Our new kitchen

We've been busy little bees this weekend! And here is the finished product - our new kitchen!!

And finally I can report some exciting news...

1. we bought another house and it settles tomorrow!!
2. our current house is now for sale!

My poor boyfriend has worked like a trooper for the last two weeks to finish our house... so its been very busy here for a few weeks! Now its all done, its been on the market since Friday, so now we just have to wait and see what happens.

The new place settles tomorrow, so we can gradually move our stuff over and take our time. The new house is a 3 level split level, and needs renovating - which is exactly what we wanted. And its on 1600m2, so lots of room for the puppies!

Anyway, my weekend - we pretty much spent Friday night and Saturday morning sorting out the kitchen, cleaning etc, getting ready for being on the market. We had a VERY interested person come through on Saturday afternoon... fingers crossed!

Caught up with some friends for dinner on Saturday night, I had a free meal and it was horrible. Beer battered fish - I only ate half of it, and I felt like I had my oil quota for the month... gross!

This morning at 1.30am someone kept ringing BF's mobile... over and over. GRRR After the 3rd time BF got up to answer it - and it was some drunk guy with the wrong phone number. So we're feeling a little tired and emotionally drained today, what with all the stress of buying AND selling a house!

BUT I am pleased to report that I've been extra conscious of drinking water this weekend, and I've been really good with my food - see what a little awareness does!! Today the meals are a bit out of sync though - because I slept in til 8.30am, then got up and took the dogs for a walk, so I didn't get breakfast until nearly 10am! Ooops!

Hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend!

Sooo hungry!

I am sooo hungry!! Wow it only took a day for the ol' metabolism to kick into high gear again - I'm starving! I try to eat every 3 hours, but I'm finding that after about an hour and a half I'm looking at my watch... trying my best to hang on for the 3 hours - LOL! Have not changed my portion sizes at all, must just be my body responding to being treated better.

Well since Monday I've been walking like I just got off my horse , hehehee! Embarrassing when you do a little 'stagger' because your quads are too sore to respond quickly! Did a pretty good chest and back session this morning, then cardio - only managed an incline walk on the treadmill for 25mins because my legs were too sore!! My heart rate monitor watch died yesterday, needs a new battery I think. Very annoying because I'm so used to wearing it that I feel strange working out without it! I even considered putting it on this morning - just because I'm so used to wearing a watch and a chest strap, and it felt 'funny' to go without it!!

I was thinking it might be a good excuse to buy a lovely new Polar one, they are just gorgeous... mine is an old black Polar one, about 3 or 4 years old - quite ugly, but very much loved. A dead battery is probably not a good excuse to buy an expensive (but lovely) new HR monitor, is it.... is it??? LOL!

Last night we got the beginnings of our new kitchen!! Very exciting! Begone pink kitchen... (seriously, even 25 years ago, was a pink kitchen EVER cool???)

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."-Aristotle

Where did my muscles go????

Spent the whole weekend trying to find/buy a new dining table (and trying to find one that we didn't need to wait 6-8 weeks for), seeing as our old one smashed into a million pieces (glass top) - long story - dont ask!!!!

After two weeks without weight training, my muscles have disappeared. I want them baaaaaacccck!

Last night I cooked a beautiful big roast chicken, and I decided to have a 'last supper' before getting stuck into eating clean and training hard again, so I went ahead and had some roast potatos, roast pumpkin and 2 HUGE yorkshire puddings with gravy... I was so full and bloated afterwards, yuk I hate that feeling!! But it was a fabulous roast dinner, and I had some red wine too...

Anyway, at about 11.45pm I woke up and just felt disgusting... my tummy really wasnt very happy with me, I felt sick, bloated and gross - and I was lying there thinking to myself "REMEMBER how gross you feel right now - next time you feel like eating like that - REMEMBER this feeling!!!" Bleugh! Not nice!

So I still managed to get up and hit the gym at 5.30 this morning - leg day! Again my stoopid knee didn't like it very much, but I think some massaging around the top of the knee cap will sort it out. Then I did 25 minutes on the cross trainer, which felt great!!

There has been a definite decrease in muscle strength - but hopefully it wont take long to get back some strength. I love feeling this energised and motivated!! Bring on the week!! Its going to be a great one!!!

