10 things

...that make me happy :)

April's blog gave me this idea (ps THANKS for your comment girl, but the pic above is still 4 weeks out from comp!! ... still working out what the real me is.... !)  :) :) 

1. Cartoons! particularly the Simpsons.... I am watching it right now haha. My parents were super strict when I was young and we weren't allowed to watch it which resulted in a subsequent obsession with the show. My bedroom was literally full of merchandise, I still have the good stuff ;)

2. Blogland! Even though I tend to read the blogs along the same fitness vein, I love the variety of posts between inspiration, workouts, daily struggles, successes, venting, sharing information and ramble - I love a good ramble!

3. Very simple things.... lol! eg when the chocolate powder on cappuccinos smells like easter eggs (the good stuff!) oh yeah and the caffeine is pretty happy-making too!

4. My two fur babies (cats) and animal antics in general (the title of the bulldog pic is 'hotdog' hehe). Pets are the ultimate in mood lifting. I love it when they find a cool spot on the carpet in our bedroom, sprawl out and let me rub their tummies... awwww!!! I knew I had to get my female cat Cookie spayed after her first litter but breeding cats would be so much fun!

5. Privacy. This is far too much information but I love that Ali and I are able to live in our private house alone and hang about in whatever we want. My mum would whinge at me when I was little because I never wanted to put clothes on.. I guess some things never change... lol!

6. Being a girl and thus being able to wear whatever I want. Every now and then I get stuck in a black and conservative clothes rut, especially at work but I love that I can bust out a colourful summer dress and girl it up too! Being able to get cool costume jewellery cheap from somewhere like Diva just to match an outfit is fun too.

7. Great haircuts and my GHD! I bought this when I was 18 and its probably the best thing I've ever bought. My hair is naturally a curly frizzy mess but is really quick and easy to straighten.

8. My treadmill is a close second (best purchase). Great tip for buying one is to pick it up second hand (ebay, weekend paper) etc. Huge discount from new and let's face it, most of them will be close to brand new. Ours had been used max 5 times... poor neglected beast- We gave it a good home.

9. Cooking. I love using fresh ingredients and finding new ways to spice up our chicken and vegies or fish and salad. I love trying a new recipe, making things from scratch and making up the rules along the way. I especially love trying new combinations and mixing a whole lot of things together! Lately I've taken to stirfrying vegies like beans, red onion and thinly sliced carrots to top cold salads- love the hot/cold combo.

10. A good division between alone time, Ali and me time, family time and girl friends time. When you think about it there are a lot of people that love you. Aww!

I tag you all to try this list! 

23 days in

How is your 2010 going? I can't complain so far, I haven't been into work yet! :P Our holidays are coming to an end after Australia Day. Operation relax and destress is taking a little longer than I thought but is well underway.

As timing would have it, our ducted air conditioning went on the fritz two days before our break and we'll probably only get it fixed the week we get back to work- so January has been a little bit sweaty! Haven't been up to all that much either, but starting the year in good spirits and remembering my vows to be more grateful, focussing on what I have rather than what I ... want! For example, not having heaps of $ to keep oneself constantly entertained and the negativity that comes with being bored or restless...

Do you find yourself 'bored' if you're not constantly engaged in something? I think you can even be bored when you are doing something that's not actively requiring your full attention. I've been using this word too much lately so am telling myself that it is just a state of mind. I'm working on living more in the present, how can I be calm and relaxed if doing nothing automatically = boredom = irritability/anxiety? I bet all the ladies with children out there are wishing they had nothing to do right now, lol!

I certainly got my wish to get out of routine with this break from work, its been a nice long stretch and I'm finally ready to get into it. 'Finding balance' with settling back into training and clean eating has been challenging at times with so much free time so having to prep my meals in advance for work again and not eating out as much will definately help.

I visited lindy's forum and dallas' website for the first time in ages today - both sites are growing and all the girls seem to be doing well! I was surprised and flattered to see my pics on dallas site alongside some amazing athletes. Its still definately a goal of mine to do another shoot with Dallas in the near future, at a size that I am fit and confidently maintaining.

Looking ahead at the year, another big plan is coming to Melbourne to watch the All Females in July. I've seen a lot of excited posts about either competing or spectating this show!! My Mum lives in Melbourne so I'm already planning when I will book in my next bit of leave. I will never leave it so long between vacations again!

Day in the life of ...

me! Thanks for the tag Chelle

Well I'm on holidays at the moment but a usual weekday for me is structured like this:

5:30 alarm goes off

5:30-6:30 walk on treadmill while I watch foxtel

6:30-7:30am shower, breakfast (always oats!) which I eat while watching more foxtel - used to watch the morning news programs but now I only do if I want to hear about the weather

7:30-8:30ish commute to the city for work

8:30-4:30 work - I have a coffee (long blk or skinny capp) as soon as I can after getting to work to get the brain juices going. While at the office, I eat meals 2,3 and 4 at work plus copious amounts of water and green tea. Although I'm sitting at my desk all day, getting up to heat meals and go to the bathroom means I'm never stationery for too long!

5-6:30 Train! 

