Image Credit: Alamy

I am ill. It's nothing serious; just a virus that has wiped me out for the last couple of days.

But what I hate the most about it is not that my nose is constantly running, the sneezing, the body aches and the fact my temperature has ratcheted up a few notches. Nope.

Nor is it having to keep on top of being "the mum" and managing the house even though my head is full of fog and my body doesn't feel like my own. Nope not that either.

What I hate the most is having to tell my manager that I'm ill and I need to leave work. It honestly feels like facing the inquisition and only if you can prove that you're genuinely ill and not just making it up because you can't be bothered to do your job, can you go home.

I'm already aware that I'm not as valued as full-time employees and while I'm sure there are some people out there that do abuse their employer's sickness policy, I'm not one of them so the very rare times when I do feel I need to go home to focus on getting better, and my reasons are immediately treated with suspicion, it makes me feel really resentful. It just doesn't make for a good working relationship.

I've spent the last 14 years working for the same Company - it was my first "proper" job - but I can't help but feel that this chapter of my working life needs to come to an end, that it's time to move on. That's a scary thought and I'm not sure I'm ready to face it yet.

Visit the host here

It's Week 3 of Three Good Things (for more details about this series, read this post) and I can't believe it's come around so quickly! Why does time seem to fly, especially when things are going well?

One

We had a big tidy up in our conservatory last week and as a result, we now have an actual organised space that we can use for our craft projects. Hurray! I've been lusting after some proper storage, rather than the heaps of stuff that cluttered the table, and the purchase of a few plastic containers combined with the two empty shelves in one of the bookcases now means that all our paper, card, glue, paint, crayons, and other bits and pieces has a home. I can't tell you how happy that's made me! I now enjoy spending time in our conservatory!

Two

Like last week's post, my next good thing relates to how I'm making use of my time with the boys. They both love "sticking" projects and are really enthusiastic whenever I tell them we're getting the glitter and glue out. That focus, even though it may only last for half an hour, seems to have a big impact on their behaviour the rest of the day. They play much more nicely together and listen really well.

Inspired by the weather, we made stormy pictures. What do you think?

Three

And another one that follows on from last week: Health-wise, I've noticed a real difference since I started trying to get my eating habits under control. I'm not as bloated by the end of the day and I feel a lot brighter.

I've realised that I make much better choices when I'm at home than when I'm at work (where I seem to eat chocolate and crisps at frequent intervals throughout the day) and my husband thinks it's down to boredom. I think it's more likely to be caused by disinterest rather than boredom, as I have plenty to do, just not the inclination to do it!

Anyway, my next steps have to be tackling that and I also need to start exercising, especially if I want to fit more easily into my jeans! The good thing is that I feel both things are really achievable so watch this space!

Okay, so those are my Three Good Things. What are yours? Why don't you join in and share them?

Lovely Liz at Margot and Barbara is back with Week 2 of the Three Good Things feature that she introduced last week and because it's such a simple but feel-good idea, I'm joining in again.

One

I make no secret of the fact that I struggled having 2 children under 2 and it wasn't until around March this year that I started to feel like I was making it out of the fog of postnatal depression and was ready to stop taking the anti-depressants.

And if ever a day was proof of that then today it was because I have just had the best day at home with them both! It's been relaxing, creative, tantrum-free and we've all enjoyed each others company. I was even organised enough to plan a craft activity for this morning!

I printed out some free colouring pages of Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks, stuck them to some card and then the boys stuck lots of different shapes and sizes of pasta to them. Once the glue had dried, they painted them and for the first time, rather than painting every last inch of the paper, M deliberately tried to paint only Alvin's jumper. I was very impressed.

Two

After writing about my health on Saturday, I made the decision to take control of my eating habits the very next day and I now have 4 days of exercising healthier eating choices under my belt! I've still got a lot to learn and more improvements to make but I'm feeling very empowered by my decision, which can only be a good thing. I've also discovered a newish blog called Being Pretty Strong which I'm finding a fantastic resource, as it's easy to understand and very personable. If you're interested in improving your health, you should pop over and take a look at it.


Three

Right, I know you're probably going to shout at me for this but my third good thing was the weather cooling down a bit! I can function much better when there's a breeze to take the edge of the heat and I'm definitely sleeping much better than I was!





Okay, so those are my Three Good Things. What are yours? Why don't you join in and share them?


PS: if you want to read through all of last week's Three Good Things posts then you can find links to them all in Liz's post here.

My body has spent the last 4.5 years either pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding or trying to juggle my life and I'm convinced that it's left my hormones out of balance.

I know that one of the key ways to rebalance myself is through my diet but I'm a bit in denial because it feels like such a BIG THING to have to overhaul and I know it's going to be hard.

At the moment (and really for many years now) I am eating CRAP. High sugar, high fat and minimal fruit and vegetables.

Logic says that my body can't possibly nourish itself properly if I'm not eating nutrient rich food but, and I'm going to be completely honest here, I don't really understand food/the different food groups/and what I should be (not) eating for optimum health. Without that knowledge, my usual eating habits will just creep back in.

There are plenty of faddy diet books out there, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy to lose a little weight, as I'm most definitely a lot squishier than I was, and my jeans are difficult to fasten, but I know that side of things can be tackled by a good dose of exercise once I've upped my energy levels and given my health a boost. No, what I need is something that will help me to understand the relationship between my body and food, what good nutrition is and what I should be aiming to eat.

