our car, with our bikes a very non-harmonious and upset group. When I spoke to my son about it he said that he was terrified of riding on a non sealed surface and that the mozzies biting him (we were alongside a body of water and the mosquitoes must have taken psychopathic pills that day because they were nasty). Also, we were out for a long time and he had trouble keeping up with us even though we thought we were going slow, and he could tell we were upset. We were upset, but with ourselves, not with our son who was doing his best. Once I explained that to him, and explained that we were learning too he was better. :)

So I spoke to Mr JDF and we decided that the next ride would be no longer than 10 minutes, on a sealed surface with no one else around if possible and the focus to be totally on his enjoyment of the ride. We did that. The first ride was just 25 minutes long but my son arrived home happy and talked about it for weeks. The best part for him was that there was puddles and after cautiously checking they weren't overly deep he happily rode over them for ages.

Gradually we've built up the time frame so that our rides are in excess of an hour and he's enjoying the challenge of hills and distance now. It took a few months but we got there.

2. Be honest. Some of us are afraid to tell our kids why we're doing things. I'm not really sure why this is but I do get the best results out of my kids when I tell them exactly what is going on in my head and things are good for them. 

In this instance I pulled my son aside and told him I was worried that he wouldn't have any fun as a teenager when all of his friends were riding around and enjoying their freedom and he wouldn't be able to join in even if he wanted to. I shared that I was worried about how unhappy he was and that it was too early to be hormones and that our bodies like to move. That movement brings about a happiness that cannot be found sitting in front of a screen. I articulated quite a few worries that I had and he agreed with a few of them. He agreed to get out and about with us quite readily after we talked at length about the benefits of exercise and the lack of benefits in a sedentary lifestyle.

I also pointed out that if he didn't start to get out of the house, then to restore the natural balance of life I'd be forced to sell the PS2, the XBox and the iPad and he'd be forced to think of other things to do then. I did this last bit in a humourous way so he could laugh at it, but he knew I would do that if things didn't improve. The idea is not to instill fear, but to bring about feelings of anticipation.

3. Get out there with them. If your child is sitting around the house getting fat and lazy, then you as a parent are responsible. This is your issue too. This is not a blame game, but it's about taking responsibility. I had to do it, and it was not a great realisation that I was failing my son this way but it was true.

The added bonus of getting out there with your child is that you too will feel the benefits of exercise. I noticed that many of my childhood skinny friends blimped out when they/we got jobs, could afford junk food and got licences. Get fit with your kid! As they see your health and fitness improve, it will inspire them too.

4. Remember, this exercise session is about them, not your good self. When you're going out with your kids during this time, remember that you're going out for their enjoyment, not your own. It can be frustrating when you get on your bike, or head out the door for a run, to find that you are only going out for half an hour. Or less! Or to have to go slow when you want to go fast...

However you want your child to be smiling when they get home. That should be one of your goals for the end of the exercise. If they arrive home unhappy and are uninjured, then you have done something wrong. You need to suck that up cupcake, realise we all make mistakes and work on how you can make your next time out more fun.

5. Keep it simple. Remember, they're kids. They should be having fun, not worrying about heart rate monitors, times etc etc. If you have a child that loves to exercise and is doing competition that's different and not what I'm yabbering about here. As I said, this is for kids who are afraid of getting out and about. If you want to measure and keep track of your fitness, do that on your own time, when it's about you. Simplify, simplify.

6. That being said, it is good to push them a little bit. When my son says "I need to have a rest" and starts to slow his bike, or kayak to shore, I always encourage him to do just a bit more. I'll suggest we 'ride to the next set of lights/shopping centre/intersection and then we'll stop for a bit ok?'. Usually they can go a bit further than they think they can, and if you can gently push them just that bit further, without being an ass about it, you'll help them realise this. You don't need to stop too long. My son and I have a rule that he helped me set that we don't stop for more than 5 minutes because we 'don't want our muscles to cool down'. LOL. Whatever works!

