Serious Lack of Motivation

For the past several weeks I have had no motivation whatsoever to do anything.  All I wanted to do was this......

me

Thankfully my lack of motivation did not affect my eating, just my workouts, which is why there are none.  As some of you may know, we had a house guest staying with us and all I am going to say on the matter is that it was very unpleasant. 

I am extremely disappointed in myself for letting this person make me feel so worthless and useless and letting her get to me in the way she did, but the constant questioning and comments just really got to me.  I think the most insulting comment I got was when she was going out one day and she asked me if I would be alright by myself with the kids.  Enough of those horrible memories, it's time to move on and get some motivation back.

*Weigh-in*

My weigh-ins haven't been too bad.  Last week I was up 100 grams, but this week I am down a kilo, which brings me to a total loss of 18.7 kg.  I have given myself a little challenge this week to lose 1.3 kilos and if I can reach that goal or beat it, I will have finally hit the 20kg mark.  Looking forward to the challenge :)

*Breakfast*

I had a good start to the day food wise, but my exercise motivation still seems to be non-existent.  I think I just need to do it whether I feel like it or not and hope that the motivation returns.  I know that being able to use the computer without criticism will help a lot.  I have missed being able to just read my favourite blogs and I have really, really missed the encouragement I get from them.

This morning I stumbled across some Wholemeal Sandwich Thins.  I have heard about these and always wished that I could find them.  Today was my lucky day!  I had to pop into Coles on my way home from school drop off - Ava has started prep this year - and while I was waiting at the checkout there was a display of "NEW" Helga's Sandwich Thins.

pack of 8 for just under $5

Of course I had to use one for breakfast which consisted of an old favourite.  An egg and cheese sandwich, half an avocado on the side and a mug of Jarrah White choc-a-mocha Latte.

I'm so grown up with my Winnie the Pooh plate and Garfield mug

I was actually really surprised at how soft and delicious they were and the sandwich thin certainly made a nice change from the English muffin.  At a little over 112 calories per sandwich, I will definitely be buying them again.

sandwich thins certainly are thin

please excuse my Barbie bandaid.  I'm still not sure how, but I sliced my finger open on the toaster???

It is so great to be back on the computer, I feel as though I am in the land of the living again.   I have so much catching up to do and I still need to put the holiday photos up.  I felt so lost without all my blog buddies, but I'm back now and feeling so much better for it.  Onwards and downwards from now on :)

Treadmills are for Everyone!

I love the cat wiping the sweat off his face, it cracks me up :)

I don't think I need to say much more about the cat treadmill!  Oh, maybe that I remove the toilet roll every night when he goes to bed now and that I don't lock him in the toilet, that's just where his litter box goes.  Gilligan either sleeps on the washing machine, in the laundry tub or on his bed.  I just wanted to clear it up that I don't lock cats in toilets.

Gilligan having a sleep at 15 weeks old

 *Workout*

This mornings workout was in the pool.  It was a pretty good swim, but I was a little tired.  Late nights and early mornings just don't mix, but before I knew it I was up to lap 5, it's all a little blurry before that.  That's another thing I love about the morning workout, I have actually started it before I have a chance to talk myself out of it.  

My morning alarm for swimming now goes off at 5 am, I have graduated from 5.30 am over the last few weeks.  My alarm started getting earlier because one morning I was awake at 5.20am and thought I may as well get up now and go swimming, after all, it was only a 10 min difference, plus the earlier you are the more lane choices you have.  I know it may sound a little weird, but I don't think I would have handled a whole 30 mins at one time.  Setting the alarm earlier by 10 mins every few weeks is definitely what works best for me :) 

*Breakfast*

My goodness do I have a smoothie treat for you.  It was delicious and so filling that I could barely finish it.  In light of the quantity and texture of this smoothie I had to find a name that was equally as extravagant.  I present to you the.....

Tropical Thunder Thickshake Smoothie

It was green cause of the spinach, but I promise you, there were no mushrooms today :)  It was so thick, it had the consistency of a thickshake and it was delicious with a banana / pineapple flavour.

Into the blender :

• 1 cup Almond Milk
• 1 handful of Spinach
• 40g (1 serve) Vanilla Protein Powder
• 50g Natural No-Fat Greek yoghurt
• 90g frozen Banana
• 88g frozen Pineapple

"Try it yourschelf"

I had better get moving cause Mama Solis arrives tonight, luckily it is hot and windy so all the bed sheets will dry in a flash.  Enjoy your day :)

Protein Smoothie & Portions

First up, breakfast!  After a good swim this morning I was ready for something cool when I got home and I don't think you can get much better than a protein packed fruit smoothie. 

