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Is life insurance important to you?

March 4th, 2013 | Posted by Sara in Features | Life - (Comments Off)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your medical costs make you question if you can afford treatment?

Or perhaps you’ve had a car accident?

House been flooded?

Sometimes life just throws you lemons & there are so many areas that you can obtain insurance for to make the lemons a little easier to taste.
I personally have had a couple of the situations above happen to my family.

Fortunately I have always had insurance coverage. I remember my mother saying to me when I went to university for the first time & was going to drop my health insurance ‘the people who can least afford the insurance are the ones who need it the most’ with that in mind I have never been without insurances.

Now I have a child, I have a mortgage and I don’t want to leave my family with nothing to support time in the situation of my death. Life insurance is starting to concern me.

According to the team at Choosi 57% of Australians don’t have life insurances, but almost half believe that insurance cover is essential -particularly for those with dependants or mortgages to cover. Choosi’s research states that one in four people (26 per cent) who have a mortgage and/or dependents don’t have any life insurance cover, potentially leaving them and their families exposed. Women are the most under covered with only 39% of us with some form of life cover.

I know I thought ‘oh my superannuation contains life insurance’ but the research found that I like many Australians who believed superannuation was the answer are confused believing it offers enough life insurance – the reality is that for the majority of people superannuation life insurance is inadequate.

But sometimes it can be hard to work out which cover is best for you, the policies are confusing and comparing them all can be time consuming too.

Insurance comparison site Choosi aims to make the whole selection process easier
They provide a comparison service that assists Australians to compare, select & choose an insurance policy that best suits them. They help with the initial research right through to the selection process – making it easy.

Why don’t you spend 5minutes today thinking about your life insurance?

Do you have life insurance?Let me know via Please let me know via twitter, Facebook or the comments section below.

This was a featured post for Choosi

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{Product Review} Pong Research Phone Cases

March 2nd, 2013 | Posted by Sara in Product Review | Uncategorized - (2 Comments)

When I was pregnant I (as always) relied on my twitter & facebook friends to keep me sane. My hubby was worried about the radiation from my phone going through into my belly as I would sit with my hands on my belly
The farmers concerns continued over the last 19 months so that now he is concerned about the radiation levels Worm may be exposed to whilst playing on our phones.

My 19month old Worm LOVEs playing with our iPhones. She doesn’t know what to do with them, but she knows that they are mummy’s & daddy’s toys & that she has to be very careful with them.

Did you know that ‘The vulnerability of children to mobile phone radiation is significantly higher then adults’ this fact scares me. I mean is this another thing that I have to protect my child from?
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Thankfully Pong Research have come up with a range of advanced smart phone & iPad cases. These cases not only look good but have many other benefits as well.

These cases have been developed by a team of PhD scientists- I asked myself why would a bunch of geeky scientists work on developing cases for mobile phones- surely there’s something better for them to be researching!
But then I kept on reading. The Pong cases are rather special. They are said to ‘improve device performance, and protect users against cellular and wifi radiation’

The cases have been proven in independent laboratories to
- optimise signal strength
- protect against dropped calls
- conserve battery life
- reduce exposure to cell phone radiation by up to 95% below international safety standards.

They do all that plus look great! I was lucky enough to be sent the Soft Touch case for 4s in Lime Green. It fitted snugly just like any other case would, so there is no extra bulk for all the extra benefits as detailed above.

I use my phone a LOT & found that with the case on the battery seemed to last a little longer than usual- I can’t say definitively as I’ve never really timed it, but I noticed that when I was putting it on the charge it had more battery life left over than usual.

The cover made no difference to talk quality for me, we rarely experience drop outs so I can’t verify that part of the claims. And as far as signal strength goes I didn’t notice any significant difference.

Overall I figure that the Pong Case looks just as good as others on the market, but does SO much more. I’ll certainly be recommending them to my friends going forward. Priced from $49.95 they are very competitive.

You can follow Pong Research on twitter, like them on Facebook & also check out the full range on theirWebsite .

Are you concerned about phone radiation? Let me know via Please let me know via twitter, Facebook or the comments section below.

Thanks to Wordstorm PR I was gifted a Pong Research iPhone case. All opinions are my own, any statements of fact have been taken from media releases or the Pong Website. I have to apologise for the lack of photos in this post- as I use my phone to take the photos it was a little hard to take phones of my phone!

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Weekend Bliss

February 27th, 2013 | Posted by Sara in Being a mum - (8 Comments)

Wow how time flys! Its been over a week since I’ve written anything. My struggles to achieve a work/training/child raising balance continue, but I can say that at least for one weekend I feel that I was able to ace this juggling act.

