Simple Living.............

What is Simple Living?

Identifying what is most important for you and eliminating everything else.

Freeing up time for doing what inspires you and being with the people you love.

Decluttering your mind, your everyday life and your virtual life.

Single-tasking and learning to diminish stress.

Striving to live frugally by wanting less and buying only what is necessary.

Slowing down and being actively present in the moment.

Living a healthy life, including cleaning your home and your body, eating, exercising and thinking.

Striving to be green and sustainable as much as your surroundings allow.

Enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Simplifying your goals, tasks and expectations

 

Check out Kanelstrand for more great ideas!

Frustrations..............

ARGH...................

The last couple of days have been hard food wise for me!

It all started on Saturday for some strange reason when I thought, whilst doing the shopping, lets get a few treats for me - low fat options of course.

So I got some hummus - smallest container - so I could portion it out some to have with the rice crackers we had in the cupboard.
I also brought a small container of sherbert as it was on special to try.
Also a 2 pack of some chocolate mousse.
And also some buns with ham and coleslaw for our lunch that day!

Lets just say - buy the morning of Sunday  not alot of the above was left!

Sunday wasn't much better - snacking away

Monday - I had a lamb kebab for lunch (The works one!)

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT, I am back on track today and it is a low point day for sure!

I think it all came about thru boredom and thinking I can allow a few little treats into the house for me!
When clearly it is too soon for those!

So the next couple of days I will chug the water down, eat sensibly and try and incorporate a bit more excercise into my day!

Wish me luck!

Still Here.......

I am still here - alive and kicking!

So much on at the moment and focus is out the door.........

Argh this seems to be a very bad cycle that I am on

Time to sort it out .....................

Lingerie Purchases........

After having most of my bra underwires breaking on me, it was time to venture out to purchase some more as I was down to one!

Off I went to Farmers to try them on - remembering that this time last year was when I had last purchased some and was in a good place with my weight loss journey and at the lowest ever weight.  My bra size then was a 16E.

I had been wearing those bras for the last year and had slowly been putting them under a lot of pressure due to me having put on at least 10 kgs over the course of the year(eek!), and in my naive mind I thought "oh I must be about an 18 maybe 20 at the most"

BUT no - those number were not to be seen on these lovely lady lumps!

The new number that is now gracing the girls is a 22C
Oh the shock and the shame!

The largest I had been was a 22DD!. - How did this happen I hear inner naive Lisa saying - we haven't been that bad have we?? - We aren't at our heaviest again?? Why oh Why!

And we all know it has only been my own doing - sneaky treats here and there - eaten in private but worn in public!

So it is time to knuckle down and do what needs to be done!

Starting tomorrow....................

Just kidding - starting now!

Family Day

Looking up to the top

Well today was a family Fun day and we headed to Snow Planet for some snow fun!

The drive is about 1 hour from door to door which was a little bit longer than I thought.

But we got there - decided who was doing what - skiing or snowboards - the kids and me chose boarding and hubby decided on skiing.
We got all suited up, boots on and headed out!

The kids enjoyed themselves altho Courtney being so skinny felt the cold pretty quickly despite layering up.

Hubby and Courtney all ready to go

Hubby had the most fun - even tho its not really his thing

Liam found it a bit hard and started getting cold

Liam all ready to begin

And as for me - well I thought I could have managed the snowboarding but I couldn't and when I changed over to the skiing - the ski boots killed my calves! So I was in them for about 20 minutes and didn't even get to ski at all as the pain was too much.

I will admit that I was disappointed that I was unable to enjoy the day and thought that it would have gone a lot better but I guess at the end of the day when you are weighing 115kgs alot more effort is needed for sports orientated events.

Next time it will be better!

Lost............

Where do I begin...............

The last couple of weeks/months I have been going through the motions of life as it was all to overwhelming for me - why - I am not entirely sure, but think it is a mix of many different things:

Work

Money

Friendships

Winter

Tiredness 

Many different things in my life got neglected including my weight loss journey and eveything I had established to go with it - excercise, healthy eating, sleep!

But - I am hoping to change all of that now or at least over the next week or so.

I have begun walking/training to work again which will help with weight loss and money parts of my life (petrol costs for the car was increasing the Credit Card debt! - petrol at the moment is approx 2.09cents per litre and with the tank being 50 litres for a full I am only getting approx 550 kms out of a tank - which is about a week and half work travelling!)

With the regular excercising, I am sleeping better which is making me feel more motivated to do things around the house as well as concentrate on my scrapbooking and other crafts that I do.

It is also helping me with making healthier food choices which in turn makes me a happier person.

I know it will be a slow process to get back to where I was before things slid down the slippery slope but I will get there.

LIFE........................

Well I haven't disappeared completely!

