Spanner in the works

Oh boy, I am not happy with Jules special school at all. He is not going to do well there, the bar is set far too low.  The problem is that I feel trapped there. I'm trying to figure out what is best for him and I am sorry to say that my weight loss plans have been put entirely on hold :(

Weigh in Wednesday

Life is good. The scales showed the smallest loss it physically could: 0.1 kilos. But its a loss and I will take it.

The bus was later today which meant that I could read two books with Jules before it got there. It also made Geordie late to school. I spoke to them about maybe getting there a little earlier, and they will try but mostly its inflexible. Essentially we will have to deal with being late on Mondays and Wednesdays, Tuesdays they have less people in the bus run and get there earlier.

It was a shame we were late, as it meant that I didn't have a chance to help settle Geordie at school.  I am trying to get him to say hello to three people and he over thinks it and freezes. I tell him that social skills are more important than academic skills and that he needs to keep trying. It wasn't really possible to play the hello game this morning as all the kids were settled at their desks and (abnormally quiet lol) when we arrived.

My new timer system is going great! It helps that I have long stretches with both the kids not messing things up and time for me to clean up uninterrupted  While I would see an improvement with either system at this time, I feel that the timer pushes me a bit harder. Whcn I check off the room, it reminds me of the next job to do.

Now I am slowly sorting out the kids extra curricular time table. I got my ideal piano timeslot which is 7:15-7:45 Thursday. There are a few reasons why this is awesome. After school doesn't suit me. The kids have just spent 6 hours doing things that other people want them to do and they need a bit of flop time to recharge before it all starts again. Weekends do not suit me. We all look forward to some free time on the weekend and there are too many parties and other random events that clash with the weekend. My kids are night owls so there is plenty of time for us to put in a quick cram session, have dinner go to the lesson and even maybe swing in for some late night shopping on the way home all before bedtime (9pm). Yay!

Circus training is the one exception to the notontheweekendplease! rule. Circus is Jules' world, the only reason why we dared to something so brave was because he emanates natural talent. Its on Saturday morning so it gets everyone out of bed, and is before all the events start up anyway. It also means we have more free time after school.

I almost trialled another swimming club today. But then I realised that they don't have an indoors swimming centre so the kids would have issues swimming in the rain or when its colder. It seemed best to just stick with what we had and then change teacher when another one becomes available.

I was going to do bowling to keep the bond close with their grandparents. But now I am not so sure. Its just another thing on the to do list. I might um and ah about this one a little longer,

First day back to school

It was the first day back at school today. Everyone was fairly happy about it too. I am happy to enjoy being with my kids, and I notice that each year it gets a little harder to hand them back.

The school recommended for social reasons that Jules experience taking the bus to school. He was keen to do it so we gave it a go. Jules waited patiently for the bus and seemed happy to get on. I realised that there is a lot of dead time in waiting for the bus and figured it would be a good time to read a book with him each day.

Geordie commented that it was nice to be alone together in the car. Its nice to have a bit of special time with each of them. I still pick up Jules first in the afternoon so that's my special time with him.

I have amended their lunch box routine. I have different shaped containers which each have a special type of food. There is a box for crackers, fruit, baking, sandwich and now I have added in an extra box for veggies. Having the boxes cuts down on packaging waste and price. So its a win win.

I went for a "me time shop" and bought two shirts: a jogging shirt and a black smart casual shirt :) I had bought Geordie a cheap $8 bag and I noticed that another student in his class had the same bag. To give him some individuality I bought Geordie a minecraft creeper toy key ring and drew a creeper face on his bag. Now its no longer the "cheap bag" now its the "creeper bag" :)

I got the kids swimming pants on sale and a few more lunch containers. My little shop cost $65. I took it out of my rewards fund as it is luxury shopping and thats what I wanted to buy. I now have $15 left.

This term I am trialling a new housework system. This time instead of counting items I am setting the timer for 5 mins and staying in a room. The idea is that I tick off a box when
I have done my 5 mins. Its surprising how much can get done in 5 mins, and it helps me get over my reluctance to just get in and do it. I intend to always start with the kitchen, but then check off different areas of the house.

I am also trialling structuring some themes into the work week. So its "Meal Plan Monday", where I organise the food and go for a shop. "Treat Me Tuesday" where one week I have a luxury shop and the other I spend a bit of time organising my clothes, jewellery, dyeing my hair etc". Its "Working Wednesday" where I focus on web design or spend time with Mum (which means work as that is what she does). "Organisation Thursday", where I do some paperwork, sort some files, clean out my car and handbag etc. Friday I plan to bake or garden.

I had a new idea for putting some yoga into my day. For the next week my friend and I are going to text each other when we have done a little at home yoga. The idea is to start small and build consistency. I did five poses, it didn't take long, but felt great :)

My sister was on the biggest loser again yesterday. They had a town challenge of being the first team to fill the dump trucks with the weight they town had to lose. 

Cath had this to say about it "It was hard work! But we work hard in the country and surprised them how fast we finished the challenge"

Getting fitter

Its Australia day weekend and we are having a quiet one. I did consider hosting a party as we have a pool, but social events are the enemy of weight loss. So I was happy to take it easy.

