No Diet Talk

I think that there are a few types of fat people, these are not limited to the following;

• People who have fat and are proud to be called 'fat'
• People who have fat and lose their fat to be healthier
• People who have fat and lose their fat to fit in with the mainstream - whatever that may be 
• People who have fat and try to lose weight using fad diets rather than just a healthier diet
• People who have fat and hate being 'fat' and do nothing about it

I've been all of these before and the others I no doubt left out.

So where am I now?

I think I'm at 'People who have fat and lose their fat to be healthier'.  You won't find me going on some crazy diet that I've seen in a book or on TV. I'm just trying to follow the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. I'm trying to increase my physical activity. I'm trying to reduce my thighs so that I don't suffer chaffing.

Sure, if I lose weight and I end up looking better as well, that's a bonus. But if I don't become a six pack lean machine and keep my woobly bits I will still be proud of my body and the journey it has taken.

Definatalie posted this last month, and I loved the idea of the badge she created. So although this is a weight loss get fit blog, I'm putting it out there that this blog has no diet talk. I will talk about healthy eating because despite what I look like I did study this at Uni and teach it at school - but no FAD diets.

Splurge

Today was a bit of a splurge. I had my doctor's appointment you see, so as I waited anxiously all morning, I ate half a large packet of M&Ms and salt and vinegar chips.  I don't really mind, because it's not as though I'm a diet. The blood tests showed that my thyroid is fine and everything else was good. Only my cholesterol was a little bit higher than it should be,,, well dah.

This morning was my second time doing the pilates video.  My legs and tummy caned so much afterwards, thank goodness tomorrow is just normal cardio again. I don’t think I could do two days straight!

I ordered some more fabric so that I can make some more leggings.  Over the weekend I actually made a pair that has a skirt over it – great for swimming in and for workout. No more camel toe worries – hmm.

Chia Seep Experiment 4 - Vanilla Coconut Pudding

I have such a sweet tooth at times.

For one thing, I love Pepsi Max - it's so sweet and lovely. I'm trying to go cold turkey off it for a little while, the first few days were awful with headaches etc. Last night I broke down and bought a Diet Coke (because there wasn't any Pepsi Max) but karma kicked me in the bum because when I got home and opened the bottle,,, it was flat and off.  Oh well. That's what you get for trying to cheat yourself and from buying it at the dodgy corner store.

I saw this recipe from Delighted Momma, and thought I would have a go. I did have to change it because I don't have almond milk. I really don't think we would be able to get it here, but I did find some recipes for it that I would like to try. Unfortunately I don't have a food processor - yet - I've been saving up for a Kitchen Aid one.

Anyway, it was okay. Not exactly the pudding I am used to, but it was sweet and filling with a little bit of texture.


So here is my recipe:

1 cup of milk
1 tspn artificial sugar - maybe a little more
1/3 cup of chia seeds - maybe a little more
1/2 tspn of vanilla essence
1/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Mix the milk and the sugar together until sugar dissolves.
2. Mix all the ingredients together
3. Stand for 5 minutes
4. Stir and stand until totally thickened

Edit: On second and third attempts to eat this, I've decided that it's actually pretty bad.  The texture!!!

This was me:

Today was the my first POP Pilates for Beginners workout. I was going to woose out and do some yoga instead but then I remembered this:

I will be very sore tomorrow.

Fact Sheet: Chocolate

There are a lot of wives tales about foods. Sometime people say you can, others say you can't eat a certain food.

I thought I would keep myself up-to-date and share my findings.

So first off the rank is Chocolate!  My friend says that chocolate fixes everything, but it's one of my most craved for foods.

Without further adieu:

Chocolate Fact Sheet

Week 2

What's Motivating Me This Week?
Trying to feel better

What's Puzzling Me This Week?
Will I be able to exercise while I’m on holidays? Trying to pre-plan my exercise plan.

What's Bugging Me This Week
How hard it is to find plus sized exercise clothing. 

