BIRTHDAY STORIES

I've been enjoying a rather fantastic birthday celebration this week. I'm one of those people who believe in spreading the joy over more than one day and this year has been no different.

Because of our holiday we agreed that we wouldnt go "top shelf" for my birthday dinner out. Given the choice between Peter buying me a present or putting that money towards my shopping, I chose the shopping option. Both of these factors left Peter feeling that my birthday was a bit of a let down this year.

Honestly he couldnt be more wrong and I told him so in no uncertain terms. To be in a hot climate when Adelaide is wallowing in the depths of a cold snap one week before my birthday is, in my opinion - TOTAL BLISS. Couple this with the shopping I did and you've pretty much got the equivalent of a pig in shit LOL. Oh and our "not top shelf" dinner out will be at one of our local restaurants that just happens to make the BEST spaghetti marinara imaginable. I mean, I can hardly plead "oh hard done by" can I?

I enjoyed lunch out yesterday with my work friends. We just went up the road to a cheap and cheerful Thai restaurant where I had a laksa. After work our small family (3 of us) went to one of our local cafes where I knew the salt and pepper squid was good. It was made even better by a shared bottle of wine followed by a slice of German apple cheesecake complete with candle and Happy Birthday sung by my boys LOL. I was spoilt with a book (Lance Armstrong's "Its not about the bike") and a bunch of pink roses too.

Today my BF the lovely Miss E came in to have lunch with me and pasta was enjoyed (I'm still looking forward to it tomorrow night) with a glass of red and lots of conversation and laughs. My tummy is happy. My soul is happy. What more could I want?

Tomorrow will wrap it up and then in September we do it all again for Peter's birthday. Unfortunately I have no birthday pics as they are on other people's cameras. Oh well the Singapore pics will have to do.

SINGAPORE: HAPPY SNAPS

Chill on 5 used to be a bar but is now a lounge area. Hence we didnt chill much on 5. Instead we had beer o'clock in our room or took advantage of the happy hours or just sipped cocktails by the pool.

Here's my boy while we wait for the shuttle coach to take us back to our resort on Sentosa Island. Yes, (for once) he's reading a book instead of playing electronic games.

It doesnt get much better than this for afternoon tea. Our resort's version of a Pina Colada. Oh maybe throw in a few nuts with it :-)

My favourite pic taken at the Singapore Zoo. How could anybody resist that handsome beast LOL???

And just to prove that my wonderful husband exists. Refer above (to the man in blue, not green).

SINGAPORE: SHOPPING HEAVEN

Well its time to share some of my shopping delights with you. Unfortunately Blogger hasnt put my pics up in the order I wanted and I havent got all eveining to muck around trying to get it looking right so you'll have to bear with me as I hop around the place and tell my shopping story.

The pic below is from a store called Rayure (which has an Australian equivalent Comme Ci Comme Ca (apologies if this spelling is incorrect) in Sydney. The fashions are French using  very high quality stretch fabrics that have beautiful hold, beautiful patterns and come in variations of black and white. I bought something from Rayure on my last trip so a return visit and some extra purchases ware a must. Here is the summer top I bought there.

I discovered a store called Wallis which is a UK based label. They had the most beautifully coloured clothes in lovely brights and pastels and after a long winter of dreary blacks and greys I'll be looking forward to wearing this summer dress.

Below left is a top from my favourite label - DKNY. Every time I go overseas I buy something from this label as its very hard to get in Australia- let alone in Adelaide. The photo didnt turn out great but its a black Tshirt with lots of tiny gold sequins for bling. The material is soft and flowing so will fall nicely and sit very flatteringly.

On the right is my favourite item of all. This is from Rayure as well. When I tried this dress on it just looked AWESOME. The stretch fabric has a strong hold so it hides the lumps and bumps but because I'm fairly curvy with a naturally flat stomach it looks very flattering and dare I say ... sexy (blushing). The shop assistant even said to me "you lucky, you have flat tummy" and that was AFTER a big buffet breakfast LOL. I'll be wearing this one on Christmas Day - even if its 15 degrees here LOL.

As you can see, this shopping trip was pretty much about colour and choosing some brights to brighten the days. I saw this pink skirt in Zara and fell in love with it. I then went back to the store one quieter morning to try it on and ended up with 3 items (a camel coloured skirt with a wide brown belt and a lilac tank top which I didnt take pics of).

My second DKNY purchase was this dress below. Grey, I know but I have a nice red skivvy like top that goes really well it. Oh and red boots too. I luuuurve my red boots that I've now had for about 3 years. The tie around the waist reaches around and I tie it behind for a more shapely, less bag-lady look.

Oops, almost forgot this gem from Zara as well. Love love love the colours for a guaranteed winter pick-me-up. It looks a bit shapeless on the hanger but looks great with fitted pants or my knitted black skirt as it balances out the shapehugging bottoms.

