Just taking a little break!

Happy Friday everyone!

Well as you know as per my Blogging Resolution to you, today I'm due to put up a post.

Well, it's been a crazy week in the coup and I've a busy day ahead of me getting ready for my daughters first birthday party tomorrow, which I'm quite excited about!

Also, I've been working on a "secret project" which I hope to share with you all very soon.

So with all this craziness, I won't be posting a blog today or next week.
I need to give myself a chance to fluff my feathers so I can get back chirping again on Monday 8th February! 

Don't worry though as scheduled #MeetTheBloggers will be posted on the 1st February and I'm looking forward to you meeting her! 

#YourAnInspiration - Who's first up?

I'm quite excited about #YourAnInspiration starting! To me its a great way to see how others are inspired and from them possibly gain our own inspiration. 

I feel, everyone has something to offer and we inspire people in our own way. Some us us will happily see ourselves as inspirations and others ... well, we like to keep it to ourselves and not realise the impression they make on others. 

I'm hoping you will enjoy #YourAnInspiration over the coming months as much as I am getting to know some great people. 

So, I'd like to proudly introduce to you my husband, Brian Kelly who is first to take part in #YourAnInspiration. 
Yes, some of you may think it's cliche having my husband take part but I can genuinely say, he is my inspiration and I'm proud hes taking part.  
We met nearly 11 years ago and during that time we've had many laughs and hit some bumpy roads but together we've gotten through it sometimes coming out the other end and wondering how we did it! 
I watch him as a father to our children and I can help but feel great pride and to feel very lucky that I'm his wife. 
He's been a rock to me over the years and has always been my support and inspiration. 

So, here it goes, meet Brian!  

1)      Why is inspiration important to you?

Inspiration is important to me because without it the mundane becomes the norm!



2) Who inspires you?

My dad inspires me as how he has manged to be a great role model and in my 41 years, I've only ever seen the man mad twice. The man's patience, love and kindness towards his family and anyone he meets inspires me. 



3) What inspires you?

The smiles of my families faces inspire me to be a better man. The sense of satisfaction when you know you've done a good job be it in employment, DIY etc inspires you to push on. An inspiration that I get for a short time of year unfortunately is Autumn when the colours stop me in my tracks!


4) Who would you love to meet and have a chat with?

There are two people I would like to meet. One is my Mother-in-Law whom unfortunately I never had the chance to meet as she passed away some years before meeting my wife. I would love to be able to hear from her how proud she is of her daughter. 

The second person is my grandfather, just to tell him that I love him.  


5) What was the best news you received in the last 12 months?

Knowing I was going to meet my daughter and already having my son that now our little family circle had become whole. 


6) What’s the one thing that puts a “silly” grin on your face?

Stupid jokes like, What do you call a Pig with 3 i's? A Piiig



7) What’s your inspirational Quote?

"God put our eyes on the front of our heads so we look forward"


8) What advice would you give to others in the hope of inspiring them?

We only have one life so stop over thinking and start living!


9) Anything you’d like to add?

Corny as it sounds music is a massive inspiration to people. Beautifully written songs that may never have made it to radio can inspire strong emotion such as Castle in the Air by Don McClean. 

I'd like to say Thank you to Brian for taking part in my first #YourAnInspiration. It meant a lot to me for you to be the first to take part and I'm so glad you did x

Refreshing Reminder of Music to Motivate!

So as some of you are aware, the last couple of weeks I have been following the Operation Transformation plan. In my update last week here, I wasn't doing too great, with the January Blues taking over and I set some plans into place for the week ahead. 
Those of you who know me and those who've read my recent posts will know I'm not going to lie ... the truth of the matter is, I didn't do great! 
I can start by giving excuses and tell you how I didn't feel well at the start of the week and that I'd early starts with my daughter but I don't believe in excuses. The fact of the matter is I didn't give it my all. While I may not have been well, I could have tried harder when I picked up to fight those pounds but I didn't. 
So here it goes, as we say in our home "New Slate Never on a Man's Back"!

New Slate

So why a new slate? Why not trudge along as I've attempted to do the last few weeks? Well the reason for my "New Slate" is because I've been reminded of some things the last 24 hours. I needed to remember why I was doing this and take a step back and remember how I began my journey to loosing my first pound back in June 2014. 
I'm not going to scold myself for not doing well the last couple of weeks as that will get me nowhere and just demotivate me and take away from the goals I set here

What was I reminded of?

