Healthy Eating in the Southland - The GoSmart Food Company

It's been a while. I have totally broken my 2015 resolution to have at least one blog entry a week with my absence but real life calls. Today was no exception and with a full day, which meant I was up at the crack of dawn (okay, not quite but 6.30am on my day off is pretty early) and out of the house with just a slice of toast in my stomach. Thinking ahead though, I ordered a meal from The GoSmart Food Company - a door-to-door delivery service providing healthy gourmet meals. Their website describes the approach best

We exist to provide healthy gourmet food to our clients in a way that is convenient, utilising smarter choices and clean eating concepts. We believe that if you live smarter, you will indeed live a better life.
Our philosophy is that when you decide to GoSmart you are making a lifestyle choice as eating healthily should be a way of life and not a fast-track approach to weight loss.

But the BEST part of it all - they are based in SOUTH TRINIDAD!!! I always love when I can get great food options on my side of the island, and so hell yeah, I was going to support.Because I work in Port of Spain, the window of opportunity for trying this out would be small to nil, but I knew I would be in San Fernando all day and eventually would feel the hunger worms biting, so I placed an order yesterday for delivery today.

The service delivers to clients in San Fernando and surrounding areas, and because I also do not live in San Fernando (the universe is really against me here), but would be doing business in the area, my delivery was planned accordingly.

So how was it? The meal was excellent. It was fresh, wholesome, very filling, well packaged. On the menu today - Rainbow prawn with stir fried kale and bok choy, with ginger-garlic rice noodles, and a light mango and coconut mousse.

This is such a great service for Southerners who may not, like me, cook all their lunch-time meals during the week but still want to eat clean and be healthy. It is convenient as all you have to do is use the order form, drop them a message via their Facebook page, or give them a ring and the food is brought to you. No traffic, no fuss. It's great. I wish them all the best as they continue to make great meals for the great people of San Fernando.

You can check out The GoSmart Food Company -
Website - www.gosmartfood.co
Facebook - The GoSmart Food Company
Email: orders@gosmartfood.co
Tel: 397-6278

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Fat Girl Problems

After the gym, sometimes breakfast has to be quick
aka smoothie alert. Blueberry and almond protein smoothie

Trying to lose weight is a real nightmare. Putting it on is fun and easy. Date nights with girlfriends, with those yummy cocktails and cute fried appetisers; along with rich entrees and decadent desserts. Weekend stay-ins with Netflix and shrimp fries with Thai sweet chili sauce. The real killer - work events - schmooze and lose...lose your willpower to resist glasses of great wine and bite sized goodies that demand you pop another and another and another. Family get-togethers, where there is always food, always a lot of alcohol and aunties watching you cross-eyed if you try to politely refuse.

But when you are trying to get all this excess baggage off your body, not that easy. The early morning wake up calls to unwillingly subject oneself to cardio and other torture devices, or to try to get a workout outdoors before the morning heat and glare get the better of you.

Last night the family got together for a good ole family time. I drank nothing and when offered a plate heaping with roti and curry - my kryptonite - I politely (yeah, that is my excuse) ate the vegetables, a bit of the chicken and gave my mother 95% of the rest. Nightmare.

It has been tough going but the competition element of it has been keeping me really honest. The first couple of weeks, I admit, I had chips once in a while. But I have been super good this past week and for good reason. The people at work are hard core in trying to win this thing and I see my chances of winning slipping away. But I am still doing it because it needs to be done and I need to do it for myself. Still...winning would be nice.

The numbers thing is always complicated. I hate scales and on my second weigh in, the weight numbers were up ever so slightly but the fat percentage was down. This is apparently a good thing, but when you have been programmed to count just the pounds/kg, it can be a bit of a buzzkill. But rallying.

Eating lots of salads and veggies, soups (I love soups so this is easy) and cut out the sugar and the snacks. The snacks have always been my problem so this is a small miracle. No cake. No cookies. No chips. No Haagie. Lots of water, tea and my post-workout smoothies. Getting more sleep, though still not enough. The hardest part has probably been trying to keep my meals fun and creative. I am not one for those crazy diets - onion soup diets or liquid diets. I eat like a real person, just without an excess of the "fun" stuff. Food should never be boring, even if one is trying to be healthy.

Part of my weekly supermarket stash last weekend. Fruits and stuff for teas, fruit juices and smoothies.
Greens for salads.

