Work out Wednesday

So I kind of abandoned this blog…. again, I have been so busy with a new job and becoming a crossover skater in my league that I’m barely at home!

This is supposed to be a weekly post that states what exorcises/fitness I have been up too and the good food i’ve eaten.

So I’m feeling physically good at the moment considering the cold weather ‘I’ll just sit here , drink tea and eat soup and netflix all day’ binge. I have been accepted as a crossover skater with the A team after two years with my league (including being vice captain for 8 months for our wonderful furies) , this makes me very happy and has been a goal for a while now. We have also been doing some off skates sessions, both of which I surprisingly REALLY enjoyed. The sessions were quite high intensity, consisting of exorcises such as Burpee’s

Spider man push up’s

And my favourite (that I am going to try and do a few times a week)…. Skaters

I want to continue with my core work as before, which consisted of three exorcises using my exorcise ball – Jack knives, plank roll outs and sit ups. They made me so much more stable and take like 10-15 minutes.

As well as working on physical fitness I have also been working on my mentality and approach to the sport, I usually opt for a a zen and focused mindset for sessions as I feel I need to learn control. I often get overly excited when the adrenaline and endorphins kick in which is when I perform my best and feel most confident but often have trouble focusing the energy, which I am currently improving on.

The weather is getting better already and i’m so excited for this year already, in particular more outdoor running including more park runs! I also want to replace my bicycle that I used once before it was stolen as I find cycling a useful and joyful experience that makes getting from A to B quicker just a bonus.

FOOOOOOOOD!! I love food, it’s no secret that if I’m not eating then i’m probably thinking about food and recipes.

This week I discovered Clif bars, they are pretty much the tastiest protein bars ever and the best post practice reward so far I’ve had the peanut butter and macadamia ones and plan on bulk buying these beauties. Another favourite to take to practice is this little salad with any variation/addition: Spinach as base (Could be kale etc), sweetcorn, pomegranate, walnuts (Or any nuts) , avocado, lemon juice and cherry tomatoes: I feel this covers  essential oils, fats and protein.

I’ve been thinking about cravings a lot, Sometimes it’s good and i don’t mind such as when I fancy an entire tin of sweetcorn but sometimes I’ll really crave sugar, specifically full fat fizzy drinks. I spotted this chart  Unfortunately it isn’t vegan specific but the ‘what you need’ section is certainly a vital starting point.

I’ll be back next week (I promise) Hopefuly still as positive and with news of my first A team game against the Hellfire Harlots !! This is pretty much the best month ever as MRD’s female B team will also be bouting on the 29th against North wales roller derby, Come along if you can!

Skatanico.

Organising my blog :)

This is a very short post to explain that I have come up with a plan to organise my blog from the general post. I will have:
Workout Wednesday
This is my team practice day so it’s fitting that I post up exorcises that I have done and learnt over the previous week.

Food Friday
Ah Friday! The start of the weekend and the end of most people’s working week. The pressure is off and i will usually be found in the kitchen so this is the day I will be posting all the food I have made the previous week, sometimes including recipes and reviews.

First post will be the exercise one tomorrow 4/9/2013 but it may be sparse as I’ve been lacking a little in going to the gym!

Thanks for visiting and please feel free to offer tips on both xx

Underdog is victorious

So as you can probably guess from the title this is going to be a bit of a soppy, proud and (hopefully) inspirational post! As you may know I am involved in the world of Roller Derby (one of the best decisions I ever made) and I am completely in love with it. I have worked REALLY hard to get my fitness up and my attitude right to fit into Manchester Roller Derby’s B team the Furies and let me tell you, These girlies are amazing and I love them all. Joining this sport has not only helped me get physically better but also psychologically, helping with the numerous mental health issues I am faced with, mainly manic depression and social anxiety/awkwardness, I’ve also improved my self Discipline, determination and motivation in the sport and in general. Last week the Furies had quite the challenge…. We were to take on a very tough (Literally, these ladies are the hardest hitters I’ve faced so far!) but lovely team The Furness Firecrackers.