Since I began my journey in June 2014 I've had fantastic support from my husband, family, friends and even virtual ones via #MummyPagesChat and this support still continues. I found though while I have this amazing support, I needed a kick up the bum and I got this from wonderful inspiring ladies. I'm lucky enough to be part of a group via Women's Inspire Network and we are all on a journey to get ourselves mentally and physically healthier. 

Over the last 24 hours they've reminded me as to why I'm doing this and the music that motivates me on my journey! 

So what better way to explain these reminders and motivations than to share the music! 

Firstly!  

Well, need I say more! 

Then! 

To get rid of that demon that tries to tell me "sure you can exercise tomorrow" ... which we know never comes! 

This song says it all! 

(It's my anthem & reminds me of the size 16's I used to wear!)

Well, ya have to have some "Cheese" otherwise its no fun!

And lastly! How I feel, when I get out there and just do it! 

 

So I'm not going to bore you with what I'm going to do over the next week, I'd rather leave that as a surprise for next Monday! 
Don't forget to check out how my "Training Buddy" Denise is doing at Dee-Termined to Glam and Glow 

THANKYOU

I just want to say a special thank you to the ladies who've given me that extra push I needed. 

Linda Flynn - The Ring Leader!!

Samantha Kelly, Helena Gilhooly, Anna de Marigny, Jennifer Egan, Niamh Hogan & Catherine Richard to name just a few. 

Click on their links to learn more about these fab ladies ! 

Weekly Tip

Remind yourself of your goals and surround yourself with those who are there to support you!

And remember!

Time to get my Skin Routine on!

As some of you may have already read in Day 1 - Hand Rescue , I'm terrible at collecting lots of "Lotions and Potions" to never or rarely use them and then throw them out! Lately I've acquired some more to add to my collection and I don't want to do the same again. 
It's time I started to finally to take care of the rest of me and not just my hands! 

I've picked out some of the products that have been tucked away and will try to finally get into a proper skincare routine in place and get an idea of what does and doesn't suit me best! Over the coming weeks I will then let you know how I get on. 

CLARINS

I was lucky to have received these fabulous CLARINS products when I was on the Today Show for makeover in November after my "Drop a Dress Size" challenge on the show.  

As you can see, I've started to use some of them but not in a consistent manner so I'm hoping to change this over the coming weeks. 

What did I receive! 

CLARINS Double Serum 30ml €69.50*

CLARINS Beauty Flash Balm €36* 

CLARINS Tonic Body Treatment Oil 100ml €45*

*Prices as per Debenhams Website 23rd January 2015     

Over the years I've heard so many people rave about CLARINS and while I've had some of their products, I never really gave them a proper try so here's my chance!

 Aveeno

Santa obviously read my Hand Rescue? Or Not? blog and popped some of these into my my stocking! 

I've used Aveeno on and off over the last couple of years and like CLARINS, I never really gave them a good chance. I'm hoping that I will have the positive results as I did with their hand cream because my poor skin is feeling it with the central heating. I've quite sensitive skin so I'm really hoping these will revive my poor dry skin. 

What is there?

Aveeno Body Wash 500ml €5 upwards

Aveeno Ultra Calming Cream €7.70* upwards

Aveeno Dermexa 200ml €10.30* upwards

Aveeno Daily Moistising Lotion 200ml €5.20* upwards for 300ml

*prices as per PriceSpy 23rd January 2015

Nail Varnish

Well I think its only fair that with me reviving my hands recently that I brighten up my nails to show them off! 
This picture just shows a selection of the Rimmel and NYC Nail varnishes I have (there's another 15 or so tucked away!) So over the coming weeks I will be putting some of these along with the others tucked away to the test and see which brightens up my day best! 

Follow me on Facebook, Chirps from a Little Red Hen to see which colour I choose first!


Have you any "Lotions or Potions" tucked away that you haven't tried? I'd love to her if you've tried any of the above products. 

Operation Transformation - Week 2 Begins!

So today is the start of week 2 and after you read how week 1 went for me you will see I need to up my game and push myself!

Week 1 Review!

So, as per my blog "Lets Hit the Road" a short time goal I'd set was to loose those additional festive pounds by January 18th. I felt this was an achievable and realistic goal to set and with hard work even exceeded. There's no point me lying, I didn't achieve this and I've another 5 pounds to go! During my first week following the Operation Transformation plan, my weight loss has been 1 pound and this miserable loss is entirely my own fault! 

