A MONDAY OFF WORK IN PICTURES

 

Trakkie daks and sneakers for my morning run. I did sprints today as I had a bit less time than usual.

 

 

Today's brekkie: sultanas, bran, oats, egg whites made into porridge and sprinkled with LSA. Plus my usual mug of white tea and another leisurely read of the paper - a rare Monday morning pleasure.

 

 

While our shower was being megasealed I got stuck into the domestic chores starting with this basket of ironing while watching the Morning Show. I followed this up with a thorough spring clean of my kitchen - sans pictures of dirty splashbacks and grimy ovens LOL.

 

 

In between that and this I took myself out for a bite of lunch but accidentally left my camera at home so there is no pic of my delicious garlic laden bruscetta. Here its school pick up and I put the time waiting for Mitchell to good use by filing my houseworked, ragged nails.

 

 

While Mitchell's busy on this .....

 

 

I'm busy on this (waving to Kerryn Woods).

 

 

OK so I could never get a job as a food stylist. Dinner: Baked Atlantic salmon with Gourmet Garden Thai seasoning (yep thats the stuff that looks like a baby pooed on my fish) with a mixture of stir fried veggies - straight from the wok. Thank goodness it tasted WAY better than it looked. BTW thats 1/2 the salmon fillet and I have the other half for lunch.

 

So there you have my day off work and rockin the domestic goddess thing :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 



MY SUNDAY IN PICTURES

 

While Peter was out on his run, I made a week's worth of school lunches.

 

 

 

My Runkeeper activity summary. It doesnt show that of the 1:01:43 I ran 40 minutes continuously today with a burn of 529 calories. It was an awesome run - just about perfect and I felt quite invincible.

 

 

Just a small breakfast today: rye toast with mushrooms and an egg + my usual mug of white tea taken with a leisurely read of the paper.

 

 

Some of the manchester I purchased yesterday.

 

 

We came here for lunch to celebrate Peter's new job. It used to be one of our favourite restaurants but today they forgot our starter, served Mitchell's grilled fish covered in pepper after I specifically ordered it plain (no pepper, no lemon) and then didnt come to clear our plates after we'd finished. F.A.I.L. (We should have just stayed local).

 

 

Dessert and coffee at our favourite local cafe. Geez, you'd think he was eating brussel sprouts and not a Zeppoli with THAT look on his face LOL.

 

 

Then a bit of R & R out here. Pussycat's got the right idea.

 

 

Followed by beer o'clock.

 

 

No pics of dinner as we just had some left-overs from last night's feast at mum ana dad's but here's how I ended the evening: a mug of peppermint tea, a read of the Body & Soul liftout and a little planning for my day off tomorrow.

 

I hope you've enjoyed my picture story of my weekend. I know the pics are quite amateurish but I've enjoyed capturing the essence of my life on film.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



MY SATURDAY IN PICTURES

For something a little different, I thought I'd do a pictorial of my day.

 



  

Back/chest and core in my studio. Yep, my gloves are well worn.

Breakfast stack of sourdough rye bread, mushrooms, short cut bacon and a poached egg (with a yolk that broke as I lifted it out of the water)

 

Skating lesson for my boy.

 

 

Time for some grocery shopping.

 

 

Followed by a relaxing coffee and a read of the SA Weekend mag. Except the coffee was a big mug of hot milk which I left there after 2 small sips :-( I hate crap coffee.

 

 

After shopping for some new manchester (sorry no pics) it was time for coffee take 2. This time in my favourite cafe where the coffee NEVER disappoints.

 

 

An early birthday dinner for Peter at my mum and dad's. Pity that the beer bottle is the star of this pic LOL.

 

 

With the obligatory chocolate cake + candles.

 

 

But this is the real to-die-for dessert - mum's home made cheesecake slice. Peter had THREE of these babies LOL.

 

 

Thats all folks.

 

xx m

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUST FORGING AHEAD

Today was show day for me and my boy. Sad to say that I was underwhelmed and unimpressed this year. In fact we both were, judging by our measly 2 1/2 hours there before we declared 'enough is enough'. Having said that, we love the ferris wheel (excpet the winds were arctic and we froze at the top) and the dogs were lovely. We couldnt find the cats but I got to see the alpacas (which I love). After that it was all pretty much down hill.

 

On a completely different matter, I'm pleased to say that yesterday's unfavourable meeting with the MM is well and truly behind me and I'm forging ahead with what I know I need to do. So much so that I wasnt even tempted by the hot cinnamon donuts or the churros or the .... well you know how it is. I'm not one of those people who can honestly scoff at all of that because I DO love those junky foods but I'm slowly learning that they will do nothing to help me get where I want to be. Gee, some life lessons are tough LOL.

 

Training has been good and despite the bad weather this week, I managed 3 runs and an interval session on the bike. Not exactly what I wanted but better than blowing off the session and staying in bed. Being mindful around my food choices as well and watching that I dont go silly with portion sizes. Hopefully the MM will cooperate.

 

Anyways thats enough for one night so good night all :-)

M

 



LETTING GO OF THE GRUMPINESS

Regular readers would know that since around the beginning of August, I've been working hard at getting fitter and leaner. I'm running regularly as this is one of the best ways for me to melt off the kilos but I've also ramped up my weight training in an effort to sculpt the nice shape that I'm striving for.