Chicken quesadillas and greens for dinner. Salad by itself - not food. That's torture...

...unless the salad is epic like this one - mixed greens, grated carrots, roasted onions,
chopped black grapes, pommerac, homemade garlic croutons, and some baked chicken.

So wish me luck. The battle wages on. Another weigh in this week so game on!

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When being the biggest loser is a good thing!

Our homemade ice cream, topped with cookie bits

Last night, part of my aunty duties involved spending time in the kitchen, forging relationships over a pail of homemade ice cream. The excitement on the face of a 4yr old over an electric ice cream mixer and seeing a milky concoction morph into smooth textured goodness was priceless. What is not so priceless is that I have been dipping into the tub of ice cream all day!

I mentioned that one of my goals for 2015 was around health and fitness, and that I would be participating in a health and fitness challenge at work. Kind of like The Biggest Loser, but without Jillian Michaels, excessive exercising and the cameras, 

So I registered officially this week, so yes, this is really happening!!!

But it was a very traumatic experience to say the least. While I knew I had put on (more) weight, seeing the numbers really affected me deeply. And not just the gross number of pounds flash before your eyes, but on the nifty self-esteem killing device known as the Body Composition Monitor and Scale, you get your body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI) and skeletal muscle among other mind numbing stats. It was a wake up call for sure. Sharing this information with a third party did not help minimise my discomfort. I will admit I was ready to jump in front of a truck after that. lol.

The only churning will be me churning away in the gym

So over the next 8 weeks, we will be working within teams, with the dietitian, and with the fitness schedule to bring these numbers down in a healthy way. There is no expectation that anyone will look like Beyonce after 8 weeks, but the hope is that we will adopt healthier habits and make use of the resources available to us. I am very competitive and so the competition element will go a long way in keeping me honest and motivated. I will admit, a bit of depression has set in over the past few weeks, and this has been my main enabler as I am a comfort eater. I know it has to be more about my health and wellness, etc, but kicking ass is a great motivator as well. I have a target I am working with and so there will be no more aunty/kiddies ice cream sessions. 

This weekend is a tough one - a 5-day weekend with hot cross buns, and get togethers, and already, 2 days of feeling ill and tired. But I gave myself today to rest, regain my strength and not care. That is the lie I told myself every time I opened the freezer today. But it's game on now. Wish me luck!

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Me vs 2015. What's the score after the first quarter?

Cheers to a commendable first quarter!

So the first quarter of the year is almost over and I am reviewing my KPIs.I will admit, it has been a slow start to the year. I looked at my list and while I have not tackled all of them, I have made some inroads into others.

1. Spend more time with the family.
I have been doing a really good job with this. Soon, they will be begging me to go away. I have been getting my mum to try new things/experiences, and just this morning I was greeted by chubby cheeks as the niece and nephew came over. I have been seeing them much more - doing aunty things like taking them to participate in Kiddies' Carnival, taking them for pizza and ice cream, playing 'sling shot' (I enjoyed this more than they did!) and just sitting and watching silly shows that are not on MY Netflix profile but on theirs. I have also been trying to make more time for my friends too. It has been a good start!!

I have more yogurt and fruit, and less ice cream

2. Health and fitness
Well, I have actually put on weight and I don't need to stand on a scale to confirm that. I just know. I know how I have been eating and I know how I have been slacking off at the gym. I know. However, I have taken a bold and almost traumatic step - I have registered for a health and fitness competition at work. It is a Biggest Loser type initiative and while I will confess, the actual prize (though I do not know what it is) is what drew me to it primarily, I know I need something to motivate me. I have found it hard to stay motivated on this for some reason this year. The traumatic part of this is that I am going to have to publicly declare how fat and unfit I am - well, at least to 2 people - the nurse and the dietitian. I neverrrrrr stand on a scale and now I am going to be haunted by that figure and by the fact that others will also know. lol. But over the next 8 weeks I am going to give it a good go, especially as it is a team event and I cannot let my teammates down.

3. Travel
I have not gone anywhere yet but I generally do not travel at this time of the year. But I do have a fair idea where I am going mid-year. This is probably the easiest of all my KPIs and the one that would most likely make anyone who knows me say "duh".