Does anyone have any ideas or tips for me so that I can start making changes? So far I have:

• Start taking a daily multivitamin
• Replace coffee and fizzy drinks with water and green tea
• Cut out sugar (how? and what to replace sugary foods/snacks with?)
• Replace everything I eat with something better (!!)

As you can see, I definitely need a bit of help!

My youngest is 2 today but he's really not himself.

I can't decide whether he's caught a stomach bug, or the sun and heat is too much for him (he prefers the shade like me so the last few days have been hard going for him), or his molars are trying to come through, but whatever it is, he's clingy and grumpy off and on through the day and unsettled and upset through the night.

Last night, he kept pointing to the calpol and ibuprofen bottles and I felt awful because I had to tell him he'd had all the medicine he could have at that point. Nothing seemed to help and even stroking his hair didn't soothe him.

Sigh. I wish he could tell me what was wrong! It's so hard having to guess.

What a rotten way to spend your birthday :-(

I spent last Saturday night sobbing to my husband.

There are 2 things of which I am certain. He will have an affair and leave me, and I will die early, due to either ovarian or cervical cancer, and my boys will not remember me. My brain is very specific about both of these things.

And I cried and cried because knowing that this is what will happen is so very, very painful and I don't understand why my brain functions this way and I don't know how to change the way I think. It's all too big, too much.

I know I need to take control and there are practical things I can do to help, like booking a smear test and trying to rebuild my flagging self-esteem, but it's an uphill battle when your brain's telling you "what's the point? this won't change anything, there's no point in trying".

The thing is, if I died today, I would look back on my life with regret. It's littered with missed opportunities and inaction. Husband says it's good that I have this knowledge because I can do something about it. But that essential spark that fires you up to try new experiences and follow your dreams is missing and I can't seem to get started.

I look on with envy as family and friends embrace their work, hobbies and pretty much any creative idea that jumps to mind and I think why aren't I doing that? I have ideas. I want to find out what it is I feel really passionate about. I want to create. Why can't I get started?

Logically, I know the only thing that's stopping me is me but how do you get past that? I really need some ideas because I want more out of my life. Seriously, if you have any suggestions, please let me know xx

There are times in your life when you meet someone, quite unexpectedly, with whom you have an immediate connection. This happened to me not long after I joined twitter when I started to exchange tweets with today's guest poster, Liz.

There aren't enough words to express the depth of my admiration for this lady. Not only is Liz warm, friendly, kind and funny but she has a wonderful attitude towards life. She's not one to be found on the sidelines watching it passing her by; she gets in there, tries things out and embraces opportunity and experiences joyfully.

Getting to know Liz has also given me the opportunity to get to know more about myself but I'm not going to talk about that right here and now because I've promised a guestpost on the subject for Liz's blog. You'll just have to keep your eyes open for that instead!

You can find Liz on twitter here and seriously, follow her!

Then go and read her beautifully written and very eclectic blog called "Margot and Barbara" here.

But before you do either of those things, have a read of this...

I am a runner.

It happened almost by accident. In 2006, I was pregnant with my first child. In the twenty-nineth week of that pregnancy, during a routine appointment, the midwife realised that I had all the signs of early onset pre-eclampsia and I was sent to the hospital. I was there for a few days, injected with steroids and told to expect an early delivery to save both of us. A couple of days later, I went home, only to end up doubled up in pain. The pre-eclampsia had got worse and I’d also got HELLP syndrome. The pain that I thought was indigestion was really my liver shutting down.

I was rushed into hospital, stabilised and then given an emergency caesarian section. My daughter was born weighing only 2lb 11oz and was rushed off into the neonatal unit before I’d even seen her. I didn’t find out until much later that they’d had to resuscitate her at birth. Thankfully, nine weeks later we were able to bring her home and she’s now a bright and beautiful five year old with no signs of the story of her dramatic arrival.

Despite going through all of this, which really was the most difficult time of our lives, we decided a couple of years later that we’d like another baby. To assess the risk of me having pre-eclampisa again, we had a meeting with a specialist consultant. His advice? There was a one in ten chance of it re-occuring and the best thing I could do to bring down my risk and lower my blood pressure was to get fit. The fastest way to get fit? Running...

The problem with running was that it initally brought out the child in me. The one who took extra German classes so that she could miss PE. The one who hated sports day. It’s not that I didn’t like to be active, I rode, ran and played outside as a child all the time. I just hated the competitive nature of PE at school, whether that was as part of a hockey team or running the 800 metres and that was what I still thought of ‘running’.

So, I struggled with the idea of running as an adult. I needed to get fit quickly, and cheaply though so really I had few options. The treadmill was quickly ruled out. I didn’t have one of my own so it would have meant joining a gym which I wasn’t going to do. I am a member of a gym now, but still haven’t got over the ridiculous progression of our lives that means we have to go to a special place to run, row and climb nowhere!

I also knew that, left to my own devices, I’d carry on with the sedentary lifestyle that had contributed to the pre-eclampsia in the first place, whatever my good intentions were. I needed a running partner. Someone to encourage me to start, and to keep on going. Someone with a vested interest in keeping me fit and healthy. My husband.

We started running together each week. When I say running, I really mean jogging a few steps, keeling over with breathlessness, walking a bit, running a few more steps, and so on. Over the following weeks, I was running a little more, walking a little less and feeling better than I’d done for years. Yes, it was painful. Yes, I was slow. And yes, I spent a lot of time lagging behind my already-fit husband cursing in his direction as he reminded me of the good it was doing me; the most maddening thing I could ever be told.