Banana Honey Protein Smoothie

You will be happy to know that this morning's concoction did not contain mushrooms, but it did have cottage cheese - mmmmmm.

Into the blender :

• 250mls Almond Milk (organic)
• 50g No-Fat natural Greek yoghurt
• 40g Weight Watchers Cottage Cheese
• 20g Vanilla Protein Powder
• 7g (1 tsp) Honey
• 114g frozen Banana

The almond milk (first time I've had it) was nice and actually has less calories per cup (250mls) than the skim milk I usually drink - I think I may have just converted over.  I had a sip of the almond milk on it's own and guess what?  It tasted like almonds!  I couldn't taste the milk or cottage cheese in the smoothie at all.  The most prominent flavours were the banana and honey and this smoothie contained a whopping 23.7 grams of protein.  I should also add that it was very tasty!

*Laughing Cows*

I was asked by Pinky who writes It's All About Me what sort of spreadable cheese I used on my Egg & Cheese muffin and I really appreciate a picture of any product I am asking about so I thought I would do the same.

multigrain muffin with cheese wedge

light Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges

8 wedges per pack

The reasons I love these little wedges are :

• Portion size is already taken care of
• They are spreadable
• They are tasty
• Per wedge : 
• 26 calories
• 1.6 grams of fat
• 21 grams of protein

If you are anything like me when it comes to cheese these wedges are a lifesaver.  I don't have to buy a jar or tub of cream cheese spread that I can use in a matter of seconds.  These really aren't that expensive, I think they were $2.99 for the pack of 8 which I don't mind spending.  When I have these I tend to ration them out and only have one when I really want it whereas if I have the jar or tub I just eat it.  I don't know what it is, but the wedges make me behave myself and not become a pig around the cheese.

*Breakfast Bowl Portions*

I used to use this bowl ~

average sized adult bowl

Then I swapped to this bowl ~

average sized children's bowl

Then I discovered ~

adult & child bowl are virtually the same size

I now use this bowl ~

this child's bowl holds a 40g serve of cereal with milk and no over-flow

the 3 bowls sitting inside each other

Although I am using my kid's bowls for my breakfast / cereal bowl, the thing that really bothers me is that whenever we are giving our kids something to eat using these standard / average sized kid's bowls we are actually giving them an adult sized serve.  No wonder childhood obesity is at an all time high.  

Normally you wouldn't think twice about the actual quantity of food you can fit into that tiny pink bowl that fits in my palm and although it sits nicely in the cat bowl, it is deeper and holds the same amount of food as the adult sized bowl - that is 1 adult sized portion, which is perfect for me, but not for the kids! 

Tell me your portioning secrets..........

• How do you control your portions?
• Is it just me or do the bowl sizes bother you?
• Have you ever measured out your kids bowls to see the actual portion size?

Cream of Vegetable Smoothie

Sounds gross?  Yes, it does, but it tasted like banana and honey.  My smoothie this morning contained not one, but two serves of veggies.  How do you put 2 serves of veggies into a smoothie I hear you ask? Easy! Just choose bland, fairly flavourless veggies to add and you can't taste them.

I had my first milk based smoothie today, the main reason being that I got some Protein Powder yesterday and I thought the milk would go better with a vanilla flavour and make it creamier.  Luckily I have been stalking the protein powders waiting for them to go on sale.  I can't justify spending nearly $22 for a 400g tub, when there are a lot more important things to buy at the grocery store.

Finally, I saw the sale sign.  The "sale" tag actually said $26.98 reduced to $22.59 WHAT!!  Two days ago it was $21.98 full price!!!  Fortunately for me, the original price tag was still under the sale tag and when I questioned it at the checkout, which took about 15 mins of whispering and going back to the aisle a couple of times, I ended up getting the protein powder for free.  It's store policy that if you are overcharged for something you get it for free :)

Cream of Vegetable Smoothie

Into the blender :

• 250 mls Skim milk
• 100g frozen Banana
• Handful of Baby Spinach leaves
• 50g No Fat Greek Yoghurt
• 1 tsp Honey (7 grams)
• 20g Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
• 50g Mushrooms

I know that mushrooms in a smoothie sounds worse than disgusting, but I promise you, just like the spinach, you can't taste them.  All I could taste was the banana and honey.  I couldn't taste any vanilla from the protein powder, but I did only use half a serve.  Also, I don't think the milk made the smoothie any creamier, but I did find it a little more filling that the water base.  The frozen banana always does a great job of thickening up the mix and making it creamy.

