Bowls and Bicycles!

Bowls and Bicycles!

Argilla - bowls and bicycles simultaneously!

 I'm writing this on the train to Pisa airport, having spent a few days with friends at the Faenza 'Argilla' ceramics festival. You  may not be surprised to read that calorie counting has not been at the top of my agenda! Faenza, however was inspiring, not only because the food was delicious and there were more ceramics in one city than I've ever seen before  (plenty of beautiful bowls & plates to eat from) but also because there were bicycles everywhere.  Cars seemed to take second place on those cyclist-friendly city roads, and when parked up, often they weren't even locked. My new bike is safely stashed in Middlesbrough, not reducing anybody's  body fat! But I'm encouraged to get in the saddle as soon as I get back. I just hope my home town drivers can become as bike friendly as the Italians! 

A local bike shop 

However I've not been lazy - I've done a lot of walking, some of it up and down mountain paths, and did some garden maintenance at Casa Rosa (scything/lugging things about). For a few days before I set off for Italy, I did bite the bullet, by logging my food consumption on 'my fitness pal ' as a bit of a stock take of my average eating habits. It's an interesting thing to do - have a go! Once I got over my resistance to the numbers game (weighing stuff seems such a faff) I found my remote fitness coach Heather was right - put in muesli , for example,  and it brings up every permutation from every possible retail source.  It logs your favourites, so you only have to work each thing out once.  Then you log your exercise for the day and it neatly tells you what you'll weigh in a month's time if you were do the same each day. 

hundreds of fabulous bowls to choose from!

Now, I'm not one for dieting. I think people, and women in particular, can get obsessed with weight watching and there's a plethora of magazines, TV programmes and other media  giving so many conflicting messages that we forget to just listen to our own bodies. But in our busy lives it is hard to keep track,  so writing down every morsel and sip helped me to take a birds eye view of the week and notice what I could be eating more & less of as well as noticing habits. Less tea and more water for example, would be a bit healthier! Anyway, I did lose a couple of pounds that week, just by being more mindful about it. I have no idea if it stayed off - I have no scales in Tuscany. 

delicious breakfasts every morning!

Eat Play Laugh!

Eat Play Laugh! This is the philosophy behind one of our Casa Rosa Tuscan Retreat programmes, which we facilitate together. My sister Heather is an inspiring health and fitness coach, and for years has balanced her desk bound accountancy work with gym based exercise. For years I have been the classic join-the-gym-and-then-not-go 'exercise' avoider!

Not that I'm allergic to exercise generally, I just don't enjoy gyms. I do other things, and for years never worried about either my fitness or my weight, I was pretty fit and my weight stayed reasonably the same on my veggie diet and my fairly active lifestyle.

But like many busy women in the middle of their lives, my weight has been creeping up for a few years and my fitness levels have been harder to maintain. I was ill for a while, which was a wake up call, but more of that later. This summer I was very busy and not exactly a couch potato, but I still found myself fretting about feeling heavy and not so energetic as I think I am in my head. Time for a new approach I think, and to keep me focussed I've decided to write about it.

Our Eat Play Laugh! retreat is designed for women to find their balance. A week away from our 'normal' life can give us time to get an eagles eye view of what we are caught up in. There are lots of reasons why some of us struggle to fit in healthy eating and exercise, and we are surrounded by conflicting messages about body image. Many of us are managing much more than our grandmothers needed to manage, and still we expect ourselves to do it all and stay fabulous.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Book Eat Pray Love, made both my sister and me laugh and we each related to different parts of it. I can recommended it as a good read - I haven't actually seen the film, but when I get round to it I'll let you know. The premise though, is of a woman ditching her ordinary life and for a literal journey through various countries, along with into her own psyche. We paraphrased her title for her retreat programme, because actually, this is what Heather and I both believe life should be about: journeying, playing, laughing and eating well. We also work hard but we aim to get a balance, and we invite women to come to our Tuscan mountain retreat for a week as part of their own journeying. We believe that we each have to find our own way to stay fit and healthy but that the key is about having fun along the way.

This diary though is about my own journey to better health and fitness, because I've decided to change what I do and see if it makes a difference.  Four days ago I got a bike for the first time in 24 years. I felt ridiculously excited, like a child with a new toy! I'm lucky to have a personal trainer, even though at the moment we live 250 miles apart!  This morning I did as Heather suggested and registered on www.myfitnesspal.com to keep track of my diet and exercise. I hope my blog will inspire you and I welcome you to comment and join in if you want! Maybe we'll see you in Tuscany!