Do they make the assumption that just because you’re big you mustn’t work out? Maybe it’s that sports brands just don’t want their clothes on bigger people as they want to be aligned with fit and trim rather than slow and fat?

Luckily I can sew. I’ve made a pair of knee length leggings - ah-hem - yoga pants.

What's Encouraging Me This Week? 
The fact I’ve lost 3cm on my waist, and 1cm each off my hips and thighs. I know that it’s only the start and I usually loose pretty quickly,,, as first,,, but I’m still excited.

What's the Plan?
Pick up the pace on weekends with two things to do. And an intro to pilates – gotta say I’m a little scared.

Week 1 down!

Okay I just finished week 1 of my own workout plan.

Things I found out,

• I actually look forward to exercising - I am always amazed at this. In fact I find by the afternoon I want to do more - but I'm holding back because I don't want to overdo it.
• Dance Dance Dance - I put this on my plan for a bit of laugh, but after just completing it I realised it was really fun. A bit of a light cardio.  I started with this: Dance Dance (warm up)  then did Dance Dance Dance Fitness  then I slowed my march down until my heart also slowed and then did some stretches much like in the Dance Dance (warm up) video.  Definitely staying as my Saturday routine.
• I need more stickers
• I need a folder to store all my workout stuff
• iPad's don't play music and videos at the same time. Lucky I have two iPads then. 

Depression?

This week has been a big one for me.

• Making this BLOG about my health journey
• Chia seeds
• Starting exercise programs
• Being diagnosed with depression

That last one only happened yesterday.  That feels so long ago.  Yesterday I had an episode (the doctor called it that) and told me not to work for four weeks.  Work is my stresser. My friends and family have been so supportive.  I love my C.  Luckily I only have just over a week left until the school holidays starts anyway so I shouldn't feel too guilty about not being at work.  Well I'm trying not to.

So instead of doing the cardio this morning, as per the plan, I did the yoga instead.  Two days of yoga won't really matter, I need to relax.

Chia Seed Experiment 3 - Basic Asian Chia Stir Fry Sauce

Tonight's experiement went so well.

I used the recipe from here: Chia Seed Recipes.  It was pretty strong but C and I like those flavours. I used the sauce with stirfried broccoli and corn, served with baked fish - I think it was whiting but I was in charge of the veg tonight so I couldn't say for sure.

I haven't gone back to adding the seeds to my drinks I just don't think I could stomach it.

Chia Seed Experiment 2 - Orange Juice

One way that is suggested to consume chia seeds is to mix it with water or juice in the mornings.  I'm a bit sceptical about this because I'm not a fan of funny textures. I don't like pith in my juice at the best of times, so actually adding seeds? 

Hello weird green concoction.

Yes I drank it, it didn’t kill me.  I got through it without gagging, and it tasted,,, like juice. I tried to think that it was passionfruit pulp, it had a similar texture but with smaller seeds. It wasn’t that bad.

But I’m NOT even going to try it with water.

Chia Seed Experiment 1 - Honey Orange Chicken

I saw chia seeds on the show 'Eat Yourself Sexy' where the woman was putting them into yogurt.  I thought to myself, 'Hmm, I bet I wouldn't be able to buy them here'. I would have lost the bet. The nearist town with a decent grocery store (albeit an hour and a half away) had them. As soon as I saw them I swooped across the lino flooring and grabbed a pack.

You can google the info about chia seeds yourself if you are interested in their nutritional details.

So, this evening I decided to test them.  I tried this recipe:

Honey and Orange Chicken

500gm chicken breast

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup orange juice

1/3 cup honey

1 tablespoon chia seeds

Broccoli florets

Brown rice (instant microwave packet for the win)

1. Slice chicken and stir fry.
2. While chicken cooks, mix liquids and seeds in a jug.
3. Add broccoli florets to chicken and stir fry.
4. Add sauce.
5. Serve with brown rice.

This will serve 4 adult sized portions. Guess we will be eating this again tomorrow night.