Apart from knowing that he was right, and that I was working for a healthy pregnancy, I kept going because I had muscles in my thighs that I never knew existed and I was surprising myself by enjoying it. It worked too - in May 2009 I gave birth to a healthy baby boy after a normal pregnancy, with my blood pressure only going up during the birth. I even managed to run a 5k race in the early stages of my pregnancy before my anxiety about keeping the baby safe made me give up running until after he was born.

We ran, and still do run, off road. This has made a huge difference to me, because it appeals to that child who spent her time outdoors. I run through the woods and along bridle-paths. In the Spring, there are bluebells scenting the air and keeping me going. In the Autumn I run through crunchy piles of leaves, kicking them in the air as I go. In the Winter, I skate like Bambi over frozen puddles or sink in the snow. Always, I run through or jump over puddles. It is fun. I’m not the fastest of runners, I know that I’m slow, but it doesn’t matter.

These days, with two small children and a full time job, I have less time to run. My knees are creaky and my feet are often sore. But when I have the time, I run.

I have run. I do run. I will run.

I am a runner.

Today's guest post comes from Ruthy who you may remember from my 12 days of Buffy challenge. Ruthy joined in with the challenge by making a daily audioboo about each of the first season episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer whilst also tackling her to do list. It may have only been a short challenge but it left both of us feeling very positive about what we'd achieved.

Ruthy started a blog called Minibreak Mummy last Summer. Her plan was to write about minibreaks in the caravan and day trips with her toddler son, but she got sidetracked into talking about all sorts of other things! Topics include retro items found in charity shops, how she uses her filofax, her love for dark chocolate and her quest for the perfect handbag. For Ruthy, her blog is a place to share the fun things in life as this makes it easier to cope with the not so fun things.

You can follow Ruthy on twitter, where she's known as @minibreakmummy. You can also listen to Ruthy's audioboo audioblog here.

And now to the main attraction...

Zombies shuffle slowly and relentlessly along. I can easily outwalk them! No need to break into a sweat. It's all about stamina and being able to keep going, not sprinting away and getting a stitch and collapsing with exhaustion.

So I'm going to slow the pace down a little here. Running is not my thing. Instead, I am walking back to happiness. Since I started having regular lunchtime walks a year ago I've never felt better.

Walking has several advantages over running:

* I can fit a walk into my lunch break

* It is not necessary to change into special clothing

* No need to take a shower afterwards

* Plenty of time to appreciate the scenery

I was involved in a 4 week trial of using a pedometer. I aimed for 10,000 steps a day, but didn't always manage it. My percentage body fat decreased from the 'cause for concern' bracket to the 'healthy' bracket. I had to hand the pedometer back at the end of the trial but ever since then I've almost felt like I am wearing an imaginary pedometer. So I do not use the campus shuttle bus or accept lifts home from the local shops, because every little bit of walking helps.

Walking is also very uplifting. It helps me to 'unscrunch' myself after a morning sat in front of the computer in my office. I can breathe the air into my lungs and clear my head. It makes me feel good to be alive.

I am seriously coveting Ruthy's shoes! I love this style!

If you've ever struggled with your weight or wondered how to kickstart your weightloss efforts, I hope today's guest post will inspire and motivate you.

Written by Tina, it reveals how she managed to lose 60lb in a year and change her BMI score from "obese" to "healthy" with the right incentive, an eating plan that worked for her and the introduction of an exercise regime.

Having supported my husband when he needed to lose 7.5 stone and seen the hard work and commitment it takes, I have the utmost admiration for Tina's achievement and I'm sure after you've read her story, you will too.

In her own words, Tina is "a Mummy, a Wife, A Geek and a blogger! I blog about my family's adventures, our loves, hates, successes and failures. I am a huge fan of gadgets, technology, history, and lego (See - told you I'm a geek)! We live in Manchester, and our 11 month old Son is nicknamed Batman. I am currently pregnant with baby number 2 (Robyn) - due at the end of June!".

Tina writes a blog at MotherGeek.co.uk. You can also find her here on twitter as well as over here on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Way back in 2009, my best friend got engaged. At the time, I was 14 stone 8lb (204lb), and OBESE! When she asked me to be her chief bridesmaid at her wedding the following Summer, I knew immediate action was required. I had tried (and failed) at countless diets in the past, so this time I monitored my food intake for 2 weeks, to see what my flaws were. It became very obvious that I was eating too much fat. (Cheese, margarine, pastry, olive oil, etc). I decided to create my own meal plan based on a low fat diet. As a vegetarian, I get limited protein so I guess this is why cheese had become such a staple part of my diet.

On July 1st 2009, I began monitoring my fat intake. I kept it below 20g a day (of fat - not saturated fat). I also did 30 minutes a day, 7 days a week on my Wii Fit. I weighed in weekly and blogged daily on my weight loss blog. I found I got a lot of support from other "losers" and they encouraged me a lot to stick with it. By 1st August, I had lost 14lb! (1 whole stone in 1 month, and I hadn't been near a gym). I continued the same way, and by my birthday in November, I weighed 11 stone 10.5lb (164.5lb)! I had gone from being OBESE to being in the normal BMI range in just 20 weeks!

By this point, it had become harder to lose the weight. I was losing 1lb a week at best, and it was frustrating. I decided to switch things up and bought a couple of exercise DVDs. I had become a huge fan of the American version of The Biggest Loser, and bought Jillian Michaels' 30 days shred. I swear to god, that DVD almost killed me, but it did the job and kick started my metabolism again. It was a 20 minute workout, and very intense, so I did that for a month.

