Results With Lucy Update

As you may have read last week I began my HIIT Harder plan from Results With Lucy, you can read my introductory post here.

I thought I would pop back with a little update as the first week didn't exactly go to plan. I started the plan on Monday in which I followed the nutrition plan and I did my first workout. Even though it was day one I was loving the foods in which were included in the nutrition plan and the workout was pretty awesome. It really pushed me and by the end of it I was a sweaty mess which is what I like after a good workout, I then know I have actual worked!

But then on Tuesday evening I gave blood. This was my rest day so there was no workout so I went off to bed a little tired and ready for my workout on day 3 which was Wednesday. The only thing was that on Wednesday morning at 3am when Finley woke for a wee I felt very faint and ended up finding myself led on the floor to stop myself from fainting. I took myself back to bed in the hope some sleep would help but unfortunately not and after a bad day on Wednesday I took myself to the doctors where they told me I had low blood pressure from giving blood and the weather. The doctor told me it would take a few days for my body to readjust so to just take it easy.

I then decided to put my Results With Lucy plan into holiday mode until today, Monday, because I wanted to give my all to the plan and felt like I wouldn't be able to do that when feeling poorly.

So I am back and I am going to start again!!

My Sunday Photo 10/07/16

Why I Gave Up Just Another Linky

This morning is the first morning in nearly a year that I haven't woken up to notifications from amazing bloggers who have liked and retweeted tweets which I had scheduled at about 11pm the night before. The support and love which I received over the past year for #JustAnotherLinky has been awesome and that is why my decision to leave wasn't taken lightly and also it wasn't a decision made over night.

I loved reading all of the blogs which linked each week, new and old linkers, and the community which has been built. The buzz I would get on a Saturday to a Monday when I received a tweet to say someone had linked up was brilliant and that buzz never died, but the love for my blog was beginning to fade.

I was beginning to dread a Friday night as I would be frantically reading sometimes 60 blog posts and I wanted to read each one word for word so I could write a thoughtful comment this meant it took some time! I then had to write and schedule the post for the morning, which also included setting up the linky in InLinkz, choosing my favourite post of the week which also included getting their blog header and link to display and then there was the scheduling of the tweets. I don't know if I was doing it right the way I was but it was the only way I knew. I didn't want to bombard people with tweets if they didn't want to join in but I also wanted to get the word about the linky out there. Talk about rock and a hard place. 

But with all the hard work came the rewards which was talking to other bloggers and getting to read some incredible posts. I have built relationships with people that I am so thankful to the linky for because without it I may never have stumbled across them or their blog. 

The only problem was it was getting tough to juggle. As I said I started to dread Friday which isn't something I wanted to start my weekend. My Friday evenings were sat in front of a computer or behind my phone when I would want to be watching a film with Mr C, as our Friday nights used to be. My own blog posts would get behind as I was beginning to not want to blog and the linky was taking over my blog and this isn't what I wanted. I started to blog so that I could write and get things off my chest and that wasn't happening. My time was left stressing about fitting everything in.

That also leads me onto my next announcement which is that I'm taking a step back from the blog for the summer. As most of you will know my eldest is staring school in September and I want to make the next 8 weeks awesome for him, his brother and me. I want to create memories without worrying about how I will blog about it, but I will blog about our summer in September. I will pop in with my monthly posts and my Results With Lucy updates and when feel like I want to share something, but I need to get my love back for the blog and I believe this is the way by not putting pressure on myself.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my ramblings and hope you will be back in September. I will still be posting on Instagram as I absolutely love it and it's an easy way to share precious and fun moments.

See you soon but until then I am off to have some fun with my gorgeous family!

Why I Want To Get The Boys Christened

We are currently in the process of organising the boys Christening. I have always wanted to do it for them but I had always wanted it to happen in the Abbey in which we got married. But unfortunately where we didn't live in the town in which the Abbey is, it was a little hard. But now that we do we have decided now is the time. 

I now keep getting asked why I want to get the Christened. We don't go to Church and have only ever gone for when we got married and for other weddings or Christenings but that isn't to say that I don't believe. We will never be your Church regulars that go every week but we will become part of the community and we will go once every so often so that the boys are familiar with the Abbey and the faith.

One of the main reasons that I would like to get them Christened is the knowing that they will get once they are older that they have someone looking over them and that they have that community from the Abbey behind them and guiding them. I do honestly hope this will help them, along with our parenting, onto the right path in life and if they ever need to talk to someone when they don't want to talk to us that maybe they would go to someone there that they can trust.

The other reason is God Parents. I believe that having God Parents is a little bit like having more Aunty and Uncles but they are ones that want to be there. I'm not saying the boys Uncles now don't want to because they do, especially my brother who is awesome with the boys, but I just think that having some God Parents the boys will have someone else to turn to. And I honestly believe that the God Parents we have chosen will be there for the boys through thick and thin and will act as parents to them whether we are around or not.

I want the boys to feel a part of something safe and the Church is definelty a safe place. Some people don't agree with parents choosing their childs faith path, I am not choosing it for them I am guiding them in the right direction and the direction I think they should be going in and if in 20 years they go a different direction then they will be old enough to make that choice.