4. Paying it forward
This is an important one. Too often we work, make money, enjoy the fruits of our labour without reflecting on how we got there. On my path to awesomeness, I had an incredible circle of friends and family and people I met along the way, and who have since become gems in my circle. They have all in one way or another been support and comfort through personal and professional milestones. I am nothing without my circle. I also know that even though I may gripe about little things like being tired all the time or being a bit too fat for life, I have been blessed and I do not have any real earth shattering issues. But some young girls start their lives under more challenging economic and social circumstances, and may need someone to be in their circle. So this is why I am on my way to being a Big Sister to a Little Sister in the Big Sister Programme. I am most excited about this. I have always always wanted an opportunity like this and when it presented itself to me at last, I ran with it. I am so happy to be able to write a positive progress report on this KPI and so early in the year!

5. Stretch myself in the kitchen
I love to cook and I cook often, mostly my lunches for work. But I also wanted to try things I have always been less confident about or have never tried before. I tried making croissants once as a teenager and they were like lethal boomerangs. I saw a recipe for pain au chocolat this morning and decided I would try my hand again this weekend. But I have also done some fun things like new flatbreads, stuff involving the dreaded pie crust and been learning how best to cook different kinds and cuts of meats.

Blind baked my pie crust for a lovely spinach and mushroom quiche

6. Blog at least once a week
So far, a resounding success. I have a blog entry for every week of 2015 so far. It is a miracle! It has not been easy, but I have done it! (cue super hero music)

So I know I have to get off Netflix and get a jump on some of the other items on the performance contract and get to work. But so far, hey...doing okay. I will not let 2015 kick my ass.

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Cue Rocky Music - This Week's Gladiator Moments

While my days are often challenging, as part of my 2015 mission to look for the positives, here are the winning moments from this week:

Did my 4.19 km with no regrets

Not passing out on my return to the Queen's Park Savannah
I hate running. Like seriously hate it. I am not a fan of working out on the whole but being able to tell my doctor this morning that I had made a small dent in the weight gain he so scoldingly jotted down in my file last year, was a bit of a victory.

Before this week, my return to fitness was limited to the gym - the treadmill primarily. My mission was to build up some level of endurance in the privacy of the gym before going out in public and embarrassing myself. lol. I had put it off long enough though and after hitting the sack early on Sunday, I donned my battle gear, with some new fat busting tunes on the MP3 player, and hit the asphalt dark and early on Monday morning - determined.

The first day was rough, I will not lie. There is an old guy who was committed to showing me that he was much fitter than I was. I was committed to not letting this old man pass me. And so we went, but the cramps near Kapok did me in and as he passed me, I could see the glee and the smirk on his face as he claimed victory. By Wednesday though, even though physically exhausted, I managed to get back into a rhythm and finished strong.

(cue Rocky music)

Being generally healthy this week
My eating habits are a daily struggle and I treat them as such. I generally do eat well. My meals themselves are top notch for keeping it healthy. My problem has always been snacking. I bought 2 heaps of these lovely portugals both for juicing purposes as well as for snacking purposes. I did have brownies during the week and a cupcake today but this is victory nonetheless.

They sold me the sweetest portugals ever! Major win!

My happy corner at work
Cue free flowers and my happy corner on my desk was a major win. One has to do what one can to keep the smurfiness flowing, so the flowers were a welcome addition to my snack/tea/aromatherapy nook.

My little animals, my honey and my tea, my clusters, my water, lotions, nail polish. Perfect!

A perfect cafe mocha
I love coffee. I love chocolate. I love when coffee and chocolate come together in a perfect union. Unfortunately, this perfect union is hard to find, mainly because most times when I order a cafe mocha, I get a cup of hot, sickeningly sweet mess. Then I have to add water, dilute the espresso shots, negate the point of the drink in the first place. But Crust2Crumb gets a special award for a perfectly drinkable mocha today, to go with the awesome red velvet cupcake. This is why they are my new to-go place for coffee when I am on my side of the island.

Awesome Red Velvet cupcake to go with my perfect mocha

Saying hello to Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan in The Fall
So I continue this Netflix lethargy on lazy evenings, and I decided to try The Fall - a BBC crime drama series with Scully and the guy who will play Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey (never read the book(s) and have zero interest generally). I love love love Gillian Anderson and she is so good in this. The perfect Ice Queen. Strong, commanding, but still beautiful and feminine.

Gillian Anderson as Stella Gibson in BBC's The Fall

I am a bit hooked though not to the extent that I am hooked on Downton Abbey!

Simple victories this week - I don't ask for much! Hoping next week will be even better.