By January, I was down to 11 stone 1lb. I then found out I was pregnant, and we were thrilled. In February, my other half popped the question! I was continuing to eat healthily but had increased my daily fat intake to 40g a day - the recommended amount for someone of my then weight. At the end of February, we found out at our 12 week scan that we'd lost the baby. We were of course devastated, and initially, I wanted to eat everything in sight. My other half managed to prevent this by ensuring the cupboards contained only healthy things. I was very poorly after the procedure to remove the baby, and lost a lot of blood. It was May before I felt fit enough to start exercising again, but as I was still losing blood, I could only do light exercise.

I had signed up to do the Race For Life in July, so I started walking 5k a day on the treadmill. By the time the race came around on 4th July 2010, (a week before my Bridesmaid duties were to take place), I was down to 10 stone 4lb (144lb)! I had lost 60lb in a year! I managed to finish the race for life in a fairly good time, despite only doing half of the C25k training. I finished it in 35 minutes, 20 seconds.

The day of my best friend's wedding rolled around, and I wore a size 10 dress! It had to be taken in to fit me! I had NEVER worn a size 10 in my life! When I was initially fitted for my dress, she said I needed a size 20 dress, so I had lost 5 dress sizes by the dress maker's reckoning!

Since then, I have had a baby boy, and am now 8 months pregnant again. I suspect I will be a good 12.5-13 stone once I have had my baby, so I shall once again be taking to my low fat plan (after breast feeding duties cease, of course)!

If I had to suggest one thing to people trying to lose weight, it would be a support network. I genuinely think I did as well as I did because I had the support of my other half and an amazing online community.

Week four : Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk then 3 minutes of running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running, 2½ minutes walking, 3 minutes running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running.

Week five : There are three different workouts for this week. They are as follows: Workout 1: brisk 5-minute walk, then 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running.

Workout 2: brisk 5-minute walk, then 8 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 8 minutes running.

Workout 3: brisk 5-minute walk, then 20 minutes running, with no walking.

The last 2 weeks have been quite mentally exhausting and I don't feel out of the woods yet.

There was a gap of about 3 days between week 4 runs 2 and 3 as a sickness bug tried to sneak its way into the house leaving me feeling very queasy and out of sorts. At the same time, the baby's nighttime sleeping habits took a nosedive (not that they'd ever been that great anyway!) and I found myself struggling to get through the days.

In those 3 days, I could feel my motivation to run waning, not because I found the plan too hard and too much for me (as I did in this post "to quit or not to quit" ) but because I didn't have the physical and mental energy to put on my running shoes and get on the treadmill.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I could feel negative thought patterns about myself and my parenting abilities creep back into my mind. I started to withdraw into myself and began to feel more and more emotional.  I thought I'd gotten past this earlier this year but I guess not.

I know I'm sounding all doom and gloom but stay with me, there is a happy ending. I forced myself to do my final run of week 3 and the exercise definately helped to lift my head into a bit of a better place and gave my body an energy boost. I kept the momentum going by doing a quick stretching and strengthening workout the next day and was able to enter week 5 of the Grr Argh! Challenge with a sense of trepidation that, on the whole, was outweighed by an attitude of "bring it on!".

I'm going to be honest. Week 5 was tough but what really helped me this week was having a good playlist to run to. I hit moments where I thought "I'm going to have to stop running and walk" but then Iron Maiden would start to play and I was able to dig deep within myself to keep going.

Run to the Hills is one of my favourite Maiden tracks and the trademark galloping rhythm made it a perfect running tune for me:

The Week 5 plan culminated with 20 minutes of non-stop running and I am so very, very proud of myself for doing this. At the start of the year, I would never have been able to do this and I can't believe how far I've come in just 5 weeks.

And as for those negative thoughts? well, exercise may help to keep the demons at bay but nothing can beat talking about them with someone. Don't keep them bottled up or they'll slowly eat away at you. Bring them out into the light. Share them with someone - a family member, a good friend, your doctor. I know it can be so very, very hard but there's no reason to feel ashamed of the way you feel and the relief you'll feel simply by taking that first step of speaking up will be worth it.

My husband has been a real support since I spoke to him. It was hard to open up because I was aware some of my thoughts weren't rational and I didn't want him to think badly of me, or worse, think I was "crazy" but he managed to be just what I needed - a calm, loving, listening ear without judgment. I still have patches of darkness in my mind but I'm no longer feeling mentally overwhelmed and even if this shifts the other way, I know I don't have to face things on my own.

This makes a big difference.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to a new blogger, Glosswitch, and what an introduction to her writing this post makes. It's emotional, personal and best of all, it will challenge you to really think about what being "healthy" means and why we seem to equate this with being thin.

In her own words, Glosswitch is "a mum of two who has recently started blogging. My main interests are feminism, body image and motherhood, but I'll rant about anything really, given half the chance ...".

You can follow Glosswitch on twitter and don't forget to visit her blog to read more of her thoughts.

Yesterday I ate cake for breakfast. Then I got into my car, drove to work and spent the day sitting at my desk. In the evening I drove home, ate a pitta bread for tea and watched some telly before going to bed. That is a typical day in the life of me. I’m super-healthy, am I not?

Of course, health is all relative. I have been much, much worse than this. Right now, relatively speaking, I treat my body like a temple. Don’t believe me? Allow me to offer a brief history of me:

1987-1993 I survive on 580 calories a day. I don’t know why I choose that number, but I do and that becomes The Rule. Not that I’d recommend it to anyone. I’m in and out of hospital and to put it mildly, it feels completely crap.

1993-1997 I don’t know how many calories I eat. I throw them all back up anyhow. It is not a very dignified existence but I manage. Hey, I tell myself, at least I’m not fat.