My friend Connor put his back out and was feeling miserable with all the chiropractors shut. So I drove over and went to the chemist to get him some antinflammatory medication and stocked him up with food so that he wouldn't have to hobble out of the apartment for food. He was very grateful and it was lovely to catch up.

I stayed a few hours so I was very happy I packed a container of grapes to nibble on. 

Eating has gone much better today :) 

Today I started the second week of the c25k! Last week I jogged for 8 x 60 seconds, this week it  was 8 x 90 seconds.  Because I am spending more time jogging. I now have to jog up more hills than before. Basically when the app says jog, you jog :) 

The interesting bit was that about 2/3 of the way through I had jogged my 90 sec and she said "walk", and I thought naaah I want to jog so I skipped the walking bit, then she said "walk" again and 1 skipped the walk again! lol So I jogged 4.5 mins straight :) Go me!

I failed to plan

Today is the start of a long weekend for Australia Day. I thought it would be perfect to go to Ikea and buy the trofast system which would be perfect for organising the Lego. So I jumped in the car and drove for a bit over an hour to Ikea to find that everyone else had the exact same thought. There was a queue just to get into the car park!

Luckily I had the good sense to skip the Ikea maze by short cutting back though the check outs. They were sold out! Nooooooooo! I felt like the biggest fool, I coulda shoulda checked their website :( But I didn't, and now I had to drive another hour home.

Determined not to waste the trip entirely I stopped off at Aldi to buy a pool cleaner. Yay, for the first time since we have moved in I have a fully working creepy. Ahhh its nice to have a very clean pool.

The problem with my little bit of ill planning was that I had wasted my energy. I was at the shops at one o'clock and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. This resulted on hunger shopping and poor food choices for the day.

This is what I SHOULD have said to myself today.

How brilliant is this? Its fromhttp://americanwomendidntgetfat.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/faq-isnt-counting-calories-eating.html

I did go for a swim today and gave the kids a little swimming lesson while I was there. This is something I need to keep up as they didn't progress last semester. 

One good thing about today, was that we went for another roll in the hay tonight. We are three for three with Jason getting there. Go us for having fun, rather than just trying to make a baby :)

Doo Dee Doo

Hump day, hee hee chuckle snort, went really well ;) Jason is getting much better at sex, and the exercise I have been doing makes a HUGE difference :) And now, perfectly on time, like a powerful vortex I am getting sucked in to the dreaded two week wait. I say dreaded, because for the last 17 months we have had mostly well timed sex. Then I get excited, calculate my would be due date, lurk on pregnancy forums and wait. I would tell myself that I am not going to think about it this time, (but I always do). That I will wait until I have missed a period before I test.

Then almost when my period is due I cave, I test and ....there  is only be one line. I will stare and imagine that there is a very very faint second line, but even I realise that there isn't. I will then feel like curling up into a hole, crashing and wallowing. It's best if I am either busy and distracted or able to sleep it off. I console myself a little that it could be still pregnant but that its too early to test. Then the red witch comes with finality and I will forget about it until next month.

It is exciting to think that I could have a little life inside of me. It's important to listen to feelings because they tell you what you really want. There is no real escape from the two week wait when your wanting a baby. This time the only thing I will do differently this time is keep eat well and exercise as well as wait.

Its hard to believe but today is the third day in a row that I have had a home day! Normally I would be getting really anxious to get out of the house, anywhere but here right about now... Maybe I can deal with it all better because I am starting to deal with my own issues. I realise its good to have a few home days because now is the real, recharge that gets everyone ready for school year to start.

"Happy Rain Day Mum!" says Geordie with the cutest grin. Its pouring rain today. Its so nice though, because its not hot, and the rain is wonderful. He is extra happy because he doesn't have to go for a walk.

I do my c25k on the treadmill today watching tv. Its a little harder as you can't slow down just a little bit as the treadmill doesn't work that way. So I jogged at 6 km for the whole session. That's pretty embarrassing actually, but I still completed the session all sweaty. I have now completed week one of c25k! Yes it is a very happy rain day :)

After not leaving the house to do errands for three days some thing happened. I got a bit depressed. The house had gotten so messy. The kids had had a lot of fun pulling things out and not putting them away. It bothered me a lot so I started tidying. And as you know when I tidy I count items. I broke a new record today, my previous record was 1024 items. Today's was... 1124! The house looks great and instead of earnng about $3.50 in reward money, today I earned $9.24 which about triples my average. I am now up to $80 in my little reward pot :) There  going to be some legit pampering coming my way next week when the kids are in school!

Number musing

99.9 today' I am soo happy! I am so glad that I said no to the avalanche of temptations on the weekend and knuckled down this week. Hellllloooooo double digits :) It is an awesome feeling :).

Granted, my weight is coming off slower than I hoped. I am ok with that as long as it does actually move at at least  2 kilos a month, less than that and I think I am just fooling myself.

I have been getting all inspired at the 50s women didn't get fat blog. It is helping me see more how I want to be when I get to goal.

To entertain myself along the way as it is a long road I thought I would play with some numbers.
I think around 94 kilos (8 kilos down) is when my weight will start to become noticeable to others. Around 84 kilos (18 kilos down) it will definitely be noticeable.

76 (26 kilos down) is when people might become insecure with the weight "pecking order" shifting. Hopefully I can positively motivate them to health! 69 (33 kilos down) is where some people will probably start saying that I am getting too thin. 62 (40 kilos down, goal weight) I would start being confident to show my slender midriff. I assume I will be hit with the too thin a lot then as people's get used to my new healthy weight.

