Sept 30 - Indulgence & A New Kitchen Toy

  My scumbag brain woke me up at 7:30am this morning (normal weekday time), after a mere four hours sleep.  I told it to go back to sleep and re-woke at nine.  I was expecting Miss Mischief at ten for our walk and picnic so I got up, made myself presentable and made a good energy sustaining brekkie of muesli, yoghurt, sliced banana, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
  After that I set about assembling the picnic.  Picnic food always has to be portable and relatively resilient to knocks and bumps if you are going to carry it with you.  I had made up a curried egg sandwich filling yesterday so that got turned into two curried egg and lettuce sandwiches on Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread (one for me and one for Miss Mischief).  I also had on hand a 200g tub of Yumi's Creamed Beetroot Dip.  I was surprised to find how low in calories it was, comparable at least to the Eggplant Dip.  I cut up a variety of veggie sticks for us to dip in it and put them in a plastic screw-top container.  I also added just one dried peach half each as something healthy but sweet to round out the meal with.
  Miss Mischief was a little delayed due to an error on the Metlink website pertaining to Sunday bus timetables but arrived just on 11am.  With the picnic packed and in the boot, we set off for Jells Park.  We parked at the far car park on the southern side and began a lap of the lake.  There were all kinds of wildflowers and animals about, swamp hens, moor hens, ducks, parrots, wrens, pelicans, and even frogs (heard but not seen).  Jells Park is always a pleasure, a little corner of tranquil bushland hedged in by suburbia.

  As we came out of our first lap, the clouds became ominous.  We'd already walked 40 minutes and it was another 10 back to the sheltered picnic tables near the car so as it began to rain on us we decided a second lap would have to wait until next week.  We weren't dampened too much and were able to happily sit and admire the scenery with our meal.  Then, with exercise done and tummies happy, I took Miss Mischief home then headed back to my place to take care of the dry laundry and assemble things required for my next trip out for the day.
  All week, since I saw the special in the Woolies catalogue, I have been assembling a present for Bertie.  The special was 'buy three Nestle baking products, get a free baking cook book'.  Bertie uses Nestle Melts for her delicious array of fudges so I bought three packets of white chocolate, three of milk and three of dark.  That did in fact net me three free cook books so there was one for Bertie, one for me and one for Masterchef too!
  I headed down to Bertie's place with aforementioned goodies.  She was delighted.  A little bit of food porn is always appreciated and baking is definitely her specialty.  She insisted on repaying the kindness with a treat so a batch of triple-choc brownies was whipped up in no time and I indulged my sweet tooth with warm squidgy brownie.  She even made sure I got all-edge pieces, I like the chewiness of them.  Tricky is with me on that front and he polished off all of the rest of the edgy bits prompting screams of disbelief from Bertie of "How are you not fat!?"  If any of you think of yourselves as having a sweet tooth, you have nothing on Tricky.  He paused halfway through a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk to eat those brownies.

  My visit was a relatively quick one, an hour or so including a quick trip to the local large scale pet store to pick up some new wood shaving bedding for GoGo.  I saw my nephew, but he didn't see me.  The poor little tyke got tired out today and was fast asleep on his mini couch in front of the Looney Tunes.  On my way home I stopped at Coles to grab a packet of frozen sweet potato fries.  I was ready at last to test my new kitchen gadget, the Philips AirFryer!

  It's quite a bulky little appliance.  It reminds me of a Buddha in its solid comforting weightiness.  It could have coped with the entire 450g bag of sweet potato fries but I opted to do just a small portion for my own immediate testing and appetite requirements.  I find that sweet potato chips, when I've tried oven-baking them in the past, tend to go a bit soggy or a bit chewy.  But these one... they were good, they were very good.
Crisp, crunchy and salty-sweet.
  Next I tried a 100g piece of pork fillet rolled in panko breadcrumbs and a little spray canola oil.  A mere ten minutes and I had a succulent crispy coated pork schnitzel served with steamed broccoli, corn, peas and green beans.  I am definitely calling this device a winner.  At recommended retail price of $329 it is a bit over the top but I got mine for $197 on special at Target.  Still expensive, but I can see a lot of things this is going to make easier and healthier for me.
  It comes with a recipe book, which is also available online and this week I am going to try two recipes from it.  First the Salmon Croquettes and then later in the week, the Spicy Drumsticks with Barbecue Marinade.  There are a lot of ideas on the web for uses for it too.  One lady has made low fat fried wontons with it using gow gee wrappers!  I'm looking forward to playing around with it more.  Cleaning it might become a bit tiresome, but as bulky as they are, the two cooking components have been designed to be dishwasher safe so it shouldn't be too bad.
  That was about it for today.  I did spend some time idly chatting to Earnest tonight and meandered about procrastinating the blog.  I was not sure how I felt about the brownie to be honest and I have felt rather distracted by other matters most of the evening.  I'm still not sure how I feel about the brownie.  I enjoyed it for sure!  But could I have gone without it?  Certainly!  Do I wish I had gone without it?  Not so sure on that count.  Ah well, I have done my planner for the week and I guess it is just a matter of continuing to get back on the wagon.  Have a good week all.
  Jess

Sept 29 - A Top Night Out

  I didn't set my alarm today but I still woke up at 7:30am.  I took my blood sugar (5.3) and got up, went to the bathroom and undertook the required sample taking process, then headed straight off to Dorevitch to have some blood leeched out of me.  I was there by 8:00am but there were already 12 people ahead of me!  On the plus side, I got a good nurse this time, she was able to find a vein in my left arm without much issue.
  I was home again and able to eat by 9ish.  I cooked up a yummy breakfast of one slice of Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread spread lightly with Rosella Reduced-Joule Chutney topped with one slice of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese and then toasted in the toaster oven, then all that was topped with two slices of short cut bacon and one egg, sunny side down.  I love eggs for breakfast.
  After breakfast I didn't much feel like going on the cross trainer so I decided to have a walk instead.
  I went next door to see if Benny the German Shepherd wanted to come with me and he did.. but he didn't.  He was excited to get the lead on but when he realised it was only me going with him he refused and walked me back to the house.
  So I set off by myself and walked to Blackburn Road and back.  It was a 50 minute walk of 3.8km.  According to google maps it should take 47 minutes so I'm pleased that I am relatively on track with their estimate.  I did stop to take a few photos after all!  I saw some pretty little white lawn daisies and a pink climbing geranium, a lovely looking claw-foot bath, some baby trees (you may call them saplings if you wish) and a crested pigeon!