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Happy Places - Those Moments that Make Everything Better

The wonderful Ray tagged me a while ago to share my Happy Places. I am also stealing her idea of adding a cute word cloud.

Happy Places - those places that are all yours - those moments that evoke warm feelings, feelings of safety, contentment.

As crazy as it sounds, and as much as I hate it - my morning workout. Every morning when that alarm goes off, I move about the house with a sense of dread. I unwillingly put on my gym clothes and lug all my baggage into the car. But once I am in the middle of the workout, my mind is clear, my music is driving me, I am emotionally cleansed - ready to start the day.

Speaking of which - music. Music takes me away from the reality of life. It is my constant companion - in traffic, at the gym, at my desk, while cooking. No matter how tedious an activity may be, or how annoying the world is around me, once my music is on, I take life to that other place - that happy place - where noone else can get in, where it is a population of one.

Coffee time. I mean, like duh. While weekday coffee time is usually punctuated by emails from someone wanting something now now now, or by meetings, real coffee time - where I can sit and leisurely sit with my cup, and maybe a biscotti, cookie or cheese puff - is happy time. It does not matter whether it is in a coffee shop setting where I am surrounded by life - by love, creativity, gossip, solitude - or on the balcony with just my tablet or my Kindle. Coffee time - where the warmth and goodness of ground beans, mixed with hot water, hot milk and honey just makes everything better.

Today's coffee time - Coffee and Toffee Crunch Biscotti - coffee time. Bliss.

My iced green tea is my new happy place as well, particularly in recent days with the intense heat.

Coming home from work and taking off the trappings of a long day. There is nothing quite like getting home after 12 hours at the office, 2 hours in traffic and just taking off all the junk that comes with that, taking a shower and slipping into my favourite plain black maxi dress. Bliss. It is truly amazing how heavy a necklace feels at the end of a work day, how tight and unbearable shoes feel, compared to just wearing a slip dress and stepping through the house with bare feet. It's indescribable really, how that feels.

Cooking also revives my spirit. Something about creating something out of nothing does that. My kitchen is like church! I worship regularly.

Aunty time. Seeing the different moods and reactions of a 4 year old and a 1 year old - extraordinary. From the 4 year old whose little eyes become wide as saucers when you say certain words like trucks, ice cream or pizza, to the 1 year old who is mastering her walking and running skills every day and is discovering new experiences daily.

These are just a few of my happy places. As I said before, maybe my life is not as exciting as others', but it is mine and I am content.

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How to Lose Weight on (the best) Vacation

As I sit typing this, I can barely walk. I resumed my regular morning workouts just last week after a 6-7 week hiatus, which included pre-vacation hustling time, a 3-week vacation and post-vacation indifference. It is always the same. Yesterday I worked legs – squats, lunges, upping the resistance on the cardio machines. Today, I am sore and miserable.

The good news is, despite the damage done by multiple “happy hours”, including pink beer in Amsterdam and coffee mojitos in Lausanne, as well the havoc wreaked by vacation foodie goodness, including Swiss cheese fondue and great pastries, I did not actually put any weight on. How is this possible? You don’t even have to pack gym clothes! This is how you do it.

One heavy suitcase. If you are on an extended vacation, and are not low maintenance, then you will still, despite your best efforts, have a heavy bag. We can talk about my success in only having ONE bag in another post. However, the limit on regular airlines like British Airways is 23kg, while on the budget airlines, I am only willing to pay for 20kg. So at the very least, you are going to be doing some weight lifting especially if it is a multi-trip itinerary. I had to hoist that bag in and out of taxis, trains, and hotels over a 3 week period, across 4 cities. That is a workout in itself, let me tell you. That pink bag is better than any weight machine.

The infamous globe trotting pink suitcase

Take the most inconvenient mode of travel. Taxis are a luxury in most any place. Taxis are also usually more expensive. The cheaper options like trains often come with their own challenges, but when viewed through the lens of weight management, one can turn challenges into freakin’ opportunities. Trains don’t drop you off in front of the hotel. Trains usually park your ass at some train station that can be as near as a 2 minute stroll or as annoying as a 20-minute huff and puff. Train stations also sometimes have stairs – no lifts, no escalators, but stairs. Tiring memories of London Victoria and Ealing Common come to mind as I hoisted my pink bag and brown self up and down multiple steps in agony. Taxis are for people who want the wonderful Italian dinner to stay on their hips. For the health conscious – take a train.

