Blog writing process: 5 steps I take when researching and drafting a post

I’m no expert. But I do know how to write, albeit that which I normally am accustomed to writing is quite technical written analyses and assessments for work. So blogging for me has been that foray into thinking a little more creatively. I’m all open for pushing myself creatively right now because I feel that is an element of my life that is lacking.

Some things are easier to write about than others. So some things will flow right out of you and you won’t need to do much to it. Sometimes it flows so well that you write half a novel and realise people are either coming to your blog for something snappy and witty or something more serious so you need to review what you’ve written to make sure you are not straying from your subject matter. This is an important factor to consider when you do pick a blog post topic because you need to make sure your post is either going to maintain your existing readership or garner new ones. You don’t want to be losing readers because you’re fluffing about and getting too wordy (which I am totally guilty of!)

Here are 5 steps I take when researching and drafting a post:

1. Get into your blogging zone! I prefer to put some music on in the background, grab a coffee and some food. This time needs to be dedicated just for you and your blog, so if possible, make sure you have no distractions.
2. When writing down post ideas and planning theme weeks, I often group like type topics together so that I can research many things in one sitting. If you still work full time and have a household to manage, you don’t have a lot of time to spend on research (but this is a critical thing to do). Use a brainstorming technique like visual plotting. (template to follow)
3. Research your topic: review other blog posts and blog types like your own. I also use an app called Bloglovin’ which is phenomenal for managing and monitoring trends in the blogosphere (you do this by subscribing to a feed of blogs and blog posts you like). Make note of hot topics, buzz words, keyword usage, linked topics of discussion, mediums used to convey the message and the type of response the other author is getting about the topic.
4. Plan your blog post: set-up a simple word template (or if you prefer hand writing) that outlines a plan for how you will write and topics you will discuss. This is much more important for large posts or posts that will be part of a series. It also helps keeps you on track and in many instances identifies opportunities for follow up or series type posts with linked topics. ***I am currently developing some free templates on blog post planning and will provide them when available.
5. Just write down what it is you want in your first draft. When you finish, look at formatting. Make sure you use a word processor for this to do spell and grammar checks. It also helps if something else comes up and you need to stop working, you have the ability to save your work and come back to it. It also helps you plan your scheduled posts.

What techniques or planning do you use when drafting posts? Let me know your ideas J

Fitness Fitology 6: Fave social media fitness personalities

One of the great things about fitness and about social media is the way it can bring people together to learn from each other and to support each other.

When I started the whole gym thing I became obsessed with watching videos from bodybuilding.com. There were so many inspirational stories, food diaries and exercise videos that I felt as if I had stumbled across a kinship of sorts.

From there and with the advantages of modern day marketing, Youtube began tailoring views of interest to me and that’s where I stumbled across some of the people I started following on Youtube.

And to be honest I love them all for different reasons, but mostly, because they’re super positive, independent women who are doing exactly what they want in life. I admire them for putting themselves out there and challenging the world.

Without further ado, here are my favourite athletes and their social media spaces:

Ashley Horner – Facebook – Youtube – Instagram

 

Nikki Blacketter – Facebook – Youtube – Instagram

Dana Linn Bailey – Facebook – Youtube – Instagram

Whitney Simmons – Facebook – Youtube – Instagram

Jen Heward @ Hunny Buns Fit – Facebook – Youtube – Instagram

Fitness Fitology 5: 5 key life lessons I learned at the gym

When I started going to the gym I picked the biggest local gym I could find. Part of it was obviously the variety of classes, machines and programs available, but also because it had a women’s only section which I thought could be my sanctuary from the meat heads who were looking at themselves in the mirror all the time. I was self-conscious, despite my general confidence of going to the gym. I didn’t want to go alone, and I surely didn’t want to be doing exercises where people would laugh at me or sneer at me because I was the bigger girl doing the exercises.

Little did I realise that I wouldn’t even use the female only section and that in the grand scheme of things, no-one paid any attention to me. And that wasn’t a bad thing. I started reading and watching Youtubers who did bodybuilding and strength training and my perspectives quickly changed. All of them spoke about the positivity of the community (and yes, there will always be some idiot who carries on about fat people just need to stop eating, but they’re idiots for a reason) and of their own challenges in getting to the fitness levels they were at.