I don't think I will buy the protein powder again, there are a lot of other cheaper ways to incorporate protein into the diet.  Who knows, there may even be a tofu smoothie round the corner? Maybe not?  We'll see!

Speaking of cheaper protein sources............

Egg & Cheese Muffin 

Multigrain English muffin with low-fat cheese wedge

1 dry-fried / no added fat egg 
(I used an egg ring to get the perfect muffin shape)

egg & cheese muffin with 1/2 an avocado

I am loving these little cheese and egg muffins.  They are so quick and easy to make and they taste delicious.  I love my avocado as well and when my son cracked one to have on his sandwich, I just had to have some.  I know they are fatty, but it's the good kind and as much as I would like to, I don't eat them everyday.

I recently stumbled upon a blog called Diary of a Nutritionist, which I am loving.  I also found a post called The Avocado - A Healthy Fat.  I am so glad that I found this avocado post cause it explains the health benefits of the avocado and makes me feel better about eating them.  Here's a sneak peek -

"Avocados are incredibly delicious, versatile and nutrient dense.

They are rich in potassium (higher than bananas)

High in Vitamin K- (allows your blood to clot normally, and helps to protect your bones)

Fairly high in the B-Complex Vitamins,

Contains Vitamin A, C, E, and,

Are rich in magnesium, iron, calcium and other trace minerals"

If you are having any concerns about the foods you are eating, I highly recommend you check out Diary of a Nutritionist, it is full of great information about all the foods we eat.

*Weigh-in*

Good weigh-in this morning with a loss of 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs).  I have found lately that I'm not really counting calories, but I am being consistent with everything I am doing.

Early morning workouts are slowly becoming habit / routine and I am really enjoying them and regretting when I don't do them - both good signs.  I am eating 4 - 6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 big ones and I am putting a lot more effort into my meals.  My meals aren't fancy with 1000's of ingredients, but I am really trying to focus on the ingredients - grainy breads instead of white, adding proteins where I can to keep me fuller longer and being really aware of portion sizes (Tweety Bird plate, I also have Winnie the Pooh).

I have sort of taken the weight loss out of it all and am just trying to be as healthy and active as I can be and it seems to be working.  I've lost more weight in the last few weeks than I did in all of last year.  I think I have finally found my winning formula :)

Share your winning formula.....

• What works best for you? 
• Do you eat 5 - 6 smaller meals?
• Would you ever try mushrooms in a smoothie?

The Mysterious Monster

First lets start with the workout - there was none, well not yet anyway.  The alarm went off at 5.20am and as part of my normal morning routine, I hit the snooze button.  The alarm then goes off again at 5.30am, which is when I get out of bed.  Well, that didn't happen this morning.  I turned the alarm off and went straight back to sleep until I was woken by thunder a little later on.

I know there are no excuses, but but I had the crappiest sleep ever last night.  I fell asleep around 10ish out of boredom from listening to my husband rabbit on about all his grievances he has with me because I was so tired and I was awake again a little after midnight.  My mind was racing with a million different thoughts and I couldn't get back to sleep.  I had to call on Kath Day-Knight for some help!

"If anyone needs me, I'll be going inside myself outside"

"OK Kath empty your mind, empty your mind, empty, that was quick"  Yes, that's what I had to do to get back to sleep and it was after 1.30am.  

*The Mysterious Monster*

I was woken again a bit after 2am - there was something on my arm.  I woke up to the feeling of something crawling on me!  It was disgusting and gross.  Whatever it was I grabbed it and hit it against my bedside table.  I could not get back to sleep cause every time I felt a twinge I thought it was another monster.  After about 5 mins I got my phone to use for light, but still couldn't see anything.  Next I got up and turned the light on.  I pulled the bed apart looking for the monster, which I am thinking may have been a spider.  There was nothing in the bed, there was nothing on or near the bed side table, whatever it was must have limped away to hide.

Now that I was wide awake, my mind started racing again and it was nearly 4am before I had to rely on Kath Day-Knight to get back to sleep.