Check out this portion distortion!

I ran out of cherries, grapes and berries today and so didn't have as much fruit as usual. Its was totally silly as though as I have a whole uncut watermelon there that I didn't touch. I had wraps again same as yesterday and then I experimented with some banana bread. I used 4 bananas, 1/3 cup coconut oil, cranberries, currants, dates, water and flour. I didn't need to add any sugar which I was chuffed about, but the texture could have been better, and the kids rejected it totally. So back to the drawing board on that one lol.

I sat around reading weight loss blogs today, and then I started to get stuck in to the house work. I got a plumber around to quote on changing washers in the toilets, and fixing a storm water pipe that a root busted up outside. I made some house repair goals for the year, and started decluttering. Hopefully a little structure combined with a quieter year will help me deal with the mammoth amount of work to do on my body and the house. They are both external expressions of me aren't they?

I have been reading lots of American weight loss blogs that say "Happy Hump Day". I had to google what they meant as we don't use this term in Oz. Apparently Wednesday is the hump you need to get over in the middle of the week to get closer to the weekend. In Oz "to hump" means something v-e-r-y different lol. Anyway I will be ovulating tomorrow according to my chart, soooo happy "hump" day everyone lol.

Suzie Homemaker

Yesterday I wanted to be very healthy, but I was feeling very lazy. So the food I ate was quick, lean and very dull. The farmers market didn't have leek so I made the broccoli, cauliflower and leek soup with onions instead. I also put in less water. This made it harder to blend smooth. I also forgot to put the ground cashews in. The flavour sucked, but it was quick, very lean, healthy and stopped my cravings. Lunch was similarly lean and bland, I had left over potato with some left over baked beans, sprouts and salad mix with no dressing. It took about 2 mins to throw together, but tasted pretty bad.

Today I felt like I needed a little dietary treat so I had my blueberry and mango. porridge with extra chia seeds for breakfast. I added in the cashews and blended it in with extra water.


Given that I had a extra time today, I decided to try and make my own wrap. In a blender I put in 1/2 cups of plain flour, and 1/2 cups of self raising flour (its flour with baking powder added to it). I added in 1/4 of a cup of macadamia oil. Any subtle oil that is stable at higher temperatures would be suitable. Olive oil isn't suitable to heat as some of the fat turns into trans fats at higher temperatures. I put in a pinch of salt, The recipe called for more oil and salt, but I am going to see if I can get away with less.





I had the dough attachment and pressed go for about 20 seconds. (Thank you Jaime Oliver for the time saving tip xox).

Then I put the lid back on and rested it for 30 mins.














I rolled the dough into a log and divided it into 12 portions.  I rolled it thinly to about 20cm (8 inches).

 I rolled the next one out while I was waiting for the first one to cook.









Heat a hot plate and place the bread on. You cook it for about as long as you cook a pancake.
Turn and cook on the other side until slightly puffed and speckled brown on the underside but still soft enough to fold









I found I had enough time to clean up a bit and prep veggies while they were cooking. I know I shouldn't have much cheese but it was a nice treat and its the highest source of calcium so I indulge every now and then. Not the brightest meal to eat though, considering tomorrow is weigh in Wednesday lol.

Serve right away or  cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.




I was feeling a little breathless today so I laid down to rest and woke up a bit after walk time. With hands and feet stiff (I have got some undiagnosed thing that means my body doesn't quite feel right) I really didn't feel like going. Did I go? You bet your A$$ ;)

As we set off I came across three worried teenagers which had seen 2 snakes. They said they saw one, and walked around it to run into another one. I asked what colour they were, they were green and yellow. So long as it wasn't a brown snake. I kept an extra sharp look out and was fine. I know there are heaps of snakes around where I walk, but they also can feel you coming with the vibrations and hide from you.

I did my c25k jogging program, but I did the shorter loop. When I was on the way home I felt awful. I felt sick in my stomach and wasn't sure I was going to make it back up the hill.
(I felt fine half an hour later though). I am looking forward to the point in my life when all this work I am doing to get healthy pays off and I feel great. I notice my knees creak about half as much as they used to when I walk up the stairs. I wonder what weight I need to get to to ease the burden off my knees completely. Every kilo I get off my body quietly thanks me, I just can't hear it yet :)

I am loving American women didn't get fat in the 50s blog its a real breath of fresh air for a different perspective. I am considering buying her ebook as well.

Check out this 30 second ad on childhood obesity its chilling. (I found the video on the above blog ;)

And this is pretty close to my diet philosophy right now: Dont overthink your diet just eat more plants a cardiologist explains.

Transitioning out of the holidays

Today I took it really easy. Its the beginning of my transition from crazy holiday fun to back to school. It takes a while to shift gears and this is what this week is all about. I cleaned up 500 items today and just spent a lot of time thinking.

We our first swimming lesson today. It was a little shock back into reality. I rang them last year to find out when they started back and I wrote down that it started this week, but actually it started last week. I didn't say anything in case I wrote it down wrong, but they should have sent out a letter. Also my kids are in with another two boys that are really distracted and impish. They have no parent there to correct them so the teacher spends a lot of the class doing that. I tried to move them because the swimming lesson is on at my jogging time as well. I have had no luck moving them so I might suss out my options at other pools before I renew in two weeks.

