Having trouble getting back into it

A lot of you know that I've been on a diet of late, or rather, I was on a diet, then I went on vacation and I was only on a semi diet.

Now I'm back to work and the real world and I'm finding that I am having trouble getting right back into my diet.

I'm not doing anything crazy, but I'm also not back to my strict calorie counting and dieting. I've been sneaking in a morning snack, and this morning, I even had toast with butter!!

It's just been hard in the last week or so getting back into a regular routine of dieting.

I've also been afraid to step on the scales, in case I have put weight back on!!

That said, while on vacation, I did not put on any weight and just maintained. I think the beloved even managed to lose a pound or two while we were away.

So far, I'm stalled at the original 2 or 3 lbs that I had lost and it's not going anywhere. I really need to get back into my 1300 calories or less days in order to get the weight loss going again.

The beloved has done beautifully. He has lost about 12 lbs now and it is showing on his face and his body. I am so proud of him for doing so well.

There's not much else to this post. Just wanted to say I'm struggling with the diet and hoping that writing this would help me just start my determination.



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Juicing for life, for health, for breakfast

I am no expert on health or nutrition by any stretch of the imagination. What I know I've learned from reading books and articles, and talking to friends who are a lot more savvy about the whole thing than I am. That said, I do what works for me and what makes me feel good.

You may have seen my previous posts about dieting and weight loss, calorie counting and so forth. Dealing with my weight has always been an issue for me, for reasons that I will not go into because that's just a whole lot of baggage you don't want to read about.

I'm also pre-diabetic. My regular quarterly blood tests and sugar levels, which I go to my doctor to check are good and I'm in the healthy range. That said, I'd say that my blood sugar levels tend to be on the high side, but right on the borderline of still okay. That's been the case for 2 or 3 years now, so I can't complain. It's being managed.

For the most part, I eat normally and I enjoy my food. For any of you who follow me on instagram you'd see a lot of pictures of the food I post. :-) I have not had to cut out anything drastically from my diet, but I do my best to do everything in moderation. Plus if you don't already know, I also write a cooking blog called Daz in the Kitchen, so you just know I love my food!! 

Recently, thanks to some leftover fruit from a BBQ which I didn't know what to do with, I juiced for the first time and I juiced it in the Thermomix.

Now, I've juiced in the past and using a juicer (I've killed one!) you get a lot of pulp leftover that comes from the juicing process. Anyone who owns a juicer will know what I mean.

With the Thermomix, there's no leftover pulp and every it of the fruit is used up. Nothing is wasted. I love that. The Thermomix blends everything to a very fine pulp, then with some added water turns into juice.

I am loving juicing in the Thermomix and after a few weeks of regular daily juicing, I am feeling healthier and my insides feel good. This may be TMI but going to the bathroom has been so much better too. I used to have to take fibre supplements on a daily basis but now, I'm feeling better with the juice I'm drinking even without the fibre supplements.

The big thing with juicing in the Thermomix is that there is no waste. You use up ALL the fruit and vegetables. All the fibre and nutrition is maintained and consumed. I love that.

I've been alternating between a red juice and a green juice.

My red juices are beetroot (fabulous for detox) and red fruits, like red grapes, apples, nectarines, etc., but mostly whatever is in season and fresh.

My green juices are usually spinach, celery or kale or any combination of those, along with packham pears, green grapes or any other green and sweet fruits. This morning, I added kiwi fruits to the mix.

And yes, I'm a bit anal about green stuff in my green juices and red stuff in my red juices. I don't like to mix the colors because I just love the vibrant greens and reds I get when my fruits and vegetables are in the same color family.

So yes, I'm loving juicing. On a work day, I take my juice in the morning as my breakfast and have recently added some protein powder to add a little substance and so the juice lasts me longer and I don't get hungry s quickly. If it's the weekend or a non work day, juice is usually something that Steve, the beloved husband and I have as an afternoon snack. Both ways, they work out great. I only use the protein powder when I have the juice for breakfast though.

So enough of my blathering on about my juices, here's the recipe that I use to make my juice. Bear in mind that if you do not have a Thermomix, you can still juice in your blender this way. 

Ingredients:

• 500g of fruit of your choice, can be one kind, can be a mixture

• 200g ice cubes

• 450g cold water

Instructions:

• Blend fruit and ice cubes on speed 8 / 35 seconds

• Add water, blend speed 8 / 2 minutes

• Serve and drink

I hope you give juicing a try and let me know if you do. I also hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Stay healthy.