Yes, you heard right, claw-foot bath.

  When I got home from the walk I was going to jump straight in the shower but then I managed to catch Teddy online.  We had a nice long catch up during which I made and ate lunch.  Lunch was 50g of Yumi's Hummus with ten Vita-Weat Multigrain Rice Crackers and a large unpeeled carrot cut up into eight sticks, six brazil nuts and two dried peach halves.  I didn't want to eat too much for lunch, knowing I was going out for dinner, but I wanted it to be filling enough that I wouldn't be too hungry by dinner time.  When it got to half past one it was time for Teddy's stories (11:30pm Friday in Boston), so off he popped to watch TV.  He's a devoted watcher of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
  It was a little while after this that I remembered that I needed to look respectable this evening so I finally headed off to the shower.  I actually really like having showers in the afternoon on weekends.  By the afternoon the sun has heated up my bathroom and the sunlight makes the room bright and glowy.
  Then it was on to a few chores and bits and pieces, a bit of preparation for tomorrow's walk and picnic with Miss Mischief, flicking on the start of the Grand Final and eventually, time to head off and collect my dinner companions.
  I had a lovely dinner tonight with Mr Smart, Masterchef and Mr Masterchef, at The Moor's Head in Thornbury.  What an amazing meal!  So different, new and interesting taste sensations at every turn.  The boys tried a Lebanese Cabernet which, while the thought of it raised their eyebrows at first, turned out to be quite a decent drop.  I was the designated driver for the evening, as usual, so I stuck with a 250ml Tamek Sour Cherry Nectar.

  After contemplation and debate over the menu we decided to go with the $25 per head banquet.  That got us three entrees and one salad to share and one manoushe or pide choice per person.  The entrees were chef's choice, we were given the radishes and salt, the pickled vegetables and olives and baby peppers stuffed with feta and walnuts.  The last of the three was the clear favourite, though all were enjoyed.
  For our four 'inauthentic pizza' choices we chose with a method of partly each choosing a flavour but part general consent of the group.  We went with the Beiruti manoushe, the Sultan Mehmet Pide, the Erkin Koray pide and the Istanbuli pide.  For our salad choice we took a vote and the chick pea salad won!  The pide and came to the table divided into sections of four, the manoushe into eight and a big carby feast began.  My favourite, unsurprisingly, was the Beiruti, my choice, as I'm a sincere fan of labne, za'atar and fresh tomato.  The combination was magic.  It was also realy nice to have a meal quite heavy in veggie choices and the differ substantially from what we think of as pizza in that they aren't slathered in cheese.

 For dessert (because if you're going to indulge then do it properly) Masterchef, Mr Masterchef and I split The Tilyan, a Lebanese inspired version of a Nutella pizza, served with airy light wisps of Persian fairy floss.  I ask you, how many calories can something that light really have?  It's practically weightless!
  After dessert and the eventual settling of the bill, we headed back to the Masterchef homestead for wine and Pictionary!
  We played four games in total, first girls vs boys.  We girls were pipped at the post!  We led the whole game but they caught up while we failed to win a few 'all plays'.  Then it was non-partners, my one winning game, played with Mr Masterchef, then couple vs couple and I regret to say that I may have let Mr Smart down a teensy bit on that front.  Still, as I said, better that the married couple win lest they argue or have to ban Pictionary in the household.  Then we returned to a follow up battle of the sexes and unfortunately we girls again let the gender down.  Ah well, 'tis only a game spake the losers.  At any rate, Mr Masterchef was very chuffed to find that he'd been on the winning team all four games.  Apparently his normal win rate at Pictionary is less than impressive.
  The most hilarious moments come up in Pictionary.  Tonight's funniest was during an all play where the subject being drawn was 'Devonshire Tea'.  I managed to get Masterchef onto the right track of 'high teas' as we regularly go to those with Miss M and FlyGirl but getting her to add the 'Devonshire' bit was proving incredibly difficult.  Mr Masterchef was having similar issues getting Mr Smart to guess right.  It was only through his rather detailed illustration depicting four Hobbits and Gandalf the Grey that he eventually got Mr Smart to utter the word 'shire'.  We then both got very exciting, gesticulating wildly at our respective team mates only to illicit the simultaneous responses "Buckinghamshire Tea" and "Nottinghamshire Tea".
  Sometime during the third game there was a rather amazing moment.  My alarm went off to take my blood sugar and I made last call for guesses on my blood sugar reading.  As I placed the blood on the test strip Mr Smart called out 8.4 and guess what, not even ball park, he straight out guessed it before it appeared on the screen.  I'm convinced he's following my consumption closer than me and has developed an uncanny knowledge of the inner workings of my body!  I thought it would be must higher due to my dessert indulgence.  I'd even also had two sips of Mr Smarts rather delicious raisiny muscat.
  After the hilarity of Pictionary, there was conversation, more wine and a generally whizzy jolly time.  It's always fun hanging out with the Masterchefs.  Mr Smart and I headed off just short of midnight and went back to his place to watch tonight's Liverpool match.  Suarez scored 2 goals in the first half, one of them inside 2 minutes!!  I've decided I quite like soccer, especially when it's exciting like tonight's match.  Liverpool won five goals to Norwich's two by full time and with the match concluded I had to head home.  I'm glad I stayed up late, even though I have to be up at 9am to get ready for my walk and picnic with Miss Mischief and it's now just past 3am!
  Hope you've all had fantastic Saturday nights too!
  Jess