But a sedentary kid will want to rest often and that's their comfort zone. Sitting and playing games, or whatever... it's safe. It's often scary for them to be moving. So have rests if need be, but try to keep them short so you don't get annoyed and impatient and also so they realise that a short rest is all that's needed and it will surprise them.

7. Give encouragement. If possible, keep your language positive at all times when riding. You might not be used to doing this, it may feel like unnatural hippy shit, but it really works with kids. I congratulate my son on everything from standing up on the pedals to go uphill, to trying a harder gear, to laughing while riding and more. Every little bit of praise will help to instill a positive feeling about the activity at hand.

If they stack their bike and get up with blood on their knees and hands, check to make sure the injuries are superficial, dry tears if need be and then "dude! You kept all the skin on your face. You must be some kinda falling down super hero!". It's corny but they'll get a giggle out of it. Or at least they'll be thinking about what an idiot you are and not so focused on the slight injuries.

If they have bones poking out, disregard this and call an ambulance.

8. Give them some choices. Allowing kids to make their own choices gives them a sense of power and confidence. And as a parent, you get to enjoy that process! When they make wrong choices it gives valuable life experience and making right choices increases confidence. For example, I'll say to my son, today I have to go to the shops, to visit a friend and also to work. I'm going to ride to one and I'd like you to come with me. Which one do you want to ride to? If he doesn't pick the shortest one, he gets rewarded with a big smile and I make a HUGE deal out of his positive choice at the family dinner. This also encourages his sister to make great choices. ;)

You can also give them the opportunity to say no to exercise from time to time. For example, I often say to my son "I'm going to ride to the XXX, would you like to come?". A lot of the time he says no, but he won't say no all of the time because he feels mean so he comes along every now and then which is his own choice, he enjoys it and we have a ball! Giving your kids the choice gives them a sense of their own power and helps build confidence.

9. Gear matters. I remember being about 11 and getting a feck bollocky Stack Hat for my birthday. Ohmygoshcanyabelieveit? (That moment when you get to school that day and your friends are all "So what did your parents get you for your birthday". So I said a puppy so they'd be jealous, and then a week later told them it died and got sympathy. From an 11 year old's point of view that was a grand old WIN! But I digress...) Point is, I didn't ride my bike again until I was 16 and moved in with a family who said I could ride without on. That was before helmets became something that everyone wore.

When I talked to my son about riding, he said he didn't like his bike. So I spoke to hubby, and we said we'd get him a new bike of his choice. I reasoned that I'd rather spend a shit tonne of money and get him the gear at his age and him enjoy using it than spend that money on therapy later one. So we took him to the bike store, got him a $500 bike and also spent some extra $$$ getting some custom handles put on it and stuff. He LOVES it. Absolutely loves it. His sister took him out a lot in the first few weeks and gave him lots of tips too until she hit some kind of invisible teen level, got popular and we don't see her anymore! Her taking him out really helped a lot because she is cool and he wants to be cool. So involve siblings if that is an option.

Our daughter recently told me she is embarrassed about her helmet which was so cool when she was 8 but now that she's 13... not so much. So next weekend I'm taking both of the kids to the sports store to get them helmets. They're both thrilled and really looking forward to getting helmets.

So if you can afford it, just do it. Get your kid the running shoes, soccer gear, rock climbing stuff, that they will be proud to be seen in! And if 'can't afford it' but you can afford your ciggies, gambling, wine, coffee or tattoo addictions, then prioritise and give one of them up for a bit. You can always start again when your kids are independent. I couldn't believe it recently when someone told me they couldn't afford to get their daughter a bike but went and spent $1,200 on a tattoo a couple of weeks later on her credit card. My poor flabber was gasted. I have venomous feelings about that so will just shut it for now but really??? Where is that kid on her mum's priority scale? Shut UP Jen...