Happy Monday everyone!

Time to knuckle down again

After giving myself a full week off training I'm ready to get back into it.  Luckily I havent ended up getting sick, so not sure what all the lethargy was all about.  Anyway my energy levels are returning to normal so I think its time to start dragging my butt out of bed at 5am again and getting myself back to the gym (although its been heavenly to stay in bed until 7am every morning!!) 

I'm going to ease back into it by taking the pups for a walk on the weekend (poor puppies have been neglected for a while).  I'm feeling quite lazy and bloated from not exercising this week, so I cant wait to hit the gym again!  I guess we all need a little break now and then, if nothing more than to fire up the motivation again!

Seeing as how my last 12 week challenge fizzled at the end, I've decided that I'm going to go for daily and weekly goals instead of a BIG 12 week goal which I tend to lose sight of halfway through.  The goals are mostly going to be 'task' orientated rather than 'weight' orientated, as I tend to get sooo caught up with what the scales say that I forget about the mental progress I'm making.

Some of those goals are going to be relating to my weekend habits - like the fact that I usually forget to drink water on the weekends and might be lucky to get a litre in rather than my goal of 3 or 4 litres.  Also on weekends I have a habit of forgetting or not being prepared/organised for meals, then eating too much at the next meal because I'm so hungry!!  So these are some of the things I'm going to work on and get under control.  I feel like if I get some of my habits under control, then everything else will fall into place.

Anyway I'm looking forward to some nice muscle soreness next week... time to re-hash my weight training programme again I think!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Tired Wednesday

I think all the excitement of the weekend has caught up with me... I'm shattered!! I've been soooo tired for the last few days, no energy, headache, sore eyes etc that I've given myself a few days off training. Not sure if I've picked up some sort of bug from the plane or something. I dont feel SICK as such, just really tired! Could be just my body is just doing a good job of fighting it off??? I slept 11 hours on Sunday night, 8 hours on Monday night and 9 hours last night (and a normal nights sleep for me is about 6 hours) and I STILL feel sleepy and sore around the eyes.

Had to drive to Murwillumbah again today, which did nothing to wake me up. Bit scary actually when you have to drive a long way and battle to keep your eyes open.

Hmmm anyway I'm still eating lots of good clean food, lots of veges, rice, chicken, fish - so hopefully I will start to wake up soon! I am craving sugar, but doing well so far in staying away from it. Should probably get myself back to the gym I guess.

Two exciting things happened Monday... one - I bought a blender, and two - my Myoplex Lite arrived!!!!! So guess who's been blending up a storm of protein shakes?? I'm still experimenting getting the proportion of ice/water/berries etc right, but it usually comes out like a sort of ice-cream texture - YUM! Perfect for dessert - and I'm pretty sure my body is needing those extra calories right now. I'm enjoying one now actually!!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

More photos

Friday coffee - Ali, Sue, me and Kerry...

Me, Rae and Ali

Lygon St party

Kimmy and Sue celebrate

Di, Kimmy, Damien & Sue
The morning after - Sue, Jodie, Kimmy, Di, Ali, Kerry, Margie and me

Phew what a weekend!

Wow wow wow is all I can say about my fabulous weekend in Melbourne! I had such an amazing time!!!

Firstly, congrats to Sue for placing third in her division - she looked fantastic, gorgeous and full of confidence and style. Kimmy came second in her division, which was so exciting because we all knew how nervous she had been! Rae won her class, and she looked great, very classy and graceful. And Jadey did so well in sportsmodel, it was such an enormous field and Jadey just looked radient on the stage.

I stayed in an apartment with Ali and Kerry, and I have to say that they were the best room-mates you could ask for. Fabulous company, wonderful ladies with such big hearts. We all had lots to chat about, and I felt like I had known both girls for years!! Thank you both for being such great room-mates!!


It was wonderful to finally meet Sue, she is such an amazing person who has made such a huge impact on my life. Sue is absolutely gorgeous, both inside and out. I felt like I was meeting my mentor!! I loved meeting Jodie too, such a nice girl and I felt like we had a lot in common. Kimmy was amazing - so focussed but at the same time stressing out! Margie was an absolue legend running around and helping Kimmy, and the gorgeous Di.