My sister-in-law Margi is getting married in a year and I am lucky enough to be one of her three
bridesmaids :) She is hyper-organised and bought dresses for us last year when her wedding was 20 months away. I told her then that I would lose weight and I was trying to get pregnant, so it would be better to get the dress closer to the time. I have lost 4 kilos since then and now my dress is a little big. There is no sense adjusting it because I could be slim or pregnant closer to the date.  The other two have gained weight and no longer fit in their dresses. She was worrying about it and I told her that she could swap the dresses around and that I would pay for my alterations and even a new dress if necessary. 

That along with and eating junk food made me stand out a bit with Jason's family. They are on to me. They know I am dieting lol. Having it "out there" just makes me more determined to lose the weight this year!

I believe I will be successful losing weight this year as I fill up on fibre which is low in calories and slows down the release of sugar into my bloodstream. My meals are nutrient rich as well. All of this reduces cravings and sets me up for a "slow and steady" weight loss.

Check out Arthur's incredible transformation. It is the most inspirational video! This disabled man shows amazing courage and persistence and gets the results he well and truly deserves :) Watch it with a box of tissues, you will be very, very glad you did.

My sister is on the biggest loser!

Continuing our celebrations we had a birthday breakfast picnic at the beach for Margi's birthday.  At 8am we headed to Tallebudgera Beach. We laughed as we tried to paddle the boat and we got into a bit of trouble with the current so I jumped in and swam the boat to shore.

After that we tried a rope to the boat and Margi pulled us. It was awesome fun! Breakfast was pancakes and fruit. Phew I was lucky there, I had lots of fruit and yogurt for breakfast. 

Thats me pulling the kids against the current and floating back to the start again. It was lovely time. We are going to bring Penny there and go back for my birthday in 3 weeks! She would like to be in the boat too!

We swung back to Margi's house to have a quick shower and then went to a pub at lunch time to celebrate Sid's birthday. There were three BORING salads on the menu. I ordered the least fattening one. It contained halloumi so I lied and said that I was intolerant to dairy and asked them to switch it for nuts or extra pumpkin or something. They must have forgot because all I got was a big bowl of rocked with trace amounts off pumpkin and onion. It was the Worst. Salad. Ever.

The constant flow of treats that I have said no to this weekend, impresses me and also makes me want to stay at home forever lol.

By the time we made it home at 4 pm. I was exhausted and starving. On the way I swung in to the farmers market and picked up the fruit and veggies that keep me strong. I then made the world fastest stir fry veggies with noodles. I ate a huge bowl, and that was my lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.


In this years Biggest Loser they go to Ararat, one of Australia's fattest towns. They aim to trim the weight of the entire town! I know they were successful by how much weight my sister and her family lost! That's my sister, with Nellie my niece on her shoulders. Jules her partner (I would love to say wife, but gay marriage isn't legal in Oz yet) is the blonde without glasses next to her.

Here is a piccy from the TV. Here they are all gathered for a town meeting where biggest loser gives them the cold hard facts about their weight! I am so so proud of them. This episode they all got weighed on a crane!

Oooh La La!

Last night I went up to my bedroom to read blogs and fall asleep. My current read is babe before baby (how good is that name btw). I recommend it, its a good read :)

Anyway Jason comes up and puts the moves on :) I have to say, fitter sex is so much better than hurry up we are trying to make a baby sex. I noticed how much easier it was to move my body, but I also felt like an elephant. I mean the bit that improved, highlighted how much further I had to go, but also how much BETTER everything would be when I got there :)

It occurred to me that I need to stop identifying being "someone who has to eat things just because they are there". I have had chocolate and ice cream in the house all January and its still there. Its nice to be able to have things to offer people as a treat every now and then. Now that the day of the party is here, its pretty cool that those chips are still intact (and able to be given away hee hee).

Ok so obviously I am not recommending that people have junk food in their house. But given that we don't all have a choice we need to find some strategies to help us. Firstly have lots of tempting fruit, veges and soups available so that when your in the mood for a "somethin somethin", that is the first thing you find. Hide all bad food out of sight.

We stack our biscuits and crackers in a box in the back of the linen closet. I fill a little container with crackers every school day for their lunch and if they aren't hidden, Jules will have eaten the whole packet for afternoon tea (sigh he's after my own heart), and their will be nothing to put in their lunch. Also it means that we forget about them and don't need to buy as many of them at the shops. During the holidays I don't even buy the crackers. When they are at home they can have more healthy options.

Chocolate goes in the freezer. We have a second upright freezer and it goes in the top drawer. I break it into cubes and them in click zip bags. I forget about it in there, and when I don't I only have a few cubes, frozen chocolate doesn't take long to thaw, but it slows you don't and you feel piggy having a "few portions". Perception helps. We definitely eat less of it this way than if it was sitting as a block on the counter.

Chips go in the boot of my car. Last year we used them as a reward for the kids doing well at swimming, we moved them into little click zip bags and they get them after swimming or circus. The way it works is that if they behave they get all their treat straight away otherwise during the lesson they will see me throwing some of them away. This really gets them to focus lol. When you have autistic spectrum kids you need to have some external motivation as well as intrinsic motivation for them to have a successful lesson. This is the way I did it last year, but now that I say it out loud. I might try little snack packs of tiny teddies or crackers. Its better for them than chips.