10. Reward your kid/s with things they love. Not what you love, what they love. My daughter lives close enough to her school to ride but has been insistent on taking the bus which is $20 per fortnight. When I investigated why she was so against riding to school it turned out she was worried about helmet hair and her heavy bag. I remember  being 13. Appearance means a lot at that age. So I bought her a 'really cool' travel size hair straightener that she can use at school and also offered to give her half of the money we'll be saving in bus fees. Sold! Guess who now rides the 6km's to school and back four days a week now? Bonus!

Unfortunately my son couldn't give a toss about his hair. Just getting him to brush it is miracle enough, so he gets rewarded with this specific brand of mints which he loves. Frankly I'd rather have a bubble bath with Tony Abott than give my son those things but it's important that he go out and move and so I've compromised. They don't cost a lot, and he takes them to school and shares them with his friends so he's not eating them all.

My son is also allowed on his precious PS2 or Xbox (whatever!), after a ride. He must put away his bike, have a drink and a snack and then he can go on there. The longer the ride, the more screen time. Balance....

So that's basically it, baby steps, reward much, get the right gear, encourage, listen, make it fun.

Soon you should have a kid that enjoys getting out and about.

Please share this article. Even if your family doesn't need it, you may know someone who it could help. Or your friends might! Share buttons are directly below.

Thank you for reading!

Perspective on Compartment Syndrome.

A bit of background is called for here, I've known my massage therapist since I was sixteen. I used to babysit his kiddies when he and his wife (one of my very best friends) went out on the town. The oldest 'kiddie' is now almost finished studying to become a doctor and the youngest is in the airforce. So you can see that I've known him a long long time. We've pulled each other legs and joked around a lot over the years.

However that doesn't mean that I share everything with him. When I was on the table I had my game face on, was acting happy. I'm scary good at looking happy when I'm not so when he told me I had compartment syndrome with a total poker face, he wasn't to know that underneath it all I was having a sad sad day. And I was so sad on the inside that I didn't pick up the signals that he was probably pulling my leg.

So when I googled compartment syndrome later that night, then panicked about it, emailed him and shared my panic, then didn't look at my personal emails or turn on my phone for a couple of days, I was an idiot! I had a look at both yesterday and there's an abject apology on one and a 'read your email' on the other.

Basically he thinks I might have it but he's not sure. That goes along with what I read online. There is a test you can do to give a better certainty, but it involves inserting needles into the muscle and then running on a treadmill. The idea is enough to give me nightmares. Yech.

Anyway, after reading his email, I couldn't work out whether he was backing off because I was so frightened and he wanted to talk to me in person, or if he was outright pulling my leg or what. So I waited until his wife got back from 'Away' and she got it sorted. So I might have compartment syndrome, if I do, it's minor and with rest, and deep massage, I should be able to get back on the bike sooner rather than later. Phew!

The muscles are still sore so no bike riding yet though I'm champing at the bit to get out there. My entire lower left leg is an ugly shade of yellow and my bone is still bumpy but apart from that I'm healing well from the accident. Good!

I have a big blog post in the works for you though that is excellent if I do say so myself. It's straight from the heart, has purpose, is helpful and passionate. Look forward to that!

xxx

F#%king Compartment Syndrome

So I had my massage the other day. It was great! Though it looks like I have Compartment Syndrome. I wasn't too worried about that until about 10 hours later when I finally got access to my pc and Dr Google. Then I freaked right on out. Here's some of what hit me right after doing the search:

• Life-threatening
• Loss of limb
• No exercise
• Can lead to muscle damage
• Can lead to nerve damage

and more. Delightful! I went from very happy, to "f@%k everything. I just want to die" in 30 seconds flat. Total victim mentality. I managed to get my head out off my victimised ass in around an hour which is pretty good for me. I had to give myself a reality check and remind myself of all the other things I read such as:

Can often be cured with a lot of rest and deep tissue massage.

And this also jumped out at me from this page:

"The success rate of treatment for patients with anterior compartment syndrome is largely dictated by patient compliance. One of the key components of treatment is that the patient rests sufficiently from ANY activity that increases their pain until they are symptom free. Once pain free, a gradual return to activity is indicated provided there is no increase in symptoms.