But I have been having struggles lately and needed some time to reasses what I am doing with my life.

Making good choices at the moment is hard and it annoys me so much!

I need to reassess what I am trying to achieve and also make the journey doable!

Bear with me as I sort out my head!

89 day Challenge - Days 33-36

WOW - What a busy weekend I have had, I ended up having Friday off work as TTOTM was playing havoc with my back so I spent the day resting, oh and dropping hubbys car for its warrant of fitness which it failed!
It needs two new tyres (160.00 each) and something with the rear light and a crack in the windscreen fixed.

So after 572.00 later it is all good to go!

Saturday was quiet for most of it until the afternoon when we had a dress rehersal for Ceroc as the champs are next saturday (Freaking out!)
It went well and we all "sexed it up" for the audience!

Sunday was spent with my son at a soccer tournament where the boys did not play to there best abilities whilst on the pitch - Liam did ok but was in goal for 4 1/2 of the 5 games and of the 1/2 game he did play he scored two goals - so that was good!

Last night I went to bed at 8.30 as I was tired and had great plans to get up at 5.30am to go to the gym!

BUT - I spent the night tossing and turning, not sleeping and still with back pain so I allowed myself to sleep some more and will hopefully go tomorrow morning!

This whole 89 day challenge I set myself is not going the best at the moment but I will try and pull myself together to get it sorted!

89 Day Challenge - Days 31 & 32

Well between work and dance practise I am tired!

I have decied to take the week off the gym and just relax and get some sleep in, TTOTM doesn't help either and especially since its a doozy!

Will return to the gym next week!

89 Day Challenge - Day 30

I will confess................

NO GYM TODAY!!!!!!!!!

Argh I so didn't feel like it today either and I know why - that darn womans thing!

The lead up to it this time is causing me back pain/cramps and I am not handling it very well!

I will take it easy at dance class tonight and will have another nice sleep in tomorrow - but I promise to you and me that I will get back there on Thursday and Friday for sure!

89 Day Challenge - Day 25

I am just back from the gyma nd a great work out - I really pushed myself this morning and I can feel it!

It is another cold morning in Auckland so I am rugging up warm.

Food choices today:
Egg and banana for Breakfast
Tuna salad for lunch
Fruit for snacks

I am still working thru my issues and trying to get them out and down on paper so I can see them and acknowledge them and then work on eleminating them from my life

Have a great day

89 Day Challenge Day 24

Today is my rest day - which is great as Tuesday nights are my late night.  Also with  the freezing cold weather we are experiencing in Auckland at the moment, I am glad to be able to stay in the warmth a little bit longer.

Yesterday was another food shocker - why do I do it!

This is something I need to really look within to see why I can't find the success again of previous attempts.

I do want to loose weight

I do want to be under 100 kg (Lowest 102kg a year ago)

I love the control of eating well and getting the results on the scales

BUT

Why do I continue to eat junk food!

Why am I not giving it my all at the gym making sure that I am feeling like a work out has just happened

Why do I think I am not worth it!

Lately with our dance trainings, different  people have been recording the routine and then we all get to view it to check out timings and make sure that we are all hitting the beats at the same time.

I hate looking at it because what I see in my mind of my body is nothing like what I view on the recording of me and it depresses me!

I guess I view myself on what I can see when I look down and that is a "frontal view",  but that is definitely not what I see when I see a recorded version of myself and this then makes me  think is that how people see me????

Am I really that big, that round?!

I have so much sorting out in my mind to do and somethimes that feels so overwhelming that I just give yup and have the chocolate!

But I will continue to look within to sort the outside and come to a happy resting place

89 Day Challenge - Day 18

Up bright and early this morning but with no energy - I dragged my sorry arse to the gym and only gave a small effort with my workout.

I was quite tired this morning as the darn rain overnight kept waking me up!

So its into bed early for me tonight.

I went out and purchased 40 coathangers to help with  hanging up of my new acquired clothes and I still need more!  I think about 20 more hanges should do the trick.

Yah jeans day tomorrow - oh which of the 8 do I pick!

Food choices are going a lot better.

I also popped into a Natural Health Shop to talk about St Johns Wort but after discussions with the Natropath,she has given me the liquid form of Chaste to take.

She mentioned that she wonders if I am experiencing a hormone imbalance rather than depression, after we had discussed my symptoms, as sometimes woman in their early 40's can go thru the peri-menopause stage of life and the hormones are going awol!

I also got  some Estro-Sense which will help as well with "sore Boobs" before TTOTM and a few other things. (not cheap - $54.90NZD for 60 capsules - lucky I only need 1 a day)
I am also going to go in and have a consultation with her as well to go more in depth.

Will keep you up to date on how it all goes.

89 Day Challenge Day 17

 A nice sleep in for me this morning!