Anyway chips go in the boot, because the kids don't find them there, and that way you don't forget to take them with you to the party, swimming or whatever reason why you bought the evil things in the first place lol.

On our way to the party we stopped off at Dreamworld. You have to be prepared with food as everything for sale there is fattening and over priced. I decided to pack egg and lettuce sandwiches for lunch. Today I tried making the eggs in the mini blender. It took about 3 seconds. It was awesome). This is the  easiest way I have found so far. I don't use butter as there is plenty of fat in the eggs, I just use a little dijonaise for moisture and flavour.





Here is the food I packed for the day. Semi frozen slushi water, my frozen soup for dinner, banana bread, sandwiches and fruit.

We had a great time at Dreamworld. We have annual passes and this is the fourth time we have been there in a month. So we decided to focus on different rides and activities this time. We got the kids driving their own dodgem cars, and we played a couple of rounds of laser tag.

I also tried a very spinny ride. I didn't like it, but mostly I was afraid of feeling sick. Glad to say I can still handle it :)





It was a really good day. Then we went to the "all in one party". The first thing I did after giving everyone their presents was to heat up the soup. I expected to eat it out of the container, but in reality that would have been embarrassing. The best way was to drink it from a cup. Everyone who wasn't paying attention would think I was having a cup of tea. It made me feel so much more normal to have it this way. (Here I am looking normal, with my cup o soup lol)

The food that was on offer was quite healthy. Here is Margi (my sister-in-law) with her gorgeous berry punch. It's lemonade, apple juice and apple and black currant cordial, ice and frozen berries.





This along with my soup was a life saver. They had a fruit platter and I filled up the punch with extra ice and fruit. They had a few salads out and I had some potato salad and chicken schnitzel along with salad.

They had some chips out (Jason's chips) and everytime I went past them I literally salivated, but I didn't have one. They brought out cupcakes at the end, and again I physically reacted to them but didn't have any. The amount of times I "denied" myself today was incredible. I am glad though to realise how often we do think junk food is appropriate. I am grateful that through pre-planning I was able to make the best possible choices.

Today I did my first c25k workout!

The social activity got out of control yesterday leaving me too exhausted to cook. I asked Jason to get pizza for the kids on the way home, but we decided that would be too expensive. So I asked him to get some ham so I could make the kids some wholegrain wrap based pizzas. They are crisp with fresh produce on the top and are quick to prepare.

But Jason spotted some sausages on sale. He came home with 24 of them, and a bunch of other stuff he saw on sale. Frankly I didn't care. I was that wiped out. About the 3rd time in our marriage Jason cooked dinner. Admittedly it was sausages on bread with onions and mushrooms.

The sheer amount of fat that the onions were sitting in because they came off the sausages was disgusting. Add to that they are a who knows what processed meat in an artificial skin. I wouldn't do it. So I cracked open a tin of baked beans and ate it on toast. Ahhhh a true fast, nutritious cheap food.

Tomorrow night my in-laws are having an "All-in-one party" which is celebrating Margi and Nicoles birthdays, Nicole getting into uni, and Jason's parents 29th year wedding anniversary. Soooo you can already imagine how much cake there is going to be, and how there is no polite way out of the party. Face it, its time for me to relearn how I do parties lol.

Seeing as Dreamworld is 25 mins away from my in-laws place, we decided we would go there on the way. So after I dropped off Kai and Asha, I bought a few top up items from the produce store. I got some banana bread from the bakery so that we could have that along with fruit tomorrow at Dreamworld.

But I was wondering what to do for dinner, at a party, when the food would have to sit in a hot car for 6 hours. Then it occurred to me. Leek, cauliflower and broccoli soup! I could freeze it tonight, wrap it up in a thermal bag with an ice pack and it would be more than fine for dinner :)

So you slice a leek lengthwise several times so that you can hold it all together when you cut it.


Chop up some broccoli and cauliflower.







Throw it in a pot and add a bit of hot water. Add in some powdered vegetable stock. Then cut up some broccoli and cawliflower. Add more water to simmer. The amount of water I used made the soup a bit runnier than I like so next time I will use less. 

As I didn't need to use oil in the beginning there wasn't any fat in the ingredients. So I ground up a few cashews to add some fat. That helps my body absorb the fat soluble vitamins in my soup. Don't boil it too long as it cooks fairly quickly (about 5 mins), and if you boil cauliflower and broccoli too long you lose some precious nutrients.

To finish I got the bar mix and whizzed it smooth.  Broccoli and Cauliflower are both cruciferous vegetables which offer strong anticancer protection. Here is a short video which explains the awesome power of broccoli. (I really recommend you take the 3 mins it takes to watch it :)          

                                                                                                                           It was so yummy that I kept eating it. I had to make sure I saved some for tomorow. If you were to take the time to calculate calories, you would find its rather low and very high in nutrition. And yummy too so an absolute winner of a recipe. 

I walked today as I knew I wouldn't be able to go on Saturday. I also did my first official Couch to 5k walk jog today. This is the app I am using. It wasn't too bad. Its interesting to walk to an app as before I was only jogging on the flat, but this time I jogged when it said which was sometimes up or down a bit of a hill. I did pause it once as it wanted me start jogging half way up a hill, and another time when I had to wait for my kids to catch up with me.

