On The Bright Side

Well as I blogged last nite, my night was a complete disaster, I was devastated about what happened to my car.  And the state of mood I was in, I was ready to pack the whole WW thing in, buy a burger and dessert (good thing that my purse was stolen and I had no cash) and stuff myself til I made myself sick. 

I managed to stay calm (well after a lot of sobbing on the phone to my lovely BF) and I stuck to my planned dinner.  I did not go over my points, which made me happy knowing I didn't cave to my emotions, which I have discovered was problem before; emotional eater.

I woke up this morning STILL pretty upset about my car being broken into and having EVERYTHING STOLEN, but alas a little luck or good fortune was on my side:

 - My work uniform was one of the things stolen, and I called up the uniform company and they are replacing it for free

- I also found out that due to my drivers license being stolen and having a police report, they replace your drivers license free of charge

- My damaged window on my car was also repaired free of charge due to my lot level of no claim bonus and I don't lose my no claim bonus either

Ok granted everything that was stolen isn't going to be replaced by my contents insurance so basically I'm outta pocket about $1000 to replace everything, but at least a few things have gone my way. It's not all completely doom and gloom!!

I have also managed to stick within my points today and even forced myself to go for a walk. 

Here's to sticking to my weight loss journey and not letting one bump in the road get me down!!!

NOT HAPPY

I apologise in advance for my rant but I have to get it off my chest!!! (it doesn't have a lot to do with weight loss, well not really??)

Ok so tonight, I meet my friend at the South Perth foreshore for a quick 30 minute walk for our daily exercise routine, to come back and find that someone HAS BROKEN INTO MY CAR!!!!! I am trying to do the right thing and exercise and not even that is sacred!!!!

They stole the Guess handbag my boyfriend bought me in Bali, along with my Guess purse in it (and obviously everything associated with a full purse), my tiffany's ring was also in there which I had taken off to exercise.  They also stole my Guess carry on bag which had my stinky work uniform in, but the bag also had sentimental value as it's been on every holiday with me since 2007.

Seriously, what is wrong with people these days.  Everyone is at the South Perth foreshore, minding their own business and you can't even do that without people taking advantage. I'm guttered, I work hard to buy nice things and am lucky to be able to do that, and it's taken from you....

It puts me off wanting to exercise, and makes me wanna go and eat a whole block of chocolate and cry myself to sleep!!!!

Why do bad things always happen to good people???????

Week 1 - Almost Over

D Day is tomorrow and I am dreading getting on the scales and seeing what lays ahead of me. It's been a great week and I sure have put my heart and soul into resisting temptation.  

I have craved chocolate ALL week and in my house resisting that temptation is VERY hard.  My boyfriend gave me a 1.15 Kilo box of Whitmans Chocolates for Easter, and my folks gave me mountains of chocolates as well, AS WELL as other giving me Lindt bunnies.... There is just soooooooooooo much chocolate.  Everyday I have had to see that damn box of Whitmans chocolates and I seriously could have sat down on friday night and eaten half the box!! But I am pleasantly surprised that I have had no chocolate this week (this is coming from a person who use to eat at least one chocolate bar everyday!!!)

Had a tough challenge last night at my friend's place for dinner last night.  We had a pretty healthy BBQ and I was careful of my portion sizes but I caved and ate a gluten free beef BBQ sausage and man it was so damn good, I could have eaten 10. Why oh why do bad foods taste so good???

I am also very happy with myself that I have not used any of my 49 weekly extra points or any of the points I have earned with exercise.  I hope I can keep this up? Hopefully the next few weeks with get easier for me?

Exercise, well that seems to have been quite easy for me.  Proud to say that I have exercised 4 times so far this week and I will be going for a walk with my mum this afternoon after the rain clears up.

Very excited about cooking dinner tonight. Will be making Spicy Tomato and Butternut soup, which is the in the week 1 cookbook.  It's zero points which excites me a lot, means I can have a bread roll with some low fat melted cheese to nibble on with it!  Will definitely report on the results on that.

Look forward to updating tomorrow after weigh in for the verdict!

Fingers crossed!!!