I quickly realised that everyone had their own motivations and reasons for going to the gym, as did I.

Here are five really important lessons I learned at the gym, and especially, how they translated to my everyday life:

I know sometimes it seems a bit of ‘easier said than done’ – but really it isn’t. You are your own judge and your only limitation. You are the only person who is accountable for their progress and the only one who can actually be productive in that progression. Don’t ever be the type of person that limits themselves because of size, money, social status, appearance or any other social category we define ourselves by.

We’re going to be looking at goals and achieving goals in November’s themed week. What lessons have you learned at the gym? Have you employed them in your daily life? Like, share, comment and stay tuned for daily blog posts on thatfitologylife.com.

Fitness Fitology 3: What I eat for a day

As our days get busier and longer, it gets harder and harder to eat healthy, to have time to prepare healthy meals and to be mindful of what we eat. There are a few simple tips that can be utilised by anyone to negate all of the potential negative outcomes that come with the lack of food prep (I briefly did a HOW TO on meal prepping on a budget here) but the requirement of this is planning and consistency. We will discuss this again in another post.

Assuming that you already practise this, today’s post is looking at what I eat for a day. Of course, if this is something you don’t do, I’d love to cover it in future posts. Let me know if this is something you want to see!

Here is the breakdown of a typical meal day for me. Obviously, things can change depending on a variety of things, like seasonal pairings of fruit and vegetables, weekend meal dates and catchups with friends etc, but for the most part I will stick to this way of eating as a base. Because I meal prep, I always have frozen grilled chicken in my freezer, and can use it for a variety of different dinners. If you’d like to see other recipe options in future posts, leave a comment below!

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Breakfast 1:

0530hrs – 1-piece GF toast (no wheat, soy flours), 1 egg (from my own chooks, whole), 1 slice ham/bacon, half smashed Avo. Coffee with full cream milk and coconut sugar.

Breakfast 2:

0800-0830hrs – Half cup oats, 1 chobani Greek yoghurt, half to 1 punnet berries or half banana.

Lunch 1:

1030-1100hrs – 50grams grilled chicken breast, approx. 60-70grams brown rice (microwave cup is 125g, I only eat half), cup of steamed broccoli

Lunch 2:

1200hrs – Sometimes I eat at work (work paid meal), if not I eat the remaining 50grams of chicken and remainder of rice, cup of steamed broccoli

Afternoon snack 1:

1330-1400hrs – 1 granny smith apple, remaining half of banana, almonds

Afternoon snack 2:

1700hrs – 2x brown rice organic rice crackers, cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes

GYM

Dinner:

1800hrs – Grilled chicken, rice or potato, steamed vegies and/or fresh green salad

Liquid:

2-3litres of water. Sometimes I mix up an X50 green tea sachet to break the monotony of water, but mostly I drink plain water.

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Do you also eat this way? If not, do you want to eat this way or learn how to? Like, share, comment and stay tuned for daily blog posts on thatfitologylife.com.

Fitness Fitology 2: 5 tips to buying used gym equipment

Some of you may know that I recently made my own home gym setup. I was looking for items that had multiple use, but that were also sturdy, good quality with the ability to modify the weight range (using plate weights). I was lucky when I stumbled across my find because it has been excellent in allowing me to continue my workout almost the same as if I was still at the gym, bar a few machines here and there which I’m simply doing alternate exercises for.

Before we get into the gear, lets review the top 5 tips for buying used gym gear (which should be applied to any 2nd hand purchase).

1: Buy 2nd hand commercial where available, or a really good quality home gym version. Don’t buy those all in one gyms that are made from flimsy material that carry minimal amount of weight on there.

2: Don’t be afraid of rust. You’ll find this on a lot of dumbbells and plate weights. Surface rust is easily cleaned with bicarb soda and vinegar.