So Jason comes home with two big packets of chips that he had gotten from work and holds them up proudly. Chips are a weakness of mine, so it's not a good idea to have them in the house. They are going to a party tomorrow, (that wasn't the party food I had in mind to contribute!). The thing that gets me is that he couldn't see how buying sausages, chocolate croissants (which were on special), or bringing home packets of chips wasn't supportive!

It actually crossed my mind to eat a packet to "show him". Obviously that wouldn't work. I am no where near the point where people actually take you seriously. He has NO IDEA of the changes that have gone on in my mindset. He completely expects me to fail, infact everyone does.

I ate a healthy dinner and filled up on a fruit plate. Then I blogged about it. Frankly I would rather spend my time talking to someone who believes in me. That's the best thing about a blog. Your friends will quickly get bored of fitness talk, but your blog actually benefits from you talking about it lol.

Getting better at jogging :)

I had a few slow hours this morning and I managed to hang some washing and have a healthy lunch. I cut up fruit for breakfast, the fruit platter and some afternoon tea boxes for when we went out that afternoon.

For lunch I had my potato, sprouts and bean mix salad that I had a few days ago. We saw the paediatrician who was happy with how Geordie was progressing. He is starting to become rational and I am able to talk to him rather than just have to threaten time outs.

After that I got Kai and Asha and we all went to Lollypops playland. I expected to eat this --->

for afternoon tea.

But we weren't allowed to bring our own food so instead I ended up eating this. Basically each kid got a plate of chips. But then they took off
 <----and left me with this.

That was a cruel joke. I automatically went into eating leftover mode and ate quite a bit before I realised what I was doing and said to myself, why are you eating chips? So then I stopped and realised what had happened.

So many old habits to rewire. 

After chipmunks we stopped into the library to change our books. Kai and Asha decided to stay the night and I told them that they would have to come for a walk jog with me if they wanted to stay over. I made it a shorter 3.2 k loop. We didn't have time for the longer loop. But I ran six lots of 90 seconds which made 9 mins.

The neighbours have noticed me jogging. It's becoming more a part of who I am, I have even started talking to my friends about my end of year goal to run 5 km It's odd because I am having the identity of someone who never runs, while jogging every second day. Its like my mind is trying to catch up and figure out what my identity is.

The only time I'm not excited about it is right before I have to go do it, but I don't think about it and just get it done. Its also exciting as each time I get a little better so I have something to look forward to. 

Super Fun Day

What a huge day! A few days ago Jules' belated Christmas present (they were out of stock) finally arrived. It was a basket ball hoop system.

I didn't get a chance to assemble it and Jules cracked this morning and I woke up to him trying to assemble it.

I had the time and he was rather convincing so I assembled it. It took 2 hours, but now its done and he absolutely loves it!





I had just enough time to make lunch and pack afternoon tea so we could eat healthy and save time and money on our big day out!

I had Kai and Asha today as Karen needed a sitter.  I picked them up at 12:40 and we drove to New Farm Park. I let them have a big play in the trees and playground.

Newfarm Park is easily one of the best playgrounds in Brisbane. It is right on the river and has amazing trees that are so interesting and easy to climb.

The kids absolutely love it and their body gets a workout without them even noticing.





Now that they are older, they play on equipment a little differently. Here they are standing up on the see saw rather than sitting down.

We played for about an hour and then we ate banana bread while we waited for the City Cat Ferry to arrive. The weather was mild and beautiful, perfect for a lovely little cruise on the river.

The kids all get along beautifully and they have known each other since Jules was 15 months old (he's now ten and a half). 

When we got off the ferry, we sat down to eat our fruit. I had packed cherries, red and green grapes, cut up strawberries, and blueberries. These fruits are really good on the go as there is no mess or skins to deal with . We all gobbled them up really fast. 

We were on the go again and I felt proud. Like I was living the life of a fit person who has lots of energy. (Go those regular 5 km walks!)

Kai was a life saver as he helped Jules and Geordie get changed into their swimming costumes in the mens, while I took Asha in the ladies. 

A really good tip  is to have a huge click zip bag with each kids costume in it. When they get changed they put their clothes into the bag. After they have finished swimming, you give each kid their bag with all their clothes in it. No sorting, nothing gets lost, wet or sandy. Its a brilliant system. 

Also it is a must to have really thin towels when you are carting them around all day you will be surprised how much easier it is!

Southbank has a free lagoon beach style pool right next to the river which is decadent to swim in. It has some deeper areas and lifeguards to help keep an eye on everyone. 

My kids have lots of lessons but aren't motivated to actually improve much. They tend to go through the motions a bit, rather than actually trying hard. 

Asha and Kai are very competent swimmers which was inspirational to Jules and Geordie. It helped push them to the next level. The pool challenged them as it is a much bigger with deeper areas in it than they are used to. 

After that everyone was hungry. I didn't have time in the morning to make the sandwiches so we grabbed subway. It was healthy and convenient  The fussy eaters munched away happily and it was relatively cheap. 

We took the Ferry back to the park and on the way we smelled some roses! Kai even took a picture of me, and it even turned out okay! I am liking this new lifestyle very much! 