Avoid public transport and not only save money, but lose a pound or two. If your travel spot is gorgeous, as most tend to be, then why take a train, tram or bus to go everywhere? The canals of Amsterdam make for scenic walking routes and I did a lot of walking. Not always good for tired tourist feet but great for burning off the pink beer! At the end of my trip with a sore back caused by a pre-vacation fall down the stairs at home and lifting the pink bag everywhere, too much walking, particularly uphill walking as in Lausanne, was not the best option. But it still worked those glutes.

But still, take the train and be late for said train. I had forgotten about how “great” relying on public transportation can be, and even when on vacation, you can still find yourself running for trains. Don’t want to wait another 30-45 minutes in the cold at midnight in Geneva International? Run for the train, with pink bag. Don’t want to wait another hour for the train from Bournemouth to London? Run up the stairs, across the walkover, down the stairs and to the train door just as it is closing. Don’t want to be late for dinner date with friends? Run for the train! Yep…running for the train in Europe is inevitable. In the chase after the train you will probably lose necklaces (check), flip flops (check check), scarves (check) and the like. But there is nothing sweeter than losing a bit of weight (CHECK!!!).

Oh, and sit in the restaurant having cocktails while not checking your flight time and then realise you have 5 minutes to run about 100 miles from the table to the departure gate. That burns calories as well. These helpful tips should help you on future trips in managing all the goodies associated with vacation and your waistline!

*This blogger was not hurt in the pursuit of this weight loss.

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It's a Dog's Life - Try this Dog-inspired Fitness Routine

During the week I get up at the ungodly hour of 3.05 am to head to the office building, where there is also a gym. This is a huge sacrifice especially when one thinks of the sleep I could be getting. But with the morning rush hour being what it is, not going to the gym means I only get an extra 40 minutes of sleep anyway.

Still, my morning sweat - in the empty gym (until about 5.15am when people start trickling in) is the most relaxing part of my entire day. As much as I hate getting up that early, and struggle to get to the office, it really is my one moment of zen. It is more than just working out - it is a renewal of my mind and my spirit. But, of course, the working out is pretty important, and this week I have really been trying to stay serious - no resting and idling between sets, no jumping off the treadmill after 2 mins. Really serious. Even though some mornings I am as tired as a dog.

And speaking of dogs, I have this cute infographic that kinda shows how I have been getting serious this week. Now, as you know I love dogs, and my dog is pretty fit looking, so decided I would try his method as per this infographic from DogVacay,  I don't always look as happy as the dog in the photo but one can aspire towards something.

Get Fit like Fido!

The only set I left out - mountain climbers. I just hate them, as effective as they may be. My cool down is more of a slow stroll with my water bottle than stretching as well. A slow stroll or a booty shake depending on what song is playing on my MP3 player at the time. I have been caught a few times,  mid-booty shake, by co-workers, who then laugh and comment on my ability to be happy - even at that hour of the morning. The main difference between me and Fido - Fido gets to laze for the rest of the day and get his ears rubbed. I get to go to meetings and write reports for 8 hours. Oh well... 

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The Biggest Loser 2014 - Too Big a Loser?

Bob and Jillian - Complete shock and horror??

As someone who has always struggled with weight issues, The Biggest Loser is one of those shows - out of the reality show heap - that I really love watching as it brings such positive change into the lives of the participants. Moreover, it seems to inspire so many who are struggling with the burden of weight gain to really make some healthy changes in their lives.

Some of the contestants who returned for last night's finale looked amazing. Tumi stands out most for me. She lost a ridiculous amount of weight and looked good - really good. She looked happy and more importantly, she looked healthy. Tumi was hardcore from the beginning and I am so glad she won the "At Home" prize.

Tumi - Biggest Loser - Looking amazing. Good job, girl.

But when Rachel walked on to the stage, I was shocked and perhaps a bit sad.  As you can see from the photo of Bob and Jillian - they were pretty horrified as well.I immediately thought - "She is way too thin". I am not even trying to take away her months and months of hard work, discipline, tears and resolve.She, like Tumi, worked super hard and lost a great deal of weight - 155 lbs to be exact to end at at 105 lbs, at a height of 5' 4". However, I felt she did not look healthy - she looked almost anorexic. What do you think?

Rachel Frederickson, Biggest Loser 2014 - From one extreme to the next?

And this compared to what she looked like before the season finale. Not saying this is her ideal weight but she looks worlds better at this weight than she does now. She was not even this small when she was a state championship swimmer - an athlete!!! C'mon...