Here is my team skating out ❤

And here is me doing what I do best, Blocking

I also attempt jamming sometimes but let’s not talk about that 😉

The odd’s were against us with a short roster and the difference in current rankings: Here is the direct stats from the flat track stats website:

VISITOR
MRD: Phoenix Furies
171st in europe
Ranking: 529.4

HOME
Furness Firecrackers
85th in Europe
Ranking: 572.7

Furness is expected to win with a DoS of .26
MRD: Phoenix Furies has a 12% chance of winning; Furness has a 88% chance of winning

Expected Score Ratio

32  :  55

For every 32 points MRD: Phoenix Furies scores, Furness is expected to score 55″

We fought so hard and played so well and in the end we ended up victorious with a final score of:
MRD furies: 186 Furness Firecrackers: 170!!
Naturally we were ecstatic with our win that we had practiced so much to achieve and we boarded the coach home with smiles on our faces.

The next day was advanced scrimmage, Now I have only just joined in with this from intermediate but A few people said I was ready and I certainly felt like I was.  Obviously with being new to advanced members I am at the lower end of the skill and knowledge level we are greeted with here, But I don’t let that stop me trying my best! Today I thought if I could play in a team that won Furness, I could certainly be a valuable player here and I attempted more than usual, goating, assisting and erm…. jamming. Yeah I attempted a jam in an advanced scrimmage and it may have ended in tears (Apparently ribs are no match for elbow pad shells… Who’d have thought it?!) But I don’t regret it and it won’t put me off trying. My efforts did not go unnoticed and I ended up with my first certificate for ‘Most Determined’ and I was certainly the latter.
This is my sweaty proud face!! 😀
The week (And by coincidence, month) has come to a close on another very proud moment that will need a little bit of back story. When I was 11 I was diagnosed with Turner syndrome which unfortunately included aortic stenosis (a narrowing of the aorta) and I was told I would never run or be any good at it due to running out of breath quickly. Today I did my first 5k park run 😀 We went round this pretty lake!
It’s not been easy building up to it, at times I have wanted to kick the treadmill or get off it after just 2 minutes but I have persevered. Not only did I use the treadmill at my gym but I also went for mile runs through my local park which turned out to also keep my depression at bay and help me sleep better. I obviously wasn’t the best at park run but i’m proud of myself and I learnt a lot about pacing for distance running from a lovely lady who persevered and advised me the whole race as she saw I was struggling slightly. I am not put off from trying again! I will continue to train and get better, faster, stronger. On my way home I crossed a bridge to get to my local supermarket and had a little proud cry over the achievements of the past week and let it sink in.

The moral of my little story is at some point in your life you’ll feel something you’ll want to do Is unreachable, unachievable. It isn’t.
“If you want something you’ll find a way, If you don’t you’ll find an excuse”

Hosting dinner

Today I hosted a meeting and I thought it would be a great opportunity to do some cooking for others. I started off by making an amazing spicy indian lentil soup…. LOOK AT IT:

 Look at all the juicy lentils ❤
I then served up my homemade hummus (Seriously tasty) with roasted veg (aubergine, red pepper, carrot and sweet potato) and a plate of pitta bread. 
For dinner I made a root veg chilli, Slightly bland in spice but luckily the recipe contained roasted parsnip and you can’t go wrong with that really can you? 

We then all travelled to roller derby practice, Which was great!! And I came home to discover there was a zen zen mango ice cream in the fridge i’d forgotten about ❤
Tomorrow I will be going to lunch at one of my favorite places, Fuel. I will obviously post what I order, I am excited! 😀

Rachel/Skatanico

A day of rest and better food

Today I had a lovely falafel pitta for lunch, I bought it from a Greek stall and it is probably the nicest falafel I’ve tried. I then dropped my groceries at home in preparation for tomorrow and went to media city for a little skate!
My friend and I took lots of pictures of the pretty scenery which I will also make a blog post about.
When I got home I opened 3 cans of chick pea’s to make hummus and a channa masala biryani (just made it up with onion, chick peas, lentils, potatoes and various spices. It was a good day, I can’t seam to put the pictures in order on my iPod so will edit later, hopefully it still makes sense.

Comfort food is not comforting :(

I am sooooo disappointed in myself. I am not a fan of junk or ‘comfort’ food and yet today I found myself feeling mentally and psychically low, low on cash, low on energy, low on motivation 😦 so I rummaged through the freezer and found some Linda Mcartny pies and thought it would make me feel better and I had been good so why not?