Sept 28 - Running Errands & Blobbing Out

  I calibrated my scales this morning and got on.  I was happy to accept the figure that stared back at me - 110.7kg (244lbs).  That brings my total loss up to 16kg (35lbs)!  When I told Lord Koshington this afternoon that I'd lost 16kg in three months, his reaction was to correct me with this brilliant sentence: "You've worked hard and reduced your weight, "lost" sounds like a passive and easy process."  You have to appreciate the thoughtfulness and understanding that goes into a turn of phrase like that.
  Shower, dress, breakfast and off to the doctor's with me.  Dr Tanya was very happy with my results so far.  She scanned my blood glucose readings, weighed me on her scales (on hers I come up as 108kg with clothes on but they are very old scales so I don't trust them) and took my blood pressure.  Today it was 131/88 with a pulse rate 83.  She said that is still perfectly good and acceptable, and understandably a little higher than last time because she could see I was excited with telling her everything I'd been doing.
  She wrote me out a new script for my anti-baby pills and ordered the next round of tests, so it's no food for me after 8pm tonight!  Tomorrow morning, first thing before breakfast I am off to the Dorevitch lab for blood tests.  I am getting fasting blood glucose, fasting cholesterol, iron, vitamin D and urine microalbumin and I should get the results the following weekend.
  I got back from the doctors, paid a bill I wasn't happy about and am still pursuing credit on, and then got ready to head off into the city.  I was at the bus stop, I could see the bus a few hundred metres away, and my mobile buzzed.  My lunch date, an old work colleague, was texting me to cancel.  He got pulled into an unexpected meeting and so we postponed to my next day off.  Lucky his text got to me before the bus pulled up!
  That had me at a bit of a loose end so I decided to write out a shopping list and get some of tomorrow's chores and errands done early!  The weather was turning dark and gloomy so it seemed as good a day as any to get that sort of thing out of the way.
  Now yesterday, I had a chat with a neighbour from up the street.  He's a retired man who looks after his aged mother and he doesn't have a car anymore so I had said to him, if he ever needed to go shopping he should call on me and if I'm going I'll happily take him along with me.  He must be psychic because the second I started to write out my shopping list there was a knock at the door!  It made me laugh to see him, but I was happy to have the company and off we went to the shops together.  It didn't take long and I we didn't get stuck in the rain too much.  I dropped him home and went back and unpacked my own groceries.
  I had a few other errands to run today so I went out again shortly after, this time to Waverley Gardens to visit Medicare (partly related to the aforementioned evil bill that I'm not happy about) and also to pick up my raincheck from Target.  That's right!  You are now reading the words of a Philips AirFryer owner.  Low-fat sweet potato chips and crispy air-fried schnitzels here I come!  I will be taking it for a test run on Sunday evening.
  I got home to find that yet again my Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine had chosen to arrive on a rainy day.  Argh!  It wasn't too bad as at least it wasn't in the rain all day today, only for an hour or so.  I separated out the wet pages and put it in front of the heater to dry while I made and ate my lunch.
  After lunch around half past one a funny thing happened in front of my place.  The police pulled a guy over, donned pairs of blue latex gloves and proceeded to go over both the driver and his vehicle in minute detail!  They were definitely looking for something and my guess would be drugs.  The driver was fully cooperative and though I didn't hear any words, his demeanor seemed to say "It's ok, I know you're just doing your job".  In the end they mustn't have found anything as they shook hands, thanked him and let him go with no further action.  A little mini-drama for the day.
  After that I did some laundry, got my exercise done and a few bits and pieces.  Then I ate an early dinner to be sure of meeting the 8pm deadline and brushed my teeth to ensure no further eating will tempt me!

Today's food and exercise was:

• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries, Fibre Toppers, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Morning snack was small unripe-ish banana.
• Lunch was a Mission Rye Wrap spread with about 30g Yumi's Hummus then topped with 54g of Pastoral rare roast beef, sliced mushrooms, Lebanese cucumber and alfalfa sprouts.
• Afternoon snack was eight brazil nuts and two dried peach halves.
• Exercise was 41 minutes on the cross trainer.  We are now at a section of episodes of Buffy that I have seen before but I'm still looking forward to them.
• Dinner was a bowl of mild veggie-heavy chilli con carne served with a toasted Mission Rye Wrap filled with two sliced of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese.  Nom!  Quesadilla substitute!  That was the last serve of the mild batch too, next time it will be the new improved spicy recipe with chickpeas.
• Dessert was 20g Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.

  It is now 6:30pm, I have ceased eating for the day and commenced my pre-blood test fasting.  I am now going to settle in for a night of blobbing out on the couch watching Futurama and Terry Jones BBC documentaries.  Have a lovely weekend!  Go Hawks! Go Storm!
  Jess

Commence Operation Blob Out!

Sept 27 - Chilling Out

  Not much to report for today so it's a bit of a short one.  Also, it is late and I am sleepy.
  Work was ok.  We had a few laughs in our team meeting which was nice, but I'm relieved that my weekend is finally here.  The week has been a bit draining to be frank and staying up this late when I know I have a 9am appointment doesn't help!
  I was at a bit of a loose end tonight.  I really wanted to relax but when I'm at home I always feel like I should be doing something.  Fortunately, Jack Johnson came to the rescue.  I messaged him, having a whinge, and he mooted that if I was bored and he was bored, perhaps there was a solution in plain sight.  So I headed down to his place.
  I was stopped at a train crossing on the way and an odd but kind of good thing happened.  I went to rub my cheek and I missed.  Kind of like the way you land awkwardly when the step is lower than you think.  My cheek was further away than I thought and I paused to run my hand over it.  My brain recognises it has shrunk!  Kind of exciting.
  Jack and I watched five or six episodes of Archer then I headed home again.  Stealth cat even deigned to sit next to me, even though I am reliably informed I was sitting on his side of the sofa.  I did take my two Wagon Wheel's with me to Jack's thinking it might be fun to share the treat/guilt but he is trying to lose some weight and be good too, so I put them away to not be thought about for another while.
  If I had eaten one though, I wouldn't have felt bad about it today.  I was in the right mindset for it, I didn't want it to compensate for any bad feelings, just because I knew I would enjoy it.  But despite a lack of Wagon Wheel consumption, I did feel very relaxed by the time I left Jack's which is a credit to him and his fur family.
  Once I got home I indulged the imgur addiction for a few hours (hence the late late post) and also checked out all the funny links Lord Koshington had left on my messenger for me.  He does that sometimes knowing I'll come home and have something to giggle at.
  I want to say a big thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post, both on the post and on facebook.  The advice was really encouraging and it gave me a few more things to think about.  I have decided not to rush in to joining Curves as it only has the one option whereas a local council run facility might have all sorts of classes and a pool even.
  Gub and I used to do a weekly aquaerobics session which I loved, so I might look for somewhere that offers that as well as strength training and other opportunities.  At the moment I am checking out the Monash Aquatic & Recreation Centre as a likely candidate, though that too will come down to what bang I get for my buck.
 