7-9:30pm get home, shower, cook and eat dinner, finish food prep and pack meals for following day. I don't have time to get on the net on a training night during the week, but after a day sitting at a computer its really the last thing I want to do anyway.

9:30pm try to get into bed by this time. Wind down with a book or episode of simpsons, family guy etc. We also eat dessert in bed! Natural yoghurt + vanilla protein powder and splenda if you like it sweet. Freeze this for about 2.5 hrs before serving (so it firms up but is not too hard and it stays creamy) and try it with strawberry diet jelly! :)

All over the shop

That's how I would describe the past week with my nutrition. First few days after the 'weigh in' were lean and clean then I had a few treats on outings and dinner + dessert for my Dad's bday thrown in the mix. So I wasn't sure what to expect from mr scales yesterday morning. I actually dropped 1.5kg... so I'm thinking all of that processed crap I ate over xmas and new years had me blown up like a balloon! Certainly wasn't a tight week so I'm not kidding myself- I'm taking the scale readings as a guide and focussing more on how I'm feeling, looking and how well I've been keeping up the good food habits (ie least 80% of the time).

Holidays are a minefield for eating well aren't they! Days when we don't have much on I easily get the cooking done and eat my six clean meals. Other days we eat and here and there and I might end up eating 4 or 5 larger meals in a day. Overall I'm pleased with my attitude to food lately - I haven't binged or felt out of control for a long time. I just overeat from time to time and go back for seconds when I shouldn't....! haha. Obviously there's a lot more social stuff going on atm where you're not eating pre-weighed portions. We are going back to work the day after Australia Day so I am waiting until then to take my skinfolds so I can get an accurate picture of my current condition. 

Training has gone well, doing a new four day split that Ali has written for me with a lower rep range and few more working sets than I've been doing. I'm deadlifting once a fortnight now to build a stronger core and overall thickness - serious stuff :)

I found this pic of me 16 weeks out from the show (end May 2009) where I was 60ml bodyfat over 9 sites. I think this would be an ideal place to maintain to be able to lean down quite easily for a show. We'll find out how far off I am soon! 

Me too!

Can I join in on the year of the sexy bitch? 

I said losing weight wouldn't be one of my new years goals but gosh darnit I had a little bit too much fun so far on my holidays and have gained an impressive amount of weight in a very short time!! ... oops! I think the silliest thing you can do when you know you are being a bit footloose and fancy free with your diet is not weigh yourself... was in a small state of denial and ignoring the inevitable.

The penny really dropped when we went camping at Noosa the last couple of days - I no longer felt at ease with the weight on my stomach when wearing a bikini rather than a tank. This is something I've struggled with since I was very young, I store fat on my tummy so its one of the main areas I judge my progress on.

So after this morning's little shock I will return to weighing myself once a week at the same time. In previous years I would be upset and annoyed with myself. But Ive learnt just how unhelpful that is! So I'm putting into practice what I have learnt and bringing in the reins on all the treats that were increasing in frequency and portions- the meals out, bread, sugary condiments, dairy etc.

The year of the sexy bitch is about working on my confidence. I'm not a failure if I gain weight. Maintaining is something I'm new to and need to practice because its so easy to fall back into habits such as eating out of boredom etc Chelle is one of the most confident gals I know, which is something I really admire - she's going to keep an eye on my progress over the next few weeks.

We are all already sexy bitches. In 2010 we're going to flaunt it!

Happy New Year! Resolutions anyone?

Are you having a relaxing lazy day today!? Hope so! Im a little bored actually! Have some fish in the oven right now that I'm keeping one eye on. 'Diet' has been quite relaxed over Christmas and New Years but with plenty of fish, chicken and vegies in there as well. I think celery and rocky road makes a good combo, don't you? haha. Meanwhile I haven't weighed myself in the last couple of weeks, have been putting that off which is a little dangerous...!

We had a quiet one with friends last night, nice dinner, couple of drinks and played some cards. I'm really not fussed on alcohol anymore, I would really rather eat my calories! ;) I had one and a half lemon ruskies before making the mistake of seeing how much sugar was in them.... i couldn't bring myself to finish it! Meanwhile the icecream biscuits and custard were a treat, once again - EAT your calories and sugar, don't drink them! hehe. 

We have a whole month off and it is BLISS!!! had left it far too long without a break and were absolutely hanging out for it. We are training at our little local 24 hr gym which is nice and quiet. Not too many plans ahead, going camping for a couple of nights at Noosa then staying at the Royal Pines a couple of nights next week. My theory is we'll appreciate the resort all the more after roughing it. I'm not a 'girly girl' but do appreciate creature comforts! Its nice being about to go away and not to have to worry too much about food, but we are packing plenty of canned tuna and protein powder!

So a couple of people have been posting about New Years resolutions. I think its as good a time as any to reflect and consider new goals. I'm keeping mine fairly simple. This year I'd like to:

stress and worry less

not leave clothes all over the bedroom

apply for a new position at my work and upskill

read lots of books

go on a cruise

go to Melbourne - maybe in July to watch all females!

get some more professional photos done

write some more articles

xoxox