So its new years eve, and along with the majority I am finalising my list of resolutions this year…

Its been another wonderful year, and I should be, I AM so grateful for all the blessings that have poured up on me and my husband and family! My brother survived a motorcycle accident (thank you Lord for keeping him safe!). I got got through my second year of med school – the hard slog. I somehow miraculously avoided being shafted overseas for my next year of study (thank you Lord for keeping me with my husband). I am lucky enough to live in an apartment close to the city, with the love of my life, and we are able to enjoy regular holidays and outings. I’m surrounded by wonderful friends who support me and let me support them, friends I can laugh with and be myself with. I Am So Blessed. And I truly I say thank you every single day.

At the same time I have been neglectful of my health this year, which has affected my mood, my self-esteem, my relationships, my study… My husband and I have spoken a lot about this, we need to find some self-discipline and make choices for the life we want for ourselves, our marriage, and our future family. Its time for us to get some good habits going!!

{so in no particular order}

First – to exercise daily. Whether that is just some light pilates or a hard run, SOMETHING each day

Second – to experiment more with healthy and nutritious recipes. Good food can taste amazing! much better than processed crud like chips and poor quality chocolate – plus its infinitely better for your health and your waistline, not to mention its minus the guilt factor.

Third – to do one small piece of housework daily. This is to help keep our tiny little apartment clutter free and calm. If we leave anything out ie the ironing board, or my sketching stuff, or the mail in a messy pile – the whole place looks cluttered and makes me agitated…not this year!!

Fourth – to have discipline in my study. Keep good notes to make sure I’m covering the content and understanding as I go. Med is learning for life, not for exams! Plus new stationary always gets me super motivated

Fifth – be the most amazing wife I can be for my amazing husband!

Sixth – to write 20 notes to 20 people who I treasure in my life.

Seventh – to read and reflect on the bible, and develop my relationship with God.

- What are your new years resolutions? How do you plan to stick to them this year?

6km run along the riverfront – theres no better way to start a new day!!

Have also fallen in love with this oGorgeous yoga/gym bag i found browsing blogs last night! Cassey Ho (the designer and a pilates instructor) also has a great blog called Blogilates – you can check it out for some workout ideas and inspiration here

She also posted up some fantastic motivation for getting into shape that appealed to me as a med student – look at the differences in fatty tissue here! Not just the sub cutaneous fat (under the skin) but also around the larger lady’s intestines (this is the fat thats particularly bad for your health) The pale colour of her liver is also not a good sign, and you should check out the difference in joints between the two from carrying different amounts of weight for life – those knees look like they are wearing out (you cant see her joint space!! The fat pockets around the heart aren’t good either. Anyway – I hope it motivates you to be responsible for your health and wellbeing like it has motivated me!!

Reblogged from: http://prettyfitbody.tumblr.com/post/13638518150/fuelingit-im-pullin-it

Hit the gym bright and early this morning with my hubby and pumped out three sets of thirteen reps of:

Lat pulldown

Supported row

Lower back crunches

Oblique twists

Push-ups

Leg lifts

Bicycles

Lunges with bicep curls

Tricep dips

Followed by some lovely deep stretches where I managed to touch my toes consistently (*high-five!*)

This is a great all over workout which I like to do with relatively light weights (you should still be struggling by the end of the set) at a fast pace with minimal rest so that I get a bit of a cardio workout at the same time. If this is your goal too – ie not bulking up like the Hulk) and you are just starting at the gym I recommend starting with ten reps of each exercise and choose different muscle groups to work on (this will help reduce fatigue)

To start with maybe you could try:

10x Lat pull-downs: works back and shoulders

10x Lunges (on each leg – ie 20 exaggerated steps down the length of the gym, or your lounge room): works legs and butt

20x Bicycles (lay on your back peddling your legs, and bring opposite elbow and knee together as you do crunches: works abs and core

20x Tricep dips or Bicep curls (on each arm)

In the middle of my workout I caught myself pulling a face a bit like what you see above – my new sexy face – and its nice to catch yourself in the moment actually working hard towards your goals! Fantastic!!!

What do you like to do at the gym? What do you aim to get out of a workout?

Larissa

22

5ft 3in

Med student

Married for 2yrs to the most amazing man on the planet

Used to be 65kgs: 5yrs ago I lost 10kgs when I started university purely by changing my diet.

Now 54kgs: Finding it hard to maintain, realising that a consistent healthy diet with regular exercise is the ONLY WAY to keep the weight of and be HEALTHY (and that this is different to being ‘thin’)

Favourite foods: blanched almonds, apricots, nectarines, broccoli, carrot, salmon, dark chocolate, peppermint chocolate, peppermint tea, chai tea, green tea, any tea… poached eggs, fresh bread, ricotta and spinach ravioli, curry, coconut rice, stirfry

Exercises I enjoy: Bikram yoga, running (with my ipod along the river), a good combined weights cicuit

Hobbies: reading, drawing/painting, cooking, crochet, visiting museums and galleries, scrabble, shopping – when I’m in a good mood

Goals: hit and maintain 50kgs, run the bridge-to-brisbane in September, exercise daily, eat clean and healthy food 80% of the time, study hard and keep good notes this year, regularly surprise my hubby with romantic dates

Biggest flaws: I can be lazy, and often am a bit of a glutton. These are two big issues which I’m planning to smack-down with the help of this blog!

Welcome to my new project – Fitspiration 365! My goal with this project is 1) to do some form of exercise each day, 2) post some serious workout motivation, and 3) blog about new health food and exercise plans I stumble across. If I’m to be completely honest here I am absolutely addicted to reading about nutrition and exercise plans – I love trying new foods, modifying recipes to be more healthy, and combining exercises for efficient whole body workouts. However, as much as I read and learn I still struggle to regularly stick to these big plans and routines I make!  Ultimately I need to practice what I preach and I feel confident to say I’m not the only one lacking the ‘just do it’ factor. For people in the same boat, I hope that this blog will end up being a great source of ideas, information, recipes, workouts, stories and motivation to get into fitness and healthy nutrition as a lifestyle, not a temporary diet!

There are no shortcuts.

This is the time to take responsibility for yourself and JUST DO IT!!