 Ignoring symptoms or adopting a 'no pain, no gain' attitude is likely to lead to the problem becoming chronic."

Waaaaaaaaaah! I didn't want to read this. As someone who has successfully been keeping severe depression at by with my bike recently, this was the last thing I wanted to hear. I can't ride, and the cure is largely down to me. I already feel over-responsibility-ised. I'm trying to flip that Waaaaah into, "ok, this is down to me, this gives me an element of control. I can do this. Control I am good at. Just ask the kids when I forget!"

I've started taking large amounts of MSM which is a naturally occurring sulfur that is mostly absent from our diet these days and is great for helping connective tissue heal, repair and become more flexibile.

I've also stopped riding. I can't even look at my bike it hurts so much not to ride. But the front of my legs still feel like their on fire.

The whole thing is, that I've had this pain on and off for years. It's happened whenever I've instigated a fitness regime. Here's some examples:

Brisk walking
Running (once, the other time sore knees was the culprit)
HIIT such as found this channel
Rebounding
Skipping

Every time, this shin pain kicks in and I stop. So now, I'm worried I've done it so often that it might be chronic. I'm trying to tell myself that others have had depresison and gotten over it without exercise, but it helped me so much that I'm not really inclined to listen to that train of thought.

Whinge whine.. waaaaaah!

Mr Tibialis Anterior, You Sir Are a Prick

Hey groovers!

I have hit a wall. After my spectacular crash I thought I did pretty well. I rode home and to work and back the next day. Right after the crash my leg hurt, a lot, but I couldn't see anything so I pretended it wasn't hurting at all. But two days later I can hardly walk. This has happened to me before.

For example, I started walking every day a few years back and had to stop for this same issue. That's happened quite a few times and causes me to cease exercising for awhile and sometimes I start again, but mostly I just get into "I'm not moving" which can last for years. It's time to break through this pattern!.

I didn't expect this with cycling. At the moment my legs are so sore that even walking hurts because it's hard to hold my foot up as I go. Flexing my foot upward towards my leg is excruciating.

My thinking is quite complex in many ways. Thanks to my history of depression and desire to escape it I've done a lot of reading and I do believe that often, if not all of the time, injuries like this are a sign of what is going on internally. For example, a very focused person who has decided on a single path of action, might get a sore neck which can link back to not wanting to look around for other paths lest they become indecisive/confused.

It's not uncommon for people who have been sedentary like myself to get this type of pain. It can be caused by muscle tightness in the Tibialis Anterior or the calf muscles. It actually just feels like the muscle has grown but the tissue that encases it has not. It's so tight! I'm sure it'll be fine.

I believe that my repeated problems with my anterior tibialis are my fear of moving forward. This week has been an incredible week. Everything has gone wrong and I have managed to stay positive mostly until today. However, when this happens I get so scared of what's going to happen in the immediate future that I just don't want to move. I can cope with right now, and that's it. I don't want to move forward at all, I just want to stay put.

So I called my friendly massage dude and have an appointment booked for Saturday. He's booked today and tomorrow I'm booked so Saturday it is. I'm looking forward to it! Brendan shares a lot of the same beliefs that I do about the body holding onto issues and gets where I'm coming from. He's also known me since I was 16 so knows my body and it's quirks well. He knows what's going on and is looking forward to helping me move through it. I hope he uses the dry needles. I love those things!

I'm noticing changes in my body and that's so wonderful! I'm noticing it most of all in my arms. Progress!

Do you have repetitive injuries? 

Jen Has A Boo… (First Crash)

I wasn’t planning a post today. I don’t really like to do them two days in a row. Especially after my Great Expectations epic effort yesterday but I had to share with you… I had my first cycling stack. EVER! I didn’t even crash my bike when I was learning to ride.

I was speeding along and a car pulled out in front of me forcing me to brake in a hurry and I called the driver an asshole. And verbalised it. Me being a big believer in karma thought “that wasn’t nice… it’ll come back to you.” Then I crossed over to the traffic island hit it at the wrong angle and voila!

