by Mollie Millington | Jun 10, 2020 | books
Lockdown seems to be easing in many parts of world. You can now leave your home, although probably in a mask and not for too long. Many of us are still working from home and may have the kids out of school too. I have tried to provide ways to stay busy during this unprecedented time, with April’s self-isolation challenge and May’s musicals and baking bingo games (how are these going, by the way?). This month’s amusement I have been planning since April, asking friends and family for recommendations. While still a work in progress, I thought I had better share it now so you can get started. Remember, any of these challenges you can start at any time. They are meant to give you purpose and some structure in case you are loosing track of what day of the week it is because you are stuck at home.
June is a reading challenge. I have once again created bingo game cards for you to use in case you want to play against friends or family. Tick off a square for a category of book you have read during lockdown. I have been amazed at how much additional reading I have completed, when normally my time to read is on the Tube when commuting. The bit that is a work in progress is a spreadsheet with reading recommendations (Please note that any link to Amazon is an affiliate link to help cover the costs of running this site but cost you nothing additional.). I will continue to populate the spreadsheet with additional suggestions (leave your’s in a comment below) and Amazon USA links. Or, you can download the Kindle app for free on any smart device and enjoy e-books to save on space and paper. If you go this route, look into the Kindle Unlimited program, which costs me £7.99/month but I can ‘rent’ up to 10 items at a time (not just books, magazines too) and get discounts on purchasing some titles. If you prefer ‘real’ books, I encourage you to order books from Hive books as it supports independent book shops rather than Amazon (I linked to Amazon for the reviews if you want to learn more about a selection).
There are 24 categories, including Anti-Racism/Social Justice. I am in an incredible fortunate position to have a platform to use my voice to help raise awareness and promote education about the struggles of racism that so many people in the world experience on a daily basis. Supporting #BlackLivesMatter is important if we want the world to be one day be a fair and just place. Currently, I am educating myself by reading Why I’m No Longer Speaking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. In the past, I have read Black Like Me and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. There is a lot of black history in the UK that I need to Iearn more about too. I encourage you to do the same about the area where you grew up and then a bit further out. Empathy and kindness are two traits that I value highly in people and aim to emanate. While I will never fully understand or experience the same thoughts and feelings as the people of colour around me, I can make a big effort to learn, to listen, to speak up, and to support them.
I also encourage you to register to vote, no matter where in the world you live, and to ensure your family, friends, and colleagues do the same. If you live in the USA, please register here and start to research your choices for a presidential candidate. If you call the UK home, you can register to vote here.
Hopefully this challenge will inspire you to learn more about new topics, pick up a book you have never heard of, and find joy in unplugging from the world.
by Mollie Millington | Jun 7, 2020 | exercise, quickie
This workout is more advanced (with influences from plyometrics) and higher impact that some of the other quickies I have shared so far. If you are new to exercise, I suggest trying a different workout to start.
You can use a kitchen timer to keep track of your intervals. If you are unclear what the exercise is I am describing, please look for a video or arrange for an in-person tutorial with me. Please consult your doctor before engaging on any fitness regime.
Remember to go for QUALITY over quantity. Don’t forget to breathe! Please email me if you want tips on how to make the quickies easier or more challenging (mollie@ptmollie.com).
Warm up- 1 min jumping jacks/star jumps, 1 min speed skater jumps, 1 min of high knee jumps
1 min- Standing on left foot with slight bend in the knee, thrust right knee up and then bring right foot down to lightly tap the ground with toes (don’t transfer any weight to your right foot). Repeat with speed for entire minute. Swing arms too.
1 min- Standing on right foot with slight bend in the knee, thrust left knee up and then bring left foot down to lightly tap the ground with toes (don’t transfer any weight to your left foot). Repeat with speed for entire minute. Swing arms too.
1 min- Prisoner squats with 180 degree turn. Perform squat with hands behind your head (this engages your core more) and as you come up jump and turn 180 degrees so you face the opposite direction. Be careful to spot or go at a slower pace to avoid getting dizzy.
1 min- Plyometric lunges- Stand with right leg in front and left leg back. Bring left knee almost to ground for a lunge and as you come up jump and switch leg positions. Repeat to keep lunging and switching legs.
1 min- Lateral hops- place a small object on the ground (shoe, cone, book- something that won’t move). Hop with both feet over the object from left to right and back right to left.
