This week has involved working from home, being Mummy, Wife, Animal trainer and Cleaner.
I was doing really well on a few levels and was feeling rather in control of life’s Merry-Go-Round, UNTIL …
I managed to embarrass myself massively midweek – well actually it was Gary’s fault not mine! – Some parents (whom I hadn’t met before!) turned up to collect their offspring from a playdate, I bounded out of the door in my dirty wellies enthusiastically waving hello just as Gary decided that it was time for me to try out hurdling as part of my fitness routine – he blocked my path and I went flying, landing in a bedraggled heap right at the feet of the most immaculately dressed parents I have yet seen! Startled but very gracious, they very kindly offered me a hand up, but my hands were so muddy and grazed that I couldn’t possibly accept and spent the next 5 minutes floundering around on the wet driveway trying to get up!
I now have a blackened and swollen knee that’s almost the size of a football, this has put my training on the back burner for GIRLS V BOYS race for Breast Cancer Campaign on 20th May www.breastcancercampaign.org
Happy Birthday to my lovely Labrador Sophie who becomes a teenager today – at least there’ll be no teenage trauma about spots and boyfriends with her! I never ceases to amaze me how an arthritic dog can leap on onto a worktop and eat the contents of a bin in under 1 minute!
We also move again house in seven weeks time, I can’t believe we’ve been here nearly a year now, our tenancy has come to an end and it’s time to make a more permanent move. I’m looking forward to it with a mixture of dread and excitement – there are lots more country walks around the new house which will be even better for the dogs, but the downside is the logistics of moving the entire Maxwell Zoo which of course now includes an extra dog and two Guinea Pigs!
This week I’m gearing up for The Breast Cancer Campaign Girls v Boys 5k race which will be held in Southwark Park, London, on Sunday 20 May. As you may already know, I’m captaining the girls and Rugby sevens player, Chris Cracknell is doing the same for the boys. It’s a race with a difference: runners will compete against partners of the opposite sex, with both aiming to outdo each other with their race times and fundraising. Of course the girls are going to win but I need as many of you as possible to sign up to make sure! You can register at www.breastcancercampaign.org/girlsvboys
I’m also preparing for my trip next week to Belgium where I will be working with a leading health club on behalf of NIVEA, teaching their instructors my fitness philosophy – I’m so pleased that I’ll be traveling on the wonderful Eurostar and not having to queue for hours at the airport!
Tomorrow I’m back in London working for the Swiss magazine ‘Annabelle’. I’ll be doing a training session with a very nice lady who like me is constantly on the go and finds it very hard to fit in exercise. I’ve actually had to set an alarm on my computer this week to remind me to get up every half an hour and move around – I found I was getting back ache from sitting at my desk for so long!
When we moved from London to the country last year I assumed that we would all be living a much healthier outdoorsy life and to a certain extent we are – it’s wonderful to wake up in the morning to a view of fields and to know that I only have to climb over the garden fence to go for a long walk with the dogs. The downside though is the amount of time that is spent in the car going from A to B because distances between things are far greater than compared to London! It does present a whole new fitness challenge – Mr M rose to it splendidly this morning however when he ditched the car in favour of cycling all the way to the (local but still miles away) station! I didn’t like to tell him that heavy hail is forecast for his return!
Another downside to life out here is all the trees! yes I know they look very pretty and are incredibly important to the whole eco system but they’re playing havoc with my Hay Fever! The doctor says it’s because they’re different trees to those in London and my system just needs to get used to them – I guess it will with time – at least the hideous ‘Trout Pout’ I’ve been sporting for the last 2 weeks has gone at last!
Kate brought my handmade Jubilee bunting with her this morning and we’ve decorated the dining room with it just in case Her Majesty should decide to pop in for tea during her travels around the country! To see the bunting go to:
http://www.KatherineThompsonHandmade.com
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I’m just back from a really fun trip to the NIVEA HQ in Hamburg, made all the better because Mr M came too! One of the highlights was a mad fancy dress pirate party and there’s nothing Mr M likes more than a bit of dressing up! We also went to an amazing restaurant called The Bank in Hamburg, we opted for the taster menu which came with a glass of wine with each of the 9 courses (as ever conscious of the bad effect of alcohol on skin tone, I of course declined…..)