1997-1998 I am fat. I can’t be bothered to throw up any more. My thighs rub together, my tits are all chaffed, yet I feel more invisible than when I was tiny. So I eat more. There’s no reason not to. I eat and eat and eat and eat.

1998-2002 I am thin again. I smoke up to 30 cigarettes a day. At times I worry that it will kill me but then I think, it’s better than being fat. Anything, anything at all, has got to be better than being fat.

2002-now I muddle through. I no longer smoke. I am still not fat. Last year I finally persuaded myself that purging twice a week was not “a reasonable compromise”, not with the blood in my vomit and the pain in my teeth. I now eat cake instead of real food. Otherwise I’d eat real food AND cake. And then I’d be fat.

So here I am, 36 years old, not yet dead, not yet chronically ill, basically “healthy”. I think I am lucky to have done all the things I’ve done and come through relatively unscathed. Nonetheless, I’ve been left with a fear of “health”, and what it does and doesn’t mean.

So often “being healthy” is used as a euphemism for “being thin”. Manage your blood sugar levels (so you’re not fat). Eat a balanced diet (so you’re not fat). Take regular exercise (so you’re not fat). These are the messages I hear. How do I know what people really mean? Do they want me to be healthy or do they want me to be smaller again?

No one even talks about diets any more. It’s all “going on a health kick” or “cutting out the bad foods”. And yet, scratch the surface, and what people really talk about is under-eating. Cutting out fat or carbs can drive a person insane (I mean this quite literally, as you start to create all the crazy rules which will get you through the day without the sustenance you need). And yet we’re advised to do this so casually, so flippantly. By the way, just stop nourishing your stomach, and your heart, and your brain. You’re not going to notice any difference.

Facing the great health challenge is, to put it mildly, a minefield. But since we’re in it, what more can we do but our best? I’d like to do better. I’d like to run marathons, build muscle, think of myself only as big and strong. The trouble is, all that scares me. And right now, there’s cake to be eaten and, with luck, some sanity to be preserved.

Today's guest post is from Jennifer who is mum to Harry (3) and Mia (nearly 1).

Jennifer's been blogging for almost a year about the things she gets up to with her family, and the things that go around in her head.

What I particularly like about her blog, which is simply but aptly named Jennifer's Little World, are the posts about the craft activities she does with her children. For example: how to turn a cardboard box into a vehicle, how to make pebble monsters and how to make a cardboard postbox and letters. There are lots more ideas of things to make and do and I can actually see me recreating some of them at home with my toddler; in fact, we've just started making a cardboard box bed for his favourite cuddly toy, Applecat.

Jennifer's maternity leave is quickly drawing to a close - something I can empathise with - and she'll soon be returning to her part-time, non-patient-facing job in the NHS. But she says she'll still have plenty of time to do fun things with her little ones (and blog about them of course!).

You can follow Jennifer on twitter, visit her facebook page and follow her on pinterest.

And now for her post...

I love pondering the aftermath of an apocalyptic scenario. I'm not obsessed about it, and I haven't made any particular preparations myself, but I love reading about stockpiling food and medicine, emergency grab bags, storing drinking water and so on. However it strikes me that the very best way to survive a disaster, once you've survived any initial catastrophe of course, is to be fit and healthy. If you are able to survive without a reliance upon medication, and you have the physical stamina to walk or run long distances, then you will be well ahead of a great deal of the population. I'm not even necessarily talking about a major disaster here, there are many scenarios where you will be in a better position to survive if you are fit and healthy, especially if you are also responsible for others, such as small, heavy children.

I try to keep fit by running, and this is often in the back of my mind as I'm pounding the streets. If I was running away from a predator, how long could I keep going for, and could I outrun them over a distance? I compare myself to people that I'm passing, and try and decide who would be an easier target, them or me. Of course I am really running to keep fit and to try and lose this last bit of baby weight, but I do feel secure in the knowledge that I am probably fitter than many others.

I really enjoy running as exercise, and the great thing about it (apart from the fact that it is virtually free and requires little equipment) is that you can really see your progress. A few years back I decided that I wanted to add running to my exercise regime, and I loved watching my time and speed increase week by week. I've followed a similar routine after the birth of each of my children, and each time have seen myself go from managing only a few minutes to being able to keep running for half an hour, covering 5 kilometres at a reasonable pace.

My method of building up to this was just to keep moving for 30 minutes. At the beginning you will need to alternate walking and running, perhaps doing just a couple of minutes of each until you've filled the full half hour. Gradually build up the amount of running you are doing, with shorter and shorter breaks for brisk walking. After a few months you will find that you are running for the full half hour. This is easier to manage on a treadmill because you can adjust your speed, but if you are out and about and end up a little way from home, the extra walking to get you back won't do any harm. There's no need or sense in rushing it, because ultimately each time you run you are closer to your goal.

This method has worked for me, both when I first started running and when I came back to it after long breaks during pregnancy and post-delivery. I'd really recommend running as a great way to improve fitness and to help prepare yourself in the best possible way for whatever you might encounter!

Week 3 : Begin with a brisk 5 minute walk then two repetitions of 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking.

Grr Argh!

This week's plan seemed like quite a jump from the plans of Weeks 1 and 2. Gone are the days of doing more walking than running. We're getting serious now.

What really stood out to me this week was the insidious little voice that suddenly appeared in my head and started to tell me how easy it would be to quit. "This is hard". "You're finding it tough". "You can't do this". "You could just quit".