 

CRASH!

HURTS LIKE BEJIGGERS

I have to say though, I’m so damned proud of myself. I’d had a difficult weekend and a very challenging day at work. I was really enjoying my ride and I am not a tough girl. I’m a bit of a wimp. Pain is not my friend. That’s probably the biggest reason I don’t exercise. Because it hurts. Unfortunately I’ve gotten to the ripe old age of almost-41 and not exercising hurts more than exercising as joints ache and muscles hurt and I get puffed on a little walk. Something had to motivate me!

Getting back to the point. When I got up I didn’t hurt at all. I was more hoping that if someone happened to film the incident that they didn’t get a close up of my face as I fell. But five minutes after the fall, my left hand’s knuckles started to ache in the wind, and I got shakey and then I got upset. My immediate thought was “Yay! No I can reward myself with some junk food and a good stiff drink” and I got my phone out to call my husband to come and get me.

But then I bitch slapped myself and logic-ed it out. I hopped off my bike to give my body a minute to shake and realise it was ok, then I got my phone out and took the above photo and sent a copy to Mr JDF and posted a copy to Instagram. While I was doing this I reminded myself that my rides are a lot easier now and how much pain I’ve been in on previous rides. I shifted my focus to my fingers to see how bad the pain really was and it wasn’t that bad. I noticed that the pain in my leg was much worse even though I couldn’t see anything but it was bearable. Then I thought how defeated I’d feel if I got taken home in a car as opposed to how great I’d feel if I rode home.

I have to say I should have actually called Mr JDF to come and get me because it got dark really quickly after that and I’d forgotten to put my bike lights in my seat-bag. So the second half of my ride home I spent thinking “please see me, please see me”. So when I actually did arrive home, it was a mixture of “YAY!” for riding when I could have gotten out of it and “”YOU.STUPID.IDIOT!!!” for riding in the dark in dark clothing with no bike lights. Mr JDF was not happy with me for riding without my lights. He loves me!

That’s the second time in a matter of days that I can say that riding my bike has helped me override a sense of helplessness and overwhelm and remain calm and make good choices. I’m really pleased with my efforts. El Shrinko will be mucho impressedo!

When Weekends Are Disobedient

Well this has been a week of plans going awry! I didn’t get to ride my bike to work on Thursday and Friday or get my measurements properly. I got sick which definitely not on my list of Excellent Things To Do and then I got well again which made me appreciate my health! Yay for getting sick right?

No.

So Saturday was to be a BIG day. HUGE! Here’s how twas supposed to go.

1. Get up at around 6. Website upgrade was to be launched on Friday night and it was supposed to go live in Australia at around 5-6am.

2. Best staff member ever coming over at 7am to oversee launch and be here if things went wrong and we needed to field a lot of questions/emails. Mr JDF leaves for a motorbiking weekend with the boys.

3. Best staff member ever leaves around 9. My daughter and I hop on our bikes and go for a ride. We get juice and then ride home again. We wake my son before we go. Daughter gets picked up for sleepover at all.
4. Make a big vegan curry with the lentils I soaked overnight, do some housework, read a book.

5. Ride to the local shopping centre for an early dinner followed by a movie with my son.

Cool huh? I love being organised and well planned. I feel settled when I know what’s going on. But you know what? The universe had other plans. This is how it went.

1. Site launch delayed due to unforseen circumstances. No problems. I potter around for a bit excited thinking it will go live in the next hour or two.

2. Best staff member ever gets in touch. Can’t make it, her dog is sick. Ok! No worries. I’m impressed with my coolness and flexibility. Totally rocking this!

3. I decide to go for a ride with daughter anyhoo. If the site launches while I’m out, it will still be there when I get back. I wake her up, her back is sore. she’s already been to awesome back dude to have it fixed this week so… Darn. Back to techie, skyping, site’s going to be awhile yet. So I hang around the pc. Too afraid to shower in case I miss the big launch right? I should have showered.