It was such a huge day and they even wanted to stay over! Being a softie I offered to take them out tomorrow after Geordie's paediatrician appointment. (What was I saying about slowing down? - I don't think I am capable of it.)

This summer holidays the kids have had a slumber party, multiple trips to Dreamworld, seen six movies, gone skating, gone to parks, and Timezone. I think at this point my goal to "give the kids a fun summer holiday"  has been achieved, and it isn't even over yet lol! 

Today I jogged for a total of 7 1/2 mins

Today I looked after Liam. He is a lovely boy who loves to work. Nothing makes him happier than mowing lawns, but vacuuming and handiwork make a close second.

It was a slower day than I expected and it gave me time to look after us better. Here is my breakfast plate.

I am so glad I did such a big shop as it has given us many days of good quality fruit. Maybe it wasn't as expensive as I had originally thought!









As always I made my fruit platter for later in the day. Its a great thing to pull out when the "I'm hungries" start.

Geordie saw the oranges on my plate and wanted some too. So I made him an "Orange Flower" its nice seeing the healthy traditions emerge and grow.

Kurt and Gemma left for camping and I gave them some gluten free cakes that I had made for their camping trip, I also gifted them all the gluten free food I had bought for the kids in case they got hungry at my house. Those snacks will make a nice little camping gift for them.







I would have done oven fish and chips for Liam as he doesn't eat well. But I remembered what Geordie said yesterday about eating well so I did sandwiches. I always do it it on a board so the kids have a bit more of a choice. Then they usually have nearly all of it anyway. Liam had just a cheese sandwhich. But it was on multigrain bread so he was stretched a bit there. At least the rest of us didn't stoop to the unhealthy habits of our guests as we did yesterday.



My lunch was a boiled potato with some mixed beans warmed from a can, red cabbage, spinach leaves, sprout medley, avocado and balsamic vinegar dressing.

We went and saw the "Walk with the dinosaurs movie" it was fairly average, but good for the kids to have a perspective prehistoric life.

On the way home I topped up the fruit and veges. It was another $60 shop. I would be happier if it was cheaper, but it is a tempting time of the year for fruit.

I went for my walk. I think I made 5 km this time, but I forgot to record my track from the very beginning so I wont know for sure until I walk it next time. This time I jogged 5 x 90 seconds which was: 7 mins, 30 seconds.

When we got to the dog park there was this huge dog. It rushed up to us and I couldn't even get Penny off the lead before they were tangled up. Penny was clearly intimidated, and I had to drop the lead so that the tangled dogs wouldn't get hurt. Then Penny continued to be chased around and cornered by 3 dogs. The owner clearly had no control over the big dog, she was just lucky that it wasn't violent. That was the first time we have been bullied out of a dog park. I am so glad I have a dog I can control.

We were all a bit knackered when we got home, the cold fruit of the afternoon tea platter was perfect to cool us down.

Social Requirements

This week is insane for socialising! So many things to do either because I have been asked a favour, or its someones birthday! My whole week has been booked out before it even began.

Last night I felt like fruit for dessert so I made up a platter at the same time. Great time saver at breakfast and afternoon tea time! Convienience is the key to better snacking.

The first thing I did today was read with my boys because that is the most important thing to do. Then I visited my friend with the newborn to wish her a happy birthday. It was really nice. She put effort in by making pancakes and a fruit platter for us to eat. We chatted for about an hour.

My my brother in law, Rob came over to prepare his trailer for camping. It's so nice to see the cousins have a little chance to bond and get to know each other. Kurt and Gemma, as cute as they are, have shocking eating habits. Its a bit harder for them as they need to be gluten free or they will vomit violently. But they also get away with being extrememely picky. I made them a gorgeous pasta sauce last week and Rob ended up rinsing off the pasta sauce and just giving them pasta and cheese. They came up at lunch time, i didnt feel like putting in heaps of effort for them. Ot to eat it so everyone got noodles for lunch, including me. Just refined white noodles.

This happened for two reasons. Firstly as I only just got back from Karen's, I didnt' have a lot of time to prepare a good lunch. The bigger reason was that it was social to all eat the same thing. Hmmmm that is a habit I need to reflect on huh?

He stayed for hours, which was nice, but I didn't get much done.

Jason took the kids shopping yesterday for a treat. He ended up getting lots of treat foods like chips, orange juice, garlic bread etc. Anyway for the last few times I have used the oven Jules has been excited and hopeful that I have been cooking the garlic bread. So I caved and cooked them up some for part of their dinner.

I made up some veggie soup for my dinner. But the garlic bread was too tempting and I had 4 pieces. My body is NOT happy. I feel sick, yuck and guilty. I must remember that it is changing and I can't eat too much fat in one go anymore.

Looking over the day there has been lots of poor choices: pancakes, noodles, garlic bread. Everyone of those choices has a social element to them. This week is going to be hard, because its about as full as social events as it gets. But I am going to put my brave face on, do the best I can and just keep picking myself up.

This is a touching entry from a blog I am reading at the moment. Its called Escape from obesity and its about how her obesity has affected her children's lives. Here's another one where she talks about seeing a mother jogging, pushing a pram in the rain, and she wishes she had done that rather than using her kids as an excuse to be fat.