*** This blog post is also cross-posted in my cooking blog, Daz in the Kitchen ***

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Back to the diet ...

So, we're back from our vacation, where there were a lot of meals out.

The good news ... neither my beloved nor I put back on any of the weight we loss previously.

The bad news ... we didn't lose any weight either.

While on vacation, our eating habits were mostly moderate, although there were a few blow out meals as I mentioned in my previous post. 

For most of the vacation, we would have a late breakfast / brunch of scrambled eggs (most days) and sauteed mushrooms (one day), which was mostly protein. Occasionally, we would have a slice of toast to go with it, but most of the time it was without toast.

For lunch, because we had a late breakfast, we would often skip in and then in the late afternoon have a snack of some deli meats, a little cheese and some crackers with a glass of wine. I would skip the crackers and just have the cheese on its own. I know there are a lot of calories in cheese, but I did indulge because I love cheese and I have been missing it. My normal everyday life does not include cheese.

We did have one very nice lunch out with some friends as we were out celebrating their Australian citizenship ceremony which you can watch here.

There were quite a few dinners out as I have mentioned in the previous post but I tried to be moderate in my eating and often I was quite full after a few courses and not eating the entire course, so I left some food.

Two of the dinners were degustation dinners, so the serves were quite small, and I skipped the red meat course, since I do not eat red meat and the meat course tended to be the largest of the lot.

One night, we decided to try out a new restaurant that was raved about by a lot of our friends and then I ordered 2 entree sized meals, for my starter and main, rather than an entree size and a main size meal. The main size would have been too much, since I struggled with my second entree sized meal. The stomach has definitely shrunk from previous dieting.

I think my biggest naughty meal was the night of the Australian citizenship ceremony, where our friends had a BBQ and I got stuck into the cheesy Doritos (my favorite!!) with homemade hummus. Then they also served party pies which is a very Australian thing and I LOVE those things, so I ate 4 of them!!! That was naughty, but then when dinner was served, I only had half a sausage (because you must have sausage for a BBQ) and a few BBQ'ed prawns, since my friends know of my aversion to red meat.

All in all, I must say that I am pleased with what happened over the vacation. I didn't go forward, but then I didn't go backwards either, and that was a total plus.

Now, we're both back to watching what we eat and I'm back to my Optifast bars for breakfast and lunch. The Optifast bars are great because they fill you up, but seriously, they taste rather boring and they are the consistency of dried cardboard. I'm so over them!!

Pressing on ...


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Makeup no buy / low buy 2014 ... reigning in my makeup addiction

So I might have a slight ... hmmm ... okay, perhaps more than a slight makeup addiction and I just *LOVE* makeup.

I love using makeup.

I love shopping for makeup.

I love collecting makeup.

In the last couple of years, my makeup collection has grown massive and I have more makeup than I would use up in a very long time.

This year, my best friend Tessa and I have decided that we will both go on a makeup no buy / low buy, where we only buy what we use up, with a few exceptions.

Tessa is way more strict with her no buy than I am, as her exceptions are only 10 makeup items for the whole year. I am allowing myself $50 per quarter of makeup items, which I will spend at Sephora, which probably doesn't end up more than 10 or so items anyway, just because things at Sephora tend to be a bit more high end, unless I time it with a sale. I'm going to save my exceptions for the special gift sets and any snazzy new palettes that come out during the year ... or something. I really don't know what I will do right now.

Straight off the bat, I'm going to say that this is going to be tough and challenging. Already, I'm seeing things on Youtube videos and thinking "Oh, that's interesting, I'd like to try that" or "I'd like to own that". A lot of the time, it's not even about using it, it's about collecting it. I have some things in my collection that I haven't even used yet, and I really need to change that.

Both Tessa and I have made a video about our rules for the no buy / low buy and I will link our videos below.

Here's my video on the no buy / low buy:

And here's Tessa's video on her no buy / low buy. I'm sorry, I tried to post it as a video, but for some reason, it would not come up in the search, so here it is in a link.