3: Buy plate weights second hand. In Australia, 2nd hand plate weights are going for about $1.50-$2 per kilo. New weights are priced at about $4-5. Significant price difference. Also, don’t be tempted to stock up on 2.5kg because they’re cheap.

4: Visually inspect all items before purchase. Make sure all moving items on the machine (i.e cable) work well or if they’re close to being replaced, can be easily replaced.

5: Make sure your machines have replaceable parts whether from the original manufacturer or from the hardware store. Cables can be expensive!

(L to R: Bench press, Force USA Functional Trainer, bench) Not in this image: cable cross over machine as it was still on the trailer waiting to be moved.

Here is a list of the items I purchased, where I purchased them from, and the purpose I purchased them for.

The machines I sourced included:

Force USA functional trainer which is a Smith machine with pec dec, lat pulldown cable, tricep cable, seated row plate and bench with a section for preacher curls, hamstring curls and leg extensions. RRP about $1500 AUD – My price second-hand: $400 off Gumtree.

Cable cross over with low and high cables, and approx. 100kgs on both sides. Chin up bar in the middle. Purchased second hand off Gumtree for $230.

Bench press with rack, Olympic bar and barbell with some plate weights. Purchased approx. 8 years ago and never used. Bench has a section for preacher curls. Purchased brand new for about $800.

1-25kg dumbbell set with rack and 2x 25kg plate weights. Seller had two auctions on ebay ($390 on the DB rack and $60 on the plate weights). He had no bids so I emailed him and offered $400 for both auctions and we made a deal.

Boxing bag (not in picture) – bartered for a sewing table with a friend. His mum had better use of the table then I did because I needed something larger for making blankets.

Jigsaw mats (pack of 27) – ebay China $29.89 Link

Folding exercise floor mat – ebay AU $46.58 Link

Ankle strap (d-ring) – ebay China $3.70 Link

Tricep/Bicep rope cable (two handles) – ebay AU $21.99 Link

Barbell squat bar protection – ebay China $9.98 Link

Set 4x heavy duty resistance bands from Light to Extra heavy – ebay China $10.88 Link

Low weight speed jump-rope – Ebay AU $12.95 Link

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So there you have it! Have you made your own home gym setup? How did you go about it? Like, share, comment and stay tuned for daily blog posts on thatfitologyllife.com Fitness Week Series!

Fitness Fitology 1: How to find a training method that works for you

It’s easy to get bogged down with information when it comes to fitness and what is the best option for you. There are so many exercise types, food and calorie management methods (including ways and lifestyles to eat, think vegan, Paleo, keto etc) and options available for both commercial gym and at home fitness opportunities. Finding the right fitness outlet can be overwhelming.

With the flow of information on the world wide webs, it’s easy to find and research fitness and exercise regimes that are suitable for you, the same as it is with finding a food and nutrition regime that works best for your lifestyle. The down side to this can be that there are so many options and so many experts – everybody believes their method of getting and staying fit is the best method.

Finding the best training method for you can be at times a little bit of trial and error. In order to maximise time spent on finding what works for you, the following tips can be extremely useful:

• Determine what it is you want to achieve and then train for that. There is no point training for strength if you need to be able to run for 2 kilometres every day. Strength training will help increase your fitness and make you sweat, but endurance training will ultimately give you the aerobic ability to run.
• Start your fitness journey with a personal trainer. When I started my gym membership they gave me a deal where I got 3 training sessions for free with my membership type. Negotiate something like this with your gym if you can because starting off with a PT will allow you to talk to someone about your ultimate goals and how you’d like to achieve them. They can make recommendations on appropriate training programs for you.
• Try a few group classes and see what you prefer. These day’s group classes are not simply cardio – many offer a mixture of strength and endurance options also. If you find that more cardio or more strength is what you prefer, then you can start working towards implementing these things in your fitness regime.
• Go with a friend to a training session they attend. You might hate sitting on a bike and cycling for 30 mins but love doing Zumba instead.
• Try a group sport with friends or work colleagues. Some people inherently enjoy the groupthink mentality, working in a team towards a specific goal and having a specific role within this team.
• Think outside the square – you don’t need to go and get a gym membership and lift weights. You can get fit in many different ways, like bush walking and hiking, martial arts, swimming, boxing, cycling etc.
• Keep a journal and write down how you feel before, during, and after each workout. This will help you review what works best for you and will also highlight areas you can or want to improve in.