1 min- Burpees
1 min- Run in place with high knees
Awesome work! Do it again if you think you can handle it.
by Mollie Millington | Jun 3, 2020 | giveaway, health, product review
Wellness and immunity are two things that are very important to me, probably because my immune system isn’t great. I always seem to be at the doctor for one thing or another. I had pneumonia when I was a child, a really bad case of the chicken pox too (while my brother had one spot and felt fine) and then had glandular fever (mono) in grad school followed by a blood clot (partially due to genetic predisposition). The simple things to keep a body healthy, such as not smoking or doing illegal drugs, are something I have been able to embrace for my entire life. Obtaining good quality sleep and keeping stress levels low are something I have always struggled with. I am a light sleeper and tend to over-commit, so those two things alone probably knock some of my natural immunity. I shared my top immunity tips with the Thinking Slimmer gang back in March and thought you might find them useful too. Hopefully these are accessible enough that you can start to incorporate them into your daily life.
Add colour to every meal with an additional serving of fruit or vegetables. These natural foods have a range for vitamins and minerals that your body needs to obtain from food. The additional serving might be a side salad with dinner; sliced carrots and bell peppers as a snack; something added to a recipe, such as frozen peas; fruit with yogurt for dessert. Remember, you want five servings a day with varying colours. When in doubt, go for the veg!
Keep a moody diary to look for patterns with sleep, daily routine, exercise, and stress levels. These will all interact with each other, in good and bad ways. Remember you want to keep stress low and sleep at least eight hours. If you are not hitting eight hours, try adding an additional 30 minutes every two weeks and see if you feel more energised.
If you get hungry, have a glass of water and keep hands busy (give yourself a manicure, wash the dishes, or put away the laundry). Eight glasses or two litres of water a day is optimal. Hunger pains can sometimes mean you are dehydrated though. To avoid succumbing to every twinge, drink your water and see if you can distract your mind from food for about 15 minutes. If you are still hungry after that, have a snack.
Take a multivitamin with vitamin D3. This is really important if you are a picky eater or limit different food groups to have a multivitamin to ensure your essential nutritional needs are met. In addition, levels of vitamin D3 in Covid-19 patients seems to influence severity of symptoms.
Exercise more. It will help relieve stress, strengthen your cardiovascular system, make you physically stronger, and can give you an energy boost. Read more at the US National Library of Medicine if you need additional info, although it seems that the exact mechanism is unclear. Here is a peer-reviewed study on the topic which cites how new technology will help us figure out the “how.”
Try FourFiveCBD Immunity Box. Ok this is a little cheeky to suggest, but FourFive CBD sent me one of their limited edition boxes to try out (and I have one to giveaway too). It contains the following:
What did I think of everything? I am really enjoying the CBD effervescent tablets on the hot days we have been having as of late. Pulsin products I have had before but not this flavor bar. It was a perfect way to refuel after a home workout. Finally, I have been taking two of the Ashwagandha plus capsules every day. I hadn’t heard of this root before, but the handy flyer that comes with the box explains the benefits of each product. Ashwagandha is supposed to reduce anxiety, lower cortisol levels, and aid in muscle recovery. These are all the things I need in my life right now. I have only been taking it for two weeks and am trying to monitor myself for changes.
Things I still need to try: Vitamin D is something I was already taking so once I finish the bottle I have, I will start taking the nutrigold capsules. The cacao will be used for baking this weekend as I have brownies on my brain as of late. The biotic and vitamin C I will start taking later as I wanted to try the Ashwagandha on its own first.
Are you ready to try all of these for yourself? Head over to my Instagram to enter to win a box for yourself. As I have to ship it to you, the giveaway is limited to those with a UK postal address. Contest closes 12 June 2020 at midnight. Winner will be contacted via direct message on Instagram. Good luck!
One more thing- with every purchase of the box, FourFive CBD donates £5 to Compassion London. So, if you don’t win, your purchase will make a difference to those less fortunate. Very cool indeed.
Thanks to FourFive CBD for the complimentary product. All opinions are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | May 31, 2020 | exercise, fitness, quickie
Last summer, we visited some friends in Philadelphia. I was in the middle of a run streak, so I took the opportunity to run up the ‘Rocky steps.’ Boxing is a wonderful way to stay fit and I am taking some inspiration for today’s workout. You can use a kitchen timer to keep track of your intervals. If you are unclear what the exercise is I am describing, please look for a video or arrange for an in-person tutorial with me.
Please consult your doctor before engaging on any fitness regime. Remember to go for QUALITY over quantity. Don’t forget to breathe! Please email me if you want tips on how to make the quickies easier or more challenging (mollie@ptmollie.com).