The Beginning

A couple of Monday nights ago, I caught up with 2 of my best girlfriends for a Mexican Fiesta. Over dinner, we got chatting about the lack of happiness with our weight, and made a pact to all go on the weight loss journey together. My friend Hannah was already going to Weight Watchers, so I decided to join her at her meetings so we could embark on the journey together. My other friend Lanz, was also going to join up with us on the following monday, but she couldn't wait and decide to go back to Jenny Craig. Alas we were disappointed she wasn't joining us, but when making the pact she agreed to exercise with us.


Monday rolled around and I rejoined WW. I'm a Lifetime Member back from 2002. I've put all the weight I lost the 1st time PLUS about 25kg more.


I walked into the meeting 15 minutes after the starting time and the leader barked at me and told me I was late!!! At this point, I was ready to leave!!!! Not a good start, did not feel welcomed at all. I messaged friend Hannah and she begged me to stay. I stayed reluctantly.


It was NOT a happy reunion with the scales, when I jumped on and realised I weighed more than I thought. Initial thoughts were "Wow I am never going to get all this off".


I stayed for the meeting and walked away feeling focused and ready. I sat down with my folks on Monday night and they are also going to go on the weight loss journey with me. I spoke with my work mates and told them as well, so they can also help me stay on track. My boyfriend James is also very supportive of me and is going to help me as well!!


Hannah and I have done Zumba monday and tuesday nights, today we are going for a walk around the river and we have also teed up a walking date on friday after work. Our promise to each other is 4 times a week we are going to exercise together.


Now into my 2nd day of the 1st week, and I am weighing all my foods religiously, tracking every mouthful I have on my iphone and ipad apps (so handy for tracking) and I find this is definitely keeping me more focused!!


Let's see how the rest of my week goes??


Fingers crossed!!!

High Tea

Today I was privillaged to be invited to Jaime's 30th Birthday today! It was a High Tea at The Sassy Cookie in Victoria Park.  It was a lovely experience and a lovely way to spend an afternoon. The cafe was elegant and very appropriately decorated to suit the experience. It's definitely a place I will go back to with my mum.

There were 4 courses, consisting of sandwiches, savory pastries, scones and yummy decedent desserts. Plenty of different teas to choose from and quite a few different options per course.

Chai Infused Truffle

Table Setting

Beautiful Napkin Holder

1st Course

Tea anyone?

My beautiful cup and saucer

2nd course

3rd course

Final Course

Raspberry cake

If you like or want to experience high tea, I would definitely recommend The Sassy Cookie.

Vive!!

BALI BALI BALI!!!

Selamat Datang!

Well in the past 2 weeks, I've had not ONE BUT TWO trips to Bali, Indonesia. I was very lucky to go on my new team ET Carousel's Team Getaway over the long weekend in March and then 3 days later, I got to again with my boyfriend James, my 2 best friends Chenoa and Poonam and their partners Will and Nunzio.

I had 2 AMAZING trips with lots of laughs and lots of fun!!

I've put together a review of things I have done whilst I was in Bali.

Oceans 27:
This is a trendy little recipe on the beach with tables and chairs that are also set in a few inches of water. The food was pretty good, but I thoroughly enjoyed the tapas we had as entree.

Stadium Sports Bar:
Great place to stop and have a cold Bintang, watch some footy and have a quick bite to eat.  Located near Kuta Square, the share platter we had to share was great for a small bite to eat.

Bali Deli:
One of my favourite places to eat, and thanks to Kristen for introducing this place to me.  At the front, it's a supermarket, with a great selection of cold meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies, and OMG they also have a cakes and pastries counter where they have truly AMAZING desserts.  At the back of the supermarket, is a great little restaurant which is quiet and private.  The food was great and the prices were great, so cheap for everything!! It's located in Seminyak and most cab drivers know where it is! Definitely worth the drive if you are staying in Kuta, will definitely go back there again!!!

