My magical drink

Hands up if your with me!

Short black, Latte, Cappuccino, Frappe, Espresso, the list goes on.

My go-to is the classic Short Black; I love the look, taste and aroma of a rich coffee bean ground short black. *To all the anti-coffee drinkers I am also an avid tea drinker so don’t worry I don’t discriminate.

Why am I telling you about my love for coffee? Well this week marks the start of a 12 week nutrition challenge, this challenge is based on the Paleo diet and my personal aim is to lose body fat and hopefully a few kg’s. I’ll be posting about the challenge and sharing my journey as I go. At the moment a lot of sugar is being cut out of my diet to re-set and re-balance my body. But the great thing is that one coffee has been allowed for each day, after a few day’s into the challenge I’ve had an epiphany.

I have realised that drinking coffee for me is not just about the caffeine hit (shock horror! My boyfriend would 100% disagree with this). I absolutely enjoy my morning cup of coffee; savouring those few minutes of relaxation and reflecting on the day’s agenda. It gives me a chance to have a ‘zen moment’. In the same way as my post last week on how I un-wind from the working week and having ‘Kate Time’ I love taking a few minutes out of the day to reflect and enjoy what I have.

Not only is my coffee love a reflection of me-time; coffee also reminds me of Melbourne… weird I know. I think this is because I had the most amazing cup’s of coffee there last year on my first getaway with my boyfriend. It reminds me of the great time we had, late breakfasts, long lunches and glorious dinners all accompanied by an amazing coffee.

Have you also noticed that coffee today goes hand in hand with social gatherings, meetings and dates. I’m sure 50 years ago they wouldn’t have suggested meeting for a coffee-date? They may have preferred a swing dance date. Something else I have also noticed is that it is almost socially un-acceptable to not drink coffee. I can raise my hand to say that I have been taken aback when people have replied that they don’t drink coffee.

Coffee dates – Melbourne, AUS.

Here’s a link to one of my favourite places to visit for a coffee when out shopping: Coffee Club 

Are you a long time coffee drinker and what’s your drink of choice?

P.S. Find Me Here! Instagram | Pinterest |

Relax: How I un-wind from the work week.

A nice relaxing bubble bath with epsom salts and a cup of tea.

Relaxing… to be honest when ever I read, hear or say this word I get a bit of anxiety.

I am the type of person who has to be on the go all the time. It frustrates my family, boyfriend and at times myself. When I was a baby I used to copy the yellow pages onto my chalkboard, in my teens I would sort beads into their different colours and as an adult I go to the gym to tire my mind and body.

To be able to sit still and relax is one of the hardest things to do and something I’m working on in 2015. But I’ve realised as I’m getting older *insert sad face* I need to listen to my body and make time each week for myself. What I like to call ‘Kate Time’.

I’m making the habit of ending each working week with a Crossfit Class; followed by a relaxing bubble bath at home. I’ve noticed everyone has their own ‘concoction’ of items they put in their bath. I’m sticking with the basic’s… epsom salts and some bubble bath liquid from The Body Shop (it has an amazing peach smell) + a smidge of Himalayan Salt. Followed by my bath pillow, cup of green tea and my current reading obsession (Safe Haven – Nicholas Sparks), it’s a prefect combination.

How do you take time out to relax?

Are there any must-have products to use for the bath?

P.S. Find Me Here! Instagram | Pinterest |

A quick tip on how to save money.

Not ashamed to admit I love to save money $$

Thrifty, penny-pincher, tightwad…. I prefer tight arse. These are some of the words that define me and I’m not ashamed to admit that yes… I am a tight arse.

Many people set a New Year’s resolution to save money, I’m putting myself in the same boat however there is a small twist. I am going to succeed! See 2015 is the year of the house, the great Australian dream. Every penny, dollar, button I save is going straight into a house deposit fund.

First step to reaching this goal is something very simple which I’m going to pass onto you all. By simply… pressing that ‘un-subscribe’ button on the bottom of all those amazing home, fashion and beauty website emails. Trust me I was having real withdrawals after a few hours of doing this however, but I have kept a list of my key websites and will go and ‘subscribe’ back to them once my goal has been reached. Almost like a ‘well-done’, pat-on-the-back to myself.

How to ‘unsubscribe’

What are your tips on how-to-save?

Do you think it is slowly becoming unachievable for persons to own their own home?

 

P.S. Find Me Here! Instagram | Pinterest |

Why not take a selfie?

Throughout my childhood, teenagers and early twenties I have had low self-confidence. I hated having my photo’s taken and would always hide when the time came at parties to have a big photo with everyone.

Perhaps this was brought on by bullying I experienced or not being happy with the way I physically looked… I’m still working on myself to see where this all stemmed from.