Warm up- 1 min walk/jog in place, 1 min star jumps/jumping jacks, 1 min speed bag bouncing left and right
1 min- Quick left knee thrusts with left toes tapping ground very lightly (not putting any weight on left foot)
1 min- Quick right knee thrusts with right toes tapping ground very lightly (not putting any weight on right foot)
2 min- Boxing combination with left foot slightly forward of right (for those right-handed). Jab (left), cross (right), jab (left), punch to the right 2x as you take 2 side steps to the right, left hook (keep elbow at 90 degrees) *you will need some space for this one*
1 min- Front kick alternating legs by bringing knee up and then flicking out foot (carefully so as to not hyperextend your knee). Arms start up above your head and go down by your sides each time you kick.
2 min- Boxing combination- Right upper cut, left upper cut, duck (low squat), cross (right), jab (left), cross (right), duck (squat), right elbow (elbow at 90 degrees, bring elbow away from body in front of the chest.
1 min- Jump rope (either with a rope or pretend)
1 min- Squat jumps
1min- Bicycle crunches
Hope this has your heart pumping and your body sweating. Feel free to run up some steps and shout “Adrian!”
by Mollie Millington | May 28, 2020 | motivation
The decorating style of our flat is a little hodgepodge. We have some framed art, a card display for the post we receive, an Ikea 5×5 of ‘stuff’ and a large overflowing bookshelf. Each of these corners of our flat display different parts of our personalities, although sometimes I feel as if we still live in graduate student housing rather then adults who are put together and have a house with matching non-Ikea furniture. There are a few things on display that many homes probably don’t have- vision boards and race medal holders.
I remember watching Oprah once when she was talking about vision boards. People in her audience told tales of how several different ovens were ordered and didn’t work for some reason until the one that did she found on an old vision board when clearing out her desk. A gentleman in the audience said he didn’t believe in vision boards when his wife started making them. But he had changed his mind when they ended up on the show because his wife had a photo of Oprah pasted prominently on her vision board. I believe vision boards follow on from the manifestation guidelines of The Secret, but I have not read it. I remember how popular it was when it first came out though! Who wouldn’t want to dream of something and then have it come true?
To create your own vision board, take some old magazines and cut out the photos that you like or the phrases that resonate with you. I had trouble finding a big piece of poster board in the UK, so settled on A3 card stock. This actually worked out better because I made three boards, each with a different theme (running, travel and my personal training business).
All you need to do is make a collage with the clippings and hang someplace to help you visualise your dreams. You might not know why you like a photo or you might be looking for something specific (for example, a kitchen appliance, breed of dog, or new running shoes, or the perfect beach holiday). You can out the picture of something specific, like I did for the Boston Marathon, if you can’t find it in a magazine or newspaper. You don’t need to make themed boards, as I did this week simply because I had too many clippings. Your’s could be a sheet of regular paper with five photos on it. It is up to you and your dreams on how you want it to look. I tend to hang them near by bed so I can see the board as I fall asleep and when I wake up. Seeing them on a daily basis reminds me of what I am working towards and gives me a little morale boost. I have really been struggling with my injuries over the last few years and trying not to give up on my dream of running the Boston Marathon.
While my vision boards tend to be very handmade and arts-and-craftsy, I do like to display my race bling in a more organised fashioned to highlight my achievements (mental note: I need to update my times). I did a lot of research before buying it (mostly on Etsy). I wanted my display to be unique and reflect multi-disciplines because at the time, I was taking part in triathlons. Many designs were about being a female athlete, but that wasn’t important to me. I really like the design I ended up with, as it allows me to display my bibs (do you save your’s too?) and my personal best (or personal record) times for different disciplines. Before I purchased this board, we used to hang our (few) medals on a old door hinge leading into our living room. Every now and again we would bump into the growing collection and hear a clatter. It is nearly full now (six years later) so I need to decide if I discard some of the medals or purchase a new display. Whenever I look at it, I remember how lucky I have been to take part in so many events and how if I work hard, I can make it to more start lines next year.
If you don’t have the space or budget for a fancy medal holder, go to your local hardware store and look at coat and key racks you can adhere to the wall. We actually started out with a five hook key rack but that didn’t take long to fill! My medals are now hanging in our living room and next to my dresser. I see them every morning when I get dressed and every night before I go to bed. I can also see them from the couch while watching TV (which I have been doing a lot of during lockdown). Once in a while, I wade through them to remember the different races I have taken part in all over the world.
Hanging these visual displays really do give me a motivational boost. I love seeing my World Marathon Major medals in a separate display and look forward to filling in the last three medals. If I had a desk, I would hang a smaller vision board too. These subconscious reminders will keep me focused on what I am striving towards- running the Boston Marathon, travelling to new places, and continuing to build my coaching business. You have nothing to loose by creating visual displays of inspiration. Hopefully, they will bring a smile to your face every time you see them too.
Where do you display your bling and/or vision boards? Do you have your bibs or race shirts displayed too? Send me a photo and I will post it here. mollie@ptmollie.com
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