4. Daughter gets collected on time. Excellent!

5. Son gets up, all is well. We decide to go for our ride early and then a movie later in the day. I contact techie, he says go for your ride. I’ll be fine. So we go to go out, and the keys for the bike locks are missing. We really needed those bike locks because neither of us enjoy exercise enough not to have an end purpose so we were going to hit the exercise store, get him a new helmet, and some new runners for me to reward me for all my patience and my fantastic new found laid back, working-around-the-broken-plan-without-flipping-out way of being. Darn! I’m ok… just breathe and giggle! So we laughed at it.

2pm. Site still not live. Worried about customers, embarrassed as I’d put on facebook that the site was going live first thing in the morning. Breathe and go with it. I upload a youtube video and start editing another.

Worried about site, getting tense in shoulders and starting to get snarky. Think about what I’ve been learning in therapy, ‘do I need to be tense?’, ‘how does it feel to imagine that I just relaxed and went with it?’. I relax, find my happy, keep on trucking.

Site goes live sometime between 5 and 6pm. At 7.30 my patient saint of a son and I finally go out for a meal. No movie.

9pm I get notifications that the site’s not opening, Syntax error. Darn!!!! Lucky techie is still awake and it’s an easy fix. Phew! I keep an eye on social media and emails for just in case scenarios until I can’t stay awake and go to sleep.

Crazy! To top it off I forgot about making the curry and the lentils started to ferment… ew. They literally smell like a fart before they become one! Hahaha. But I was so happy that I didn’t go into my usual panic about the plaaaaan not working out. Delighted with my ability to just go with it and enjoy the day anyway. That’s not me! I’m just not that cool. If the plan doesn’t work out, I flip out! Start yelling or go to bed and wish I could cry.

Today was day two.

My plan was to go to the local organic farmers market, with a note to remember to visit the frozen mango man and get two kilos of frozen mango with everything else. Mango man’s not there.

What?

I can deal with that… From there we are to go to the shops to get new bike locks and do the grocery shopping. Shops don’t open until 9 and we’re there at 8! Damn… that’s what we get for getting up early! We go home, unpack the market stuff, then head back to the shops. They’re out of the bike locks except for the really shit ones. FARK! So we head off to the bike store. They don’t open until 10.
#$%^&&^*&&%^$

We head back home, book the movie tickets and drive the damned car to the movie. It was great! We then revisit the bike store and get some good locks, pick up daughter and head home. Fabulous!!! Collecting daughter was definitely a part of the plan. Now we can go on a bike ride. Bout friggen time! So I pop my phone, credit card, bike lock key and garage remote in my bike seat bag (really must look at what they’re called) and son and I leave to go. He then announces that Mr JDF has put his bike seat up too much and he can’t ride it. That’s when I start to get annoyed. I feel that tension in my shoulders, open the seat bag, and reach for the garage remote to put the bikes away. He quizzes “mum, what are you doing”

“I’m putting the bloody bike back”

“Why?”

“Because you said you couldn’t ride it!”

He looks at me like I’m freakin’ nuts and announces “I just lowered the seat so we can go. Lets do this!”
Who knew he could do that himself? No tools needed…

Awesome! So off we ride. We have a great time. Son has gotten a LOT stronger since I last rode with him which was so lovely to see and we had a ball. He is also gaining confidence on his bike and it’s wonderful. I actually feel like a good parent for a moment. A rare feeling for me. A few months ago he was terrified of riding but that’s another post. We arrive at the sports store, lock the bikes and go to take out my phone, credit card and other valuables from the seat bag and guess what? I’d not zipped it back up after the ‘seat to high’ business. The phone was still there as was the garage remote (thank goodness!), however my card was long gone. Darn! So we turned around and went home and strangely enough really enjoyed the ride. I wasn’t worried about my missing card at all.

After that I just gave up and went with it. There’s a bunch of stuff I didn’t get done this weekend. So much stuff. But you know what? I got to rest in front of my pc nearly all day yesterday. I had a great night out with my son, my site is fine and lovely though needs adjustments and today I had a lot of laughs at the movie, got some delicious oranges, and I have a shiny new card on the way, money in the bank and had a great time with my son several times over the weekend.