As I was brushing Geordie's teeth today I said that tomorrow afternoon we would go for a walk and jog.  He said "okay  Mummy :)" I asked him if he would like it if I were slimmer, and he said yes. And then he added "lets not eat anymore junk food Mummy, lets just eat healthy food." How c-u-t-e is that?!

Losing weight is like getting out of debt.

I understand why this is the slipping point for most New Years resolutions. It's not that people aren't motivated, its that life, distraction and responsibilities are beginning to sneak back in. This is healthy, life is meant to be in balance. 

Losing weight is like getting out of financial debt. It's like clearing out the clutter out of your house. It's hard to do, you can only manage a bit at a time and all the mean while, new bills come, and more stuff accumulates. But the solutions are the same. 

• Stick within your budget. Be it financial, storage capacity, or portion size.
• Preplan so you see it coming. Bills, shopping and eating are all foreseeable most of the time if we take the time to sit down and think about what's coming up and how we are going to deal with it. Brainstorm a few options, then we have flexibility as well as foresight, a winning combination!
• Do a bit at a time consistently, pop a bit of extra money on the loan or savings account consistently and watch it grow. Spend 15 mins a day, or an extra 50 items being put away each day and watch the clutter clear. Eat within your limits and do some exercise and watch that waist trim.
• Stand up for yourself, squeeze in a bit of time for you to reach your goals, yes everyone gets a piece of you, and so do you. Don't forget to reserve some time and energy for you! 

When you are out of debt you can save up for some things you like. When your house is organised you can find things quickly, easily, you have room to move. When your body is healthy, it feels happy, light and ready for life. You can bend into awkward positions easily, be picked up literally and figuratively. You like what you see in the mirror.

There will always be ebbs and flows. Achieving these things isn't a perfect straight line on a graph. Weight will come down, and it will come up again a little as well. Its the bigger picture we are looking at here. Are we doing our best in difficult situations? Are we continuing to improve? Or are we just fooling ourselves?

This is the time when it slips a little. But its not the time to give up. Its the time to get back to basics. Its worth it, don't let life's busyness steal it away from you. Take the time to think, what do I want from tomorrow, what's for dinner, when will I take time for me? 

If you know what you want from the next three dinners, then you know exactly what to buy from the shops. This will save time, money and clutter. You can eat the meals in any order you like. Just freeze the meat if need be. You are not locked in by a food plan...you are freed by one!

Here is my menu plan. Its an online spreadsheet through google drive. I can access it from anywhere and share it too. Online documents are wonderful :)

Plan, journal, and do some exercise. Slow down when you get a chance, and forgive yourself when you don't. If you keep trying the results will pay off, and even if its not perfect you are in a much, much better situation, than you would have been in!

I went for my walk today. I use an app called my tracks which measures how far and fast you have gone. I can only check the stats after the walk. I walked 4.6km today, which is getting closer to my 5km goal. I measure up to the dog park, and then after the dog park. Otherwise the long time I stop to let Penny play interferes too much with my stats.  I jogged for 4 lots of 90 seconds, which made 6 mins :) Todays time was 62.71 mins with a max speed of 7.92km.

I hope that everyone has the chance to take the time to learn the lessons they need to become their bestselves. Bless you all!

Slumber Party

Yesterday I did my fruit shopping. Its getting a bit expensive, it was a $65 dollar shop. Seeing as we don't buy a lot of processed foods though I guess its not too bad. I picked up a case of perfect mangos for $14 dollars. I buy a kilo of frozen mangos for $9 at the supermarket. Those mangos come from god knows where, so I feel a little better about buying local mangos and freezing them myself. As a whole I have saved money here.

Today is the day of the slumber party! We are having 4 other kids come over to swim and stay the night. The kids are excited! I am excited that the lawn is getting mowed and everything is getting vaccumed. I did say not as many parties this year....

Since I have all this yummy fruit from my shop, I prepared my breakfast fruit plate, and the afternoon fruit platter at the same time. I upsized it for the extra kids. Dinner was made two nights ago, it is the simply too good to be true, diet boscaiola pasta sauce which is kid friendly :)

Preparing food early always takes a lot of the stress out of hosting a party. While I was at it I knew it was time to freeze the perfectly ripe mangos I wouldn't get around to eating. I cut of the sides of the mango and scored them. Then I slid the mango off the skin with a spoon. 

The trick to freezing the mango is to lay it flat in a click zip bag, separating the layers with baking paper.  Otherwise you would just end up with a giant mango lump which isn't very useful. I froze about a kilo of mango and had about 8 mangos left over so very happy with that.

Because of my menu planning I decided to try a new recipe I made a terriyaki shitake mushroom salad. I prepared it at the same time as I was making everyone wholegrain wrap based pizzas. They are very yummy and have a crisp base. I am proud of myself for having a salad while everyone else was having pizza. I made a huge amount and couldn't eat it all. 

Here is our slumber party set up. Half the kids are off brushing their teeth. I am going to sleep downstairs too. Otherwise they will get up at dawn and it will be hours before I even know they were awake!

Tomorrow I am going to Shorncliffe Yacht Club for breakfast! Why do I do this to myself? Because I was invited and I nearly always accept friends invitations as they are a good idea. The difference between this year and last year is that I was doing a lot of the inviting and hosting, where as now I am having people more ask to come over and invite me out.