And who could resist these babies??!! Because a girl can never have too many sexy killer red heels (I forgot I have some already but quite as wild as these). These will be my Christmas Day shoes with red jewellery to match. For a killer heel they are surprisingly comfortable but honestly, who cares. You dont buy a shoe like these for comfort LOL.

Well I stopped taking pics there. But that wasnt all of it. Yes I had an absolute ball giving my credit card the workout of its life and I'm SO happy with everything I bought. I attacked the shops with gusto and relished feeling so good about myself and about shopping up big.

A few comments / observations from my shopping adventures:

• No matter how hard or where I tried, I couldnt get pants, capri pants or jeans to fit. EVERYTHING had a skinny tapered calf and wouldnt fit over my big ex aerobic instructor calves.

• Same with workout gear. The sports store I went into had a very limited range of women's leggings / tights and the sizing was on the small side. Their stocks were low (hardly any medium or large sizes) and after trying on about 4 or 5 pieces I left empty handed.

• Singapore has lots of cheap shoes. Most of them feel cheap when you wear them. They dont fit well and are very uncomfortable. I wouldnt buy closed in shoes there as leather is just about unheard of and I dont fancy sweating it out in a vinyl shoe all day - no matter how great it looks.

Well I better bid a fond good night now as I'm very tired but I hope you enjoyed looking at the fruits of my labour ... of love. LOL.

M

Stupid Blogger. I almost missed this top from Rayure as well. A nice contrast to the mainly white with a bit of black one that I already have. I cant wait to wear this out soon.

SINGAPORE: OH MY, THE FOOD HERE IS SUPERB

My food perspective on this holiday was quite different to any before. Previously I would have been (subconciously) trying to lose weight before the holiday - I mean I perpetually spent at least 90% of my life in that state. This time I had gone with a sense of no food is banned and a daily "treat" is a must. What this did for me is promote a sense of "as I'm not coming off a diet, there is no need to gorge myself on everything that I'd normally be avoiding." I went away with one goal in mind and that was to remain binge free - eg no secret eating to frightful quantities of mainly junky foods (I mean who overeats themselves on fresh fruit for instance). No feelings of shame, embarassment, failure and self putdown. I'm proudly binge free since 10 June now and its a great feeling.

So the food in Singapore was amazing. I love a big buffet breakfast where I can enjoy a range of foods including fresh fruit, muesli, yogurt, seeds, dried fruit, fresh breads and the must have dessert to finish with (usually a small danish, croissant or muffin.) In between those I also had either eggs of some sort or went all out and had a selection from the Indian buffet. Now I know that most people couldnt stomach this but I'm a pretty adventurous eater so I was having roti bread with hard boiled aggs and channa, a mild lentil style curry. I also tried a marinated fried chicken (usually a wing or mini drumette) that I swear was an upmarket version on KFC hot and spicy (YUM!!). I also tried some mini fish cakes, steamed buns (from the Chinese buffet) and an assortment of other interesting tidbits. If I didnt like it, I left it on my plate and I never loaded my plate up with an obscene amount of food only to leave most of it there as many people do - I mean were you seriously thinking you'd eat 4 sugar donuts, 2 chocolate muffins and 3 pieces of french toast after your plateful of bacon and eggs???

Breakfast saw us through for several hours. Often a coffee would be all I needed early - mid afternoon and then we enjoyed our usual beer o'clock around 4pm. On a couple of days I overdid the cocktails and nibbles with 2 Singapore Slings and way too many nuts absolutely filling me up. Aaah holiday cheer gone overboard (as you do).

One night we had dinner in the seafood restaurant in the resort and I had a Asian fusion inspired linguine marinara that was to die for. The sauce was based on lime and chilli making a delicious backdrop to the incredibly fresh seafood. On some nights all I wanted was a salad due to the heat and not being overly hungry. (I think thats called "balance" LOL)

Finally a few observations / comments from the food perspective:

• Good coffee is as rare as hens' teeth. I had one good coffee in 8 days. The rest varied from adequate (Gloria Jeans) to woeful (The Coffee Bean).

• Both Peter and I indulged our love of Asian sweets made from a glutinous rice or sago or similar (for the life of me I cant remember what these were called).

• After a long hot day prowling around Universal Studios or the Singapore Zoo, I can sink a cold beer faster than the Titanic on its final submerge.

• At many eating establishments its cheaper to buy a cocktail (even the large sizes) than a standard glass of wine. Go the cocktails, I say!!

• The local pineapple and bananas were delicious and plentiful. If I could have smuggled a bag of bananas home in my luggage I could have sold them for less than current retail and still made enough money to pay for our trip ....... hmmm food for thought.

My guesstimate is that I gained about 1, maybe 2 kilos while away but after a few days back and eating like I normally do, thats pretty much gone. And I cant tell you how great that feels.

Tomorrow's instalment will be my shopping so I must get my camera snapping away and photos downloaded to include in my post.

Cheers all

M

MOVING IN SINGAPORE

Firstly thank you for everybody's well wishes for my holiday which is now sadly over. To alleviate the common bloggers' block my next few posts will recap my wonderful time away from a few different (mainly health and fitness) perspectives.

