Gold glitter elbow pads DIY

I get told far too often that I shouldn't wear my heart on my sleeve, but in this case, I disagree!

meg-made: Gold glitter heart elbow pads

meg-made: Gold glitter heart elbow pads

Are these Valentine's Day Elbow Pads? Well they might be for you, but they were just Sunday Elbow Pads for me!

My husband and I don't celebrate Valentines Day, it's just not our thing (plus, it falls between my birthday and our anniversary, so we have lots to celebrate already). But, I realised when I made these Gold Glitter Elbow pads a few weeks ago, that potentially I was being subconsciously affected by Valentines Day without even knowing it (darn it Pinterest). 

I love gold, I love glitter, I love hearts! I just love these elbow pads so much!!!! They were so easy and quick to make, and totally transformed my otherwise boring blue jumper!

Instructions

meg-made: Gold glitter heart elbow pads

1. Gather materials - you will need a some glitter fabric, tracing paper, pencil, needle & thread and a cardigan/jumper (sweater)

2. Trace out two hearts on the tracing paper (I trace over a picture on my iPad) and then trace onto the  fabric glitter

3. Cut the two hearts out and place each heart on each sleeve and try it on to make sure they are placed properly. 

4. Hand sew the heart onto the sleeve with the same colour cotton as the jumper(sweater)

5. Admire! (Ha, and realise there is NO flattering way to pose for a shot of your elbows!!!!)

meg-made: Gold glitter heart elbow pads

I may not set aside February 14th as a particular day to celebrates my Loves, but I am the luckiest Wife, Mother, Aunty, Sister, GodMother, Aunty-in-waiting, Daughter and Friend, and I'm not afraid to show it!

meg-made: Gold glitter heart elbow pads

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How to do a (proper) plank with Joanne Elphinston

You may or may not have seen/read about my current goal: 30 to 30 Plank Challenge

 

One Friday night in my Reformer Pilates class I made a decision, I was going to learn how to do a full plank and get off my knees! That Friday was 30 days away from my 30th Brithday, so it seemed like a poetic goal to set myself. 

I started off on my hands and toes (with terrible form) and then started trying on my elbows and toes (with a major case of the wobbles) and then elisted some help from a pro! And the pro in question is none-other than my brilliant cousin, Joanne Elphinston the founder of JEMS.

After our technique training session on Skype, Joanne summed up my progress so eloquently....

A little about my guru cousin firstly, just so you know that this post has some street cred! It is always hard finding a time to catch up with Joanne because everyone wants her time too! When she's not in Sweden or Australia teaching seminars, perfecting the form of Olympians or World Champions, or penning another book, she's in Cardiff doing about another million things at the one time! I mean, seriously busy!! Physio's by trade but Joanne and her Husband Kent have made a life for themselves teaching the world how to move more beautifully. 

And that even includes me!!! I do like that among Joanne's Skype consults lately there's me, and a World Number 3 Ironwoman! That's some nice company I'm keeping there. 

Knowing very little about a plank I always thought there was just two ways, the girly way, and then the hardcore (pun intended) way. But in fact, there are three ways to plank, and so long as you are actually doing it right, each level can be beneficial. 

Level 1: Knees and Elbows

Level 2: Hands and Toes

Level 3: Nirvana. And also known as Elbow and Toes. 

Having shown Joanne my two forms, we decided it was best for me to do the Level 2 plank properly rather than aiming too high and doing it ineffectively.

(Please excuse my very un-athletic body and hefty strong legs, I am certainly not a pro posing for these photos!!).

How to do a proper plank

There are two key things to keep in mind when planking, the first is your neutral spine and the second is pushing through your heels. 

Neutral Spine

Look at the floor instead of straight ahead in order to lengthen the neck and spine.  

meg-made: How to do a proper plank with Joanne Elphinston

When you have your neutral spine and are in a comfortable box position, go onto your feet, one foot at a time for stability. 

meg-made: How to do a proper plank with Joanne Elphinston

Pushing through the heels

And here is THE winning tip, push through your heels!

It was incredible how different this made my plank. I usually place all my weight in the balls of my feet (and looking at loads of photos, so do a LOT of others), so being told to push it out my heels made SUCH a differencel! It completely shifts the weight-bearing and really helps you to use your core  and leg muscles, instead of allow any strain into the lower back. 

meg-made: How to do a proper plank with Joanne Elphinston

I felt far more stable and much stronger in this position and was then able to hold for 50 seconds on my second day! I am over half way to my 90 second goal already!

So there you have it, how to do a (level 2) plank properly! A Plank with a Point!!!!!!

meg-made: How to do a proper plank with Joanne Elphinston

I really think every Pilates instructor should do a course with Joanne and Kent, because as much as I love my instructors, nobody has ever taught me these two simple steps to getting it right, and it makes such a difference! If you do happen to want to learn more, have a read of The Core Workout and Stability, Sport and Performance Movement or sign on to a course and become a guru too!!

