I just wanted to take a little moment to reflect on how far I’ve come in my getting fit journey and hopefully inspire others who have been thinking of taking up some form of exercise to give it a go. The photos above are both of me. The top one is from about 2 years ago and the bottom one was taken today. I have running to thank for getting my body back to how I know it. There aren’t many other photos of me from two years ago. Wonder why?

Two years ago I was slowly growing and not in the “I’m growing as a person” kind of way. I mean I was getting bigger. I knew that if I didn’t do something about it I’d end up being really big and then it would be harder to get fit. To top it all off I have suffered for a long long time with back pain which was getting worse (having a 1 year old and also the increasing weight I was piling on wasn’t helping it either). So doing any kind of excercise was difficult for me and I found it really frustrating to see myself getting bigger yet feeling like I couldn’t do anything about it.

About a year ago I started taking pilates classes, initially to try to manage the back pain and strengthen my core (which was weaker than a soggy tissue) but I soon realised that I could do this form of excercise and it didn’t hurt.

When I was made redundant in August of this year I had to stop the pilates classes because I couldn’t really afford to keep going with it. It was a luxury that we couldn’t afford. I had to find something that was free and easy to fit in to my time. So this is where I began running. I got myself a good pair of running shoes and I already had a lot of other gear then I was set. I started slowly and at first I could barely run for a minute and hated it when I was running along and someone would overtake me barely breaking a sweat, me puffing along with a beetroot face.

I’m glad I stuck at it though, because now I can run a bit longer than just a minute. I can run for 45 minutes now without stopping for a walk break which is a great feeling. I’m by no means the fastest runner and I’ll never win any races but I love it. Recently I have been getting up early to go out as it’s the only time I can seem to fit it in to my day and also it gets pretty hot here which is tough to run in but that’s ok – I love the peace of the early hours before everyone else is awake and the sun is just beginning to rise. Not only that I get to do my exercise first thing and only have to have a shower once instead of twice if I go out later. It also makes me feel more energised throughout the day. I don’t get tired like I used to.

One of the best bit though is the inch loss. I think at last count I’d lost around 5-6 inches from my waist alone and many more inches from other parts. My weight has gone down but not massively probably about 8-9lbs in total but I never expected to lose it all quickly and I also knew that I’d be gaining muscle and losing fat and we all know that muscle weighs more than fat right?

I feel so much better and have had next to no back pain since I started running. Occasionally I will get a bit of pain but I know how to manage that now thanks to the pilates classes I have done.

I will continue to run and get fitter and better at it and I’m looking forward to doing my first fun run (7.5k) in January.

I just wish I had started running sooner.

I will be making more cushions – not likely before Christmas but probably after new year – using my own fabrics.

ABC Cushion

Painting by numbers Cushion

Pink Elephant Cushion

Plum Floral Cushion

So in between all of the Christmas fun and work too I managed to whip up these cushion covers which I think I’m going to put into my shop to see how they go. I will also be adding the dresses that I made too.

The first two cushions have the same fabric on both sides and the next two have different fabric on each side. All have a zipper closure for easy removal for washing.

side 1

side 2

side 1

side 2

I took some shots of the dresses I have been making to show and they will be available to buy pretty soon. More details on the where and when soon.

It’s called “I will love you until the end of time”.

I was asked recently by a lovely customer  if I could adapt one of my other prints to include custom wording for a wedding gift. I was thrilled to do this and the result was pretty awesome. So thinking about people getting married or who just really really love each other and want to give the special someone in their life a small token of their love I thought I’d try to incorporate some love-y dove-y stuff into some new prints.

Sunshine and Rain will be exclusive to my website and I will love you until the end of time will be available to buy in my etsy, madeit and Young Republic stores as well as right here.

So this bright new illustration will be available in all of my stores really soon. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Very very busy day today with gymnastics and a school concert to go to so we’re hoping for a lovely relaxing weekend.

Before I go, I just wanted to give you a little update on my running progress too. I am now 10k training for my race in January and I’m loving it. It can sometimes be hard during times when it’s particularly hot but I try to combat that by going out early or late. My back has improved no end. Something I feared before beginning to run was that the act of running would somehow make my back worse. How wrong I was and now I wish I’d done it sooner. As long as I do stretches after a run it feels great.

So, for someone who could barely run for 2 minutes 10 weeks ago and can now run for 20 minutes I think I’m doing pretty well. I also put on a pair of shorts today (note 37 degree day) which I bought last year. The shorts came with a belt which I never really needed as the shorts were “snug” shall we say. Today, I need the belt. And the belt is on the last notch. Feeling good!!!

It has a zipper opening so easily removed for washing. Handy because there’s a lot of white on that there cushion and I can see it already… chocolate, pink milk and milo cereal.