And I got to ride my bike.

The very best part of this weekend? Riding up the ‘difficult’ hill and finding it easy. I’m stoked!
Another funny incident. As we were riding I said to my son “I’m such a knob”

To which he replied

“yeah but you’re a smart knob“

Hahahahaha! I hope y’all had a great weekend.

Measurements & My New Tools

What a week! I started out well riding to and from work on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon I was exhausted. I had an early night and woke up Wednesday feeling fatigued and my legs and back were slightly sore. The exercise kind of sore, not 'What is that, do I need to worry?' sore. So decided to drive to work that day. I'm glad I did because the tummy bug my kids so generously shared with me decided to hit late that afternoon. Which meant Stay close to this:

But I was excited on Wed night because I thought the bug would pass. I mean, I never get sick. Ever! I might be as unfit as a couch but I never get sick. But I do get exhausted a lot so perhaps that's why it hit. But anyway, on Wednesday my heart rate monitor arrived. Excellent!

As per my last post, I've decided to do a lot of measuring. These are my tools:

The Scales.. dreaded by many

 

Don't be afraid of the scales if you can use them as a tool. In exercise, that's all they are. In the past, when all I cared about was being skinny, these things were my most loved and hated household appliance. But I'm excited about using them now! I view them in a whole new light. If I gain weight, and lose centimetres, then that's wonderful. I need to gain muscle. Currently my body is weak, it has a long way to go.

The Tape Measure

 

Centimetres are just a small part of my new measuring routine but they're vital. When I did P90X I was amazed at how my waist shrank and so did a few other areas. Everything tightened up and I was disappointed with myself that I didn't get measurements. Fortunately all of those previously tightened areas have relaxed again and are nice and jiggly flabby so I'll get measurements this time dammit!

Calipers!

 

Not an expensive investment. I bought these on advice from The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferris. I really like that book but it can be contradictory and there's no way I'll ever eat that much meat! Ew. Just not my thang you know?

Heart Rate Monitor

 

This is to see how strong my lil beating heart goes. I've downloaded the Strava app (find me in Jen Does Fitness) and will use the HRM along with that. I was so hoping I'd get to use it yesterday and today, but the tummy bug put that idea to rest. 

So yesterday I got some, but not all, of my measurements for you. Here we go, are you ready? 

Weight:

68kg. The heaviest I've weighed in years. (after visiting loo yesterday morning) Am I panicking? You bet your sweet ass I'm not! I knew that my old scales were out by a few kg but I kept them because even though I knew it was a lil white lie, I felt good when they told me I was under 60kg. 

Tape Measurements: 

Bicep: L - 28cm R - 27.5cm

Chest: 87cm

Waist: 79cm

Hips: A generarse 97.5cm

Thighs: L - 48 R - 47.5

Caliper Measurements:

Back of right arm: 20

Front of right arm: 19.5

Back, right: 20.5

Waist right: 25

According to the algorithm I used that makes me 38% body fat. Told ya I was a skinny fat. I love being right!

Unfortunately the heart rate monitor is as yet unused. But my toilet has been overused the last couple of days so too bad. I'm hoping to go for a ride tomorrow. Happy!

So that's my measurements. Next post, before pics. Be warned, you may need post traumatic eye drops if you choose to read that post. You may also need to call in sick the next day or visit your shrink. Your eyes will hate you until Christmas. 2020, At least. 

But I will love you. 

And you'll have seen my worst (but not explicit) bits. And then you can look at yourself and go "feck I'm awesome!". That's the goal. 

I Have New Wheels!

Recently I picked up a book called the Four Hour Body by Tim Ferris. Now, it's an entertaining book with a lot of interesting info, but is admittedly (by the author) not a health book. At first I was a little bamboozled as to why I'd picked up this book again. The author himself says it's not a health book and it has waaaaaaaay to many animal foods in it for my liking. I'm not saying that no one will get anything from it, I'm sure some will but I've read it before and know it's not my style. Yet I was drawn...

