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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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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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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