Well the Easter holidays are over and I felt really guilty when I sent the kids off through the freezing hail in their skimpy summer uniforms, felt even more guilty when I read the school newsletter and it said that due to bad weather they could now wear winter uniform up until half term!
We’ve finally managed to evacuate the guinea pigs from the dining room and installed them in an outdoor hutch in the garden – I think though that they’re even less appreciative of the hail than the children so are dividing their time between indoor and outdoor hutch.
Meanwhile, Gary The Greyhound has invented a new sport, it’s called cow pat diving. This involves running at great speed and throwing your left shoulder into cow pat in order to cover your neck and half of your head with the lovely stuff – I’ll stick to NIVEA Q10 firming cream thank you!
Speaking of which – Kate who is a self confessed super sceptic when it comes to body lotions has discovered that the above really does work – I gave her the two bottles of Q10 that I made when I was in the NIVEA labs, to try as part of her new fitness regime and she reports that her skin feels significantly firmer and she is now a total convert!
The other person on a new fitness regime – Mr M is doing extremely well according to reports back from Clive our Personal Trainer – apparently he’ll soon have a body to rival Brad Pitt’s (of course he would say he already had!)
Well the Jubilee is drawing ever closer so I’m getting into spirit. I’ve ordered some lovely handmade button and heart jubilee bunting from Kate (you can see it on her website at www.KatherineThompsonHandmade.com)
I’m back from Spain having looked at a potential venue for my Retreats and found the perfect place. It’s in the most beautiful part of Majorca, high up a stunning mountain, complete with Chef, 2 swimming pools & a jacuzzi.
Of course I had to test out the wonderful array of massages on offer and sample the amazing healthy food we will be providing! For me the most amazing feature is that it has it’s own fresh mountain water supply and an abundance of fruit trees and organic vegetables – so snacking at anytime will never be a problem!
On my return I was pleased to find that Mr M had tidied up & all was good – however with us all back in the house and the Easter holidays still on, chaos reigns again. I’ve been trying to work in the dining room to a background of chemistry experiments in the kitchen! I’m going for a run later to try and clear my head so that I can think about preparations for my trip to Germany next week to see the lovely people from NIVEA
Mr M’s fitness levels have recently benefited from the attentions of Clive my lovely trainee Fitness Instructor – of course it’s typical that hubby is far happier to follow instructions from Clive than his own wife! Actually I’m very glad to know that Clive possesses the ‘magic of motivation’ as he will be helping me to run my Booty Camps this year
At least my assistant Kate does what I say! I’ve got her fitting in a half hour walk into her busy life by splitting it down into three lots of ten minutes – she goes for a short walk after breakfast, at lunchtime and in the evening while supper is cooking and says she is already feeling the benefit and enjoying having those valuable ten minutes of uninterrupted ‘thinking time’
I’ve been having great fun at the Ideal Home Show in the last week presenting the Reebok Easytone Challenge. There was a great response to my presentation with lots of people joining in with enthusiasm!
Prior to this, at the weekend, I was delighted to receive my own copy of the Reebok workout DVD, and even more so when my youngest proceeded to work his way through all the exercises copying his mum on screen! This was great as I do believe that it is so important to get kids interested in fitness from an early age.
Well they say Pride comes before a fall and my punishment for being mildly pleased with my published Reebok photoshoot in Grazia last week, is that this week I’ve developed full blown Hay Fever with consequent swollen face! My mortification was not helped this morning, when on seeing my face, my youngest (him again!) collapsed on the floor in fits of laughter! I’m back at the Ideal Home Show tomorrow – I think I may have to develop a new ‘paper bag on head’ routine!
The end of this week sees the start of the school Easter holidays and my eldest is off on a 6 day school trip. I decided that I would take a step back and allow her to pack her own luggage, however, without her knowing I sneaked a peak in her bag and was pleased to see she had her priorities right – the bag contained 3 pairs of knickers, a pair of trainers and a One Direction poster!!
Meanwhile I’m off to Spain next week to visit a very special lady and look at a wonderful new venue for this years’ Sarah Maxwell Retreats. My hubby isn’t too pleased, but only because it means with both of us gone he’ll now be in sole charge of the Guinea Pigs!