A little while into the book I found out what it was that was pulling me to it. Stats. Tim was banging on about how some people really need to follow numbers to see progress so that they know they're moving forwards. I had my "aha!" moment right there and then. Numbers! I love numbers... not in depth, but I love to see that last week my ride took xxx amount of time covering xxx km's and this week it's a little less or if it's a little more I can agonise over the "whyyyyyy? Whyyyy must you be more? I've been good!" of it all. 

So I contacted a friend of mine. You may of heard of him. If you haven't, you should know, he has strong opinions, (I'm sure he'd say they're not opinions but fact and I kinda envy him his certainty), he can be obnoxious and he can be super kind. We've had our stouches but these days we seem to get along ok. We're probably more aquaintances than friends but the word friend always slips out. He's known online as Durianrider and he LOVES to cycle. So I emailed him and asked a few questions. I was surprised when he wrote back right away asking for a photo of my bike and a few other bits of info. I sent what he'd asked for through and he laughed his tiny vegan ass off at my bike. LOL. Thanks Harley! 

He also came through with some great advice. "get a decent bike". He gave me some solid advice and I thanked him for it. Then this morning I spent some time online watching every video he's ever done on cycling and also watched a few by his GF Freelee as well (equally controversial). 

I went to some bike stores today. The first was actually where I thought I'd get my bike. But when I walked in I could see that the store was half empty. There was one sales person on the floor and he was busy. I waited 25 minutes and no one else came out so I left. There was one bike there, a road bike, that I was very drawn to that was heavily discounted and sooooo lovely but it would have been too small for me anyhoo. The next store had no road bikes, none! The man who served me was lovely but I just wasn't drawn to anything they had in stock. The third store was packed with loads of bikes and the man behind the counter was lovely. He said "Hello" to me when I walked in then let me peruse the shop at leisure stopping to check on me at just the right time. 

He asked me some key questions:

How confident are you on the road?

Do you ride alone or with others?

How often do you ride?

What average distance do you ride?

How good is your core strength?

After asking these and a few more he looked at me carefully (like I might explode! How did he know?) and then gently said "I wouldn't sell you a road bike" and then proceeded to tell me why. To tell the truth I was a little relieved! I see people just flying along on their road bikes and I'm not ready for that yet. I don't have the core strength to be at that angle comfortably and he mentioned that visibility is reduced at the angle of road bikes compared to commuter bikes. 

So I ended up with a new commuter bike. It's so lovely! I really wanted a bike that was colourful as my last few bikes have been black but I ended up with a gray bike that sang to me the second I saw it. It's all alloy as per Harley's advice and also has no front suspension. 

I took it home from the store and then went to do grocery shopping. Imagine my surprise when I got home to find my brand spanking new bike, that I had only ridden tentatively around the car park at the bike store being ridden joyously by Mr JDF! I'm quite territorial about things that are 'mine' so after shouting futilely at him to 'get off my new bike!!!' I put the shopping away and then we went for a ride. 

What a difference! It's so nice to ride... we did 11kms and it was easy. Normally I do 7k's on the way to work and I'm just munted by the time I get there. This ride had more hills, unfamiliar territory and I smashed it. It still felt like I'd done a workout, jelly legs and sweat etc etc, but I enjoyed it a lot more. I'm soooooo looking forward to riding to work tomorrow. 

I really enjoy riding with Mr JDF. He's fitter and stronger than me but will slow to my pace and I appreciate that he will do so without being smart about it. 

We have a fitness date next Saturday morning. Excited! xx

Harley's links:

http://www.30bananasaday.com/

http://durianrider.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/durianriders

Freelee's links: 

https://www.facebook.com/TheBananaGirl

http://www.youtube.com/user/Freelea

http://www.BananaGirlDiet.com

They're both strong confident and staunch vegans so if this isn't for you, you've been warned!