Welcome to Week 2 of my Healthy Me Challenge. How did you go? Are you on the way to a brand new and improved you? Have you only just stumbled across the ‘Healthy Me Challenge'? Catch up Week 1 here and then come straight back, you have weight to lose and a soul to nourish!

Before we go on I just have to mention  I LOST 2.1 KGS THIS WEEK!!! So excited because I didn't count calories, nor did I exercise for hours and I still allowed myself a few treats.

I know I can't expect a result like that each week but I just wanted to share with you all because frankly it has been a long time since I had a win on the scales and felt a little bit good about myself.

So let's look back over my week and see if I can motivate you to keep travelling this path with me! I'll work my way through the categories I mentioned last week so that it's easier to look back on each week.

Goals for the week – How did I go?

• I did make enough dinner one night to freeze for another night but apparently I should have labelled it as it disappeared disguised as ‘leftovers for lunches' apparently. Lesson number 1 learnt!
• I didn't manage 3 circuits outside with the kids (was so hot and they had had enough after 2 circuits) but I did do something everyday and I did manage to push the excuses away…and that's more than I have done in months. I'll share the circuit below.
• I took measurements and photos and they are now top secret and locked away! I've decided to do new photos and measurements each month.
• I DID shave my legs past the knee in peace – ahh the liberation!
• I did a snack tub in the fridge just for me and got prepared on the weekend by boiling eggs, grilling chicken breast for wraps,grating carrot and making up salad. I made my own hummus (recipe below) and cut up celery and carrot sticks to have with it for snacks. I also made some berry and yoghurt iceblocks for me as well as the girls. We have been having them as a treat when the daycare children leave of an afternoon. Creating a ritual!

How did you go with your goals? I've done up a little printable for you to download and use next week if you want to.You'll see it further down the page. I'm going to be including some printables for you each week so why not treat yourself to one of those pretty ring binder folders and keep all your goodies together to give you some inspiration whenever you need it!

Goals for next week

• Have less goals – be more concise!
• Try a new recipe – something that mimics a favourite mexican takeaway
• Do a 30 minute walk 3 times during the week

My  child friendly exercise circuit

My commitment this week was to do at least 15 minutes of exercise each day with the children and try to fit in either a walk with the dog or an exercise video. The walk wasn't so successful as the girls needed to stop and point out every leaf, flower or animal that caught their attention (which I love but didn't get my heartrate up much!) I only did the exercise dvd once and let's just say it wasn't much fun with two 4 year olds asking me what I was doing every 30 seconds and Tara even went running out of the room yelling to what I can only guess was the ENTIRE NEIGHBOURHOOD that ‘Mummy is doing real life gym exercising' Yes, well *ahem*, damn straight it was ‘real life' kid!

Anyway, moving on, the exercise circuit with the children outside was a little more successful thank goodness. Here's what I did 4 mornings out of the working week. I did intend to include photos but frankly I was struggling just to get through the exercises let alone lifting a camera and pointing it at my sweaty self!

I did approx 20 repetitions of each exercise listed below and went through the cycle 2 times. It was my aim to do 3 but after 2 cycles the kids were demanding more attention so I just did what I could. I figure any movement at all is a win at this stage.

Now I'm no personal trainer or exercise professional so I'm not going to try and explain the correct way to do these exercises but I have tried to provide links for you to view the exercises from those who know what they are doing!

Mon/Wed 

1. A run up and down the hill to the fence and back chasing the children for 5 minutes to warm up.

2. I held a ball with two hands, squatted and tossed it up in the air and caught it above my head. See how to do squats correctly here

3. I did some standing push ups using the children's craft table as my base. They thought this was hilarious! These are easier than the pushups on the knees but I wanted to go back to basics first. You can see an example of wall pushups here and the beginner version on knees here.

4. I used my 2kg hand weights to do some bicep curls (you could use some tins or milk bottles filled with water if you don't own weights) – I gave the children some branches we collected to use as their ‘dumbbells' .

5. Using the same weights I rested one hand on the outdoor cafe bench and worked my tricep muscles like this.

6. We all got on our hands and knees with a ball and then rolled out and back in again. Sort of something like this (in my dreams anyway)

7. We ran through the outdoor obstacle course including jumping over the mini hurdles 3 times and then I stretched and walked around setting up the yard to warm down while the children played.