The start of the week began really well. I was so pleased at how well the plan worked not only for me but for the family too. After meals, I felt quite satisfied and wasn't hungry at any stage, I even managed to eat some broccoli which for me is a big deal as I'm not a fan of greens!

So where did I go wrong?

Midweek I began to allow a few things get to me which demotivated me. I kept saying "Tomorrow will be better" but as we all know, Tomorrow never comes! As the week went on I said sure Monday I will get myself back on track! So here I am, it's Monday and I'm lucky to be just 1 pound lighter! 
As I felt the slump, I was conscious of portion sizes so much so that I'd only a small taste of my daughter's 1st Birthday cake. 

Homemade Swiss Roll! 

As the days went on a little less salad was added at lunch and a treat was had in the evening. 
Plus, a big part was lack of exercise! While it's all well and good changing our diet to get better results, exercise is key and I failed here. 
I know the plan works as the proof can be seen with each of the leaders having lost between 3 - 11 1/2 pounds! 

What do I do now?

I'm a believer in honesty not only to others but to yourself. So if I'm honest, I'm not in a great frame of mind still. I think the January Blues are trying to take over but I will put up a fight to get myself back on track. 

So, what I intend to do is to follow the plan, using foods I currently have in my kitchen cupboard / freezer. All are healthy items and I want to use them up keeping in mind portion sizes and increasing my vegetable intake including broccoli! 
When this is done, I can shop the weekly plan in comfort knowing there's no temptations so I'm not led astray again! 

This evening, I will get myself back on track to training for my 10km and from tomorrow I will follow the exercises from Day 3 as set for the leader I chose, Louise on Operation Transformation. 

Weekly Tip!

Going on the last week, my tip is to write down your goals. When they are written down you can focus and when needed you can update these. 

We're only human and we will find bumps on the road, its just a matter of how we get ourselves back on track and this is where goals come in so we don't forget what we are trying to achieve. 

While this week, I didn't achieve my short term goal to loose those festive pounds, I know I will and I will reset this goal to 1st February 2015!

Don't forget to check out Denise's Journey on Dee-Termined to Glam and Glow

   

Liebster Award Nomination!

I would like to thank Grainne from Hope From a Butterfly for nominating me for the Liebster Award. This is such a great way of discovering new blogs, learning more about those who write them and being inspired!

Here it goes!

1) What first inspired you to write a blog?

From a young age I always had an interest in writing. In school I enjoyed being able to write essays about things that had happened and at home I wrote poetry about different things close to my heart. 
After I finished in school my writing seemed to come to a halt but was always at the back of my mind. Now, a year or few later, I was inspired by changes in my life to dust off the writing brain cells I tucked away all those years and to begin blogging. 

2) What is your favourite blog piece that you have written? 

I think my favourite piece currently is not from my own blog Chirps from a little Red Hen, but one I'd written for Mummy Pages before my own blog began. 
http://www.mummypages.ie/blogs/it-was-hard-knowing-i-would-always-miss-her

I remember the day I wrote this piece. I was on the train to Cork and I found it tough not to cry as I pulled into the station. The feedback I'd received from family, friends and comments on Mummy Pages Facebook page gave me inspiration to begin my own blog, Chirps from a Little Red Hen.

3) What is your favourite blog piece written by another blogger? 

I'II be honest I've no favourite piece that I've read recently. I'm inspired by different bloggers for different reasons and would find it difficult to choose just one.

4) What is your greatest achievement in life to date?

This is very easy for me to answer, my family. Even on tough days, I feel very blessed knowing how lucky I am to be married to a great man and wonderful father to our two children. I know it seems cliche saying this but its's true. Together we have been through a lot over the years and my family are my greatest cheer leaders.

5) Where would you like to see yourself five years from now?

There are so many answers for this. I suppose overall five years from now I hope for me and my family to remain healthy and to enjoy taking new adventures together.

6) Name one person who has inspired you most in life?

This is a tough one to answer as I've been very lucky to have had some great people in my life to inspire me. 
I think I'd have to say my mum. While she's gone nearly as long as I've known her, being a mum now I see how hard she worked for us. She was a very strong woman and a great mother to myself and my brothers. As I've grown older she inspires me more each day and I hope to be as great a mum to my kids as she was to me.

7) What would be your dream holiday?

My dream holiday would be to bring my family to visit Australia for 4-6 weeks to visit my brother in Melbourne and travel to Sydney and see how its all changed since I was there a year or few ago!

8) What are your top 3 goals to achieve in life?