I got the original recipe from here, and it's a simple yummy recipe. My husband didn't even notice the seeds.  Speaking of seeds, I don't really know what I was expecting. I guess they are kind of like poppy seeds in texture, so just imagine adding poppy seeds to stuff and you'll understand.

Week 1

What's Motivating Me This Week?
My thighs rubbing together so I can't wear dresses without bike shorts underneath
Recent photos of me

What's Puzzling Me This Week?
That I have to wash my hair every day after I excerise - my hair will dry out unless I really take care of it
Chia seeds  

What's Bugging Me This Week
That my husband won't exercise too

What's Encouraging Me This Week? 
Good music to workout to
Pinterest
http://fuckyeahfitspo.tumblr.com/
Finding new youtube workout clips

What's the Plan?
I finished the Level One Exercise plan from Downtownn.tumblr. I'm not going to continue with it because jogging for long periods of time with my boobs is just wrong!!!

See those spaces down the right hand side of the page - they're for stickers.

Okay I'm watching One Pound Gospel - and I have decided that Sister Angela is really annoying - probably a good match for the dumb ass boxer though.

:)

I'm pretty happy with myself at the moment. I created a spreadsheet (using four different text documents) that lets you type in a food id number, and it throws back at you the relevant nutritional details about that food.

This doesn't sound too complicated but really it is! For me it is!

It saves me having to buy the program from someone else anyway.

Jdramas

I finished watching Haruka 17 this afternoon - it wasn't too bad but what I've started watching looks really good - One Pound Gospel! Yay for TV that's isn't an Australian version of an American show or Seven's povo coverage of the Olympics.

Bored

I my gawd - I am soooo bored. And do you know why? It's because I didn't waste time this weekend and got almost all the things done I wanted to! That's it - I should go back to being a procrastinator! No wait, I'll procrastinate next weekend.

So what did I do today?

I put up a shelf in my room. Which made the taeyang shelf look terribly crocked. So I rehung that while I was at it. C worked on his assignment so he wasn't around to hinder,,, I mean help,,, so it went up pretty quickly.

And because the shelf was an old shelve I decorated the edge with lace - lol - I hot glued this fugly piece of lace around the edge :P



I also got some sewing in

Nice things

I got in and did some sewing last night while I watched Dead Like Me on DVD.

This morning Chihiro climbed into bed with us. She always does when it's just C but hardly ever with me - basically because we share the same side of the bed. She will take over the bottom half and leave me with just the top half so I have to scrunch up or move my legs at funny angles - which she will get sick of and leave. But this morning she stayed in bed until I got up.

Why?

Why do I put in so much effort? Why is this not enough? Why do I have to explain to a parent that their child can't cook something because they didn't show me their recipe during the week and they instead have to cook something from the recipe book that they were given? Why do I have to put up with them complaining that the recipes I provided are a waste of ingredients? Why would they let their child cook muffins that they knew they didn't like the taste of? Why do I bother?

fanlistings

Since flickr started tightening up on rules - I deleted my fanlisting pics - thinking that I had them saved in my images folders.

Well it turns out I only had some. Anyway I signed up to photobucket and reuploaded some of them. Unfortuanatly I didn't have the loveley complex pic anymore so I had to go to the fanlisting website and sadly they no longer exist :(

I signed up for Nodame to replace it Yeah for Nodame!!!

You've got mail

Yes indeedy did I get mail:



I can't take very good photos of what I got because it's a little too dark now!

Toffee

3 cups of white sugar
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of white vinegar
decorations

thick bottomed large pot
wooden spoon
bowl of cold water
skewer
patty cake tin
patty papers or spray oil

1.Put all the ingredients into a thick bottomed pot - you want the pot to be quite larger then the amount of ingredients.

2.Put onto a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.

3. Put the heat up and bring the syrup to a boil. DO NOT STIR! At this stage I put in the food colouring and watch it spread and evens itself out.

4. Leave the syrup to boil for at least 15 minutes. To test the consistancy of the toffee, put a little bit in a bowl of cold water and scrape it together. I like toffee to be a little crunchy but still tacky - this usually takes 19-20 minutes.