For those of you who prefer to read the rules, here's what I've said for me:

1. General - only replace if there is none left in the stash wherever possible
2. Foundation - no new foundations or BB creams until I've used up at least 5 of each, buy only 1 new one
3. Powder - no new powders until I've used up at least 3 of each, buy only 1 new one
4. Eyeshadows - no new eyeshadows at all (this one is going to be hard)
5. Eyeliners - only get new eyeliners if the color I need runs out, eg, like if I'm all out of black liners
6. Mascara - only replace when run out, using no more than 3 mascaras open at a time
7. Lippies - only get new lippie if the color I am using runs out and there are no other close alternatives in what I own, ie, like if I've used up all my reds
8. Blushes - no new blushes at all (this will be hard too)
9. Bronzers and highlights - only replace when I run out and there are no alternatives left in the stash (which would be highly unlikely!)
10. Nail polish - 5 new colors every 3 months, plus replacement of base and top coat when they run out
11. Hair care - replace as used up
12. Body care - replace as used up
13. Skincare - replace as used up, including makeup remover wipes, cleansers, etc.
14. Perfumes - use up samples and what I have. No new ones until I use up at least 3 oils and 1 bottle of perfume

And most importantly, of course, I will need to SHOP MY STASH!!

If you plan on doing something like this, I would love to hear from you. Like my facebook page and we can chat about it and encourage each other. I will plan regular video and blog updates on the subject.

Wish me luck!!!


Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/langshipley
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There's a lot of eating ahead ... my strategy to stick to the diet

So, you all know I'm on a diet and I'm counting my calories and it has been going well. I've lost 3 lbs so far, just under halfway of my goal. Yes, I know, it was not a huge goal to begin with, but it's still taking effort to get there.

I'm just reflecting on my coming month and I think that my dieting might be a little challenged in the coming weeks and month.

This Saturday, we are heading to a wine masterclass where we will be tasting wine and having that paired with chocolate. I estimate that there will be about one small glass worth of wine to be had and several pieces of chocolate, so I estimate that I will clock up about 300 calories there.

Then we are going out with friends for dinner and we are planning on 2.5 bottles of wine between the 4 of us, plus likely a 3 course meal. I can't even begin to count how many calories there will be there.

Following that, in the next week we are having a big managers get together over two days and there will be a fancy lunch in a very nice restaurant on the first day, which will be 2 courses - starter and main or main and dessert, and a really, really fancy dinner in the evening. That will be 3 courses and a whole bunch of wine. Again, the calorie counting is going to be challenged.

Then the next day, we are having a catered 2 course lunch in the office, cooked by a friend of ours who is a Masterchef. The food will be awesome and again, many, many calories.

After all that, a week later, we have signed up for 2 degustation wine tasting dinners which are both I think 4 or 5 courses each of meals with matching wines. Lots of food, lots of wine, calorie count indeterminate.

Honestly, I don't even know how to begin counting the calories in a fancy meal.

I don't want to not eat and be a total downer for everyone, but I also don't want to blow my diet.

I am thinking hard about what to do so that I can enjoy the evening but also not set myself back after all the hard work I've put in to lose the weight and be able to keep it off.

I think that I will probably be leaving a lot of food on the plate, just eating part of the meals and where I have choices of what to order, I will do my best to order meat and vegetable dishes, staying away from any carb laden meals or meals with lots of creamy sauces.

With the wine, one small glass, which is 120ml is 82 calories. If I sip, and only taste, I can space out my drinking and stick to just one or two small glasses.

Another strategy I will employ too is when there's going to be one big, fancy meal in the day, I will make sure that any other meal I have will be very, very low in calories, such as perhaps an apple and a slice of cheese and keep the calories under 150 for the meal, so that I have a lot more calories to "spend" when I am at the fancy meal. That would, of course, be hard when I have the day where we are having two fancy meals, lunch and dinner, but I will try to be careful.

I guess the point that I am trying to make here is that life happens and there will be events that can throw a spanner in the diet works. The trick is not to deny or deprive yourself, but to work out how to best enjoy yourself, enjoy the event and not totally blow the diet.

I don't think it will be easy, and I'm pretty sure that there will be times when I am going to be over the calorie count for the day (and many times when I just won't even know how to count the calories since I didn't prepare the food myself!).

I'm thinking watching portion sizes is going to be key and in a lot of instances, just "tasting" rather than consuming everything.

All that said, I don't want to be a party pooper either, so I will do my best to order wisely, eat what is put in front of me and be as gracious about it as possible. I definitely will not be reciting calorie counts to everyone at the table and spoiling their enjoyment of a very nice meal.

And when it is all over ... hope and pray that I have not put back on any of the weight I have lost.


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A 300 calorie day ... what !?!?!

I think I might have hit a new low yesterday!!

I woke up in the morning yesterday not feeling very well and my stomach was bothering me. Now, when it comes to not feeling well, I'm a complete wuss. A lot of people soldier on. Not me, I curl up in bed, sleep and maybe feel a little sorry for myself, but mostly, I curl up in bed and rest.

Since it was a work day, I went to work, upset stomach and all but I could tell as the morning progressed that I would not make it through the day at work.