On the food front (cause I hate the word 'diet') I've reigned in the treats and sugar is no longer a daily staple (unless its in the small sprinkle of chocolate on a cappuccino). I've also reduced my carbs overall cause lets face it, after my morning training I basically sit on my arse all day. I eat fruit but for now its starchy carbs with breakfast and then generally not throughout the day. Having said all that, these are by no means hard and fast rules as too many rules do my head in. I like to think of this is me finding my version of a happy journey to leanness and fitness :-)

Progress to date has been excellent with an easy 4kgs dropped in around 3 weeks (not too hard when the starting number is higher than normal). Seeing the weekly drops has kept me determined and focused. However today I faced my first Metal Monster challenge when the silly bugger headed in the wrong direction :-( albeit by a measly .2 but nevertheless it made me briefly grumpy.

So here's where I make a conscious decision to let the grumpiness go and break from tradition. That tradition being 1. I get all sorry for myself and convince myself that this isn't working 2. then proceed to eat my body weight in sweets and other junk 3. then spend weeks trying to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on track and 4. only to find I'm back at square one feeling worse than ever before.

Today I make a conscious decision to get on with what I know works. I might think about all of the above but I can choose not to act on it. Instead I can focus on my longer term goals and press on forward even more determined to achieve them. I've always known that the journey from fatness to leanness is never a straight line and now its time to remind myself of that, accept it and get on with it. 

:-) M  

 

RECONNECTING

Today's post is about the stuff in life that REALLY matters. Its not about how many carbs I ate yesterday (too many) or how it was raining this morning and I missed my run (did intervals on the bike instead). No, today's post is about reconnecting with old and dear friends but under the saddest of circumstances.

From my mid 20s I had a wonderful friend who I'll just call Miss G. We met through work and even though she was a lot older than me, we hit it off REALLY well and became great friends. When I left my first husband, it was Miss G who picked me up and gave me a lift to work the next day so I wouldn't have to face the day alone. She was by my side in case it all got too hard and that gesture went on to symbolise our friendship for many years.

Some years ago she retired from work, moved to the country and we lost touch but she was never forgotten. In fact one day earlier this year she was vividly back in my thoughts but I couldn't explain why. Then out of the blue she emailed me at work (I work in a different place now from when we worked together) as it was Mitchell's 10th birthday and she was wishing him a happy birthday at that significant milestone. Since then we have emailed each other a few times and I was planning to arrange a get together in the warmer weather.

I didn't have a good feeling when her email titled 'family news' landed in my inbox on Monday evening and my intuition was right. Her daughter who is a few years younger than me with 2 young children, has just been diagnosed with cervical cancer. She gave me their numbers (both families have moved since we were last in touch) and I reciprocated with ours.

So earlier today I called her daughter to wish her the best and tell her that we'd all be praying for her. It was lovely chatting to her even though it was a really hard call to make. How I wish that the first call after so many years was under better circumstances but sadly that is not the case. I have yet to call Miss G but I will be brave and do so within the next 24 hours.

I'd love to finish this post with a deep and meaningful statement about life, friendships and stuff  but in all honesty, I'm quite lost for words. If anything, this news has just put into perspective the things that really matter: good health, a loving and supportive family, friends that care and a determination that you will not be beaten by the challenges that life throws at you.

M

  

 

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND

Wow, that would have to be one of the best weekends I've had in ages. Talk about things just falling into place and going like clockwork.

Peter had a bit of a problem at work on Friday and was very late home. I managed to use that time to my advantage and rather than plonking myself on the couch with a wine, some nibbles and Facebook, I got stuck into my share of the cleaning. By the time he got home, I had finished doing my cleaning and we had a nice steak and red wine for dinner. 

Saturday was a glorious spring day which lifted my spirits no end (not that I was feeling down but after the miserable winter weather of late, the sunshine and warmth were VERY welcome.) Having an earlier night on Friday meant that we were both awake pretty early on Saturday so I used the time to do my first weights session for this new week. Back/chest and core were nailed and I felt great about getting the day off to such a good start. The usual Saturday routine doesn't change: ice skating lesson, Mitchell to mum and dad's, grocery shopping with the bonus of meeting Peter for an afternoon coffee, then pick Mitchell up, whilst in the background there is an array of domestic chores filling in the spare minutes (whatever they are LOL).

We had a quiet night at home and I made the baklava cigars for dessert on Fathers Day. Again, super organised ahead of time and loving that Sunday wouldn't be a mad rush of trying to get a million things done in a few hours.

Fathers Day was great. We all had breakfast in bed (as is our usual custom) and Peter read the paper there before getting up. Later in the morning I went for my run which is now for 35 minutes. I walk for 5 minutes to warm up then jog for 35 minutes then finish with a walk. My total time was 1 hour + 1 minute and the last minute was running home. It was a beautifully warm and sunny day and I did the run in *gasp* short sleeves.  Getting organised for dinner was relaxed and stress free and I even had time to sit outside and read in the sun for an hour or so.

The day ended with dinner at our place. I made lamb shanks with wine sauce, bean puree and caramelised onions. VERY yummy (and very rich and filling). For dessert we had the baklava cigars, almond bread and Haighs scorched almonds. After putting everything on the table I decided that everything looked SO good and I would have one of each but as I sipped the last of my wine to finish it off, my tummy felt fuller and fuller and in the end I didn't have any desserts. Funny, I dont miss them.

So there you have my weekend wrap up. Did you have a nice Fathers Day celebration too?

M