Rachel Frederickson - after her Biggest Loser makeover

Rachel Frederickson last night - pretty girl but she looks so gaunt.
And she is only 24.

I was really conflicted about who should win after seeing her. On the one hand, I felt she did not represent healthy weight loss. She looked incredibly frail and even when she tripped on the way to her final weigh in, I thought she would break. I felt like this perception of weight loss should not be rewarded.

On the other hand, she worked hard - not denying this, but more worrisome, the self-image issues seem to be very real, and I wondered if not rewarding her hard work would make her somehow think she was not the biggest loser - not as small as she should have been to win.

The Biggest Loser last night sparked a lot of reactions - but I think one thing I took away from it is that the show and the whole concept may need to be tweaked a bit. It has to be more than simply losing a whole heap of weight, especially if it becomes too much weight. Perhaps the participants should be set a target weight as someone suggested on Twitter - a healthy target weight. It should not be getting so thin to the point of looking frail, just to win money!

There were a lot of mean comments on social media which are not constructive. No matter what side of the weight spectrum one is on, hurtful comments never contribute anything meaningful or positive. I just hope that Rachel gets some support as she resumes her life.

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Pre-Carnival Gym Rats: Just Like the Once-a-Year Christians

Happy New Year to everyone!!

So now that the Christmas/New Year holiday season is over, here on the rock, the Carnival season will now kick in. With a bit of a longer season this year (59 more days til Carnival), there is more time for the non-Beyonce types to get in some kinda shape – maybe nothing at all like Beyonce in 59 days unless one exiles oneself to a deserted island and only drinks from coconuts – but a few pounds lost here and there, especially if one wants to wear something like the stuff seen HERE. 

The problem I have with this though is the same problem one lady had with me the first and last time I decided to go to New Year’s Eve mass one year. As I took a seat in a middle pew, this bastion of Christianity, Bible and hymn book in hand, looked at me, sucked her teeth and then commented to her friend – “I cannot tolerate these once-a-year Christians” as I had clearly selected her preferred or usual seat. Yes, Christians are awesome! I won’t even get into that, however…

…the once-a-year gym rats are to me, what I clearly was to the old battleaxe in church. You know, the ones you only see a few weeks before Carnival. The gym just before Carnival is a zoo – literally.

A gym that looks like this is a nightmare on any day!!!

People almost become animals, because the gym is so full, and there is stiff competition for equipment. This is not limited to gyms, but also try running around the Savannah, where one has to wake before the chickens in order to avoid the scramble.

As an all-year believer in the sweat gods, I do the suck teeth at the once-a-year subscribers who trample on my comfort levels at the gym and elsewhere. For the next 59 days I am going to have to battle with them.

Of course there are also those who use this busy period as a golden opportunity to use a gym membership as an opportunity to gape and try to pick up a man or a girl. These are even more maddening than the “lose weight or die trying” rats, because at least they are actually trying to do something, as opposed to those who dress to impress and stand around idling and gaping, often hogging equipment that could be put to better use by those who are serious, or sometimes they just stand there, doing nothing and are just in the way.

Luckily for me, I use a private gym (at work) most of the time. The same issues apply but on a smaller scale, and my gym hours (any iteration of 4am) somewhat protect me from the rush. Still, there are other classes for which I know I will need to do battle for space. I am trying to mix it up as much as possible, primarily to avoid boredom, but also to avoid me giving someone a concussion with a dumb-bell.

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Morning Wake Up Call aka "No Coffee" Smoothie

Nu Wave Party Mixer

I had a wannabe Magic Bullet that I used to make my smoothies but it just never did the job, leaving my blueberries and other fruit chunky and thus, often making my smoothies a dismal failure. Now with my Nu-Wave Party Mixer, which I got on sale, and which is way cheaper than the Nutribullet I really wanted, on top of being the daiquiri champion, I now can make wonderful fresh fruit slushies for my nephew and yummy fruit and green smoothies for myself.

My favourite smoothie to date is my Morning Wake Up Call green smoothie. Yes, I have lately been having this in lieu of coffee, while in recovery mode. I am making a concerted effort to not try to cover exhaustion with caffeine, while adding much needed nutrients at the top of my day.