So here goes with the first instalment: moving.

I was determined to maintain my goal of moving for at least 30 minutes at least half of the days of the week. On the day we left I still got up early and walked for about 40 minutes. It was so enjoyable with the cold biting at my face and lots of upbeat tracks shuffling on my iPod. I even sang along to some of them not giving a damn if somebody heard me and thought I had totally lost the plot. I was flying off to Singapore that day and I had every right to be happy.

In Singapore I managed to do something every day we were there. The gym at our resort was beautifully kitted out with Life Fitness equipment that made me go weak at the knees when I saw it. I never train in a gym anymore as I have my own set up at home so its a real treat to have a wide range of equipment at my disposal.

I varied my workouts between mixed cardio using all the cardio machines (X Trainer, treadie and bikes), weights and walking along Siloso Beach. I think I enjoyed the weights the most because of the equipment. For instance on leg day I took advantage of the seated leg press in place of barbell squats. I was happy but my right hip wasnt and I spent the day hobbling in pain but luckily it healed itself quickly.

I also had a demoralising encounter with an ab machine LOL. I lay down on it, grabbed the handles overhead and started to crunch away. Within a few reps I felt like my upper abs were being ripped from my body. I called it quits after 8 reps and did my trusty old fitball crunches with a 5kg medicine ball instead. The next day and still to today my abs are so sore that it hurts to laugh, cough or sneeze. Oh ab strength where have you gone???

I genuinely loved doing a bit of training every day. It made me feel good physically and feel good about myself and my body. I wore my shorts / tights above the knees and I felt ok doing so. Hell my legs are my worse feature but I wont use that as an excuse to hide them from the world. Besides it was so friggin hot there that long anything was just out of the question.

Well thats enough about Singapore fitness. Since being home I need to get back into my usual routine but I know that'll sort itself out pretty quickly. Come back tomorrow for my second instalment which will probabaly be "Oh my, the food here is superb."

Cheers all

Magda

PRE BEDTIME QUICKIE

Just a quick post before bedtime.

Its been really busy here but I'm feeling pretty good about catching up with work stuff, knocking off another 2 day module of my management training course, spending some quality time with our extended family and getting ready to go on holidays (tomorrow).

2 years ago we went to Singapore around this time of year. I remember vividly weighing around the 70kg mark and feeling awful about myself. I remember putting on my white shorts and then seeing my fat lilly white legs and feeling even worse. Although I enjoyed that holiday, I didnt feel good within myself.

This time I feel fantastic. Yes the number on the scales is a lot better but its more than that. Its about opening my mind to new possibilities. Its about letting go of the burning yet draining desire to lose weight, to be thinner, leaner, smaller, better. Its about saying "hey I can eat xx if I want to and it'll be ok if I do." Its about realising what REALLY matters and letting go of the stuff that doesnt.

I'm not saying I've got it all down pat. I'm sure I have quite a way to go. But in making some small physical and mental changes I've achieved a couple of big things - I've been binge free for 4 weeks (Friday) AND my weight has dropped a little more (again).

Good night all

M

ROLLING TO AN END

Well folks the end is in sight for my 10 week turnaround. I know this beacuse we are now less than one week away from going on holidays and it was for that holiday that I thought it was SO important to weigh a certain amount and lose a certain number of centimetres and be able to do boy pushups etc etc etc.

I spent 4 or 5 weeks stressing about how much bread in was having, making sure I didnt have too much fruit, carfeully ordering only a regular and not a medium cappuccino blah blah blah. Then there was the running no matter how much pain it caused not just during the run but even worse afterwards. I mean, what does it matter if I can barely sit for 20 minutes because of the shooting pains in my legs. Or if I walk like an 80 year old partly disabled person as I hobble everywhere quietly whincing in pain.

And then as a reward for all of this exemplary effort the Metal Monster would drop wildly (yippee) ...... and then ricochet back up again (er not so yippee). And on those ricochets up it would do my head in and then I'd be shackin up with the Binge Monster again.

Well about 3 weeks ago I finally woke up and decided to try something different. I decided to give up trying to lose weight. I decided to have a treat every day to practice moderation in place of my usual all / nothing thinking and I (after much deliberation) decided to take a break from running. I reset my training goal to simply move for at least 30 minutes at least half of the days of the week. And most importantly I would stay off the scales and use my clothes and how I look naked as my check if I was heading for Michelin Man status.

So as I'm a few days away from going on holiday and the "10 Week Turnaround" title will go shortly, this morning I decided to do a MM check to see if my estimation of my weight was in the ballpark. And guess what - it was REALLY close. (I'm sitting in the low 66s).

Peter and I chatted about this over beer o'clock today and his comment was "Dear you look good and the main thing is that you're happy at this weight. In fact I'd be happy if you were happy at 72kgs." I love my man - for him its about being relaxed, happy in your skin and enjoying life (including good food and wine) and not about rippling muscles, veins popping and single digit body fat.

:-) M