I left work about midday and went home. Stomach was still not my friend.

It was lunchtime and I wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but I felt I needed something and decided to have something rather bland, so had some basic crackers and some packet soup.

My lunch totaled just under 300 calories.

That was all I had for the day!!

It was not intentional. I didn't feel well, I was stressed out from somethings that happened in the evening, I was not feeling hungry and ended up not cooking dinner. Then I went to bed early.

This morning, I woke up on an empty stomach. A very empty stomach, actually.

Did a sneaky weigh in but weight stayed the same - that is not unexpected, but I found I felt really, really good waking up on an empty stomach.

I did not feel hungry at all and felt quite energetic.

Now, I'm not saying have 300 calorie days all the time, but once in a while, it won't hurt.

I'm back to a normal calorie count diet today, which is my 1300 calories, and hoping to come in just under.

One day of a very low calorie count does help with the diet occasionally, just don't ever, ever starve yourself. That's not healthy.



Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
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Portion control is really important

It's been slow going but I'm into week 3 of the dieting process. I feel like I'm getting better at the impulse control where food is concerned and I am not so obsessed about the whole food and eating thing. I still think about it, but it's not ruling my life quite as much as when I started out.

One thing that I have learned recently though ... portion control.

A few nights ago I cooked a really yummy pasta dish for dinner and I was careful with the amount of food I put on my plate and ended up with a reasonable portion but still enough to make me feel full after eating. That was about 1.5 cups of cooked pasta plus assorted stuff mixed into it, and about 550-ish calories, which is very respectable for a dinner portion.

However, we had a whole heap of leftovers which is often the case when I cook pasta. The beloved likes to take leftovers to work for lunch and they make a quick, easy and tasty dinner for a night or two during the week.

This time, we had three large size portions leftover and they were all about 2, perhaps 2.5 cups worth of pasta.

I decided that I would just eat one portion that was packed away instead of just eating part of it and having bits of leftovers on top of leftovers in containers in the fridge.

Well, that was a mistake. One large leftover portion was 850+ freakin' calories!!! That totally blew my calorie count for the day. Fortunately for me, it was not huge in terms of blowing the calorie count for the day since my day time calorie consumption was quite low and I had plenty to spare, but I still ended up 100+ calories over. Of course, I didn't realise this until after I ate the meal and I calculated the calorie count, although I had an inkling when I saw that it was a lot more food on the plate that the first night when I had good portion control going on.

Over the course of the week, I did eat all the leftovers, and each night, I blew my calorie count for the day, by just a little bit. Not a lot, but just enough to make me feel somewhat guilty, so I am so glad that all the leftovers are now finally gone.

Would I have been better off just tossing out the extra food? Perhaps, but I find it hard to do that and I also find it hard to leave food on my plate, though I'm getting better with practice, particularly while eating out, and they serve very large portions.

A little update, so far, I have lost 3 lbs. I was quite pleased a couple of days ago when I did my weekly weigh in and found that I had dropped another 1 lb taking my total to 3. I think I've mentioned that it's slow going, but I'm pleased with the downward progress.

The beloved is doing really well too. He's been at it about 10 days and he has lost 7 lbs. He went away on a business trip and business trips are always awful when it comes to diet and exercise, but while away he managed to lose 1 lb rather than put on weight. I'm so proud of him, and also a little jealous that the weight is falling off him a lot faster. That said, he has a higher weight loss goal than I do.

A few things that we have changed that is helping - no more chocolate after dinner, and if we do have it, we only have one small piece that is the equivalent of 75 calories. That's one Lindt ball. We've been having an apple for dessert after dinner, because we do like something sweet after dinner. An apple is a fabulous dessert, only 45 calories for an apple.

I can't remember if I have told this story or not, but at the very beginning of my diet, I had an apple for dessert and the beloved had a whole Kit Kat bar. My apple was 45 calories and his Kit Kat bar was 900+ calories. He was appalled and I was feeling pretty damn righteous. :-) But for the beloved, knowing how many calories that Kit Kat bar had in it, has really helped him to watch what he puts into his mouth.

We are both continuing to watch out diet. I've got 4 more lbs left to go, but once I reach that, I might stretch myself and see if I can't go a little further. I'm pretty sure that would make my doctor very happy as it reduces my risk of diabetes greatly.

If you're doing something similar, I wish you all the best. Be encouraged and be patient.


Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/langshipley (this is the best way to reach me, I will always respond to this the fastest).
Twitter: @langshipley https://twitter.com/langshipley
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