For my morning smoothie, I use

• a huge handful of baby spinach leaves (Trinis, do NOT attempt this with bhagi. You will regret it! lol)
• one ripe peach (you can also use a banana, but I hate bananas)
• 6-7 seedless prunes
• a tbsp peanut butter - organic if you can
• almond milk 
• whey protein powder
• If you have kale, throw that in too

You put it all in the mixer and pulverise it. For post-workout, I sometimes use half milk, half coconut water, for those much needed electrolytes. Once your fruit is sweet, you really have no need for sugar. I tend to never put sugar in my smoothies anyway, and if you are going to use yogurt to give your smoothie some body, use plain yogurt as opposed to the sugary stuff.

I have also made smoothie bags for convenience and to keep my ingredients from going bad in the fridge. Spinach for one is notorious for spoiling very quickly, so I have taken to bagging it out in individual smoothie servings and freezing it. And when it's time for smoothie, I simply grab a bag, pop it in the mixer with some milk/coconut water and voila.

That's my idle "sick in bed" post for today.

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The Tough Week That Was

High heeled life is often taxing and tiring. This was a really really REALLY hard week. I worked late almost every day this week, and today, I woke up with a headache, back ache and completely exhausted. It was also a challenging week for the "Bringing Sexy Back" mission. Like today. I woke up feeling sick and also with an uncanny, mind numbingly overwhelming craving for something I hardly ever eat - KFC. So I had it. I had it and I enjoyed it. Every last greasy fry, and every crumb of my one greasy chicken leg. Fail.

Don't judge me.

Still, the week had some moments. My extraordinary friend's extraordinary birthday dinner at Aioli, which also greatly tested my willpower - a test I failed I admit. I mean, it's Aioli for crying out loud. It's kinda hard to not fail the willpower test with a menu as awesome as theirs. I did well to stick to protein as my main but this was the downfall right here.

Aioli's awesome Napoleon

This, and the strawberry mojitos and Prosecco - my first alcoholic drinks in over 2 months. On a work night. Fail.

And I did not make it to the gym the morning after, or the morning after that and I was too tired to really make a solid sweat investment the morning after that as my Savannah run became a Savannah nightmare and every step felt like I was running through quicksand. Fail.

I will however give kudos to Allister, our server, who held up extraordinarily well against the cheeky, good humoured assault from 14 mischievous women, with yours truly probably being the worst offender. He was a good sport though (but I did hear him utter "My God" under his breath, just behind me, after about an hour and a half...and I don't blame him one bit. I laughed) and proves me to that brilliant customer service is not dead.

Shopping deliveries are always a highlight as well - especially when they are speedy.

Gotta love a sale. And friends who facilitate your lack of retail willpower in the face of company's reluctance to accept international credit cards. Do better than this, NY&C I have supported you so well for so many years, so let's work on this. Fail.

Kudos as well to my skybox delivery guy - a guy I have had run-ins with in the past for his farseness and general outta-timing behaviour and comments. Even when he called a few days earlier to attempt delivery on a sick day, he was just generally obnoxious. But this time, when he came to make said delivery, he was as sweet as that Napoleon. It was bizarre but in a good way. Again, my hope for great customer service was boosted.

And speaking of sale...one sale in particular has gotten me thinking of my vacation of nothing again. I think it is meant to happen, so I better just make it so - especially with more tough weeks ahead.

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Not Zumba, but Carumba!

Studio A
Photo credit: Studio A

So last evening, the girls and I had a different kind of girls' night out. No cocktails. No dinners. No pulsating club music.

We went to a fitness class. Yes, a fitness class. On a Saturday night. lol. But it was awesome, and we had a great time.

Being a working girl, and a working girl who works at one end of the island and lives on the other end, workout time is always a sacrifice. I start my day by waking up at 3am to make it to the gym so I can be back at my desk in time for a 7am start. With the disgusting traffic every day, staying behind late is not even an option as many times I have left the office near 7pm and still face the traffic at that hour. If I am to workout in the evening, I would rather do it out of a traffic zone and so I am always looking for good workout options nearer the "home" end. So when I found out about Studio A, I was curious.

Studio A is a new dance and fitness centre - a labour of love for Arlene Wilkes, a professional dancer and teacher, who has a pretty impressive background, having done countless productions in Norway, where she once lived. Now she is back and she is bringing her love for dance to the Southland. Her studio offers jazz for kids, teenagers and adults, ballet for the 12-16 group, modern dance, Ashtanga and Restorative yoga and carumba. It was the carumba class which saw us replace heels and maxis, for sneakers and tights for the Saturday night pump.