From experience, I know how easy it can be to dwell on those poisonous little darts of negativity that creep into your mind, and before you know it, you've talked yourself out of either starting a project or carrying on with one. I can definitely be my own worst enemy and I didn't want that to happen this time.

So I shared the murmurings with my husband and acknowledged I was thinking about giving up. Giving them a voice out loud took them out of my head and I found I could look at them more objectively. This, along with the fact I can be a stubborn old mare when I want to be, helped me realise these thoughts weren't real; they weren't the truth of the situation, just an attempt to sabotage myself.

And just like that, the voice has gone.

I did my 3 runs.

I'm back in the game baby.

I have a brand, shiny new blogger for your delectation today!

Ed is a proud dad of 1 oversized and amazingly cute 8 month old baby boy. (He really is cute by the way - check him out in Ed's profile picture and read more about him in this post here).

Ed is a brand new daddy blogger, having only just started his blog The Daddy Adventure on 15 April 2012. His other half also blogs over at The Mummy Adventure where you can find more cute pics of baby Dylan to coo over!

You can find Ed on twitter here and his other half Bex can be found on twitter here. Go show them both some blogging love.

In his own words "I am 28 and plan to live forever". Now that's a plan.

As a Dad, I know the importance of living forever.  And as I haven't yet taken out any kind of life cover I have to be well prepared for all things that come my way, to ensure I don't bite the dust (dust is largely made up of dead skin.... mmm tasty dead skin...).

The rise of zombies is something that has been picking up pace over the last decade.  As with most virus related illnesses, it has a snowballing effect.  The more people that get the virus, the more people there are to spread the virus.  And as you know, catching the zombie virus is a lot worse than getting flu (with the exception of man flu which is the worst illness in the world). 

As with flu, there is a peak period every year where it spreads faster.  Every June there are hoards of zombies passing through on what can only be seen as some kind of pilgrimage through Canterbury.  Proof of this is easily found on youtube and google (search 'canterbury zombie').

So the end is nigh, and much nigher than you think.  By my recent calculations (I have a scientific calculator!) I estimate that this June there will be a big jump in the zombie population, however the following June is when the nutella sausages hit the fan!  You have 14 months to prepare.  You have been warned.

There are many thoughts on the effects of zombies on society as a whole.  Zombies, as with all humans, will benefit greatly from the human rights act (which they are rightly entitled to).  You should not be prejudice against zombies, just as you should not be racist.  Don't be racist.  Don't be zombiest.  There are recent cases that have shown some zombies are hard workers, and can be kept in a similar way as a pet.  One example of this is Billy Connolly.

Other zombies are very athletic and some of them will be pushing for gold in the olympics this summer.  Many of the extras from the film 28 days later are very good sprinters.  Usain Bolt has denied recent rumours that he too is a zombie.

Some zombies are also full of charm, and are good at politics.  Look how successful Boris Johnson has become.  A true idol for all zombies.

However, as with the youth of today, the majority of zombies are smelly, loud, obnoxious, and hang around in the middle of the street at all times of the day trying to chew on people.  These antisocial zombies are the ones you will need to be careful around.  Here are a few tips on how to survive in a world where zombies share our streets.

1 - Carry weapons.  Any weapon that can do serious bludgeoning to the head is good, such as a mace, or perhaps a baseball bat.  Weapons that can decapitate are good.  But please ensure you have had training by a professional before using such weapons, as you may injure yourself.  Guns are effective, but they are expensive to purchase and maintain.  Again, please have training to use such weapons, as you wouldn't want to miss and shoot your mum in the face.  She would not be best pleased, would she?

2 - Get fit.  Its embarrassing being outrun by a zombie, as well as fatal.  Like the host of this site, you may want to embark on a self improvement program such as the couch to 5k challenge.  I have recently tried this, and found it much quicker and effective to use transport (see how I've got on with my own fitness regime here).  Running 5k is not a pleasant experience.  Always have your car keys in your pocket, or your bicycle near by.  Never go out without them. 

3 - Barricade yourself at home.  Alternatively, you may decide getting fit is not for you.  In which case please hire a handyman to border up your windows and doors.  Solid wood and metal is preferable.

4 - If you have any elderly relatives, it is recommended that you call them before visiting.  The elderly are very susceptible to viruses such as the zombie virus.  If you turn up unannounced, it can be very hard to tell if they have the virus, as elderly people share many of the same symptoms.  You don't want to find yourself in an awkward situation where you may need to shoot your own mum, like Simon Pegg had to.

5 - If you have any children, you should educate them to say no to zombies.  Please keep your child on a leash at all time.  A scared child can often react badly to seeing a zombie, and you do not want them to run in to the road from fright.

For more detailed information on the symptoms of the zombie virus, please contact your local health service.

Remember that zombies are slow.  They cannot swim, but equally they cannot drown.  So being in a boat is a fairly safe place.  Just ensure you are not in shallow waters. 

I will be panic buying bread and milk from May 2013, and moving on to a yacht.  I suggest you do the same.

Bon voyage, humans!

Today's guest post comes from K J S, aka Funky Wellies, who is enjoying life in Germany; her adoptive country.

Married to Sexy Hubby, she has two beautiful daughters, a rabbit, a Mediterranean temper and a sense of humour.

She is currently working as a freelance writer, social media & MarCom consultant while keeping her blog up to date and writing her first first - well, almost - novel.

K J S is passionate about many things in life, including but not limited to:

 

Writing

Reading

Travelling

Laughing with family and friends

Italian cars

Gastronomy

Chocolate and good wines

The music of Bon Jovi

Being silly

Dressing up or down

Trying to overcome a phobia of frogs and toads

Surprising the love of her life in many little and big ways.

