Eats plants
We got Victoria a cat wheel for exercise because she's turning into a fat fatty. At first, she was a bit scared of the wheel and wouldn't go near it. But slowly we've been training her to use it using food as an incentive since she loves her food. Yesterday for the first time and… Continue reading Cat wheel
I've put on a kilogram of weight over the past couple of months. I would like to say it's extra muscle from doing Joe Wicks's PE class every day - after all, muscle weighs more than fat - but I think that's wishful thinking. Perhaps I just need to accept that I'm nearly 45 and… Continue reading Piling on the pounds
I've been doing the baby shark abs challenge for more than 30 days now (32 days to be exact). It has got much easier, so much so, that now I think I could go on doing the exercises for longer than 1 minute 33 seconds. I feel stronger too and notice my new strength in… Continue reading Where’s my 8-pack?
We've got a 30-day challenge going at work as part of health and wellbeing which involves doing the baby shark abs challenge every day for 30 days. It's the hardest 1 minute and 30 seconds you will do all day. I've been doing it since last Friday and for the first three days, I thought… Continue reading Baby shark abs challenge
I've started wearing my Fitbit again and yesterday, without doing any exercise at all, I managed to clock up 15,427 steps and 87 minutes of moderate activity in one day. Now before you get all excited about the possibility of getting exercise while Netflix cruising on the sofa, let me explain what I mean. Yesterday… Continue reading How to get exercise without doing any exercise
I can't resist temptation. Buy me a block of chocolate and I'll eat the whole thing in one day. Replace my bike with a car and I'll drive everywhere becoming fat and lazy. This is why I don't have chocolate in the house and don't own a car. I have no willpower and I don't… Continue reading The road to hell is paved with chocolate and cars
I recently noticed that my scales are telling me I'm heavier than I really am. It's like the problem of clothes shrinking while hanging in the wardrobe. I think it's because I'm not cycling as much as I used to. The kids are too big for Busby and we walk most places now. This is… Continue reading Desk cycling
We've had Busby our bakfiets for almost 5 years now. He has been a fantastic investment and I've got so much use out of him. However for the past couple of years I've struggled as the kids are bigger and heavier than they once were. The hills are much harder than they used to be… Continue reading Cargo bike options for older kids and adults
It has been three years since we dispensed with the family car and I don't regret it, not even a little bit. Car ownership is governed by the same law that rules chocolate: when there's chocolate in the fridge it will be eaten and when there's a car in the garage it will be driven,… Continue reading Living without a family car
There's an article in the Telegraph that has got me all riled up. I'm not going to link to it but the headline is something like, "Teenager seriously injured because he wasn't wearing a bicycle helmet". Why do people think it's ok to shame cyclists for not wearing helmets? Do they do the same to… Continue reading The helmet brigade strikes again
I caught a taxi home from the train yesterday. It was a very short trip and one we usually walk but I had Ben's backpack (he walked straight from the train to the University) in addition to my own. Nevertheless I felt bad about sitting in a car when I could have easily walked. I… Continue reading No pain, no gain
I was cycling my daughter to school this morning - she is only 6 years old - and a man in a van shouted at us, "You should have a fucking helmet on". I was wearing a helmet. I was wearing a Hövding which is the safest most effective helmet you can buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcqLqrfg16E I understand that… Continue reading Don’t swear at mothers cycling their kids to school
For many years now we have wanted to get a trampoline. But not just any trampoline, a Springfree trampoline. Friends of ours in New Zealand had one and their kids loved it (and still do). The inventor of the trampoline is also an engineer at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch where Ben used to… Continue reading bounce, bounce, bounce
I found these fantastic dresses for cycling last week. They're actually exercise dresses for any type of exercise: running, cycling, yoga and probably even swimming. They're made by an American company called Nuu Muu. NB: Nuu Muu are not paying me to write this post. I just think they're fantastic because they're so comfortable to wear… Continue reading Nuu Muu and World Bicycle Relief
The school playground saga continues and we're in the process of getting several quotes. Companies that install new playground equipment offer a no-obligation design and quote service and I met one fellow yesterday afternoon to show him the play areas and explain what we wanted. I told him that we can't have swings and slides and I… Continue reading Flatland
I always feel a bit sad after a fun weekend away somewhere and immediately start thinking about the next trip. Where should we go next? I want to see more snow. When we arrived home yesterday there was a present waiting for me from my sister which was very exciting. It's some very trendy-looking exercise gear… Continue reading Time to say goodbye to the tracky dacks
Visitors to our house are always impressed with Ben's clock so I thought I'd share a pic: His sister bought it for him. After our terrific bicycle ride on Saturday I was thinking about what it is that's so good about cycling from one place to another. There's all the obvious things like the "fun"… Continue reading A mathematician’s clock and the joy in suffering (just a little bit)
I haven't been able to stop thinking about the electric car and why I couldn't start it on Saturday night. So yesterday I booked it just for an hour so that I could figure out how to use it. I unplugged the charging cable from both the car and the charging point first go and… Continue reading The electric car and cycling
After school yesterday Elizabeth decided to do some exercise. It was her own idea and although I'm a big advocate of exercise myself, I never pressure my kids to do it. However whenever they ask me why I'm exercising I will usually say something like, "because it keeps me fit and healthy and I'll live… Continue reading An exercise plan
I'm just back from a run in the rain and sleet and it was glorious; the best run I've had for ages. I felt wonderfully alive. It's good to suffer a little bit every now and again. Although someone living in a rich country with a warm home, running for half an hour in the… Continue reading Running in the rain, bras, husbands, and apocalyptic sex
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