I had the pleasure of travelling to Canberra on the weekend to celebrate my cousins marriage. He had actually been married late last year overseas, but we couldn’t make it, so we were thrilled when they announced they were having an Australian reception.

Traveling with a baby is never easy, with a toddler it is exhausting! I’m lucky in that Worm has done this so many times now that she is a pro. Our early morning flight out of Rockhampton was smooth, the super quick change over in Brisbane was just long enough to make our way through the terminal and onto the next flight. Upon arrival in Canberra we were met by another cousin who had very kindly offered us their spare car for the weekend.

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My gorgeous cousin Rach & I – I wish we could spend more time together.

We were off! A quick phone call to Louise confirmed our next destination – a very important coffee & lunch catch up. We had the good fortune of running into another old friend Jules at lunch, the last time we 3 girls were together was at a 12WBT finale in 2010. These girls are amazing, you know the kind of friends that you might not talk to every week, (or month even) but when you do get to chat you pick up right where you left off. They have helped me through so much over the past few years, I am so grateful for their friendship.

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Julie, Myself & Louise

The weekends plans were so relaxed, casual days with my family, even more casual nights staying at Louise’s

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Worm making herself VERY comfortable at Louise’s

The wedding reception was lovely, the weather a little drizzly but still warm. It was a great excuse to get Worm into her beautiful Little Mister dress & she loved all the attention.

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Worm in her Little Mister dress – I know it doesn’t show the beautiful dress off, but Worm looks cute!

 

Of an evening we ventured back to the farm, both the Farmer & I loved the wide open spaces, the fresh air and company. Watching Louy’s children play with Worm was so refreshing, I really enjoy just watching Worm – she is developing into a confident, intelligent child and it is all going so fast.

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Miss Em (Age 6) & Miss Em (Age 19months) playing piano together – this made my heart sing.

I had hopes of a long run with either my mother or Louise, but alas the weather was not in our favour, and the only run I squeezed in was on Monday morning. Lou I take back what I said about your drive – it is a mean mountain – you are hardcore!

The flights home Monday were eventful – the severe storms in Brisbane delayed the flight, and instead of a 30 min break in between, we had a 90 min break, and therefore Worm & I didn’t get home until 10pm. I demonstrated super mummy ninja skills by transferring a sleeping Worm from the plane, to the car & then into her bed at home without any tears (including getting the luggage off the carousel, and putting it into the car all by myself)

As I literally fell into bed Monday night I was EXHAUSTED but relaxed. The mini-break was a much needed time out.

How was your weekend? Please let me know via twitter, Facebook or the comments section below.

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12WBT – I’m BACK!

February 18th, 2013 | Posted by Sara in 12WBT | Cooking | Fitness - (1 Comments)

Well I’ve mentioned preciously how much I enjoyed & benefited from Michelle Bridges 12WBT program over the past few years. From last count I’ve done 5 rounds since my first one in Round 3, 2010 until now. During those 3 years I have always gone back to the recipes and exercise programs that Michelle puts together. They have become my ‘go-to’ folder for dinner parties, lunches or really busy weeks at work.

I’m struggling at the moment with finding balance. I can fit in work, toddler rearing and exercise but I am finding that my food and nutrition suffer. It is all too easy to grab the closest easy meal, particularly something like tortellini that I know the Worm will eat.  It is FAR to easy to head down to the local cafe & grab a hot chicken roll or a hot dish for lunch, I know that these choices aren’t disastrous but they certainly aren’t the best food that I can be putting into my body.

Until this week I’ve gotten away with it. I’ve known that I need to take more care (hence introducing daily Green Smoothies) but with this week of a sedentary lifestyle due to sickness, I’ve had an unplanned break, my eating (although reduced due to illness) has still remained the same, with me chomping on a piece of bread with dinner, or grabbing that extra snack during the day. These extra calories are fine when I’m in full training but this week is a prime example of a ‘Red Flag’ situation, where I should have adjusted my calories to match the activity.

I’ve signed up for Round 1 2013 of the 12wbt program. In the past I’ve had some FANTASTIC results, particularly in that first round I did, where I placed in the top 10 transformations of the round, won a Body Blitz challenge, and also fell pregnant with Worm. I continually kick myself for not taking advantage of the Star Shots photography package that I won.

September 2010-December 2010

September 2010-December 2010

The primary reason I have for signing up again is to get help with my food and nutrition. I want to be able to put healthy options in front of Worm as often as possible. She might not always eat them, but at least by exposing her to a wide variety of foods I’m demonstrating that these are good, nutritious and normal foods to eat. I’m working with Jen at Sparta PT for my 70.3 Ironman training, and currently 12WBT doesn’t have anything suitable, so I’ve decided to select the Lean & Strong exercise program, which I will be doing in and around my triathlon training, taking careful care to not run into that dreaded ‘over training’ zone. My triathlon training comes first at all costs, however I believe that adding in some strength & core workouts will be enhancing my overall fitness levels and therefore produce a better athlete overall.