I've a lot of goals in life so picking a top 3 is tough but I will certainly try! 
1 - To be a great mum to my kids
2 - To set up my own business
3 - To earn enough that I can pay for our mortgage while remaining as a Working Stay at Home Mum

9) What is your all time favourite film?

I love a variety of movies and its ever changing what would be a "favourite" I suppose the first one that springs to mind is The Departed. A strange one for some people but I think the story line and cast are great. Plus myself and my husband got engaged in Boston so its lovely seeing all the places we visited!

10) If you won the lotto what would be your first major purchase?

Depending on the value of the lotto win, after clearing all or most of my mortgage, my first purchase would be to buy myself an Audi Q7

11) From your experience what would be your number one tip/advice to give to a first time parent?

I would give the same advice given to me and it worked 100% - Trust your baby and follow your instincts! 

My 11 Random facts!

1. I had a keen interest in Horse Riding as a child / Teen competing in a variety of events such as Show Jumping, Eventing, Inter Schools and The Horse Show
2. The first time I was on a plane was for a flying lesson when I was about 17! An amazing experience
3. I travelled to Australia 3 times in less than a year 1997 - 1998!
4. I've a fear of flying and wont get on a flight without a little "drinkie"! I did it once and never again!
5. My daughter was named Elise, after the woman whom we bought our engagement ring from  in Boston. We loved the name and is a version of Elizabeth which links with her Granny and Great Granny!
6. My sons name is Logan which was chosen at random and it wasn't until after he was born and a Mid Wife said to me about Logan Airport in Boston! So he's a connection too, to where we were engaged without us realizing it!
7. I asked my husband out on our first date which I'd never done before but I knew he wouldn't cause he worked for my brother and was (and is) very loyal! 
8. My father in law was my husbands best man at our wedding
9. I'm a list freak! when I'm planning things I always have to have a list!
10. My wedding and Hens was planned around the Six Nations which was at my request, not my husbands!
11. I met Bill Clinton and shook his hand

Thank you again Grainne again for the nomination. Hope from a Butterfly is a great read if you haven't already popped over!

I would like to nominate the following! 
Dee-Termined to Glam and Glow
Mentally Beautiful
Susan Murphy @makemywill_IRL Susan is currently updating her blog 

I know the rules state 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers but currently many of the blogs I read have many more and I don't want to choose blogs at random for the sake if it as I don't think that would be fair to you. 

Your Questions!

1. What do you enjoy most about blogging?
2. How do you decide what your going to blog about?
3. If you were to interview someone for your blog, who would it be?
4. Why would you interview this person?
5. What do you do if you get "writers block"?
6. Whats your ideal night in?
7. Wheres the last place you went for a break?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
9. If someone was to write a movie about you, who would play you?
10. What's the last film you saw in the cinema?
11. If you were to write a book, what would it be about?

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

• Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.
• Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
• Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
• Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less than 200 followers.
• Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
• List these rules in your post. Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
• Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

Day 1 - Operation Transformation!

While I started my journey to a better me on the 1st June 2014, today I've added a new challenge and will be making more changes to my lifestyle. These changes will not only benefit me but also my family too. Today I begin following Operation Transformation  

With a 5.20am wake up call from my daughter this morning I was surprised at how motivated I felt. I think a lot of this was down to going through the plan in advance and knowing what's in store for me.
I'm quite excited as I wont be on this journey alone, my family too will be taking part. Also I cant leave out my "Training Buddy" Denise who will supporting me along the way as I will her. Since my post "Let's Hit the Road" we now have a slight twist to our plans!  
With communication resumed with "Fit Man Fran", Denise will now be following his program. While I too was very tempted to revert back as I know it works, the program doesn't allow me to plan a week in advance as hoped which I need to be able to do with family and other commitments. 
So while both myself and Denise's journeys will be different we both have the same goals and that is to loose weight and to feel better in ourselves. Over the coming weeks we will both blogging about our training and eating plans for you to compare and we will see what the results are like at the end! You can follow Denise on her blog Dee-Termined To Glam and Glow. 

Who to Follow?

Operation Transformation 2015 Leaders

There are five great candidates this year ranging in their weights and heights. Looking at the Leaders I was initially drawn to Eilish as she's nearest to my weight even though she's nearly 2 stone heavier than me. 

Louise in the end I decided to follow as as my Leader. While she is similar in height to me, her story reminded me of so many I know. Louise is married and hoping someday to be blessed with children and has been trying for some years but her weight has become an issue adding to her difficulty conceiving.  

