Purple Tiger » Living Life WELL

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  • Welcome to the Purple Tiger!

    A place where we share our pursuit of a lifestyle of activity, healthy living and joy! Inspired by God and a passion to live life to the fullest (John 10:10)

    We want to wake up each morning, looking forward to the day ahead, energised and ready to go! Purple Tiger symbolises that pursuit and no doubt we'll be learning along the way.

    This is Craig and Di, and if you're crazy enough to want to join us on this journey, give us a shout out!

    Image compliments of our great friends from
    Vibrant Photography

Just wanted to post something quick that made me laugh a lot when I saw it. It’s been around for a little while I know, but it’s worth sharing. I know being active is great but laughter is great for the soul. So I hope that whereever you are and whatever you find yourself doing today, that this will bring you much laughter!:-)

And if you’re feeling in the mood, you could learn the lyrics and join in hahaha 😀

~ D

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OK here it is for all you foodie lovers … by popular demand, here’s how we make our scrum-didili-umptious bliss balls!!

We have now made these on a number of occasions and it’s always been a hit with everyone requesting the recipe. People are completely surprised when we tell them it is made with ingredients that are so good for you – especially when it tastes like a naughty chocolate treat:-)

We discovered the recipe over a year ago and first made it for our son’s 18th birthday and have refined the recipe since. The great thing is they are easy to make!! Bonus!! 😀

So here it is … spoil yourselves or someone special!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of either raw organic cashews (or mixed organic walnuts and cashews)
  • 1/4 cup of raw organic cacao powder
  • 1 cup of organic dates – pitted (preferably soaked so that they are moist and not hard)
  • Some organic dessicated coconut (enough to roll balls in)

Combine all ingredients (except coconut) into a food processor.

Blend until you get the following consistency (Should take a minute or less)

Then comes the fun part … roll them into balls with your hands

Then roll them through the dessicated coconut to coat them. Dust off any excess.

Once you’re done, put them in the freezer for about 30 mins (it doesn’t matter if it is longer or shorter. It’s to your desired chillness. We find the more chilled, the yummier they are).

See it’s that easy!! Enjoy the scrumptious chocolatey taste of the bliss balls with no guilt!

~ Craig

 

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  • Gwen IrvineJanuary 24, 2014 - 2:14 PM

    I can’t believe you dont use your Thermomix for this recipe!
    Or was this photographed before you bought Your Thermie?ReplyCancel

    • DianaJanuary 26, 2014 - 6:51 AM

      Hi Gwen
      Yes it was photographed before thermie :-)ReplyCancel

I recently had the pleasure of sampling Evohe’s latest addition to their makeup range for the purpose of providing a review. They have just released a range of lip glosses which are 100% natural – lead free – Vegan – with no nasty synthetics or preservatives!

For those of you who aren’t aware of the potential toxins in conventional lipsticks, here’s a good article

There are five colours available (from L to R are): Adam, Eve, Celebration, Rosella and Earth and the ingredients are listed below for those who love to read ingredient labels (like me).

Ingredients

Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Mica (CI77019), Simmondsia Chinesis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnuaba) Wax, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (orange) Peel Oil, Tocopherol, may contain (+/-) Tin Oxide (CL 77861), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Iron Oxides (CI77491, CI77499), Ultramarines (CI77007), Hippophae Rhamnoides (Arctic Sea Buckthorn), Australian Bush Flower Essences.

