It's Hard Staying in Shape on Holiday!

Many of you may have noticed that I've been missing for a while! We are on holiday in South Africa at the moment, having a busy time....one thing I've come to realise that it is super difficult staying in shape on holiday. Especially when the primary activities involve socializing and catching up with friends and family.

On a daily basis I have been confronted with many temptations in the food line...

I've tried to outrun these but there is no doubt that bad eating outweighs exercise everytime and my skinny jeans have definitely become tighter:( I'll have to do a whole lot of careful eating when I get back home to make up for all the holiday indulgences.

We were hoping to climb Table Mountain today (I wonder how many calories?)but thanks to a lovely cloth on the table this was not possible ... Maybe tomorrow ?
I have my Garmin and heart rate monitor with me and will definitely like to measure what hiking up a steep mountain does to me!

Do you take your exercise gear on holiday?

Do you find it hard to resist temptations on holiday ?

Stress of the Day with Your Husband Away!

With The Cyclist off doing The Epic, surprisingly I am not am having the time of my life living it up as a single mum!  I have found that inevitably every single day there is a little event (or two!) that just makes me wish he were here.

Removing Water Dragon From Pool

Day 1 - He was no sooner out of the door and down the driveway on his way to the airport, than the kids yelled me to come and look in the swimming pool.  I was confronted with a Water Dragon.  The poor (terrifying looking) thing was on the top step and couldn't get out.  Out came the pool net.  I scooped it up, only to have it leap out mid air and back into the water, I don't know who was more terrified.  It was a great swimmer and dived into the deep end.  Luckily, on second attempt I managed to capture it with the pool net and quickly threw it over the back pool fence into the bush below!

This beats the last time he went to cycle in the Epic a couple of years ago:   I was about to dive in for a swim when I noticed a brown snake...at least Water Dragons aren't deadly. (That time I called the neighbour for help)

Day 2 - As we opened the fridge for the morning milk, the lightbulb inside the fridge blew.  I wasn't sure it was just the lightbulb though and it took a whole day of the food staying cold to reassure myself that it was not the entire fridge out of order.  I am quite happy to leave the fridge dark until he gets back.  It'll hide the fact that the fridge is overdue for a good clean.

Day 2 - Evening - Pumping my bicycle tyres by myself for the first time (yes, I know I am pathetic and should not have left all the bike admin up to The Cyclist before, but he is so competent at it), in preparation for the next mornings cycle involved an international phone call and explicit instructions and yes, I managed to pump the tyres of my bike for the first  time without bursting them (my fear).

Day 3 - I took the kids to the beach.  After a lovely morning in the sun, the biggest trick was folding up the sun shade, a large half dome creation, meant to confound all but the most scientific mind.  Luckily, I had Yoga Running Girl at the beach with me (and she is very smart!) and between the 2 of us we managed to get the dome small enough to fit in its circular bag, without completely embarrassing ourselves  on the beach.

The Pool Umbrella

Day 4 - Folding up the pool umbrella - I know it has been up for a week now and as it was quite windy this morning realised it may get damaged and that I couldn't procrastinate any longer so out I went in my nighty at 7am.  I managed to tilt it at just the right angle and get in to fold, fortunately without a spider falling out onto my head.  It is all safely strapped down now and the slight tilt and angle that it still has seems safe enough - I can live with it.

Later on day 4 - My mouse track pad failed to work. Now, normally I would have left it until The Cyclist was around to sort out.  Instead I empowered myself, grabbed a butter knife, opened the battery section and replaced the old batteries with new ones (supplied helpfully by The Scientist, he knows where all the batteries in the house are kept and goes through them at a rate of knots with various experiments).  Mousepad still not working so restarted the computer, mousepad still not working so reloaded the batteries AND on the advice of Sportsgirl pressed the power button on the track - ta, da - mousepad working!  (Perhaps I didn't actually need to replace the batteries?)


Oh dear, I really hope that I don't end up one of those old ladies who phones her kids for help to change a lightbulb or get the TV remote to work! (Although I admit Sportsgirl has given me a hand with the Apple TV on occasion.)

PS - In case you are completely losing hope in my ability to look after myself I proudly admit to mowing the lawn with a very temperamental lawn mower and refilling the petrol too. (Why wasn't the tank left full?)


PSS - Seriously, these are good examples of first world problems and make me realise how we end up complicating our lives with lots of stuff (swimming pools  and technology being the main area of difficulty).

Do you get your kids/ partner to help you with modern technology? Or are you the one giving advice?

Would you have removed the water dragon yourself?

Any advice for that pesky fridge light?