I will be following her exercise's and then use the food plan to create a daily menu that suits our family best. 

Food Plan

I have to say being a fussy eater I'm loving the meals in the Operation Transformation plan. There is a lot of variety especially for the Main Meal of the day. I find it fantastic not that I can choose from these and plan around my family and also take into consideration as to what's already in my kitchen cupboard! 

As example my meals today were as follows:

• Breakfast - Porridge with half a Banana
• Snack - An Apple
• Lunch - Turkey Sandwich on Wholewheat Bread with Lettuce 
• Dinner - Steak Pizzaiola 

I meant to take a picture of the Steak Pizzaiola but totally forgot as it looked so tasty! 

In our home we've always been healthy eaters. We don't buy jars of sauces etc, we try to make everything from scratch. The issue for me is portion sizes and then snacking on the wrong things in the evening. 
To me the plan is very doable and I can see how it can be easily maintained going forward as you don't feel deprived. I even manged today to eat two florets of broccoli which believe me was a big deal as I cant bear it! 

Follow me on my Facebook Page Chirps from a Little Red Hen to see some of my meals during the week. 

Exercise plan

After really slacking off on my exercising over the festive season I was anxious as to what was ahead of me. Day one of Louise's plan was resistance exercises. 

I found the video very easy to follow. What impressed me most of all was the fact that 

Karl Henry the trainer for the programme went through every step and you followed along with him. As you exercised he would remind you of your posture, breathing and motivated you to push yourself. 

I'm quite looking forward to the exercises if all are shown in the way as it makes it easier to follow and I feel, makes it easier to concentrate to push yourself harder. 

Weekly Tip!

While I'm allowed drink Tea or Coffee on this plan I kick started my day with Hot Lemon Water. Drinking this is a great way to wake up your body and get your metabolism going. Click here to learn more of the fantastic benefits

I look forward to sharing more journey with you and I must say, I'm very motivated so I'm hoping I can keep up this momentum and achieve great results! 

I'd love to hear from you, let me know your tips, exercise regime or your favorite healthy treats! 

From Loose fitting to Fabulous!

I was watching the Stylist Annmarie O'Connor on Ireland AM this week and she was doing a segment on rearranging your wardrobe to get rid of the old and hang on to those staples. I couldn't help as I was watching it to be reminded of some things I stupidly threw out in the past due to lack of confidence in myself. 

After my son was born in 2011 I was over 1 stone lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight! Quite unusual I know but I suppose lack of a social life and only wanting fruit during my pregnacy had a positive effect thankfully. I remember going to Debenhams about a week after he was born and I picked up a loose check shirt and thought I'd chance my arm with a size 14! Thrilled was not the word for it when I saw it fitted me and wasn't painted on! I hadn't worn a size 14 shirt in sometime so was delighted with myself. 
This motivated me to begin a wardrobe clearout and get rid of all those unwanted items that I never wanted to fit into again or felt I just wasn't going to wear. I was so excited, all my "Larger" & "Never Going to Wear" clothes were finally going and I would begin a journey to a slimmer me! 

This was in July 2011 but it took until June 2014 some months after the birth of our daughter for my "slimmer me" journey to finally begin. I've lost over 20 pounds and that loose check shirt has since been thrown out as it became too big! While I still have a few more pounds to loose, I cant help but think of the "Never Going to Wear" clothes I'd thrown out in the years prior that would fit me now and that I would wear as I've more confidence in myself. 

Now after another recent clear-out of some more "Larger" clothes, I'm clinging onto things that I know should take a trip to the charity shop or the bin but I'm afraid of being left with nothing as I continue my "slimming" journey! So, what do I do? Well, for now all I can do is hold on to what I have until I loose those extra pounds but as always I've a plan! 

Shopping Spree! 

It's a simple plan really but a shopping spree in the coming months seems to be the only answer! In the past I've never been one for fashion but with gaining confidence in myself I've become more interested and excited about clothes. Over the last few years I've grown fond of some designers and feel so happy to be on a journey that I can finally wear them with pride. So, where will I be shopping?

LENNON COURTNEY

When I saw LENNON COURTNEY for the first time debuting their clothes on the Late Late Show I thought they were fabulous pieces and even now I've yet to see something I don't like. It really is "Real Fashion for Real Women" For me they are pieces I'd love to have proudly hanging in my wardrobe and in the coming months I hope for them to be hanging on me. 