I have to say, when I found out that they were lip glosses and not lipsticks, I was like ‘uh-oh, I’m not really a glossy kinda girl’ but I am grateful that they aren’t too glossy! So after trialling the lippies, here are some of my PROS and CONS on them …

PROS

  • Looooove that it’s all natural and good for my lips.
  • Simplicity of a small range. I like the ability to create different colours by mixing them
  • Leaves lips soft and dewy and definitely not too glossy (Yay!)
  • Cool packaging:-)

CONS

  • Might be just what I’m used to, but I find the applicator a little harder to use than normal twist up lipsticks. I find it harder to stay in the contour of the lip shape and not go over (maybe that’s just the difference between a more solid lipstick vs. a liquid lipstick). Not a biggy, just might take a little practise.
  • Doesn’t seem to be as long-wearing as I’d like. I drink a lot of water throughout the day at work and I find that sometimes by late morning the lip colour seems to have faded in its vibrancy a little. This might be being too picky as there still is enough colour but if it could be improved in any way, I’d love for it to be longer wearing or more ‘colour-stay’

As far as colour preferences go – I LOVE Adam and Eve!! (In foreground of image below). I Don’t mind Earth and Rosella but Celebration is definitely NOT for me – way too pink for my liking.

Here’s a closer look at each colour.

 

ADAM

– this is one of my favourite colours in the range. It gives a soft dewy natural look that is great on its own or over the top of one of the other colours to soften them. It is slightly darker than a nude look so still great for passive days but with a hint of colour.

 

 

 

 

EVE

– It’s got to be pretty obvious that this is also another one of my favourites. Not just because it’s purple:-), but because it is an earthy purple and looks terrfic on! Not loud or obtrusive, but deep and rich in highlight.

 

 

 

 

EARTH

– For me, this colour is waaaay too strong on it’s own. I am personally not a dark red lip girl but I found that having a small amount of this as a base with ‘Adam’ on top makes for a nice darker brown/earthy red that I really like.

 

 

 

 

ROSELLA

– this one is a really soft peachy colour. Can go well on it’s own for those who like a shade pinkier than nude. I love it with ‘Adam’ or ‘Eve’ as it makes it a dusty pink rather than a florally pink. As you can tell, I’m not really a florally kinda gal.:-)

 

 

 

 

CELEBRATION

– the funny thing about this one is, when first looking at the colour on the box, Craig said this would be the best one. When I put it on, my first thoughts were “Woooaaaah! So not me. Way toooo pink!” I tried putting ‘Adam’ over the top, but I don’t think I liked it very much even then and ended up removing it. It is definitely a standout pink for those who like their lips to be the centre of attention and very pink.

 

 

Evohe are also running a campaign with a great cause, where 50% of their net profit for sales in September and October are going towards supporting a woman with breast cancer. Check it out further if you want to learn more about EVOHE Sisters Breast Cancer Campaign and find out how you can contribute towards this worthy cause.

Another bonus if you want to grab some of these new lip glosses is that Evohe have a current special where you can purchase 3 lip glosses and get a free gift of a blush or bronze powder. I blogged about their mineral makeup some time ago and I have to say I still absolutely love their makeup! It is so versatile and feels great on. My skin loves it!

So there you have it, to visit Evohe’s site, either click on the Evohe banner image to the right of this post or click here.

Over to you. Anybody else tried these lippies? What did you think?

~ Diana

 

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Meet Dr. Charles Hew – better known to us as Charlie! Charlie is a GP at the Goonellabah Medical Centre who also specialises in musculoskeletal medicine and acupuncture.  More importantly, he is a member of the Lismore running crew, a nice guy with an infectious laugh and a good friend:-)

We decided to catch up with Charlie to glean his thoughts on this whole running and active lifestyle deal. Here’s what the doctor had to say …

Q: So how long have you been running and why did you start?

I have been a jogger for many yrs , but started running more seriously in 2009, when I joined the Saturday morning running group. Actually Bob Wells, who was my daughter’s school teacher found out I ran and, through my daughter, invited me to join the group. I think the initial invitation was 12 months previous, but it took me 12 months to work up the courage as I thought a running group meant fast, serious runners. Now I know!

Q: What inspires you to keep running?

The reason I run is to catch up with the group and have coffee after the runs and gossip. On a more serious note, I find running, to me, is a form of meditation, breathing, moving and just the peace and quiet that one feels, especially on those early mornings just at daybreak when the rest of the world is just starting the day.