 Today's food was:

• Breakfast was a half a cup of Fibre Toppers, with Pura Light Start Milk, a sliced 
• Morning snack was 250g of fresh strawberries.
• Lunch was a Mission Rye Wrap spread with about 45g Yumi's Eggplant Dip then topped with 100g of Pastoral rare roast beef, Lebanese cucumber and alfalfa sprouts.  Then a nice semi-ripe  Packham pear.
• Afternoon snack was two brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan halves, four almonds and half a dried peach.
• Dinner was a swordfish steak, pan-fried in olive oil and garam masala served with steamed broccoli, corn, peas and green beans.

  Even though it's looking a fairly busy day, tomorrow with a doctor's appointment first up and a train trip into the city for lunch, I'm still thankful that it's at least a day filled with stuff on my agenda!
  Jess

PS: Also, today I let go of a grudge/misconception that I'd still been carrying around from high school.  That felt good.

Sept 26 - To Join or Not

  Well it was a very busy day today!  I had a staff member visiting from another shopping centre today so we spent the day covering off the differences in the way we do things and what might help at her centre  It made a fun change in work flow and she enjoyed herself which made me feel happy.  She wants to come back in a few months and pick my brain some more which is quite flattering.
  I didn't adhere to my planned lunch today.  I sort of forgot that with a visitor it's much more customary to go and share a meal together so we did that and I showed her around the centre.  We ate at Nandos and I did reasonably well with my choices I think.
  After she left to beat the traffic back to the north west of the city, I was able to sit in with Ops Man J and learn something new myself.  It's an expenditure approval process the office staff don't often get involved in but I wanted to learn it as part of my development this year.  I saw the computer half of the process today and later on in the year I'll get to see the bits that happen beforehand.

  After work I headed straight down to Curves Blackburn to see Janet for my free tour and info session (and of course the obligatory sales pitch).  I found the building easily enough but it took me a little while to find my way in.  It is 8A Blackburn Road but you actually enter it from Railway Road.  I went into the wrong building and up the wrong stairs at first!
  Janet talked me through the 'Curves Complete' program, which is an exercise and weight management package in one.  There are two problems I find with that.  One, it's payment up front for 12 weeks and I just don't have that much cash to splash right now.  Two, I feel like I've been taking pretty good care of my eating and planning my meals on my own so far.  I don't want to change my eating and my exercise all at once.  I think I would rather continue learning what works for me with food on my own.
  So that brings me to just joining the gym.  The circuit is geared for strength training, which is what I feel I am ready to introduce.  They have machines designed specifically for women and you do 30 seconds hard on a machine, then 30 seconds on the 'recovery pad' - a bouncy, running on the spot thing, then 30 seconds on the next machine etc.  You warm up, do the circuit twice (8 machines, 8 recoveries) and then stretch and warm down.  The whole workout takes 30 minutes so given that it's so close to work, it really wouldn't take much longer than my 40 minutes on the cross trainer at home
  If I join by Sunday, I get a discounted joining fee, and one month free membership, then it's $59 per month for 12 months.  The cancellation is 30 days notice and penalty of $10 per month of unused membership, capped at $50.  At that price, if I go three nights a week (I'm thinking Monday to Wednesday) then each visit is around $4.53.  Spending that much extra per month would be a little bit of stretch, but I think I can manage it.
  Janet took all my measurements in readiness.  I weighed in at 113.6kg including all my clothes and a belly still full of lunch.  She also got me to hold a little machine that apparently sends a pulse through you or some such and then tells them how much of you is fat.  Not sure how it all works but it reported that I am nearly half fat, 46.7%.  Not surprising really but fortunately that is not as scary as it sounds; as a woman I should be about 30% so it's not like I have to get to zero!
  The whole session was a bit mentally exhausting, it took a whole hour and Janet talks a mile a minute (though I did get a LOT of information in that hour).
  When I got home I heated up dinner, ate and then called my Aunty K.  I knew she had done Contours which is a similar concept so I wanted to pick her brain.  My call turned out to be fortuitous as she was on her lonesome.  All four boys out simultaneously!  It was really lovely to catch up for an hour and of course we discussed much more than the gym question but she did say that she had really enjoyed her time there which made me feel quite positive about it.

  So... what do you all think?  Do I join or not?
I'm actively asking for opinions people, don't hold back!

 Today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast was toasted banana bread with yoghurt, honey, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.  This is such a delicious breakfast, I cannot stress that enough.  Bertie, I love you to bits for filling my freezer with individually wrapped slices of this manna from oven.
• Morning snack was 250g of fresh strawberries.  I'm liking this as a snack because I can graze on it without getting the guilts.
• Lunch was a Nando's Classic Chicken Wrap with mayo (ie. normal) and Lemon & Herb basting, a 390ml Coke Zero and a side salad, to which I added the 15ml Trio of Bell Peppers dressing.  I wasn't going to put the dressing on but it was one of those fresh but pre-made salads that has been a little while in the fridge and I just can't eat dry lettuce.
• Dinner was homemade pumpkin soup and a buttered grainy bread roll.
• Exercise was 40 minutes on the cross trainer and... and... Oz and Willow... well... I may have teared up a little at the end there.