*Mind Racing*

I think my thoughts have overtaken my mind at the moment because arse features the hubster knew I was furious with him last night and I think for good reason.  He on the other hand thinks I am being unreasonable.

I had to pop out last night to the grocery store and when I got home, my son informs me that Yia Yia (grandma aka mother-in-law) is coming to stay for a month or two.  I don't really mind, I like her and we get on, but it would have been nice to have been asked about it.  What really tipped me over the edge though is that she is arriving the week before we go away on our beach holiday and she is coming with us.

This holiday is the first we have been on in 3 years and it's a chance for us all to just relax and enjoy ourselves.  I can not relax around the mother-in-law.  I don't feel like I can just hang out in my PJ's till lunch time or just throw a slap-together-in-5 minutes-dinner on the table.  She is a huge cook and she is happy to just stay in the kitchen cooking from the moment she wakes up till she goes to bed - that is not me, but I feel like I have to make much more of an effort with everything when she is around.

I have 4 kids, 3 of which are still young and like to make a mess (5 yr old and 4 year old twins).  I let them make a mess with whatever they are doing at the time, such as food or playdough and I clean it up when they are finished playing or eating.  The mother-in-law follows them around with a dust pan and brush sweeping up every little crumb that they drop - this drives me insane.  It makes me fell like I have to do more.  I really wanted to relax on my holiday not feel like I have to be Anthea Turner.

Anthea Turner also known as - The Perfect Housewife

I don't know?  What do you think?  Am I being unreasonable?

*Regrets*

I am really regretting not getting up and getting my butt moving this morning, but I just felt blah about everything.  I am feeling much better now after a yummy yoghurt bowl and I will definitely do some sort of workout a little later.

yoghurt bowl with apple (still in progress)

finished product - with apple, Nesquik cereal & muesli bar

The Exploding chicken

Good morning all!  I hope everyone slept well in that hideous 40C (104F) heat.  It was still 39C at 8.30 pm last night, but luckily I put the "hair conditioner machine" aka, air conditioner on so, in the end I needed my quilt - it was wonderful.

*Workout*

This morning on my way to the pool it was 21C (71F) and that was at 5.30 am - not nice.  At least today is only going to be around 34C, I can handle that a lot better.  Considering the heat, the pool was the best place for a workout today.  According to Fat Secret, I burned 720 calories in the hour, I think I would have died burning that many in the heat.  The heat and I do not get along!

I did struggle a little today though, but I think that's because I have started to push myself passed / past (which one?) a comfortable pace.  I can feel my arms burning at my slightly faster pace and when I do some "sprints", I have to either stop or slow right down to catch my breath.  My time isn't any faster, but that's because my pace is all over the place.  I don't mind because I can work on my time and one day I will be faster - I'm not talking Ian Thorpe fast, but maybe cutting 5 - 10 mins. off my time.  I think that will be my ultimate swimming goal :)

*Breakfast*

After the pool, the heat had risen by a few degrees up to 24C (75F) and I just couldn't face anything warm so I pulled out my trusty blender and made something like this -

This isn't the smoothie that I made this morning, but it looked pretty much the same - green.  The smoothie in the picture is the Strawberry Swamp Beast, which is nice, but today's creation is (so far) my all time favourite.  It was delicious, cold, icy and tasted like pineapple.  It was the perfect breakfast for a warm morning.  I was enjoying it so much that I didn't even get a photo.  

Pineapple Delight  
(named by Hayden, he's 12 and liked it)

Into the mix went :

• 250ml Cocobella Pure Coconut Water with Pineapple (74 calories)
• 112g frozen Banana (100 calories)
• 56g frozen Pineapple (27 calories)
• 26g Baby Spinach leaves (about a handful) (6 calories)
• TOTAL calories - 207

I bought the pineapple fresh, cut it all up into cubes and froze it in an airtight container.  The little pieces were like ice cubes and made the smoothie so icy - it was pretty close to a slushy and the pineapple flavour was basically all I could taste.  I will definitely be making this one again.  I really don't think the coconut water with the pineapple contributed much to the flavour, but we will see cause all I have left is plain coconut water.

*The Exploding Chicken*

Last night as I was heating up the left over chicken I could hear some popping sounds.  This is fairly normal when re-heating meat so I wasn't too worried and then the pops got louder and louder.  I opened the microwave to find a BBQ chicken breast in pieces.  It was only 1 breast and I only put it in for a minute, but the damage was rather substantial - my son and I both just burst out laughing.  