Gary continues to thrive and I would say that his paws are now firmly under the dining room table. I have to laugh sometimes – when Barney comes round, the house now resembles Battersea Dogs Home!
Gary – our doggy left on the doorstep, continues to thrive and fit into our canine family. The only troublesome element seems to be Barney next door who’s nose is still distinctly out of joint – there he was quite happy as number two dog around the neighbourhood and Master of the Guinea Pigs until Gary turned up. The two of them haven’t yet worked out that two brains are better than one, and that if they formed an alliance they could very quickly launch a joint offensive on the Guinea Pig run!
When Gary first turned up I wondered if he had formerly been a racing Greyhound – I got my answer yesterday. I was taking him for a walk when a noise like a gun going off sounded from the neighbour’s field and before I knew it, Gary was off racing across the field with me on the other end of the lead! That was one very fast and very muddy way of getting exercise!
The Breast Cancer Campaign’s Girls v Boys running event was launched this week – I’m captain of the girls’ team and England rugby player Chris Cracknell is captain of the boys and we have to race each other – I’m really not looking forward to that!! If you want to join in it’s on the 20th May in Southwark Park, London SE16 at 11am. You just need to get together with a member of the opposite sex and challenge each other to a 5k race. There can only be one winner! To register go to www.breastcancercampaign.org
The Grazia photo shoot I did for the NIVEA Reebok Easy Tone workout came out this week (26th March issue) and I’m really pleased with it – especially the totally fab jacket I got to wear – such a shame I don’t get to keep the clothes!
Later on in the week I’m at the Ideal Home exhibition, again for the Reebok Easy Tone challenge. Timewise it really is going to be a challenge as mid way through I have to rush out to go and record some voiceovers before rushing back for the last session at the show!
At least Spring is officially here now and Easter is on the way – my assistant Kate came looking for me earlier with some papers to sign and found me spray painting Easter gift baskets in the garden – as I always say – it’s all about fitting it in!
A new addition to the family….
Last week I flew out to Hamburg to NIVEA HQ where I had meetings with the lovely NIVEA team to discuss exciting plans for the Q10 fitness club. They also very kindly allowed me to be a scientist for the day (complete with white lab coat!) – I was shown around their immaculate laboratories and had a look at all the lovely natural ingredients that go into their products. I couldn’t believe it when they actually allowed me to make some Q10 body lotion myself – I was so excited when the four bottles I made, arrived and were applied with gusto after a tough training session in the park.
I’m now gearing up for the Ideal Home Show later in the week where I shall be presenting the Reebok Easytone Workout and giving away some fantastic Reebok prizes .My tips are in GRAZIA magazine this week too.
With Easter on it’s way I recently bought some really cute little egg cosies from my assistant Kate, who has recently started up her own business designing and selling handmade gifts made from new, recycled and vintage fabrics – check out her stuff on www.KatherineThompsonHandmade.com
Meanwhile, life in the Maxwell Zoo has become even more bonkers with the sudden arrival of….Gary! Gary is the temporary name we’ve given to the very skinny half dead Greyhound that turned up in our garden at the weekend! To cut a long story of huge vets bills and a visit to a Travellers site short, Gary has now joined our family and even in just a week is looking so much better. He’s a real sweetie and although he has obviously had a hard life is extremely loving and protective of us all. Happily there have been no jealousy issues with existing Labs, Benson and Sophie, but Barney next door was distinctly ‘nose out of joint’ for the first couple of days but is now overjoyed to have yet another playmate. In the meantime all suggestions for a new name will be gratefully received!
The kids are back to school and peace reigns! I’m starting the week by seeing Personal Training clients in London – just to make sure they haven’t been naughty while I’ve been away!
Last week I taking part in a Photoshoot for the Breast Cancer Campaign to promote their exciting Girls vs Boys event in May.
After the excitement of that, it’s back to the usual household chores – I still haven’t unpacked from my trip to Helsinki and now I have to re-pack for a trip to Germany this week. I’m going to be shown around the NIVEA laboratory’s in Hamburg to meet the Scientists and have Sushi at my favorite restaurant(Oh the joy of being cooked for)
Back at the Maxwell Zoo I’ve been trying to improve the eating habits of our older dog Sophie (who is a habitual bin-raider) – I’ve put her on quite a strict diet with only carrots for treats, however instead of embracing her new healthy lifestyle, Sophie decided to totally embarrass me by breaking into next door’s house and stealing a whole pat of butter off their kitchen work surface! This was followed up a couple of days later by a call from an angry local farmer to say that she was sampling their pig swill!