Thanks for the encouragement on my Instagram Photos thus far, I'm going to start taking my planks outside, now that I know how to do one!!! And a big thank you to Joanne and Kent for my consult!!

NB: I had to ask permission to plug Joanne, she's way too humble, so all of these opinions are my own and not in any way a sponsored post!  

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Fast Diet Recipe O'Kelly Fish

I purchased some gorgeous Wild Alaskan Salmon fillets on the weekend and wanted to find a low calorie way of preparing it for a Fast Diet Recipe. I saw a recipe from Mimi Spencer on Get The Gloss for a baked salmon with veggies and it was love at first sight.

meg-made Fast Diet recipe: O'Kelly Fish

For a Fast Diet meal this one is such a hit! It's low calories but high in flavour and volume. Quite often I really enjoy a Fast Diet dinner, but usually finish dinner and want more, but I found this dinner to be completing filling. 

I incorporated this recipe into Week 13 on the Fast Diet. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

200g trimmed green beans
100g broccoli florets
100g asparagus spears
Juice of one lemon (and keep the husks)
1 teaspoon olive oil
15g black olives (I only had green)
2 vines of cherry tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
2 salmon fillets (approx 100g each)

meg-made Fast Diet recipe: O'Kelly Fish

Method:

1. Blanch all of your greens for 2 minutes in boiling water, and then place in a bowl of water with ice to stop them cooking further. This pre-cooks the greens and also helps to keep them green when you put them in the oven.

2. Place all of the greens in an oven-proof dish and add the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon husks and olives.

3. Place the salmon on top, season with salt & pepper and chilli flakes and oven roast at 200C/390F for 20 minutes or until fish is just cooked.

meg-made Fast Diet recipe: O'Kelly Fish

I would love to learn how to prevent the salmon from seeping its fat and turning that unsightly shade of white, so if you are the salmon expert, help help help?!? I think its from cooking the salmon too quickly, but would love to know if anyone else can advise the best way!

Fast Diet or no Fast Diet, this is such a lovely way to enjoy salmon, and have put this dinner firmly in the "to make again" category!



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Fast Diet - Week 13 - #LoseDayTuesday

I can't believe its week 13 of the 5:2 Fast Diet!! To find out more about it, read my original post here. 

Thirteen weeks, and whilst I've had some good weight loss, I'd like to see more! My original end point was my 30th birthday, but as that goalpost comes hurtling towards me next month, it seems I need to reevaluate my goals. In general I am happy that I am back to the weight I was at 3 years ago when we first got to the UK, but I want to get back to "wedding weight" now! Its funny, I caught up with a friend last week that I hadn't seen since July and I realised that I had lost 8kg since then (18lbs). So whilst I get myself down about these last few kilos that are taking their sweet time to vacate the premises, when I reflect on the bigger picture, its's really good and I need to focus on that more!!

I've had a bit of a flip-floppy week again with some migraines and emotional eating situations that I wish didn't happen. As much as I generally don't emotionally indulge as much these days, there are some situations that only a hot caramel creama will soothe! But Fast Diet days looked pretty tasted this week too, I got a little more creative with my calories!

Lunch - Roasted Rosemary Veggies

I was craving something warm and decided to break out of my soup addiction, so went with roast veggies instead! This was such a satisfying afternoon lunch and surprisingly, kept me full for quite a while.

The Fast Diet meg-made

Ingredients and Method

135g pumpkin (butternut squash) 

65g zucchini (courgette)

95g red capsicum (red pepper)

Garlic

Rosemary

Sea salt

Combine all ingredients and bake in a moderately hot oven (200C/400F) for 45 minutes until crisp on the outside and soft and comforting on the inside!

Dinner - O'Kelly Salmon

It was hard not to want to cook this one as soon as I saw a photo, it just looks so pretty! I still haven't mastered salmon and seem to cook it too quickly and get the little white bits appear (any tips??) but aesthetics aside, this was delicious and a massive dinner!

The Fast Diet meg-mad

Recipe from Mimi Spencer HERE.

Snacks - Gingerbread Cottage

Sounds too good to be true...yeah it kind of is! This was a bit of creative name for cottage cheese sprinkled with ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, but hey, if it makes you more excited about a low calorie snack on a Fast Day, then creativity be mine!

The Fast Diet meg-made

Simply combine 1/2 cup of cottage cheese sprinkled with a dash of each of the spices, to your liking!

Drinks - Just water, of different temperatures

I had a stonking big headache all day long, so just kept drinking and drinking and drinking! I feel so very lame for saying so, but I really "Shook things up a little" by altering the temperature of my water today. Boring? Yes definitely. Effective? Actually yes! At its most basic, ice cold water tastes different to room temperature water, but it is also suggested to slow your rate of digestion down too, so its not entirely crazy to reach for a few glasses of warmer water throughout the day (particularly at meal time).

Total calories for the day = 490

Exercise

I love my Reformer Pilates class. Even when I go to my class with very heavy feet and a heavy heart, I always bound out of the class filled with energy and a clear and settled mind. And then for the next three days, I have gloriously aching muscles, in places I never knew muscles existed! 