  Eager to hear what you all think of the Curves idea!
  Jess

Sept 25 - Getting Stuff Done

  A much better day today.  I didn't touch imgur and I stuck to making sure all my planned items for the day were ticked off before I started sitting down and getting comfy.
  It was rough getting out of bed this morning.  I got up even later than usual, about 7:40am today.  Then I went through my normal routine, not really hurrying, ate breakfast while watching snippets of Sunrise.  Put my dishes away, collected up my stuff, locked up, got in the car and realised I needed petrol.  Drove up to the petrol station, filled up, continued on to work and still got there on time.  I love school holidays, traffic is a breeze.
  A little thing happened today that had me chuffed and I thought I'd share, particularly for Gub as it relates to my improved fitness.  I had a customer pay an account today and it was getting on for closing time of the bank (our branch closes at 4pm Mon - Thu).  I was going to bank it the following day but I looked at the clock and 3:50pm glared back at me.  No, I thought, I can make that.
  I wrote up the cheque and rushed out the door, walked briskly up the travelator and on to the branch (about 200m I think but I'm terrible with distances).  When I got to the counter and the lovely E asked me how I was going, I realised as I responded that I was not panting! I hadn't even broken a sweat.  My heart rate had increased, but I wasn't in the least out of breath like I would have been just three short months ago.  A proud moment.
  Once I got home I focussed on getting everything on my planner done.  I still wanted to try eating before exercising so I managed to coordinate that.  I'm really glad I did actually.. my dinner must've been a lot higher GI than I thought.  Even after two hours and exercise my blood sugar reading was still 7.6.  That's not too bad, but I hate to think what it would have been without the exercise!
  I got a phone call this evening from Curves Blackburn too.  I had visited their booth a couple of months ago at the Women in Business luncheon I went to and they were following up to see if I would like a free no-obligation tour of their facility.  I have decided that 'yes I would' so I'm going in tomorrow evening to be shown around and given the sell.  I feel like I am at the point that my exercise needs some tweaks or changes and this might be a good way to go depending on how the tour goes.
  One of the bonus things I did tonight was I found the official University of Sydney Glycemic Index website.  It's not like it was hiding or anything.. I just only went looking for it tonight.  It looks like it will be a great resource and it has a handy-dandy food search!  Now I'd better get on and give you today's summary as I should really be getting to bed.
I want to try getting up early tomorrow.

   Today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries, muesli, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with about 30g Yumi's Hummus then topped with 60g of thin-sliced honey leg ham, Lebanese cucumber, a sliced tomato and alfalfa sprouts.
• Afternoon snacks were 250g of fresh strawberries and a passionfruit, then later, two brazil nuts, two hazel nuts, two pecan nut halves, four almonds and half a dried peach.
• Dinner was two chicken pinwheels (one sundried tomato and one bacon and cheese) with steamed veggies.  I've switched to the Birds Eye SteamFresh Larger Serve and today I used the broccoli, corn, peas and green beans variety.
• Exercise was 40 minutes on the cross trainer and Buffy was back on the menu.

Before and after!  I promise not to show the really really after...

  So that's it from me for another day.  I bid you pleasant dreams and a happy tomorrow.
  Jess

Sept 24 - Ran Out of Time

  Cold in the office this morning! Only 16°C (60.8°F... yes Uppy, I know that's not cold to you Michiganders and Michigeese).  As a result, my sub right-hand gal and I scooted over to The Reject Shop and depleted their stocks of polar fleece blankets.  The 127 x 152cm ones were only $5 so I got one to keep at work for cold mornings and one to take home for snuggling on the couch (not that I seem to get much couch time these days).
  Work was pretty good today, I finished off a few nagging tasks and prepared for my accrual deadline tomorrow.  Tomorrow I am teaching my my sub right-hand gal the process so that she can do it for the next couple of months, then on Wednesday I am teaching the same process to a girl from another shopping centre as she's not quite confident about all facets of it.  I like teaching but it does mean I have to be careful about managing my own workload.  Time has a habit of getting away from me.

  Did a few errands on my lunch break today the highlight being that I bought myself a set of Spalding 2kg neoprene-coated dumbbells.  I presume that the smiling lady and lilac colour is Spalding's idea of weights designed for the female fitness market.  There were also 1kg and 3kg dumbbells in 'feminine colours' but I picked 2kg as a starting point.  I've begun reading sections of the online Weight Training for Dummies to get an idea of what I should be doing and how.
  I came home to a mega-electricity bill, a product of the gas heating being off all winter, but also the good news that I've been made a Choice voting member.  I like being a Choice member and I'm looking forward to getting a bit more involved in it.  Not a lot more though, I'm struggling to get everything done as it is!  I ate dinner early, intending to exercise afterwards as that seemed to give a positive outcome on my blood sugar.  However... due to my propensity toward browsing on the net, I spent the next hour and a half or so browsing imgur.com and looking at all the new pictures.  It was 8pm before I knew it and I really wanted to make my new batch of chilli tonight, so off I headed to do that.
  This batch was to be a little spicer than the last.  It was made with:
500g extra lean beef mince
200g sliced mushrooms
4 small carrots, grated
2 small zucchini, grated
3 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
3 x 400g cans beans, drained (I used kidney beans, cannellini beans and chickpeas)
1 x 310g can corn kernels, drained
1 x 140g can tomato paste
2 x 46g Maggi Chilli Con Carne Mix dissolved in one cup of hot water
  This is a one pot chilli.  I used my big non-stick pasta pot and everything was pretty much added in that order after first browning the mince in a little olive oil spray and then I simmered it for quite a while to thicken it up and let the veggies absorb all the spicy flavours.  Mr Smart may well need to bring his Tabasco sauce as it's probably still not spicy enough for him, but it's now plenty spicy for me!  It made nine serves just a little over one and a half cups per serve so my freezer is a lot fuller now.
  With that crossed off today's list, I put some laundry in a big tub with some Napisan to soak it overnight.  They are white clothes, particularly t-shirts, that have got that all too familiar yellowing to them about the collar.  If an overnight soak doesn't fix them up then they may well be bound for the bin.  Mind you, since I hate washing whites they may well end up there anyway.  I haven't worn some of these things in so long that they might now be too big for me!  I think it's nearly time to do a wardrobe cull.  I certainly don't want to go back to fitting into any of the over-sized stuff again, so I may as well chuck it or donate it while I'm feeling good.
  After all that it was already quarter to ten so I had to get started on the blog so I don't think I'll be exercising tonight.  Lesson learned though, I have now instituted a 'No imgur before exercise' rule because I would have had time had I not been sucked in to a browsing vortex!  Oh well, we all have these little things that distract us.  I just have to make sure I don't let them waste my time.  I'm trying to do so much these days that I really need to watch how my evenings are spent.
  The thought occurs though that I don't seem to be getting much mental 'down time'.  I'm not sure what to do about that to be honest.  Re-watch Lord of the Rings perhaps, that was pretty relaxing curled up on the couch under a big fluffy blanket.  I know I made the decision to focus on my health and weight loss this year and that's what I'm doing but mental health still has to play a part in that and I'm beginning to feel that I'm perhaps taking on too much.  Just not sure what can be cut (apart from imgur obviously).