I jigsawed the chicken back together and covered it in some extra sauce before serving it up with parmesan potatoes.  It killed me having to put the oven on, but at least it was just long enough to melt the parmesan cheese under the grill.

Last nights dinner was inspired by Pinterest.  I made this.......

Crockpot BBQ Chicken from stick a fork in it

To make the sauce -

• 1 jar (250 - 275 ml) of BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• There are some chilli flakes as well, but I don't use them
• I make this much for 2 chicken breasts

and these.............

Parmesan Potatoes from Iowa Girl Eats

To make the potatoes -

• Pierce each potato with a fork
• Place potatoes on a paper towel in the microwave
• Cook on high till soft - don't forget to turn them
• The time will depend on how many potatoes you have
• Cut them in half
• Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
• Melt and brown the cheese under the grill

I didn't have any chicken, but it got rave reviews from those who did eat it.  The potatoes I have been making for a while now and everyone loves them - even the kids.  I have even started making one to have on the side with a salad.  I am thinking about trying out a sweet potato instead.  Potatoes and diabetes don't mix well.

Both of these are so easy and quick to make, apart from the 6 hours in the crockpot, but making the sauce takes about 2 mins. and the potatoes take about 10 mins.  I can't complain about that - 12 mins. hard kitchen work time and your done :)

The Pungent Odour

My heading sounds so enticing doesn't it?  I will get to that a little later.  First up I lost 600 grams this week so I am pretty happy with that, the scales were my friend this morning and there were no tears in sight.

*Workout*

This mornings workout consisted of not 1, but 2 treadmill workouts! I know, shocking.

I shocked myself

I stared off with workout #2 cause it's a favourite of mine and although it takes 30 mins, it only feels like 5 mins, well not really, but the time does seem to fly on this one.  At the end of the workout I was thinking thank goodness it's over, but during the cool down I realised I wasn't feeling too bad so I decided to flip the card over and do workout #1.  I don't know why I though this was a good idea, but I managed to get it done (just).

This was me this morning -

run piggy run

I was sweating like a little big, fat, piggy, but I am proud to say that I definitely didn't throw that towel in this morning, I used it to wipe the sweat from my face.  I figured that if I did this today, there is no reason why I can't do this everyday and soon, very soon in the distant future I should look like this instead -

"Ewwww, I don't sweat, I glisten"

*HRM Stats* 

• Duration : 1 hour 10.24 mins
• Calories : 650
• Average HR : 156
• Maximum HR :212
• In Zone : 15.58 mins
• Distance : 6.6 kms

*Breakfast*

This mornings breakfast was very fast to prepare and very yummy to eat :

*French Toast Roll*

• 1 bread roll
• 2 eggs
• 20 ml sugar free Maple Syrup - optional (thanks Sammy)

1. Beat eggs together
2. Cut roll in half and dip in eggs
3. Cook in non-stick pan
4. Cook left over egg (if any)
5. Drizzle with syrup

without syrup

with syrup - just call me Buddy

Buddy has syrup too!

*The Pungent Odour*

I was woken at 3am by a smell!  My question is, how does a smell wake someone up?  It's a smell.  It's not a slap in the face or a bucket of cold water, it's - a - smell!!!!!

The source of the smell was coming from beside my bed, it was Holly (poor little thing).  My next question is, how do you get poo from your toes, up the back of your legs and all the way up your back to your neck?  She was fully clothed and wearing a nappy!  How does this happen????  Guess what I was doing at 3am :)

Just A Little Bit Closer

*Weigh-in this morning brings me 2.5 kilos closer to fitting into my little black dress* 

Once again I am 100 kilos on the nose.  I am glad that I had a loss of 2.5 kilos, but I am not so glad that it is "once again".  I am sick of the yo-yoing, I am really over it and I am never, never, never going over 100 again.

*Breakfast*

Breakfast this morning was made in my new mini non-stick fry-pan.  It is the perfect size for 1 lonely egg which I teamed with a slice a Cape Seed loaf.

     

As it turned out, the non-stick wasn't so non-stick after all and I had a little trouble getting the egg out of the pan, but it was cooked perfectly to my liking and I enjoyed every last bite.  Luckily the kids didn't even want to try it which meant I didn't have to share.  I also sipped on a nice hot cup of green bean coffee.