Ultimately the fact that you’re considering getting fit is a step in the right direction and means that you want to start making changes. If all else fails whilst you wait to find what works for you, start walking. Take your dog on a walk, or go with a friend. You’ll soon start developing an idea of what you want to achieve and the quickest way to achieve it. But as long as you’re physically moving, no exercise regime can ever be bad for you.

If you went through this, what were some things you employed to determine what was the best fitness method for you?

FITNESS FITOLOGY WEEK

Getting into fitness for some of us can be a difficult thing. Not everyone has the genetic makeup of a Roman God or ancient Greek athlete…

I’m not making excuses, at all. I’m just saying that there are so many factors that affect the type of fitness we do and don’t get into.

For me, a lot of the link to fitness was that no matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. No matter what food I ate, nothing worked. I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome – female health issue, for those not in the know) where because of an imbalance in hormones, my body reacts to food, the processing of food, and the consumption of energy from food like a diabetic, even though when tested, I show no signs of having any medical resemblance to diabetes. Women with this issue suffer with horrific painful periods (when they do eventually get them), and sometimes cannot have children.

Yeh, this is what I actually said to my friends once. I was so anti-gym, I was so negative about the process because I’d failed so many times. When I realised though that this decision to improve was all my choice, then things started working, because I had tenacity to persevere and keep trying, even when I thought nothing was happening.

That being said, when you do get the itch to move, how do you know which method of fitness will be best? What training program will keep you motivated and on track? How can you beat that feeling of discomfort when starting out and who is a good social media motivator to monitor?

This week will be all about fitness – including how to find a workout that works well for you, eating recommendations, HIIT cardio, social media influencers in fitness and some roundup posts for apps and links.

Please enjoy the read – like, share, comment and stay tuned for daily posts on thatfitologylife!

Day at the range – Instagram snaps @pixiie83

Driving to the range from our place. Apparently there’s a ‘back way’?

Preciousss…..

Pistol range targets

My beauty

Bung eyes needs a patch to shoot 🙂

Husband shooting paper 🙂

Range Officer – in charge for the day

Looking out at the rifle range

Setting up the metallic silhouette area

End of day selfie 🙂

INFOGRAPHIC – Fitness Fitology Friday: What are macros?

3 key mantras successful people use

We all want it…success, fame and fortune. Maybe not in the famous celebrity way, but deep down inside we all want to know that the path we are on is going to bring us a success that are happy and content with. One that emulates our life purpose.

Successful people and entrepreneurs don’t just wake up in the morning without a plan for the day. If anything, their hard work and tenacity and dedication to the betterment of their cause, whatever that may be, is what drives them to those higher elevations, makes them achieve their goals and allows them to live a successful life.

Here are three of my favourite success mantras and those I believe are the driver of highly successful people.

Be the energy you want to attract. This is so simple. Don’t dwell or focus on the negative aspects of what you want. For example, if you want more financial abundance, don’t think about how little you have or how many bills you have to pay. Instead, think about the financial abundance around you, like the assets you already own, the growth that you are working through, the investments you can make.

My potential is unlimited. This is phenomenal. Think about it for a moment. You can achieve greatness in so many ways. Networking, studying, learning and knowledge (knowledge is power, and I stand by this), exposure – one step at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time.

Feel the fear and do it anyway. One thing that sets us mere mortals apart from the likes of Richard Branson (other than his enormous wallet!) is the healthy fear and risk that comes with doing things anyway. I read a recent post on Elon Musk who discussed his windfall from Paypal and how when he invested it into Tesla, Spacex and his other investments, he had almost no money left to pay his rent. But look at where Elon Musk is today and look at his net worth. It didn’t come from thin air, he worked hard to get to where he is today, and he took risks that could’ve been disastrous, but they weren’t, and he has become immensely successful.