  Today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries, muesli, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Morning snack was 40g Yumi's Eggplant Dip with cucumber sticks and five Vita-Weat wholegrain rice crackers.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with about 30g Yumi's Hummus then topped with 60g of thin-sliced honey leg ham, a sliced tomato, Lebanese cucumber and alfalfa sprouts.
• Afternoon snacks were 125g of fresh blueberries, half a dried peach, two brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan halves and four almonds.
• Dinner was a 430g bowl of Coles Creamy Tomato Soup with a toasted cheese sandwich made of two slices of Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread and two slices of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese followed by 20g Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.

  So the sun has well and truly set on this Monday and I am bedtime bound.  Tune in tomorrow for another thrilling episode of the often mundane details of my everyday life!
  Jess

Sept 23 - A Relaxed Kind of Busy

  I have no bloody idea how much weight I lost this week.  My scales gave me readings showing no loss all week until today where it showed anywhere from a 1kg loss to a 1kg gain!  Seriously, I got on and off the scales five times this morning and every reading was different despite no change in my physical being or the location of the scale.  And yes, I know I shouldn't weigh in every morning but I have been while my weight loss has been so rapid because it gave me a little ego boost every morning.  I am going to stop as of today.
  I am going to go shopping for weights this coming week, in part so I can start doing the strength training I've mentioned previously but also so I can check the calibration on my scales with a 5kg weight!  It's very frustrating not knowing the correct figure, it makes me doubt all the figures before too.  I contemplated going to the walk-on scales at the vet but I'm guessing they'd object to weighing me naked!
  Last night Mr Smart and I finished watching the LOTR trilogy of films.  Only after the final film was watched did he confess that he had made me watch the extended versions of all three films!  I am dating an evil mastermind.  But mark my words {narrows eyes and breaks into a sly smile} I shall have my revenge before the year is out! {evil chuckles}
  We didn't get up until about 9am and Mr Smart threw himself straight into his uni reading on the couch while I made a promised breakfast of my variant of Eggs Benedict.  Breakfast was three short cut rashers of crispy bacon, one slice of toasted Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread topped with a poached egg and a slightly heaped dessertspoonful of Maille Hollandaise sauce.  It was a bit hard coordinating all the components to be ready at once, hence the extra crispy bacon, but it was still well received and Mr Smart cheekily said he was happy for me to continue practicing.
  The pre-made Hollandaise was a bit on the vinegary side and obviously, for the sake of product longevity, contained more gunk than the three ingredients it should have.  I will definitely be learning how to make it myself but that will take time I don't yet have.  I checked with Mum though, and she confirmed that I could make the Hollandaise the day before and put it in the fridge.  It will also freeze but she was careful to stress that you can't defrost it in the microwave.
  After brekkie Mr Smart returned to his uni work and I got on with my regular Sunday housework.  I loaded up the dishwasher and started doing general kitchen tidying, went to my computer and starting doing my weekly planner for the coming week.  I'm trying to mix up my breakfasts a bit more this week to avoid getting fed up.  Mr Smart headed off home about noon and I went on with laundry and planning.

  Despite today being designated a lazy day*, it was such a nice bright warm spring day that I almost felt compelled to be productive.  And since I indulged in a relatively late start and a 10am breakfast it was 2pm before I was hungry again.
I paused my busy-bee-ness for lunch: A Mission Five Grain Wrap spread with Yumi's Eggplant Dip then topped with 48g of Sole Mare tuna in olive oil, alfalfa sprouts and cucumber.  Not sure the eggplant worked with the tuna but it wasn't terrible.

  I quickly returned to buzzing about doing things, eager to ride the momentum while it lasted.  As I brought in the dry washing it occurred to me that since my old underpants no longer fit me they may as well not take up valuable draw space.  So since my scales thwarted my attempt at an accurate weight measurement, I took this photo to show you the cm off my waist!  New high cut knickers on top of old full brief ones destined for the bin.
I will be updating my measurements next month.
  My slow but steady productivity continued unabated and I was able to settle in at my desk for the afternoon and really do a thorough job of next week's plan.  I've even started the one for the week following that and started to look at recipes to increase the scope of my meals!  My desk also got a fair bit clearer today as I began to actually lay things away or throw them out.

  I paused around 5pm to have a Honey Murcott mandarin for a snack and then again at 6pm for dinner and an episode of Futurama.  Dinner was a serve of mild veggie heavy chilli con carne followed by 20g of Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.   I was going to make a spicier batch of chilli today but I had forgotten to get a zucchini at the shops and didn't want to disturb my lazy day by needing to get properly dressed and go out so it will just have to wait until tomorrow.
  Well that's about it, I'm still merrily sorting through my desk but I'm prepared for Monday and may well head to bed shortly.  Have a great week guys!
  Jess

*Lazy day: I didn't do any exercise, or brush my hair, or even get fully dressed!
For a true lazy day I should have watched a lot more TV and had slightly more chocolate but I'm happy with what I did, it felt relaxing enough.

Sept 22 - Woke With a Start

  I woke with a start this morning.  A woman screaming and a man yelling.  I jumped out of bed and threw on a green toweling dressing gown and stepped out of the front door with adrenalin coursing through my veins and there was my next-door neighbour unloading shopping from his boot, his German Shepard who I've known from a pup, and nothing...
  I was so sure of what I'd heard I asked my neighbour about it.  Turns out I wasn't going mental but had misheard the situation.  Benny is a big dog, dark and wolfish in appearance, with scars on his nose.  A nervous woman on her morning walk had screamed as he ran up for a pat.  My neighbour had yelled "Don't worry, he won't bite!".
  Oh well, at least now I was up with the whole day ahead of me.  So of course I hopped on the internet and browsed.  About 9am I decided to go do my exercise and get it out of the way early, then a little more internet.  I was showered and dressed by about noon.  Got to love a lazy start to the weekend.  I needed to go to the shops and get a few things out of the way and I was undecided as to which shops to go to.  I eventually decided on The Glen, in part due to a request from Mr Smart, and set off.
  I found the requested item first, little espresso glasses, then went to Coles and got my grocery shopping done.  I'm planning to make chile again this week as it's enjoyable, nutritious, cheap and fills the freezer.  The last batch (which I still have two serves of left!) was a little mild so this time I'm putting in two packs of spice!  This meant the shopping trolley was also full of different types of beans and diced tomato.  I got what I needed and headed home without further browsing.