I love half term as it gives us more time to do stuff with the children – this week we’ve been out on lots of healthy walks looking for early signs of Spring. We visited the Roman museum in Canterbury and had a fantastic day at Bewl water.
I’ve also managed to track down a second hand run for the guinea pigs so they’ve been able to swap the nightly romp round the dining room floor for the healthier fresh air alternative of the garden. The only drawback is that they are now more exposed to the over eager attentions of next door’s dog Barney. From the kitchen window I can see him, nose pressed up against the run like a kid outside a sweetshop trying to decide which one to sample first!
Half way through the week I flew out to Finland for two days to represent NIVEA at a fitness class for international journalists. I was really worried about the shockingly low temperature (I’d been told -37!) as I’m definitely more of a beach babe than a snow bunny! Worried about the risks of immediate frostbite on arrival, I dressed in five layers and managed to cram a pair of moon boots into my carry-on holdall, I then spent an uncomfortable flight suffering slightly from heat exhaustion! In the end I needn’t have worried as it was -3 and not bad at all. The fitness class went off really well, no one was suffering too much from the cocktails the evening before.
I loved Helsinki and would really love a return visit to visit Lapland and sample all of the Finnish delights.
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The food was interesting – having politely declined some bear pate, I then tucked into a stew which was totally delicious but which I suspected might have been Reindeer – ignorance is sometimes bliss.
I’m now back in England, basking in the Spring like conditions and the hayfever has started to sneak up on me so dosing up on anti-histamine and looking like Rudolph already!
I was so excited about my first ever British BootyCamp day this week and was a bit disappointed when the day dawned wet and drizzly! I then had a call from one of the ladies who was lost in the wilds of the Kent countryside (Note to Self: remember to send out comprehensive directions next time!) I luckily knew where I was going!!!
By 9.30 though, an lovely bunch of ladies had found their way to the beautiful Oast House Barn we were using for the day, all determined that the gloomy weather wasn’t going to dampen their enthusiasm for a day of fitness fun – and fun it was! I was joined by the lovely Clive a trainee Fitness Instructor and together we filled the day with a varied array of fun exercises, including kettle bells, team games and an ab. work shop. The drizzle lifted, the day brightened and we managed to fit in a lovely walk with the dogs so even Benson and Sophie were happy! Everyone brought a healthy packed lunch and there was only one case of smuggled contraband – a chocolate muffin I spotted peaking out of rucksack!
By the end of the day, all agreed that they’d really enjoyed themselves and had got a lot out of the day. Over the next few days some of the ladies were kind enough to report back that they could feel that they’d been exercising but nobody felt horribly stiff or uncomfortable.
Buoyed up by the success of the first day I’ve decided to investigate some interesting venues with a view to holding a few more camps over the next few months possibly with an extended timescale of two or even three days – watch this space!
BootyCamp was followed by another successful photoshoot for Grazia (out on 28th February) on behalf of Reebok Easytone workout, I was dressed by the lovely Bronagh Meer (@BronaghMeer) who is a fabulous stylist and great fun to work with while the wonderful Sadie Hewlett (@sadiehewlett) had the unenviable task of dealing with my hair and makeup, both Ladies were a delight to work with.
On the pet front things have calmed down slightly with a truce having been declared in the Battle of the Guinea Pigs due to the need to form a defensive alliance in the face of hostile intentions from next doors dog Barney. Meanwhile I’ve started looking for a second hand run so that the Guineas have somewhere to let off steam outside – at moment we’re letting them run round the dining room floor all evening. Whilst this has the advantage of providing an opportunity for family exercise while chasing them around the room, it is unfortunately outweighed by the piles of piggy poo that is the natural consequence of such activity!
This week saw the arrival of the much anticipated snow and we had lots of fun family exercise together on the sledges, however the downside of 5” of the stuff was made apparent today as I helped to dig out THREE delivery vans that got stuck on our drive