Q: What do you most dislike about running?

Running day in day out in the rain [something that has been a constant feature here in Lismore the last 3 yrs!] whilst training for an event.

Q: Do you want to share about any big event(s) you’ve recently done?

I really enjoyed the 50 km ultra in Canberra 2013, where I paced the run perfectly and enjoyed every minute of it.

Q: What’s your next big goal?

My dream is to run Comrades in june 2014, but I will try a few intermediate runs in the next 6 months to see how I perform. The next big run I will focus on is the BullRun – 70 km in Melbourne in December and if  things go well, then I will start training seriously for Comrades.

Q: Why do you think it is so hard for some people to get active?

I feel there is time pressures on everyone and it takes determination and commitment to get out there initially. The initial few months are harder, but once the routine is set, it is like brushing your teeth. When you run in a group, it certainly helps, as others will be  waiting for you to turn up before they leave for the run so lying in bed, thinking of excuses for the next time you see them, is  a lot harder than just turning up and doing it.

Q: Why do you think there’s so much noise about diets rather than lifestyle change?

I think a lifestyle change, which means looking at all facets of one’s life, including  diet, exercise, work practices, smoking, drinking habits etc. is too challenging for a  lot of people. Popular press makes out that if the diet is good then everything else will just fall into place, but we all know it is only one facet of a good and healthy life.

Q: In your profession, do you see many patients that could have prevented, or treat, their conditions with better nutrition and/or active more active lifestyle?

I feel that most of the illnesses/complaints I deal with on a daily basis , can be significantly improved with better lifestyle choices. This ranges from the more obvious problems like  cancer, diabetes and hypertension to the less evident ones like osteoarthritis, depression, anxiety and a whole range of musculoskeletal afflictions that is rife in Western society.

Q: Are there any running myths you want to bust?

Only one… and that is you don’t have to be fast, flashy, slim or beautiful to be a runner as one sees all sizes, shapes and builds when we run in races and even in our Saturday morning running group.

 

Thanks Charlie for your insight and sharing of experience. Thank you also for your friendship, treating some of our injuries and continuing to set the bar higher for us! Everyone needs someone to set new goals for them 😛 We wish you all the best with your running and know that Comrades will be a reality for you one day:-)

Here’s one from a 10km Time trial almost 2 years ago – not fast or flashy, but a true runner

~Di

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  • Dan MunroAugust 11, 2013 - 5:12 PM

    Charlie has literally saved my life and inspired me in so many ways to live an active enjoyable life despite the many musculoskeletal issues I live with.

    Once again I am inspired, as soon as I’m able I’m adding running to my routine that includes bike riding, swimming and walking. Might see you on the road :)ReplyCancel

Now most of you think that running a marathon is all about the sweat, pain and just more pain … well not really … sometimes it’s all about the cameras!! 😀

Just to help you see the lighter side and be encouraged to get out there, here’s a few more pics of us in action on course – thanks to the photographers at the GC marathon this year (with a little bit of editing work from us).

All smiles at around the 30km mark – He’s so happy he’s levitating 😉

The triage of classic fist pumps – soaking in the finishing chute glory

My look of pained determination

Sometimes they catch you at your most flattering .. hammy and glute cramps just over the finish line – ouch!

The above image goes well with this MUST WATCH video footage from the Marathon-Photos site (at bottom right hand side). Watch, turn up the volume on the player and listen out for the D’munchkin grunts (before and after the finish line). It cracks me up every time. 😀

And finally… the crowd support from Team SCU for Craig as he enters the finishing chute in style! Thanks to Jesse Perkins for filming using my iphone.

So whether you are thinking of running the 2km, 5.7km, 10km, half marathon or full marathon next year, make sure you remember to draw in the atmosphere and smile for the cameras!! 😀 Makes for some great memories.

~Di

 

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