   It was a gloriously sunny day today, so when I got home I unpacked the car then left the front door open and opened my bedroom window to let the house breath a little.  I laid away the groceries, then made and ate lunch, got the dry laundry in, put a load of work clothes on and starter laying away the dry dishes at which time Mr Smart arrived.  We chatted about what delicious treats we might like for dinner and after a little while he set himself up to do some study and I returned to hanging out the washing and emptying the dishwasher and typing up my blog.
  Mr Smart flicked on the footy at the beginning of the Hawthorn v. Crows match and kept studying.  Mr Smart had decided to treat me to a nice big blow out dinner so at 6pm I ordered us dinner from Raju's Indian Restaurant and went to pick it up.  I got back and due to still not having found a suitable coffee table, we had a floor picnic!

  Today's food and exercise were:

• Exercise was out of the way before breakfast today!  40 minutes on the cross trainer to the tune of two episodes of Futurama Season 6.
• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries, muesli, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflowers seeds.
• Lunch was a Mission Rye Wrap spread with avocado then topped with 48g of Sole Mare tuna in olive oil, mushrooms, cucumber, tomato and alfalfa sprouts.
• Afternoon snack was carrot sticks (one carrot), five Vita-Weat wholegrain rice crackers and a heaped dessertspoon of Yumi Eggplant dip (about 35g).
• Dinner was: Two poppadoms with raita and various chutneys, a crispy potato and pea filled samosa, two lucknowi seekh kabab, a wholemeal roti, saffron basmati rice with lamb madras and raita, followed by a little more rice (not as much as it looks, I didn't finish all of the first lot) with prawn malai.  We stretched my heat taste buds a little tonight with the madras!

  An early blog post for today, as there will not be much more happening tonight.  In fact, the only thing is going to be the final instalment of LOTR The Return of The King!  It goes for three and half hours... can you believe that??
  Toodles!
  Jess

Sept 21 - Feeling Flat

  It was a draining day today.  I spent a large portion of it doing people management stuff, which while it can be important, is very time-consuming and feels quite unproductive when it takes me away from doing my actual work.  I get the development planning bit, it's good to think about what you'd like to achieve over the next year, but the rest of it.. ugh.
  As a result of all that, I ended up getting home late and felt really flat.  Lethargic, down in the dumps and unmotivated.  This has been a rough week weight loss wise too.  I've not really lost much which is a little disheartening as I'm still being relatively 'good'.  There are a few possible reasons I suppose, kangaroo salami is way less calories than regular salami but it's still a lot higher than ham, tuna or salmon, it's probably time to ramp up my exercise a bit higher and I also had those two huge meals last weekend.
  All the same, I'm getting nervous about a plateau arriving and it's been a tough week for convincing myself to keep at it.  Especially now that there are two Wagon Wheels in the house tormenting me with their chocolate jammy marshmallow goodness.  Don't ask me why I bought them, I just wanted one.  I've held off eating them knowing that they are there any time I choose.  I just haven't chosen to yet.
  The support I get from all of you really helps keep me going, so I appreciate that, and the tactics and ideas that come through to me are also great.  At the end of next week I'll be seeing my doctor and getting the first round of re-tests on all my bloods and I'll be making sure that I start seeing a dietitian in October too.  I'm hoping that will help me.
  This week I've also had trouble with repetition.  Cooking in bulk is fantastic news for my budget and it makes planning meals very easy, but it does get very very boring.  I scheduled in two different breakfasts this week and I have to say, each one gave me a sincere foodgasm.  Yoghurt, berries and fibre-toppers is a good meal but facing that bowl of pink every day is seriously wearing on the soul.
  The wraps are not such a problem as I vary the fillings weekly, though I'll confess I do find photographing them a bit of a trial!  If I'm taking a photo of one folded up they have a tendency to unwrap unless I balance a banana on the end of them, and I don't always have a banana.  I might try switching out a piece of fruit for some veggie sticks next week for a bit of a change or even just some different fruits.  I've always wanted to try star fruit.
  I seriously considered having another exercise free day today, but in the end I'm glad I got on.  I wasn't in a Buffy mood, so I watched the footy instead.  Who knew I could enjoy sports on my own?  Apparently I'm developing a taste for it.

Today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries and Fibre Toppers.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with Yumi Hummus then topped with kangaroo salami, mushroom, cucumber and tomato.  Also, a kiwi fruit with skin on.
• Dinner was pan fried lamb leg steak (about 220g raw weight) fried with olive oil spray, lemon juice, fennel seeds and a dash of celery salt served with steamed carrots, broccoli and sugarsnap peas.
• Dessert was 20g of Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.
• Exercise was 40 minutes of Aussie Rules semi final.  Fess up... Who sprinkled Valium on Collingwood's Weetbix this morning?

  I didn't feel so bad after eating and doing the cross trainer.
I think because I ate so late my blood sugar was probably quite low by that time.  I had lunch at about noon and didn't eat for eight hours after that.  I was so busy trying to finish my deadlines that I forgot to stop and have my afternoon snack!  I have noticed a correlation between low blood sugar and lethargy.
  My blood sugar reading after dinner and my exercise was only 4.8!  I may have to consider doing my exercise after food more often as that's a really positive effect on the reading.  Usually I eat my dinner after exercise and my post-meal reading skirts around the high-sixes or low-sevens depending on what I've eaten.  Food for thought.
  I'm definitely glad it's the weekend.  This one is a bit of a rarity, I've actually not got much on!  Weekends for the rest of the year seem to be filling up rapidly.  So I'll be catching up on house work, planning and cooking for the week ahead and maybe the final instalment of Lord of the Rings and something yummy for dinner with Mr Smart.
  Hope you all have a relaxing one too.
  Jess