K J S blogs here at Funky Wellies' Random Thoughts and you can also find her on twitter here.

I have decided to set myself a personal challenge every year. Something to achieve that requires work, training and determination. Something that I have never done before. And this year's challenge turned out to be running a race, thanks to a friend of mine suggesting to sign up for a ten kilometre event. To actually register, train for it and do it.

Now I enjoy sport. I go to the gym, cycle and swim, but I always saw myself as a "Sunday runner", up for a quick jogging session, but not really stretching myself. This challenge would change my mindset for sure.

I found a proper training programme on the Internet and started in January. Things were going well, running had started to grow on me and I was looking forward to my training sessions, until a series of happenings made me feel like the odds were against me.

First, we had a seemingly never-ending cold - or should I saw freezing - wave. Down to minus five, I was still running. When temperatures went down to minus ten or twelve, I threw in the towel. Two weeks later, it started getting warmer again, I went running once and then got sick with a flu-like virus that held me in its grasp for three weeks. I had two short training sessions on days when I felt better, but that was all. And finally, as I was recovered at last, I fell and hurt my ankle. Another two weeks without sport.

By then I only had a month left to train and I was not so sure I would be up to it, but there was no way that I was going to renounce - yes, I am stubborn like that! So on Sunday April 15, I put on my fab sport shoes and accessories - see my post here - and I joined my friend and our fellow runners at the starting gate.

More than seven hundred people joined into one of the three races: the kiddies one, the five kilometres or the ten kilometres. We were blessed with almost perfect weather, a mix of sun and clouds with a temperature of about fourteen degress. It was quite windy at times - not nice when you are running against it - but as it turned cold and rainy later on that day, we considered ourselves very lucky!

Did I complete the race? Yes, and although I did feel my ankle - which was properly supported by one of those ankle support bandages - there was no real plan. I certainly did not arrive first, but I did not finish last either, which I found was an achievement in itself! I also improved my time by twenty-two minutes compared to when I ran the ten kilometres as part of the training and was thrilled about it. My friend arrived a good ten minutes before me, and as I had repeatedly told her that she was under no circumstances to wait for slower me, I was very pleased that she went for it.

Here are a couple of photos that my most fervent supporter, namely Sexy Hubby, took just before the race started:

I am very proud of myself and will probably do this again. But this time it will of course not be my yearly challenge.....In fact, I already know what 2013 will be!

Week 2 : Begin with a brisk 5 minutes walk then alternate 90 seconds of running with 2 minutes of walking, for a total of 20 minutes

See how happy and content this cat is? That's me, that is.

I'm 2 weeks into my Grr Argh! Challenge and I'm feeling more energised than I have in a long time. The progression from running for 60 seconds to 90 seconds wasn't tough and I was surprised to find I'm already a lot more capable and fitter than I was a couple of weeks ago. I even added in a couple of extra workouts this week; a short but intense circuit of core strength exercises and a 30 minute power walk with the dog. It just goes to show exercise really does breed energy.

But by far the biggest transformation has taken place in my head. I mentioned in my previous post "Beginnings" that I'd started feeling happier and more relaxed. Well, that's moved on a step and I've found myself experiencing a constant low-level buzz of motivation; a desire to do more than collapse on the settee and zone out in front of the television after the boys are in bed. The only downside to this is I'm struggling to know how to fill those few precious child-free hours in the evening.

I have a few tv programmes I absolutely cannot miss and outside of that, I can normally be found with my head in a book but I'd like to have a go at something new; something that requires me to engage mind and body and which I can put down at the end of a night with a real sense of achievement. Some of the recommendations I've had from twitterland are:

Macrame or extreme potholing from Trifle Is My Nemesis

Hang-gliding from Claire Deeming

Stalking from Swallowsbird

Gardening or Terence Stamp collecting from SAHDandproud

Ninja pirate from Unsednamed

Quite a mix of suggestions, underlining I really should have set out clear parameters when I tweeted for ideas for a hobby!

So, what do you do in your free time? How do you relax? And do you have a hobby (or two!) you can recommend? I'd love to hear from you.

I'm so excited to introduce you to the first of a series of guest posts that I'll be bringing to you throughout the course of my Grr Argh! Challenge. This post is from the ever-lovely Claire Deeming; one of the first people I followed on twitter after I started this blog and with whom I've had many a conversation about various tv programmes including "The Walking Dead" and "American Horror Story".

In her own words, Claire is "co-creator & keeper of 2 small children, gallavanter, bit of a rubbish SAHM as incapable of staying in the house, lapsed blogger and future survivor of the zombie apocalypse".

After you've read her post, go and follow Claire on twitter and give her a good prodding until she updates her blog; Chapters of Claire. Also, read the very first thoughts she had about the zombie apocalypse in this post here.

I hope you enjoy Claire's writing as much as I do!

Know how keeping fit and living clean adds years to your life? Well you're going to be spending those years in a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by hordes of The Undead. Well done, you.

On the other hand maybe you spent the non-apocalyptic years troughing cake, guzzling wine, and sitting on the sofa so much that the cushions have been left with a permanent indentation the exact size and shape of your bum cheeks ...

Either way, the zombies are here and the non-savvy are about to become lunch. You need to play smart but you also need to live smart.

Keep fit, eat right, live longer.