I didn't make it to bed until 11pm last night due to my dance class running late and then we had our team training after the classes!

We also had a "substitute" teacher last night who is amazing to watch and he brought along his regular dance parter who I absolutely love watching dance, so last night was a great night for me!

My feet are tender this morning so I have on some comfortable shoes on today.

Another new set of clothes today - but with touches of green today!

Loving all these new clothes - I am hoping to go and get some more coathangers tonight along with a visit to the local library for a book I have been waiting to arrive:

Lost and Found:Unexpected revelations about food and money - by Geneen Roth.

Anyone read this???

Food choices - haven't been the best and it is something I need to work on!
Emotions - I am feeling a little overwhelmed lately and after chit-chatting with someone last night I am wondering about trying to take some St Johns Wart to help me feel a bit better.

Has anyone tried this before - good??? Bad???

Wishes.................

Part of my List of 43 Things to do before Turning 43 is to make 10 wishes on balloons and release them!

I achieved 5 on Saturday night!

Pondering..............

I was tidying up my computer files and found these words that I have saved from one of Ms Bitchcakes post.

You can get there too. Make yourself a priority and tell yourself that you will not give up, no matter what. It's not that difficult, it's just change. Accept that a change in attitude and behaviors really does have to be for the rest of your life. Accept that it will take time and enjoy the journey. Your new life is waiting

So true!

Lost

I am feeling so lost at the moment and I can't seem to "find myself" again.

My eating is horrible - I am just eating for the sake of eating!

I feel like crying all the time!

I put on a brave face but everything feels like an effort!

I think I want to loose weight - but I just can't find the energy to do so!

I can't even get motivated to do the crafts I like.

I can't even get motivated to blog!

Work is tiring, the dynamics of it have changed so much and I believe that is part of it as well!

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just don't know what to do!

Please help me with any suggestions!

The Gabriel Method

Has anyone read this book yet???

I have purchased it and am about to start??

The concept behind it I believe is all about real foods and visualisations

Will let you know how it goes

The Voices in My Head...................

I have been reading a few different blogs lately, that are all about loving yourself now and how to embrace life as you are now, not where you hope to be.................

They are all great and talk alot about positive thoughts and sayings and changing the negative voices in your head!

But the more I read and the more I  thought about what they were saying the more I realised that I don't talk badly to myself, I don't sit there telling myself what a miserable, fat blob you are for eating those biscuits, or I don't deserve to be happy because I am overweight or anything remotely similar.

When I eat something bad, there is actually no voices in my head saying nasty things - just "Oh well - what else!" - I am truly beginning to discover I am an emotional eater - mainly boredom.

What I do, do thought is play over conversations in my head and how they should have gone or what I want to say to someone if I had the courage.

I also replay events/moments when I have said something stupid and think why did I say that (and it can be from years ago) and replay it with what I should have said.

I worry about what that person is now thinking of me and is it affecting how they deal with me now.

A recent example is a situation at work with a co-worker who I challenged (nicely) in a conversation and she has stopped talking to me.
I have played the conversation over and over again - then thought about what would happen if I confronted her about the non-talking which leads me to recall things I have told her in the past that she may bring up which will alter the whole conversation and bring it back to me being the one in the wrong - and so I won't say anything at all!

Whew  - that makes me tired just typing it!

So - I guess what I need to do is try and let some things go...........................

What about you? or am I the only one going crazy???

BAM, CRASH, KAPOW..................

The last week or so has seen life give me a side ways hit!!!!!!!!!!

I was plodding along the road of life, happy and carefree when BAM I turned into an emotional, eating machine!

I wanted to cry at the drop of a hat, I ate everything in sight and I mean everything whether I was hungry or not - I felt on edge at work and teary and to top it all of I have done nothing creative!

Why oh why did this happen!

The one thing I am wondering about was hormones - as TTOTM started on Monday night and I feel a sense of calm returning! - But hell, I don't want to go thru that rollercoaster every month so I am tracking my emotions for a month or so to see how it goes.

I noticed that since turning 40 (two years ago) that my monthly cycle began changing and over the last couple of months I have been getting a few hot flushes - I am too young to be going into menopause!

Since my mother has passed away I am going to go and have a chat to her sister/my aunt and see if she knows if mum went thru an early menopause and also ask her about hers - can't hurt to know!.

This rollercoaster has also made me look for any excuse to not excercise and even this morning the clouds looked a little gloomy so I have driven into work - but I did have a think about it all while driving in and came to the conculsion that  - so I get a little wet - is it really that big a deal!

I think not!

So my plan of attack is........................................ - I DON"T KNOW!!!!!!

I think I just have to take it one minute at a time and try and keep making the right choice with regards to food and excercise and hopefully all will return to normal.