American Hero - On Sale €96

Bastyan

I first become aware of Bastyan fashion via the lovely stylist Lisa Fitzpatrick. She is a great Ambassador for the brand and has shown some fantastic pieces from their collections. I love that the pieces can be staples in my wardrobe and will bring me season to season. 

Addisson Skinny Jean £120

Siopella

Siopella is a fantastic Boutique that resales and consigns both Womens and Mens designer and High Street Clothing via their three shops in Temple Bar. When I saw them show some of their pieces on Ireland AM I followed them straight away on their Facebook page. 

I love the idea that I can pick up nearly new and sometimes new designer pieces at the fraction of the cost. 

Reiss Navy Long Line Blazer Style Jacket (small) €69

Above are just a sample of some of the places where I plan to begin building my wardrobe and keeping it slim and fabulous! I plan to enjoy a new me in the coming months and what better way than to treat myself to some style! 

Planning a Clear-out?

If your planning a clear-out, from my own experience and more so regrets, while its important to be honest its important too, to give yourself a chance if your lacking confidence like I was. Don't be too hasty like I was and not believe that one day you may actually fit into it!

Here's to my wardrobe regrets turning me into a wardrobe "Diva"

Let's hit the Road!

So as some of you know today was to be the start of my 12 week program with "Fit Man Fran" but alas it is not to be it seems!
I received my Diet Plan for Week 1 yesterday morning and I've yet to receive a plan for the exercises! I followed up both yesterday and today but unfortunately I dont have the information needed to start the plan as I'd hoped.  
I'm quite disappointed to be honest as I was really looking forward to it. After completing the "Drop a Dress Size" challenge in October / November on the RTE Today Show with Fran I was thrilled with the results, so when I was asked to be an Ambassador for his "12 Week Transformation Program" along with my "Training Buddy" (on the Today Show), Denise, I was thrilled! 

The Start of a Great Journey

Alas tho, it seems it is not to be for whatever reason and while I'm disappointed I'm not going to be discouraged from achieving my goals!

My Goals

I think from the start its always important to set goals both short and long term. With short term goals in place you feel encouraged along your journey and if you've little "slips" you can always reset your goals and still achieve what it is you want! 

Goals too should be realistic for yourself so you can maintain a momentum and help keep yourself on track for the main prize! 

Short Term Goals

• Loose the additional pounds I gained over the festive season by Sunday 18th January
• To loose another stone (14 lb) by Sunday 8th March 2015

Long Term Goals

• To be able to run comfortably the Womens Mini Marathon on 1st June 2015
• To comfortably wear size 10 - 12 from any shop by 1st June 2015   

While above are not lists of goals they are I feel realistic ones for me to set and I know along my journey I will add more. 

How will I achieve this? 

Operation Transformation!

Well, thankfully I've kept in touch with my "Training Buddy" Denise and while we may not be starting Fran's 12 week plan as thought we are going to begin another together which will be Operation Transformation. 

Many of you may already be aware of the program but for those who are not, it a transformation program on RTE 1. This is it's 8th Season and is starting back this Wednesday at 8.30pm. 

How it works is they pick a number of leaders and you can follow their diet and training plan online. 

While the program starts on Wednesday, myself and Denise will begin on Monday 12th January, giving us a chance to make sure we've all we need and we're ready to give it our all! 

Denise will be beginning a blog this week to share her journey also and when she's up and running I will share her details with you to give you another view of our time following Operation Transformation. 

Personal Run App

With today being the start of my training for the Womens Mini Marathon I wanted an app to help me train to be able to run a 10km. In the past I've used RunKeeper and while I found it great giving me 5 minute interval updates, tracking my journey, monitoring when I broke records etc It had its downfalls too that it would freeze of miscalculate timings etc. 

So this evening I tried Personal Run App for a change. My initial thoughts would be quite positive.

You have a number of choices to choose from and on selecting for example the "10K" options it explains what level you should currently be at which I thought very good. 

This evening I used the "1 MILE" option to ease me back into things after the Festive season! 

While its early days I will continue to use it and let you know what Pro's / Con's I meet along the way. 

Recommendations! 

• For those of you who are looking to make a change but not sure how I found "Diet SOS" by Lisa Fitzpatrick a great read and one I found very easy to connect with. 

• Check Slí ne Sláinte for walks in your area. Its a great way to start our and track your distance along the way 

So, even though today did not start out as planned, I'm looking forward to what's in store for me in the coming weeks!