Day 9 - Wednesday: Go Go Gadget Girl!

Anyone who knows me well, will know my penchant (read addiction) for gadgets, no matter if it's a technological, handy homemakers tool, or kitcheny gadget I'm intrigued, and believe me I've bought a few over the years. From Paint sticks to Ebooks, IPods to apple peeler and corers, I've tried 'em all. Some have been the greatest thing since sliced bread (at least they have been to me), others have been a total waste of time and money. I don't suppose I'll ever get over this addiction, and truthfully I don't really want to, there's just too much fun to be had from learning how to use a shiny new gadget!

Which leads me on to appreciating just how useful, a gadget I picked up a few years ago, has been recently with my diet. Quite a while back I bought a Rocket Blender (you know the ones they advertised on late night television). When I bought mine it was well over $100, but it has served me well over the years. Since I'm now making a delicious new Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake twice a day, the Rocket blender has really come into it's own. I've been using the handy dandy Mug style blender cup, throwing in my frozen or canned fruit, adding the Formula 1 shake powder and Personalised Protein Powder, topping the lot off with 300 ml of skim milk, screwing the blending blade on the cup and voila 30 seconds of blending and breakfast or lunch is done. No muss no fuss and minimal washing up! I LOVE my rocket blender.

This is a fantastic and CHEAP gadget

I've lately seen these for sale in HomeArt for only $29.99, which makes me shudder when I think about how much it cost me! If I was still working in Corporate business I reckon I'd buy one of these for the staff room!

No quote for today (Had trouble finding anything remotely funny anybody has said about gadgets) so instead here is a definition of Chindōgu:

Chindogu is  the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful." (excerpted from another favourite site Wikipedia)

Check out this site for a terrific introduction to the wonderful world of Chindogu http://chindogu.com/chindogu/ or this great flash animation site: http://website.lineone.net/~sobriety/ my favourite here is the Silicon Finger Protector in the House & Garden section, I want one, where can I get one?

Tip for the day:
If you haven't already got one, get hold of a rocket style blender, you'll never regret it. (And no I don't have shares in HomeArt or Rocket Blenders).

Day 8 - Tuesday: With Baited Breathe

It's W day (weighing day), I've been on my diet for a week now so it's time to bite the bullet and step on the scales.... what will the result be. I approached the dreaded apparatus with baited breathe...... closed my eyes and stepped on the scales......

Woohoo 95 kg, I've lost 4 kg in the last week. Ok, now I'm excited, will my measurements have changed?

Yep waist size is down 4 cm on this time last week. Yay me, have to say I'm very relieved there has been some change. Not sure I'd have coped well if the scales hadn't moved.

So how do I feel after a full week on the Herbalife Protein Plus Programme? Well I have more energy that's for sure, I've lost weight, that's another plus. I feel motivated to keep going and lose more weight, and that's got to be great news for my overall health. And the best part of all, I haven't been hungry AT ALL! So I haven't been reaching for the packets of chips or half block of chocolate while watching the TV.

So onward and upward as the saying goes. I booted up the Wii and completed Day 2 of my EA Sports Active 30 day challenge. 20 minutes of running, tennis, lunges, knee crunches etc, etc, etc. Found the old leg muscles a bit sore this morning (well duh, that's what happens when you NEVER exercise), but I know that'll change the more I do.

On another note entirely (well it's still exercise related.... sort of) Farmboy asked for my help last night moving the calves into the front paddock, where there's more feed for them. Unfortunately they were in a paddock with a couple of the bigger cows, so maneuvering them past the big cows, up the lane and into the other paddock was a trial. It's really wet out there and I had to put my gumboots on.

First problem I don't put gumboots on without someone checking they have no spider type occupants! So that was Farmboys first job.

Second problem, the big cows did not want to cooperate so there we were, the two of us, chasing cows all over the paddock. What should have taken about 10 minutes turned into an epic 35 minute trial.

At times it felt like the running of the bulls in Pamplona with around 650 kg of steer charging straight at me. I may be short (around 150cm tall) but there's no way I'm going to put up with that sort of nonsense. It must have been a pretty funny sight, short, fat, middle aged woman standing her ground in the face of a snorting charging steer, waving her arms around and yelling her lungs out. Guess what, I won, the steer lost his nerve and ran away. What a wuss!

Try that again mate and your for the freezer!

Quote for the day:

If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all. ~Joey Adams

Tip for the day: What is a portion?
I just read an interesting article that said Australian eat 12 times more meat than they need.
Check out this link to see just what the Australian Government recommends: Measure Up!
Or download this Informative booklet The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
Here's a great video on 6 tips to control your portion sizes from Herbalife

Day 7 - Monday: The Wii and Me

A couple of years back I thought it would be a good idea to get fit. This was going to be the new me (again!!!). I’ve never really been one to go to the gym or join a health club, I mean seriously do you really want all those skinny minny’s out there to see all your wobbly bits and red puffing face when you try to keep up at an aerobics class, not me, no way, uh uh. So I decided to go forth and purchase a Wii and balance board, it sounded like the perfect way to lose a bit of weight, get fitter, have a bit of fun and all in the privacy of my own home. Yay the perfect solution.