I believe there is a God and I believe that he is looking down on us and guiding us through life. There are the arguments that if there was a God bad things wouldn't happen but I'm not going to get into that discussion as everyone has their own thoughts and beliefs and everyone is allowed their own belief and they shouldn't be questioned or scrutinised over it.

The beautiful Abbey

 

I'm Excited To Be Starting HIIT Harder from Results With Lucy

As most of you know I am a lover of running and I tend to run about 4 times a week. I have also just started to do a CrossFit class once a week which I'm really enjoying. The reason I work on my fitness is so that I can eat and drink what I want. I don't tend to restrict myself and I don't follow a diet, I just tend to eat salads for lunch and a healthy tea, I then make up for it with my biscuit and chocolate intake in the evenings and at weekends. But since starting the CrossFit I have become a bit more focused on the fitness side of exercise and I really want to tone up. 

I have followed Results With Lucy on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for a while and have been loving all the success stories that I have been seeing and reading. I looked into the plans a little further and they have everything a busy mum would want, one thing being the a nutrition plan, because as we all know healthy meal planning is a little tricky when you have such little time and then finding recipes that are healthy and easy to cook is also pretty tricky. Then there are the workouts because you can do them from your living room or even your back garden in the sun (wishful thinking with the summer we have been having I think!).

I looked into the plans a little harder and Results With Lucy just last week launched their new plan of HIIT Harder, and this plan seemed perfect for me. Because my fitness level is already quite high it ticked all the boxes for me with the workouts pushing me a little harder than I do when running. I contacted Results With Lucy and after a little discussion they have kindly agreed to let me review the HIIT Harder plan.

I am starting the plan today, Monday 4th July, and I will be posting regular updates to my social media channels to let everyone know how I am getting on. I am really excited to get started on this plan and I am also looking forward to seeing the results!

* I have been given access to this plan for free and all opinions are and will be 100% my own. *

My Sunday Photo 03/07/16

Just Another Linky #62 & A Farewell

Welcome to week 62 and what will be my last week of Just Another Linky with myself and Beth at Life As Mum. This is the place to link up any post, old or new, that you are really proud of and would like to share with others.

I have hosted #JustAnotherLinky for a year now and have loved reading all the wonderful posts that have been linked up. But I am going to have to say farewell and leave the linky with Beth. This decision has taken me a while to come to but it is what is best for me at the moment. I've been finding myself stretched and really stressing on a Friday evening which is something I don't want to start my weekend with. I hope you will all continue to head over to Beth's blog and link up with her every Saturday!

Thank you to everyone for this lovely community we have built up over the past year and really hope it continues. Of course I will be back to link up each week I just need to concentrate more on the blog and the behind the scenes stuff.

Now onto the linky.

Meet your hosts

Me - Kirsty - Something Crunchy Mummy - @crunchy_mummy

 

 

Beth - Life-As-Mum - @lifeasmumblog

Here are just a few linky rules:

• No more than 2 posts a week - Please please please! There have been some people linking up more than this, please stick to just the 2 so it is fair on everyone.

• Comment on the hosts posts and the post before yours, more if you can. This is just to ensure everyone gets a comment.

• New or old posts welcome.

• Grab the badge below so everyone knows where to find us.

Feel free to tweet your post, along with the hashtag #justanotherlinky, mentioning me @crunchy_mummy and Beth @lifeasmumblog and we will retweet.

By linking up to this linky you are giving Beth & Kirsty the right to copy one of your photos if you are chosen for the Favourite Post of the week.

We are open every Saturday from 12am until Monday at 11:55pm.

This weeks Favourite Post

** GRAB THE BADGE **

 

<a href="http://www.somethingcrunchymummy.com/p/just-another-linky.html?m=1" target="_blank"><img alt="thumbnailsize" border="0" src="http://i67.tinypic.com/t9f86g.png" style="border: none; max-width: 100%;" /> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Me & Mine - June 2016

I honestly can not believe how fast this month has gone and how much we have packed into it. I can remember at the start of the month thinking how much we had planned and wondering how we were going to cope but it has been awesome. It has been a month filled with friends, family and lots of laughing. We are finishing the month on a high with our holiday to Center Parcs, our last holiday before Finley starts school, and even better we have been joined with Mr C's parents. Here are our highlights for this month, it was pretty hard to whittle them down to just 5 each as we have done so much fun stuff.

Mummy is loving ~
- The girly time I have been getting with my friends
- Seeing Rudimental at Westonbirt Arboretum
- Watching Jimmy Carr in Bath with Mr C
- BritMums where I met some lovely fellow bloggers
- Center Parcs to finish off the month

Daddy is loving ~
 - His Daddy & boys time while I was at BritMums
- His pressure washer. Our garden slabs are looking brand new!
- Seeing Rudimental at Westonbirt Arboretum
-Homemade pork scratching he got for Father's Day
- Center Parcs

Finley is loving ~
-  His little holiday at Nana & Dandans
- His first school settling in day
- The preschool summer fete
- Drawing pictures and making cards
- Riding his bike with his stabilisers at Center Parcs

Noah is loving ~
- Using his umbrella in the rain
- Playing proper games with his big brother
- Walking rather than being in the pushchair
- His little holiday to Nana & Dandans  
- Center Parcs