5. While the syrup boils prepare your tins (oil or line with patty papers) and ready your decorations.

5. Take the pot off the heat and wait for the bubbles to subside.

6. Pour into the prepared tins and leave for about 5 minutes. To check if your toffee is ready for decoration use the skewer to gently press the surface - don't use you finger as the syrup may still be very hot.

7. Decorate to your hearts content!

Wounded

Feel sorry for me - my hands and arms look like mince meat. I was in a cat fight last night, literally.

Last night, just as I was begining to snore, there was a cat fight. I sent C out to find out what was going on, partly because it's amusing to see how Chihiro reacts to other cats.

A few minutes later, C has not been able to find OUR cat, but we did find the laundry window,,, open. Carol had obviously opened it yesterday and Chihiro found it too.

So we go outside, and see Chihiro at the corner of the house with the cat next door. C follows them and picks her up on the other side of the road.

She was okay until she saw me - this is just my own private theory mind you - and takes a bite out of C. Somehow I have her, but I'm falling down and kind of land over her and it went down hill from there.

She came in after being tempted with food, and has been ignoring me since then. The feeling is somewhat mutual at the moment because my hands really hurt.

Nodame

I just caught up with the scanlation of the Nodame - so I'm all happy and chirpy! I love that manga/drama/anime!

So much to do - but very little motivation

So I have been wandering the Internet and saw a link to this:

Keath

I think I like buying the 'homemade' dolls - I would rather pay more for them then have a doll that a company churns out. So I really like Keath.

We've had a bit of bad week. At the moment quite a few of us are talking about how long we really want to be teachers for - we are honestly not being paid enough for the abuse we get from 'clients' and community. All I can say is that most of us are great teachers offering great education opportunities - and most of what we do is taken for granted or misunderstood by people who have no idea about the role school now has to play.

Three things

I did three nice things this morning. Firstly I recoloured the pink streaks in my hair. I did really well keeping the bathroom clean - up until I had to to get rid of the bottle and the alfoil - that's when I made a mess! There ended up being dye on the sink, on the floor, on the back of the door!!! Honesty I don't know anyone can make more of a mess cleaning up then I did.

I then went ahead and cut a fringe. I have been wanting a fringe for a little while now - so I just did it - it had been years since I cut my own fringe so I had a little heart attack when I made the first chop.



And then we went to the Post Office to pick up my zines that I had ordered from Shelbyville.

I don't know if this link works - but this guy is cute - his name is Arno - and it's a doll just so you know.

arno

And this guy cracks me up:
naughty esheki
super esheki

Iguana no Musume

Ok so I don't usually review dramas that I watch - but I have to say something about this one. Let me preface this review with the acronym "PMS" and the words "highly emotional"!

This drama is about a girl, Rika, who believes that she is an Iguana, as does her mum. In fact when the mother looks at her daughter all she sees is some freaky human sized Godzilla - as does Rika when she looks in the mirror. The rest of the world sees her as human.

So one of the little hiccups I had with this was the question - how does she do her hair and make-up in the morning if all she can see of herself is lizard skinned and bald?

The second issue I had was how accepting people were about the mother's borderline crazy-as-a-coconut actions.

The third happens later in the drama, when people found out that she is an iguana. They were 'okay' with it - as if it was fact. I would be rather shocked if my best-friend suddenly said "I'm really a cane toad" and would possibly, in the nicest way, suggest therapy.

However - aside from those three things - I loved this drama. It was kooky and melodramatic. Elton John provided the theme song. So many episodes had me big snotty tissue crying. People died, the ending was sort-of happy but you need to overlook the poorly transcribed sentence about her not loving her own daughter.

Overall - I put this own down as a must watch drama.


Reflection of Rika!

Well I'm back - I had a root canal done on my tooth - expensive and a little painful - I'm waiting for the pills to kick in right now.

So the trip to Townsville went pretty quickly - I bought an Eee PC (it's a tiny cute laptop)

Right now I'm trying to fin dmy password piece of paper - because I can't remember my password for facebook.