Margie, Kerry, Kimmy Ali, Jodie, Sue and me

The comp was HUGE!! It was a lot different to the WFF/NABBA comp that I saw on the Gold Coast. The pre-judging in the afternoon made for a pretty smooth running evening show too. It was great to catch up with Bella again, and to meet Lia. I was very sad to hear that Em wouldnt be joining us - hope you're feeling better Em - food poisoning isnt fun. It was lovely to meet Lisa, who works for Sue and is also this months Body Blitz winner, and also Beate who came 2nd in Sue's latest New You Challenge. I took lots of pics of the girls on stage, but unfortunately most of them came out blurry or dark. I was having all sorts of trouble with my new camera trying to work out the best setting for getting good pictures (without much success). Everyone on stage looked amazing, well done to everyone!!

Dinner on Saturday night at Lygon St was a hoot. The champagne was flowing, the food was plentiful. We got a variety of dishes and just had a bit of a smorgasboard, which wa great and then Sue and Kimmy could have a little of everything. The desserts were to die for, but I think we all overindulged and started feeling a little ill!! I ended up with a very bloated tummy and felt quite sick, so I can just imagine how Sue and Kimmy felt!! But it was all good and I'm sure everyone enjoyed the celebration.

Then Sunday morning we were all headed off in our different directions, and I came home. After such an exciting weekend (with not much sleep) I was absolutely exhausted yesterday. I went to bed last night and slept for 11 hours, and boy did I need it!! Today I'm off work, got to do all my groceries, washing, go to the dentist etc, so I suppose I'd better get off the computer and get cracking!! I'll be back later to read more blogs!

I will upload some more photos soon, blogger is playing silly-buggers at the moment!

One more sleep

Well its off to Melbourne tomorrow morning bright and early.  I have seen this morning that its going to be a maximum of 13 degrees in Melbourne today... a bit of a shock to the system I think for me, as we've been having overnight minimums of 11 degrees, and maximums of about 22.  I think I'm going to be cold!

I started to pack some gear last night, only to come to the realisation that I do not really have any good winter clothes!!  No time to shop now, so I'm just going to have to go with layers this weekend!  Luckily I do have some gloves and a scarf though!!   I am one of those people who, no matter how many times I check my luggage, I'm sure to forget something!!  Its usually not until I'm sitting on the plane halfway to my destination that I realise - "Do'h!  I forgot my hairbrush/toothpaste/deodorant"!!!  Luckily I've come to realise that MOST things can be bought anywhere - with the exception of maybe my glasses and contact lenses... so as long as I've got those essentials, I can get by!!

I've been the cardio queen this week - lots and lots of interval jogging, cross trainer, and I've even ventured onto the bike this week to try and vary the workouts a bit.  Been drenched in sweat after each session, and I mean dripping... yuk.  Its all good though, I feel less bloated this week.

Last night I had forgotten to get meat out of the freezer for dinner, so I was at a loss for what to have.  Anyway a few weeks ago on a whim I bought these Birds Eye Steam Fish Fillets, this one was in a Thai Coconut Curry sauce - microwave for 5 minutes and its done.  So I had that with salad and I have to say, it was soooo yummy!!  Only about 160 calories, 23g protein, 4.3g fat and 3.4 carbs.  Not too bad for those nights when you dont feel like cooking anyway.

So thats about it from me.  I'll post again on Sunday or Monday - hopefully should have lots of photos from the comp!  Cant wait to meet everyone!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tuesday update

Well it was an interesting renovating weekend.   By Friday evening I couldn't use the kitchen, so meals were either makeshift, or the dreaded takeaway.  By Saturday we were knee deep in floor sanding, puttying and vacuuming (actually I mostly supervised... lol!!)  Developed a tickle in my throat and a chesty cough from inhaling all that sawdust, not fun!

We got this fabulous satin-finish floor paint that is water-based, it only took 3 hours to dry between coats, and had no noxious smell.  So Connor the cat stayed home, locked up in one of the bedrooms for 3 hour spurts, with everything a cat could need... bed, litter, food, water, toys!  Much better than having to relocate him (and us) for a few days.  Anyway, by Sunday lunchtime we had all the coats done and all the furniture back in place - it looks like a new house!!  I love the lighter colour of the floor now - not bad for a day and a halfs work!