Tues/Thurs

1. A run to the sandpit and up to the chook house with the children for 5 minutes to warm up.

2. We all did lunges to the quarry, picked up a stone we liked and then did lunges on alternating legs back again. See how to do a walking lunge with correct form here.

3. We each chose a boulder surrounding the sandpit and then began to step up and step down.I aim to progress to higher steps but this one still managed to work my butt and legs! Read more about how to do step ups correctly here.

4.We got the hula hoops out and had fun trying to keep them spinning on our hips for 5 minutes.

5. We used our small chairs to do some tricep dips. See how to do them using a bench here

6. We then pretended to be dancers and did plie squats holding onto the fence for balance. See how to do them correctly here

7. We did a march around the entire yard in a big square twice to warm down and then did some yoga poses on the outdoor stage to stretch our muscles.

My favourite meal/snack

My downfall is usually snacking so I decided to try a few different snacks and prepare them on the weekend ready for the week ahead. They are simple and quick and easy to prepare. I've included the links to the recipes below if you want to try them out next week.

Spicy, Crunchy Chickpeas 

Hummus – except I did 3 cloves of garlic and used a tin of chickpeas

Berry Banana Iceblocks – I pretty much doubled this recipe and then poured into iceblock moulds to freeze overnight.The twins love them!

Mantra for the week ahead

I really love this one

“Strive for progress not perfection!” You can download the picture below to put into your folder or perhaps on your fridge. Just click here or on the picture then right click ‘save as' on your computer.

Last week's biggest challenge

This will probably make me sound like an alcoholic but staying away from a glass of wine or two at night to wind down when writing was a real challenge for me. I think I have made it my ‘treat' after work and unfortunately it has now become a habit and something to look forward to.

So how do I make this not so much a challenge? I'm thinking I need to change the routine and habit, introduce something else to look forward to. So next week I am going to make myself a nice fruit and yoghurt smoothie each night after dinner when the house goes quiet (hmm, might need to blend ahead of time to avoid said house no longer being quiet when noise of the blender wakes them up!) Will then pour into a pretty glass (something I don't use regularly) and enjoy slowly.

And because I know deprivation does not work for me I will allow myself a few wines on a Friday night.

Did you encounter something that really challenged you last week? Why not share in the comments below and see if we can all support you to conquer that challenge!

Links I loved

I have been using my pinterest account to explore new blogs and pages with a focus on healthy eating and life changes. The links below were a few of my favourites.

I really liked some of the recipes and information on Bless this Mess Please – the Eating Clean Meal Plan is a great resource.

Lots of inspiration on the Facebook page To Insanity and Back

I loved this list of 6 healthy goals for a new year from My healthy Family

Do you have a favourite healthy eating/exercise or wellbeing Facebook page/blog you like to visit? Why not share it with us in the comments below – I'm always looking for inspiration!

You can also follow my new Healthy Me Challenge Pinterest board dedicated to inspiring and motiviating us on this journey.

Weight Loss/Gain

2 kilo loss! How did you go? Doesn't matter if you lost or gained or even stayed the same, the point is you tried and are not giving up. If you would like some accountability why not share in the comments section so we can all encourage each other no matter the results.

Your Turn

You didn't think this was going to be all about me did you? Here's a few challenges for you to work on next week!

1. Do one thing that makes you feel good and helps to relax your mind (e.g listen to music, read a favourite book, watch a chick flick, go sit in the park on your own and breathe in the peace….whatever it is just make it happen!

2. Plan your meals for the week and put them on your fridge, only do one trip to the shops. I love this monthly menu plan printable from Picklebums. Why not download and print one out for this week?

3. Exercise for 15 minutes at least 4 days out of the week.

4. Look in the mirror and identify one thing you really like or even love about yourself.

5. Write down 3 specific goals you want to achieve this week – you can  Download your FREE Weekly Challenge Plan Printable here to keep track of your weight, measurements, plan goals and exercise and even paste in a few photos to show your journey.

 How has your week been? Don't forget to share the good, bad or ugly in the comments below and share your scale or measurement results if you crave a little accountability.

Keep your eye on my Facebook page for daily challenges to keep you motivated. See you next week, we can do this!!

Warm Wishes

Jode x