As always Michelle Bridges has an intense Pre-Season program – more intense for me this round as I only decided to jump in 3 days before the round started. If you have never done 12wbt before all I need to stress that the pre-season is INTEGRAL to your success with the program. Personally I found in previous rounds that if I was drifting off program or diverting from my goals a re-visit to the preseason tasks quickly brought me back on track. With that in mind I thought I should share part of my journey with you:

My goals for Round 1, 2013 are:

  • Eat healthily and offer Emily healthy options, even when I’m tired and just want to take the easy way out.
  • Consistently do my core exercises, to reduce my tummy pooch.
  • Participate in the Mooloolaba Olympic Distance Triathlon.
  • Complete the 70.3 Ironman in Yeppoon – 18th August 2013

These goals are very “big picture” but that’s how I live right now. I have found that if my goals aren’t big & scary enough I won’t try hard enough to achieve them. In addition to Mooloolaba & Yeppoon above I have a series of other events that I want to compete in over the next 12 months. These events are all scheduled to have me at my peak come the 18th of August 2013 for the 70.3 Ironman event. YES I know I mention this a LOT, however as Michelle says we need to shout our goals out LOUD to ensure that our infuencers all have the end goal in mind so they can support me as much as possible.

You might wonder about my lack of ‘weight loss’ goals. I’ve currently got a BMI of 22.5 and am still breastfeeding Worm, so I feel I need to be careful about my weight. I have a goal of a 4 kg loss, but that is not as important as achieving the goals above.

Week 1 started on the 11th of Feb, I was a little slow off the start, having only just signed up for the round, so I admit that my meal planning and shopping didn’t happen in an entirely organised way this week. I managed to eat a few of the dinners, with the Lamb Koftas with Minted Yoghurt being a huge hit here.  My exercise program was thrown out the door on Wednesday when I was too sick to continue, and rest days were desperately needed.

As this post gets published it will be Monday, Week 2. I am really looking forward to this week, my nasty head cold/cough/flu is still persisting but nowhere near as bad as last week, so I feel I’m ready to get back in the game.

I’m excited about the Basil & Walnut Pesto Spaghetti for dinner Monday night, and have been suitably organised this week to have followed the shopping list so my fridge is full of goodies.

So now I need to know – how many of you are doing Round 1, 2013 12WBT too? Please let me know via twitter, Facebook or the comments section below. Add the links to your twitter or blog so I can follow your progress too – WE will do this together!

The Unpredictable

February 17th, 2013 | Posted by Sara in Being a mum | Fitness | Iron Mum Training - (2 Comments)

My horoscope this morning was ‘let your hair down & do something unpredictable’ I certainly have done that this week.
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I rarely get sick so when I woke on Tuesday morning with a sore throat I didn’t think anything of it. I had an RDO that day anyway so I was looking forward to a day of training, cleaning the house & resting.
I started to feel that something more sinister was happening when in my pool training session I started to struggle to breathe. My lung capacity was nothing compared to normal & even my coach asked what I was doing in the pool.
My afternoon wind trainer session was painful, but when you’re doing 1 minute maximum strength intervals with 1 minute spinning breaks of course it’s going to hurt. I didn’t think much of it.

I struggled to keep up with Worm when I picked her up from daycare but when your child is as active as mine this is a regular situation & when I popped her to bed at 7.30 I was relieved to be able to relax on the couch again.
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Come Wednesday I fronted up at work with no voice & feeling like I’d been hit by a bus, I left at lunch time & leaving Worm in care came home to rest.
Thursday morning I struggled from the get go. It was all my energy to get Worm to care & struggle home. I didn’t leave the lounge from 8am-4pm. The Farmer got home from a week away Thursday night & I was so relieved to allow him to take care of the bedtime & bathtub routine stepping in only when it was time for Worms night time feed.

Friday morning I woke with my temperature still high, my throat was better but my head was still full of snot. I listened to my body and set out for another day of rest.

You know what ‘they’ say. Be careful you wish for – when I wrote the post ‘I Want Time Off‘ I never imagined less than a week later I would be sick on the couch with the flu.

Although I have missed 3 training sessions & have now decided to down grade this Sundays race from 10km to 5km run I am ok with that. I’ve learnt that sometimes it’s ok to stop & allow your body time to recover. This is an important lesson.

When was your last important lesson? What was it? Please let me know via twitter, Facebook or the comments section below

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