Look the part

Many forms of exercise are about having the right kit. You wouldn't play football in a wetsuit and flippers, would you? The zombie apocalypse is no exception. Keep it simple - you don't need a fashion montage played out to 80's power chords (a training montage is, however, essential) - but stuff the budget and loot the best stuff you can lay your hands on.

A good pair of running shoes is the first item on your list. Realistically how much running am I going to be doing?, I hear you ask.

Lots. Lots and lots and lots.

Take heart, you don't need to outrun the many hundreds of thousands of reanimated corpses all hoping to have a chomp on your tasty bits. Yay! Good news! You just need to outrun the people around you. Save your partner and your kids, even save your parents and siblings if you can, but how attached are you really to Great Aunt Mildred? If the answer is 'not very' then make damn sure you can run faster than her because while the walkers are enjoying a mid-jog snack you're going to be enjoying a quick get-away. The right running shoes are pivotal in this. Yes, you'll look a bit like a prat, especially if they're the luminous chunky affairs favoured by sullen teens, but you'll be a living prat.

Second on the list is body armour.

I know, right? Where the hell do you loot body armour from? You don't. You make it.

Bet you're wishing you'd watched more episodes of Blue Peter now.

Resist the urge to coat yourself in sticky-back plastic, it won't help your mobility and will just annoy the zombies when they have to unwrap you. No, your cobbled together body armour needs to be two things - lightweight and hard to bite through. I've done some extensive research on this ...

... okay, so I've mooched around the house for twenty minutes experimentally biting various objects ...

You need layers of clothing, around four or five seems to be the optimum number, and the top layer should be some kind of nylon-polyester blend - check Great Aunt Mildred's wardrobe. Any less than four layers and it's too weak, more than five and it's too difficult to move. It'll probably still hurt to get bitten but it's less likely to break the skin which means it won't infect you.

Third on the list is a scarf to protect your neck. Zombies always go for the neck, don't become another mindless statistic. Throw some wristbands on too, after the neck they go for wrists. Not so much the face though so do what you like with that.

Now that you're dressed in your four layers of synthetic fabrics, day-glo trainers, and natty woolen scarf it's time to move on to the next step:

Feeding the machine

Your body is a precision machine of something or other. It's a temple where muscles come to worship and exercise is king or however it goes.

I'd check Google for an inspirational quote about looking after one's body but it's the zombie apocalypse, Google is gone and nobody likes a pedant.

Your main activities for the foreseeable future are going to be running and hiding. Sometimes you'll shake it up a bit by hiding and then running. You might find time for some zombie slaying and the occasional narrow escape. If 'The Walking Dead' is to be believed you will also find the time and inclination to have sex with both your partner and your partner's best friend.

You'll be getting hungry at some point then.

High energy, nutritious meals that can be prepared quickly, quietly, and without delicious-yet-zombie-attracting-smells are your friend. The Simpsons once said 'you don't win friends with salad' but you do get to live longer when the world ends. Eat salad and for desert have a banana, bananas are high energy. Don't worry about fibre or looking after your gut or keeping regular. It's the zombie apocalypse, you're going to be so scared that you'll have no trouble keeping regular.

Salad is easy to carry, easy to prepare, has no aroma, and it can be foraged. Those fields that no one is harvesting are bloody full of salad so no matter where you decide to hide there'll be food available, plus salad keeps you slim and we all know it's the tubby slowpoke who gets eaten first. Save the BBQs and fry-ups for when you've secured a reasonably permanent stronghold with a defensible perimeter.

On the subject of BBQs and fry-ups, avoid eating anything that used to be alive before it was killed and chopped into food. Think about it. The zombies are reanimated dead people infected with whatever it is that's made them reanimate. It therefore stands to reason that anything else dead could also be infected. Imagine how much of a joke you'll be to the other survivors if you evade a zombie bite but are then infected by your celebratory hamburger. It's best to just steer clear.

Salad good, meat bad, glad that one has been cleared up and we can move on to:

Keeping fit

Never before has it been so vital to stay in shape. Not only do you need to be able to run (or at least outpace unpopular relatives) you also need to be agile enough to climb stuff, slim enough to squeeze into the smallest of hiding places, and fit enough to do it all on a diet of salad and bananas whilst wearing umpteen layers of clothing complete with scarf and stupid trainers.

Stretching is important before running for any sort of distance, last thing you want is for your hamstring to seize up part way through an epic chase because those zombies will not sit back and wait while you frantically massage it back to working order. Oh no sirree, they heard as far as 'ham' and started moving even faster. They probably won't allow any time before the chase for you to limber up either.

It would seem the best solution is to keep yourself in a state of constant readiness. Whenever you're not running you should do stretching exercises in preparation for when it's time to start running again. You'll be tired, loot some Pro-Plus, and the rest of your group will think you're a bit weird but who'll be laughing maniacally when they're struck down with a leg cramp while you're jittering your way over the hills and far away? You, that's who - and that's a sure sign that you need to lower your intake of Pro-Plus.

When the early days of the apocalypse come to a close and your survival becomes less run and more hide you can ease off on the stretches. They're difficult to do in confined spaces and the other survivors (the ones you didn't leave behind as zombie fodder) might decide to throw you to the walkers after you've done one too many squat lunges at 2am. Stay on top of the running though, even if they do decide to sling you out the nearest door or window for doing laps of the 6ft by 8ft room all twenty of you are huddled in at least you'll be able to run away from the zombies.

So in summary: you should eat right, exercise, and wear appropriate clothing so that when the zombies attack you can continue to eat right, exercise, and wear appropriate clothing .......

Or you could just eat, wear, and do whatever you want and hope that the zombie who eats you chokes.