It’s not until the big ‘quarter century’ did I realise that the most important thing for myself was self-love. I know some people may think this is being ‘stuck up’ or ‘snobby’ but when you understand the concept of loving yourself first your whole life will change. Not only do I now feel better about myself, I walk with my head held that little bit higher and smile a lot more. Don’t get me wrong, this ABSOLUTELY didn’t happen over night and I had to work on myself a lot.

‘Selfie’ was never a word I used when growing up but now I abolsutely love it. What I don’t like about the word is people’s negative view that if you post a lot of selfie’s you are somehow ‘so in-love with yourself’. I’d challenge most people (both Men and Women) to take a selfie; they don’t have to share it with anyone but themselves. A photo that they can see how beautiful they are and that being self-confident and loving yourself is not a negative thing.

Look at what I achieved with a little bit of self-love.

Having more confidence to take photo’s of myself lead to a feature on Stelly Instagram page.

Do you enojoy a good selfie?

What do you do to show yourself some self-love?

 

P.S. Find Me Here! Instagram | Pinterest |

 

 

Tough Mudder Adelaide 2014 – The Re-cap

Covered in mud and loving life!

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Years this post was postponed… also because of my recovery from the day!

Wow what a day, if you are wanting an event to not only challenge you physically but also mentally I would highly reccommend Tough Mudder. Starting with a 6am wake up call to be able to travel to Langhorne Creek (approx 1 hour, 40 mins travel) to particiapte in the 8:30am wave; I was a bundle of nerves on the drive up. I’m going to put this down to my fear of the ‘unknown’; I am the type of person who likes to know what challenges I’ll be coming up against.

My favourite obstacles would have to have been ‘Mud Mile’, ‘Glory Blades’ and ‘Artic Enema’ which are just as lovely as the thoughts they are provoking in your mind. The event took over 4.5 hours for our group of 12 to complete and trust me you will come out the end of the event with your body telling you where it is sore!.

I know you are wondering; were there any injuries from the event? Well, for myself ‘kind-of’… I managed to jog till about the 12 km mark when a sharp pain in my left knee prevented myself from running on it. Even going up inclines and declines was extremely painful. After seeing my physio after the event it was put down to tight ITB’s and Hip Flexors. I know have some gentle exercises and stretches to ensure my ITB and Hip Flexors are more manageable and more fleixble for the future.

Overall, I feel extremely proud of myself for pushing my body and mind further than I ever thought I could. I know what I need to work on physically and also can improve on the endurance of this type of event.

My 2015 goals is to attend the True Grit event and also the Adelaide Tough Mudder (to be confirmed) to add to my headband collection.

 

Completed Tough Mudder and have this awesome headband,

Did you attend the Tough Mudder event?

What are your thoughts on these type of endurance events?

2014 – My end of year challenge

 

Tough Mudder Australia; when most people hear about this event a shudder goes down their spine. Images appear of ice cold water, high obstacles to jump over and lot’s of mud to wade through.

This weekend this is my challenge to compete in my first Tough Mudder Australia event. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. Comprising of a ‘hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by Special Forces’, this event will test me physically but also mentally. The mental challenge is what I’m looking forward to the most.

Thanks to my partner’s peer’s at Goodlife Mitcham; the team ‘Fit Factory’ has been training for this event for the past month. Gruelling group workouts have been tough but the team comradery has been fantastic. Even though our team is a mixture of males and females with varying fitness levels we are heading into this event to ensure that no team member get’s left behind.

To top the challenge off I entered the Garmin Tough Mudder Adelaide competition through their Facebook page. Behold I was one of the lucky 6 winners who will be set up with a Garmin Action Camera for the day to record the experience. I can’t wait to see the footage at the end of the day.

I look forward in telling you all how I went and hopefully with a few stories and bruises to show.

Have you entered the Tough Mudder event before?

What’s the toughest challenge you’ve experienced?

To read more about the Tough Mudder Australia event: https://toughmudder.com.au/events/2014-adelaide

My recent book obsession

I love reading, it is a strong passion of mine and was recently re-fueled after attending a ‘Chicks at the Flick’s movie event for Gone Girl. I was intrigued at how the movie would compare to the book by Gillian Flynn.

I am the type of person who loves reading books and then seeing the movie adaptation to compare. In this case I was pleasantly surprised as I hadn’t read the book previously.

Kept on the edge of my seat throughout the book lived up to all expectations that the movie had created. Taken through a dark and twisted journey; my empathy for Nick and his situation grew each chapter.

Have you ready Gone Girl?

What are your thoughts of the movie?

Here’s the link where I purchased my book: http://castlebookshop.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Gone%20Girl

For more info on the Chicks at the Flick’s events:https://www.facebook.com/ChicksAtTheFlicks