What is Carumba, you ask? Well, I have never done zumba so it would be remiss of me to compare the two but both marry dance and aerobics. According to the Studio, carumba is a combination of Caribbean folk dance, jazz dance, Latin dance and aerobics to a mix of soca, African, Latin and International music.

Now as I have blogged here, I am hopeless at aerobics and such activities which requires one to have a great sense of coordination. My girlfriends shared the same hopelessness and this is how this Saturday night flex came about - sisterhood in being aerobically challenged, and if nothing else, it would be a laugh.

So armed with a bottle of water infused with wheatgrass, and a positive attitude, I met the girls at Studio A for a free carumba class to kick off the Studio's grand opening yesterday. I was a little daunted by the fact that there were onlookers, especially as I know I do not look cute while working out, but soon we forgot they were there. As the workout started, we soon were just focused on ensuring we got the steps, and after that, well...it was just plain fun. And a serious sweat. Arlene took her time with us first-timers and between her great teaching style and the awesome mix of music, from folk music to Ella Andall, to Bunji - well, we were stomping, twisting, stretching and wining in no time. Fun. It was an amazing class and I think I can safely say everyone had fun and it is for anyone and everyone, regardless of fitness level.

So we will be back and I am adding 1 or maybe 2 carumba classes to the weekly fitness pump to keep it interesting as I get bored so easily with fitness stuff. Thanks Studio A for a fun evening. For more info you can check out the website or the studio's Facebook group.

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Kitchen Porn: Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

For the past few weeks as you know, I have been eating better, and this has included no alcohol and no dessert.

No alcohol - not as hard for me as it may be for some, as I am not a huge drinker, but I do love a nice cocktail on a Friday afternoon or a glass of wine every once in a while. I mean, I CAN have it. I just choose not to right now. Saving up...

No dessert - this is a bit harder. lol. Snacking has always been my problem, and while I prefer salty snacks over sweet stuff, I do like a nice cake or Haagie moment. This being said, I have only had one Haagie moment in 3 weeks, after a bad day at work last week - and that was a Haagie mini cup I have had in the "rescue me from life" box in the freezer for the past month. However, I have been dreaming of cake and thus decided to try my hand at a dessert where I had the control. Enter the Greek Yogurt Cheesecake.

So while it is not a fat buster, it is not coming in at the whopping 710 calories minimum at which the regular cheesecake comes in with no kinda shame. I wanted to bake but also wanted to be able to eat whatever I baked.

So again, I am poor with measurements so I will send you to the pros at the end of this, but I started with some wheat digestives, pecans, rolled oats and cinnamon. This crust was going to be to my specifications and you can do as you like with yours. Threw it all in the processor and got me some crumbs, to which I added some butter.

Now, seeing that I had never made this before, and in fact had never even made a real cheesecake before either, I was not committing to a full cheesecake but instead decided on minis, so I thumbed my crumb mixture into some cupcake liners. Thrust these babies into the oven for 5 minutes and then took them out to cool.

Next, the filling and I added 2 cups of vanilla Greek yogurt, as this was the closest to plain that Hi-Lo had available (just lucky they had any at all as last week there was no Greek to be found) to a bowl.

Next I added some Angostura bitters, 1.5 eggs (1 full egg and the white of the other), some lemon zest and a tsp of custard powder as I did not have cornstarch. I tell you, I am an innovator. lol. Whip whip with the hand mixer. Note, no sugar anywhere in all this innovating - the ingredients themselves have more than enough.

I poured my Greek mixture into my cooled crumb cups, and using about 4 tbsps of the mixture, I added some chocolate powder, so I could make some pretty swirls in my mini-desserts. Note - unsweetened.

Thrust these babies into the oven at 340F for 35 minutes, then left them to cool before chucking them in the fridge for another 3 hours. And voila...

Got some edges that were victims to the liners (okay, so I slightly burnt these critters...slightly...lol) but the texture is amazing and the taste - well, it's cheesecake! I am really beside myself with joy.

I added some spreadable fruit and I am having one of these Greek yogurt minis during Sunday primetime.

I must say, they are really good, and shave more than 500 calories when compared to the real thing. I am a convert though I will still splurge on a Haagie and a real cheesecake slice every now and then. This was also my 400th blog entry since I started this blog so good to have cake to celebrate!

For the more step by step, albeit slightly different version of this dessert, click here.

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