Salads 4 and 5! Yummo!!

Salad 4

Chicken, broccoli and couscous

Marinated the chicken in Hoisin sauce prior to cooking... doesn't look as nice as the other salads but it was yummy!

Salad 5

Good old tabbouli salad

Served this one with teriaki chicken skewers... hmm going to have to eat some other meat at some point!

The Bloggest Loser task of the week to get up early and exercise is going well. Yesterday I woke Molly at 6am, fed her, dressed us both and we were out the door by 7 for an hour long walk. I forgot what it felt like to be outside as the sun is rising. I love it. The crispness of the air as it gently blows across the little beads of sweat on my nose and cheeks is so revitalising. I worked myself as hard as I could handle, powering up hills pushing my little girl and feeling fitter than I thought I would.

I couldn't help but think what I good habit I am going to instill in Molly. By the time she is old enough to realise what is going on going for walks will just be a part of life. I would like walking and exercise to become so unremarkable and routine that it would feel weird for us NOT to do it- not the other way around.

This morning was a little bit trickier as Molly uncharacteristically woke at 4:30 instead of 6. I had so much trouble deciding whether to take my butt out for an early early early morning walk and be tired for the rest of the day (no time for a nanna nap today) or schedule in a walk in the afternoon. We did the latter and boy am I glad I got the extra sleep as I had a rather busy day. Our walk this afternoon was great. I stripped down to my singlet (let all the lumps and bumps be seen) as the sun was shining and I didn't really care who saw me. I had to pick John up from work at 5:30 so an hour and a half before that I drove to the carpark in the school he works at, loaded Molly into the pram and took off on an hour long walk winding our way around unfamilliar streets, looking at all of the different houses and gardens... You certainly miss a lot when you drive everywhere! It was glorious to spend time in the fresh air once again!

Thinking about what I'd like "normal" to be like for Molly I remembered something I posted on the Healthy Body Club forum the other day in response to a post about crash dieting and starvation. I thought I'd post it here too for your entertainment!

"I have tried so many different diets over the years and each one ended with me feeling miserable, tired, hungry and putting on all the weight I managed to lose plus some more once the "diet" was over. When I was on a diet all I could think about was the end, when I finally got to eat like a normal person again.My problem was that many of the people around me did not have "normal" eating habits- well not how "normal" should be anyway. It was normal for all of my primary school buddies to feast on chips and chocolate at recess and drink poppers of fruit drink laden with simple sugars.

We need to redefine "normal" for the sake of the next generation.

Also, I feel that we lovely ladies don't celebrate the awesomeness (is that a word??!) of womanhood nearly as much as we should. If we stood back once in a while and examined how clever our bodies are I feel we would wind up respecting ourselves a lot more. I have just had a baby and am still dumbfounded at what an amazing thing my body has done! I feel strong, proud, womanly and POWERFUL!

Respect for ones self does not begin with a fancy pill, potion or diet shake- it wont even come from losing weight the slow and steady healthy way. True self respect must come from a much deeper place. It's not always easy to find this place, but with hard work and perseverance it is truly breathtaking!

Hope you are all feeling womanly today.... unless you are a bloke, I which case I hope you're feeling manly *lol*!!!

Ash
xox

PS. Have decided today that I do not know nearly enough of you so would like to set myself a goal of meeting 20 new bloggers in 2007. Drop me a line if you're in Melb and would like to meet! I'll also be in Adelaide in May.