Working out from Scratch

This month is all about getting back to basics and starting things from scratch, however neither activity actually appears on my list of vices and experiences: they both came to me during the last month and like most people, when I find out about something new, I'm impatient to try it.

Giving-Up:  Cooking from jars and packets
This is all about embracing my inner Masterchef. I'm never been particularly enamoured with cooking, but over time I've found myself pushing my boundaries and trying things a little bit more: it helps when hubby is a willing guinea pig.

In doing so though, I've always felt a little guilty that when the recipe calls for thinly sliced vegetables, julienne carrots or similar, instead of preparing the vegies myself, I always reach for the frozen already-prepared variety. True, I'm a relatively busy woman who doesn't always have time to prepare things properly, plus frozen vegies are proven to have just as much nutritional value as fresh ones, but there's still that niggling voice in the back of mind that says "you cheated."

So, this month my mission is to abandon the jars of sauces, packets of vegies and cartons of stock when cooking and make them all myself. Yes, it has been mentioned to me I could avoid this all by just having meat and three veg every night but that seems a tad boring.

I started out straight away, making a red wine jus to go with a (admittedly slightly over-cooked) rib eye fillet for Sunday night dinner, the results of which are below: not a bad first go if you ask me!

Taking-Up: Personal Training
Now, I'm not going to be going to a personal trainer, but I've seen so many Facebook posts from friends who are undertaking their own PT sessions that I felt inclined to give it a go, taking inspiration from the circuits I used to do when I DID see a trainer a few years ago.

Plus, I start netball in three weeks and I'm not feeling as fit as I'd like.

I started bright and early Monday morning with the following circuit:

• Brisk 5-minute walk around the block to warm up
• 60 jumps with a skipping rope
• 10 standing push-ups
• 10 lunges per leg
• 30 arm pumps with weights per arm
• 10 sit ups

I did four lots of each before finishing with 10 minutes of stretching.

I felt good once I'd finished, ready and willing to start the day though hubby has suggested that next time I skip I do it away from our bedroom window.

I didn't feel so good the next day though!