Yesterday I had to drive to Murwillumbah in northern NSW for work - what a long tiring drive that was!  Took about an hour and 15 minutes each way, of straight highway driving = a very long day!  So didn't get to train yesterday because I had to leave home so early.  Did a pretty good cardio session this morning though.

Today I decided to start using Fitday again, havent used it in over a year, but I think I need it to focus on my daily nutrition.  Its surprising how many calories you consume when you dont pay close attention to what you're eating.  Anyway, today I've pulled it in at 1720 calories, 20% fat, 45% carbs and 35% protein.  Didnt realise I was eating so many carbs!!  Gonna have to watch that I think.

2 more days of work and then I have 4 days off - woohoo!!  Really cant wait to get to Melbourne on Friday... although the 4am start isn't going to be very nice!

Happy training everyone!

The finished floors

My kitchen has been buried...

This is my kitchen this morning... buried under a pile of furniture that normally lives in the dining and lounge areas (excuse the "pinkness" of the kitchen - this room is next on the list to be renovated)

And THIS is the reason why my kitchen is buried...


We're sanding and polishing the floors this weekend!! Gawd there is just and crap and dust flying through the air, and its a very noisy house at the moment! Poor kitty is going to have to stay with a friend while the paint/polish stage happens... he's gonna hate me!

So there's no cooking going to happen this weekend, I just cant get in there! Ah dont you just love renovating? Always something fun happening!

Hope everyone is having a less dusty weekend than me!

Cheese and Onion chips

Last night my dear BF was sitting next no me on the couch while we were watching Lost, which is the only TV show I really really must watch every week.  Anyway, he's sitting there and opens this HUGE packet of Cheese & Onion chips.  Now I dont remember the last time I ate potato chips, but Cheese and Onion would be my absolute FAVOURITE flavour.  My BF is one of these people who just eats whatever he wants and cannot put on weight (he's trying to put on some size actually). 

Anyway, I'm watching him shovel these chips into his mouth, just staring at him really, and he looks at me and then looks all guilty:

"I'm sorry baby" he says, "do you want me to go eat these somewhere else?"

"No its fine" I said.... watched him for a few more minutes, then I said crossly "You're not even TASTING those, you're just mindlessly shovelling them in!!"

He laughed and said "This is going to be on your blog tomorrow, isn't it!!"  LOL!  He knows me too well!  So here it is honey - couldn't disappoint you!

Still I have the sense to know that even though I would have loved to have some of those chips, the guilt afterwards would have been far worse.  I also know that most things very rarely taste as good as you think/dream/imagine they will.  In the past I have cravings for certain foods, and then when you do have it, its like "what was all the fuss about?".   But still... those chips... all the time I'm thinking you bastard!!  Lol! -

I've been fabulous this week, great training, perfect eats, 4 litres of water every day... but I really could have, really really WANTED some of those chips.  Sooo happy I didn’t!

This is my first blog that I'm sending by email... hope it works!  The wonders of technology!!

Happy Friday everyone!

Clumsy day

I'm having a clumsy day today. So far I think I have banged my cold hands on the locker at the gym twice (and it hurts when your hands are cold), bumped my leg on the table, walked into a door jamb (missed the door by THAT much!!), dropped my water bottle, and clipped my ankle on a chair leg. Hmmm not good! I'm one of those people who's a "mystery bruiser". I get "mystery" bruises, and rarely remember how I got them!! Quite often have a bruise on my thighs that's just about table height, I bump my legs pretty often LOL!!

I don't think its anything to do with my balance, sometimes I'm just a klutz! We've got this really long corridor at my office, and I usually cant walk the length of it without veering to the right or left and bumping into one of the walls. Of course, wearing my gorgeous but totally dangerous 9cm Sachi high heels probably doesn't help (No way I can give them up!!). This is making me sound really strange isn't it?!!!!!

I've always been like this, ever since I was a kid. Being tired seems to be the trigger, thats when I start dropping things. And I'm very tired today.

Back and Chest done this morning - - - I had to vary the workout a fair bit because the equipment I needed was busy!! Not to worry, I feel like I got a good workout, and on my chest exercises I concentrated on squeeeeezing my pecs together. Can feel the effects already!