McDonalds:
Ok well yes we have it in Australia, but trust me when I say this, go and have a Double Cheeseburger!! They taste different in Bali than back home and they taste awesome!!!  Had one on my 2nd last day and I wanted more.  They also serve the fries with Chilli sauce, definitely worth a visit for a laugh :)

Kafe Batan Waru:
This restaurant is located at the front of Bali Garden Beach Resort.  They serve a vast variety of food but their Indonesian food is AMAZING!!!  We ate their twice because Will enjoyed their duck so much!!! The food was great, and the service was pretty awesome too. On Sunday nights, they have Chilli Crab night, unfortunately, I don't eat seafood but everyone else enjoyed sharing a couple of Chilli crabs.  Another MUST if you enjoy Indonesian food.

Flapjacks:
If you love pancakes and all things sweet, then this place is for you.  Located also near Kuta Square, next door to the Stadium Sports Bar.  They have a range of icecreams as well as a HUGE list of different desserts, especially pancakes.

Bubba Gump:
Ok this is my favourite restaurant in Bali, and this is because Forrest Gump is one of my favourite movies.  This restaurant is a MUST! The novelty is worth the higher prices (prices are more Australian restaurant prices) If it's your birthday, the staff will come out and sing to you.  The food is pretty amazing, I recommend the Southern Style Chicken.  Also located in South Kuta, opposite the Bali Garden Beach Hotel.

Matahari Department Store:
Normally I don't do a lot of shopping in Matahari, but this last trip, we pretty much went there everyday.  Definitely great to pick up better quality products especially shoes, handbags (my lovely boyfriend bought me a Guess bag from here), clothing (kids clothes were cheap cheap cheap), wallets, sunglasses etc etc the list is endless.  Definitely also worth coming here to stock up in food supplies like coke, water, snacks, biscuits (recommend the double stuff Oreos) Located in Kuta Square.

Kuta Art Markets:
Definitely go here if you want cheap anything!!! Sarongs, dresses, t shirts, shorts, kids clothing, sunglasses, fake handbags and purses, etc etc again this list is endless.  Also just worth a walk through and watch everyone try to drag you into their stores. Not a place to browse in peace but worth it for the fun of bartering!

Discovery Shopping Mall:
Located next to Bali Garden Beach Resort, this place is a multi level department store which sells a huge variety of things.  Somethings are cheap but other stores are Western priced items, such as the Guess Store. BUT the Skechers store does seem a lot cheaper than Perth.  I managed to pick up my Skechers Shape Up Sneakers for $60.00 instead of around $160.00, definitely happy with that!  Another reason to visit Discovery is BREAD TALK!! Trust  me, visit there and you will not be disappointed!!!!!

Waterbom Park:
A great day out can be had at Waterbom Park.  We spent a whole day there.  There is plenty for everyone to do.  Personally I am definitely NOT a fan of waterslides, but I was managed to be dragged onto a couple.  My personal favourite there is the Lazy River, I could spend hours floating around there.  There is a restaurant there, you can hire cabanas around the park, which makes a great meeting place for a group of people to come back to.  I'll definitely go back there again especially if I go back with my boyfriend, he LOVES Waterbom Park.

These are just a few of the places I have experienced on my trips to Bali recently.  There are hundreds of thousands of great little places to experience!!

Terima Kasih!!!

Long Overdue update!!

Well, well, well.... I have been a bad blogger and haven't updated in such a long time!! Quite a bit has happened over the last month or so:

- Shared a fantastic Christmas with my family and my boyfriends family, best christmas I've had a very long time

- Celebrated New Years with my boyfriend, which we also celebrated our 3 year anniversary

- Changed jobs (well same job, different brand) now working at Escape Travel which I am absolutely loving!!

- Had an amazing trip to Los Angeles courtesy of Qantas where I was fortunate enough to meet John Travolta, Miranda Kerr, Delta Goodrem, Eric Christian Olsen, Paul Hogan and Luc Longley!

- Spent a lot of time catching up with my amazing friends

- Have 2 trips to Bali booked for March, one with my new work mates and one with my boyfriend and some of my friends!!!

With everything that has been happening, I have had no time for any cooking or baking, hopefully once things settle down, I will have more time for to do more. Actually off to a Thermomix cooking night on Wednesday, and am seriously contemplating buying one, but we'll have to see???

Lots more to look forward to so much more happening this month and heaps to look forward it March!!!! Can't get much better than this!!!