Sept 20 - Weight Loss vs. Health

  Yesterday I talked about the idea of having a smaller evening meal and whether or not it would assist with weight loss.  I concluded that overall, no, but that it may have a positive effect on my blood sugar levels.  That reminded me that I wanted to discuss the ideas of weight loss vs. health and the constant confusion we all seem to have about the two related, but separate things.
  Weight loss in very basic terms is a simple mathematical equation:  If energy in (food and drink) is less than energy out (basal metabolic rate plus any activity or exercise) the result will be weight loss.  There are plenty of websites that will give you a basic formula for determining your approximate basal metabolic rate (BMR) but I used this handy-dandy calculator.  The only problem is that this one works on imperial measurements so I also needed a few other calculators to get there.
  Based on my height (161cm / 5'3), weight this morning (113.3kg / 249.78lbs), age (33) and gender (female), my BMR was calculated as 7892kJ / 1879cal.  So that is just the bare minimum calories to keep my body alive and maintained in a resting state.  That's not even counting the additional energy required to get out of bed and go to work etc.
  Your BMR naturally decreases with age, it decreases as you lose weight (which helps to explain weight loss plateaus) and it can be increased by regular exercise.  That calculator gives you a very basic estimate, there are some more complex things that affect it such as your fat to muscle ratio and even the physical size of your heart!  Increase your activity and BMR and reduce your food and drink intake and the result will be weight loss.  So that is weight loss in a nut shell... but what about health?
  Based on the principles above you could lose weight eating nothing but KFC.  This is true, you could.  Would it be healthy? No!
  Your body doesn't just need energy, it needs specific sets of nutrients, minerals, fibres, proteins and more in order to function properly.  No Vitamin C?  Scurvy!  No Vitamin B12? Nerve damage!  No Calcium? Osteoporosis!  No Potassium? Muscle cramps and abnormal heart rhythms!  No Sodium? Headache, confusion and muscle spasms!
Too much Sodium? High blood pressure!
  No food is really an enemy but there are better choices we can make.  For example, a lot of diets suggest low or no carb, but the truth is just that our bodies function better on complex carbohydrates than on simplified ones.  Things like delicious grainy seedy bread, regulate the digestive system and control the time over which the energy is released into the blood stream.  Complex carbs have a lower Glycemic Index factor so they result in lower blood sugar readings for yours truly than if I chowed down on white bread.  Complex carbs also keep your tummy feeling fuller for longer meaning you eat less of them than of their simple sugary counter-parts.
  Likewise, in healthier choices:  Kangaroo fillet over pork chop, lean lamb over sausages, salad over potatoes, steamed veggies over chips.  The list goes on.  Even with things for which there is no substitute, like chocolate, there are still healthier versions.  Chocolate sweetened without cane sugar or high-cocoa content dark chocolate.
  I guess my point is, there are plenty of other things to consider if you want to be healthy as well as lose weight.  It is easy to see how the two go hand in hand.  A diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates will not only keep you healthy, it will often lead to weight loss incidentally as those are the foods that sustain us and help our bodies to function best.
  I'm not a medical doctor or a dietitian so take my words with a grain of salt.  I am just a fat chick trying to find the thin chick within.  This is all based on what I've learned on the long road here.  There is a lot of misinformation in the world of diet and these are the things I personally have found to be true.  Don't just take my word for it; do your own research, experiment, and find what works for you.

Today's food was:

• Breakfast was a thick slice of Bertie's homemade banana bread, toasted slowly for seven minutes then served with a dollop of Jalna a2 yoghurt, a drizzle of honey, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with Yumi Hummus then topped with kangaroo salami, mushroom, cucumber and iceberg lettuce.  I also had a passionfruit and a kiwi fruit with skin on straight after my wrap.
• Afternoon snack was two brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan nut halves, four almonds and a dried peach half.
• Dinner was a huge boatload of sushi and sashimi and related little things!  I love the seaweed salad!  I also had a Calpis Soda.. a weird milky soft drink that I got quite fond of a few years back.  It tastes a little like these chalky lollipops I used to get at the milk bar when I was a kid.

  Had a good dinner out at Sapporo Japanese Restaurant with Jack Johnson tonight.  Nice food, pleasant atmosphere, service was a little weird.. the waitress didn't know the drinks menu and the guy taking the cash thought paying 50/50 was a little complicated but pleasant overall.  I'd go there again.
  I planned to have an exercise free day which worked well as I didn't get home till just after 9pm.  I thought my blood sugar might be high due to the white rice but it was only 7.2.  I guess about half were rice things and even those were also part seafood.  Japanese can go on the 'good' list as long as I steer clear of tonkatsu with barbecue sauce!
  Have fun and be healthy!
  Jess

Sept 19 - Unexpected Fun

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."
- Adelle Davis

  I like this quotation partly because I love a great big breakfast, but also because it's a nice way to imagine something I've often heard in relation to weight loss:  Eat a big meal in the morning, medium at lunch and a small dinner.  I'm sure you've all heard it all too.
  Essentially, to lose weight you only have to ensure that calories in is less than calories out.  All the other tricks and tips have such a minimal impact on the outcome that you may as well not get distracted by them.  It may well be sensible to eat less in the evenings because at least then you'll be hungry while you're sleeping and don't care but I'm not sure if the idea is otherwise particularly helpful for weight loss.
  I do however, think that eating meals in this size order may well have a positive impact on blood sugar readings.  Marly said on Monday that the evening after-meal blood sugar reading is usually the highest one for the day due in part to the size of the meal consumed (and obviously also what the meal was).  I've been eating relatively small meals in the evenings on my good days but I still tend to have larger meals on the weekends or when I'm in company or eating out.  When planning for the weeks ahead, I will consider adjusting my lunch to dinner ratio in favour of lunch being the bigger meal and see what the end result is.

  I had some unexpected fun tonight.  Mr Smart messaged me in the early evening and decided to come over.  We played Scrabble and to say I lost is a gross understatement.  I was attacked by vowels the whole game and Mr Smart played a seven letter word on his second turn!  I was doomed from the very beginning.  By the 5th turn I was down more than 100 points, by the 10th turn I was down 200!  It was so horrible it was comical.


Today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast was a homemade bacon and egg roll!  A Coles rustic roll topped with Rosella reduced-joule fruit chutney, one slice of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese, fried egg and two slices of short-cut bacon.
• Morning snack was a kiwi fruit with the skin on.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with Yumi Hummus then topped with kangaroo salami, mushroom, cucumber and iceberg lettuce.
• Afternoon snack was two brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan nut halves, four almonds and a dried apricot half and a passionfruit a couple of hours later.
• Exercise was 40 minutes of Buffytastic fun on the cross trainer. She battled a teensy weensy demon!
• Dinner was a bowl of homemade veggie heavy chile con carne accompanied by a glass of chocolate shiraz.

  Final score... 235 to 407.  But as my mother said when I texted her mid-game,
"You've got to love a man who can beat you at Scrabble".
  Jess