I'm having a great week this week - feel strong and in control, which I love.

The State of Origin decider is on tonight, which is why I'm on the computer! For what its worth - GO QUEENSLAND!! Actually I'm not into rugby league so I'm not really bothered!

Thank you...

Thank you to all you wonderful girls for all your lovely comments... you have no idea how much you guys cheer me up, especially when I've been feeling a bit average lately - thank you! You are all fabulous and deserve a big hug!

So... feeling much better now after a few days rest. Back to gym - legs again this morning... there is a reason why I am now doing legs on a Monday morning... its because if there was ANY one workout that I would blow off, its legs. I dont normally enjoy it, so by doing it Monday morning it means there's no chance that I'll skip it. See - theres a method to my madness! I've gone up every week in my weights, which makes me think I wasn't working hard enough before! I have to admit though, I thought I was going to be sick after doing barbell squats this morning - must mean that I worked hard!!

Food - Dontcha hate it when you sit down to morning tea and your apple is soft and bruised? Yuk, I couldn't eat it. So my meal 2 was a protein shake mixed with water. Nothing else in my bag to eat, all the other food I brought was already "assigned" to meals 3 and 4. Oh well, a few less calories today probably wont hurt, especially after a less than perfect weekend. Eats have been totally clean today - yippee!!

Only 11 days and I'll be back in Melbourne to watch the All Female Classic!!! Now if I'm this excited just about going to watch, I can just imagine how those who are competing are feeling!! I'd be jumping out of my skin by now if it were me!!

Have a great night!

Time for a whinge...

Bit of a whinge coming up - you have been warned!!!

I could have an answer to my stomach problems... Ileocecal Valve Syndrome. I told my chiropractor about my stomach problems, and he said "I might know what that could be!". Anyway, essentially its a valve between the two intestines that can get stuck either open or closed. This problem is often referred to as "The Great Mimicker", as the symptoms it produces are often confused for a whole range of other problems (such as what they've been looking for in me) Things that can trigger it are certain foods - and get this... the foods that can trigger it are: whole grains, celery, capsicum, cucumber, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cinnamon, caffeine... pretty much stuff that I eat every day!!

He said that you can "massage" the valve closed/open, and when it fixes itself you'll hear a great big gurgle. Well I was telling BF about it on Thursday night and I was pushing in around the area, and guess what - big BIG gurgle! BF looked at me and went "a gurgle like THAT you mean?" - lol! It was amazing!

Anyway, armed with this "potential" knowledge I went off to the doctor on Friday - and came away feeling like crap. I cant believe how some doctors treat their patients, and I had a bad one on Friday. All my test results came back with nothing... everything is normal. The doctor was rude and arrogant to start with - he made me feel like I had no right to ask questions about my test results, but when I started to ask him about what the chiropractor said, and he basically treated me like I was an idiot. He rolled his eyes at me, said that a chiropracter is NOT a doctor, so why should he listen to anything that a stupid chiropracter had to say. He would not even acknowledge the Ileocecal valve. He kept cutting me off and shooting me down, to the point where I left the doctors this morning in tears because the doc was an ASSHOLE and made me feel like crap!! (not to mention that its upsetting enough when you dont know whats wrong with you - I was feeling a bit down before I even got there)

To top it all off - he told me that I now need to go have another test, an ERCP (Endoscopy)- which the previous doctor had told me was quite invasive and probably not necessary for me. I have never experienced a wanker doctor before, any doctor I have been to before has always been a decent human being. Maybe I've just been lucky in the past.

Anyway, after I walked out of the medical centre I got in my car and burst into tears, rang my BF who calmed me down and convinced me to write up a letter of complaint... which I have done (havent posted it yet though).

Aaaaaanyway... apart from that the last few days have been non-eventful. I've been a bit naughty this weekend because I've been busy doing stuff around the house, I kinda forget to eat, and then when I do eat I eat a whole lot more than normal because I'm so hungry!! But at least stuff is getting done to the house - did lots of painting and scrubbing of floors this weekend.

Well I'm off to catch up with everyones blogs now - enjoy the rest of your Sunday!