In addition to my Reformer Pilates class, I went for a few decent walks (with the pram) and continued my planks! 

My 30 to 30 Plank Challenge was gaining momentum, and then I had my form corrected, and so had to re-start the momentum with a new (and improved) form!! I'll be posting on my technique training session with one of the UK's (and the world's) most qualified coach, who just so happens to be my cousin, Joanne Elphinston. 

Weight loss?

Total loss to date = 3.4kg (7.5lbs)

Come on Meg, what's going on!?! Cue Snoop Dogg.... Drop it like it's hotttttttttt... I really want to drop another kilo before I wrap up my 20's, so for the coming week, I'll track each day and see how close I am hitting the 2,000 calorie suggestion. Surely that's where the other calories are hiding!! 

Goals for the coming week

My goals for this coming week are:

• Continue Plank Challenge
• Track calories each day, not just Fast Days
• Get to the pool and do some laps again, I've missed it over the past few weeks
• Research some more migraine-fighting foods to try 

So a few things to work on this coming week, but all in all, I am really proud of my progress. I don't think of myself as devastatingly unfit anymore, and I really enjoy that confidence. 

For a lot of new joiners to the Fast Diet, it's now most likely around week 3, I'd love to hear how it's going?? Any meal suggestions that are delicious and filling that you'd like to share? I am in a bit of an experimental cooking phase now so would love some new ideas!!!! 

And its my Mum's birthday today, so Happy Birthday Amma, we hope you feel better quickly! xx

Wishing you a wonderful week!



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Homemade Pink lemonade recipe (even if life hasn't given you lemons)

I've always enjoyed homemade lemonade whenever I've had any, but never thought to make it myself until Saraidy made some for Madeleine's Baptism in September. It was so simple to make and so delicious! I've wanted to make some more ever since, but then the winter rolled in and it just didn't seem to be befitting of the cold weather. 

So then I though, heck, maybe the dreary weather can be my lemons, and dammit, I'm going to make lemonade!

But in addition to being home-made it's of course meg-made, so what am I going to do to it...there are two obvious choices here... make it sparkle or make it pink! I went with pink!

Uber girly I know, but having a little daughter allows me to fully embrace the pink (until she tells me otherwise!) so I just go with it these days, and make no apologies for doing so! 

There are so many different ways to make Lemonade Pink, including using beetroots, raspberries, grapefruit, blood orange or cranberry juice. I wanted to make the more traditional Pink Lemonade with cranberry juice and as I couldn't find one that I liked the sound of fully (some too lemony, some too sugary), I combined a few different recipes to come up one that sounded juuuuuust right.

Recipe

Juice of 8 lemons
4 piece of lemon peel sections

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cranberry juice

6 cups water

Ice

Method:

1. In a small saucepan combine sugar, lemon peel sections and 1/2 cup water and bring to the boil slowly. Simmer until the sugar has fully dissolved and turn off the heat.

2. In a large jug combine the rest of the water (easier if its cold already), the freshly squeezed lemon juice (strained to remove pips and pulp) and cranberry juice.

3. Remove lemon peel from the sugar syrup and add to lemonade.

4. Serve chilled and enjoy!

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Baby Clothes Patchwork Quilt

A patchwork of little memories! 

We are definitely getting to that stage of things that we're nostalgic about days with our little baby, as our little independently minded toddler starts taking over (seriously, yesterday she chose her own coat and shoes, she's only 18 months old for goodness sake!!!). But, this post is about another little girl who I've been nostalgically reflecting about, my niece Lahna. When we were visiting them in Jersey a few months ago my sister-in-law offered up 6 boxes of old clothes that they are donating to charity and wanted to know if I wanted anything for Maddie first. I've always thought about making a Baby Clothes Patchwork Quilt, and now I had some materials!! I made sure they had kept the super special pieces and went along with my pile of clothes in the ruse of taking a second wardrobe for Madeleine.

I will make one for my own  daughter one day too, but I will say, cutting into Lahna's clothes felt a little bit like cutting into old memories. But then, when I saw the finished product I knew it was worth it, and now they can keep all of those memories in one tidy, comfy (and cozy) place!

There are presumably millions of Patchwork Quilt tutorials out there, so I won't rehash those, but I just wanted to share the finished product with you! 

When I was making each piece I was reminiscing about when she used to wear that particular item.  Most of these clothes were from when she was around 1 year old, which was when we had left Australia and got to start spending so much time with her. Each of the squares brought back such happy memories for Aunty Meg!!! 

For example, there were her first big girl pi's...

And the super bright T-shirt that we went and picked flowers in while touring Orgueil Castle in Jersey...

And the purple trousers she wore one day when we were all holidaying in Italy together, when she crawled around Verona....

I loved making little patches from pockets and frills, and hope it is something she (or her mama) will hold onto for some time.  

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, hooray for Fridays!!

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