I bought the Wii, I bought the balance board, I bought a copy of EA Sports Active Personal Trainer, I took on the 30 day challenge. But I didn’t change my lifestyle or eating habits so even though I completed at least 15 days of the challenge I wasn’t really in the right mental frame of mind to achieve my goal.

So this morning I got out my Wii, and balance board and Personal Trainer to start my 30 day challenge from scratch. I figure with taking my shakes and tablets regularly I’ll have the energy needed to actually achieve this time. So for 20 minutes this morning I ran, squatted, bicep curled, squat rowed, cardio boxed, in-line skated and side lunged along to the low impact version of the program. It tells me I burned off 128 calories (that's 128 more than I burned off yesterday, so that's gotta be good, right). Yes I was puffed when it was all over, but I still had plenty of energy, so I must be doing something right. Will definitely give it my best shot this time, we’ll just have to wait and see what results. But surely it can’t be a bad thing, I mean at least I’m getting some exercise, which is more than I can say for my mostly sedentary lifestyle otherwise.

Quote for the day:

"I have a great diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people." - Ed Bluestone

Tip for the day:

Read the labels...... I can’t stress this one enough, when you go shopping, before automatically putting your favourite brand of ANYTHING in your trolley, read its nutritional label and compare it to other brands of the same product. You can save a lot of calories this way, and it might even scare you enough to choose something completely different (and hopefully healthier). It will definitely change your perception of what 1 serving size is that’s for sure.

Day 6: Lazy Sunday Afternoons

So I woke up this morning pretty pleased with myself, I‘ve been strong all week so far, but what perils would today bring. 

Sundays have traditionally been sleep in day for Farmboy and I, and today was no exception. Didn’t get out of bed until 10 am then off to the kitchen, for our usual Sunday morning brekkie of bacon and eggs.

I’d promised myself a treat so I put the frying pan on and sizzled some bacon and eggs, toasted an English muffin and made my very own Egg & Bacon Muffin ( I did have some small sense of self preservation left, I only had 2/3 slice of crisply fried bacon and cooked the eggs in a separate pan with a quick spray of olive oil, to limit the diet damage).

After breakfast Farmboy and I had a walk around the garden, we live in a 100 year old farmhouse on 10 acres, with an acre of garden surrounding it. Spring has just started and the gardens are starting to come to life, bursting with early spring flowers, there are daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells under the trees, and masses of camellias and rhododendrons in bloom, so it is really pretty.

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris,
I wonder where the flowers is?

Spring bulbs at home.

We made plans about all the things that would need to be done in the garden in the next few weeks (well I made plans for Farmboy to complete ;-) Who knows I may even get out there and help him, provided I can avoid the bullants (I had a nasty run in with some a few years back, I wrote about it in an issue of the Lilydale Progressive if you’re interested in reading it click here).

I spent the afternoon catching up with book work on the computer and listening to my 13 year old Cocker Spaniel, Bella, snoring from her bed in the corner.

Bella as she used to be a few years ago.

All in all a relaxing day and a time to recharge the batteries.

Quote for the day:

“No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.” - George Bernard Shaw

Tip for the day:

Make healthier decisions by switching some of your food and drink choices, instead of regular Coke choose diet Coke or (my preferred choice) Coke Zero. Pretty much the same taste without all the sugar. Use skim milk instead of full cream milk in your cooking. There’s plenty of information out there on the Internet so check out some of the healthier choices you can make.

Day 5: Saturday - Retail Therapy

It’s the weekend, my first on the (for me) all new Herbalife diet, and today may be more of a trial than ever.

A few years back a good friend and I started making bead jewellery to sell. We started taking our goods into Launceston to a shopping centre once a month. It’s never been about making pots of money, let’s face it that’s not likely to happen, but it’s been a lot of fun and a way to let our creative juices flow and get paid for it.

So the question is how am I going to stick to my diet while out and about? After much thought I decided to:

1. Take my regular shake and tablet before I went into town. 
2.  Blend together some berries and my Herbalife shake powder and protein powder and pour it into my shaker bottle to take with me for lunch. 
3. Take a protein bar (in case a fit of the munchies came over me) 
4. Take some Instant Herbal Beverage to drink in place of tea. 
5. Buy a 1 litre bottle of water to use through the day. 

So armed with my plan I started the day, and it all worked well, I didn’t buy any rubbish to eat, Liz and I had a lovely day talking to our customers and catching up with each other.

Woohoo score one for Jayne, away from home all day, and still had plenty of will power and energy.

Quote of the Day:

"If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush." Dawn French

Tip of the day:

If you know you’re going into a situation where you might be tempted to be bad, do like the boy scouts ‘Be Prepared’ and have a plan to foil the forces of evil.

Day 4 - Friday: Where our hero meets Temptation!

Ok, I know what you’re all thinking, “Blimey, temptation on only day 4, she’s never gonna make it”, and perhaps in diets gone by that would have been true.

I had to go into Launceston today to do the dreaded weekly shopping, if you’re anything like me this is temptation plus, all those aisles with glorious goodies just waiting to be popped in the trolley for a journey to Lilydale. My greatest failings have always been the 3 C’s.... Chocolate, chips and cheese!

So first thing this morning I girded my loins (metaphorically speaking of course) by having another delicious Shake (another Peach Delight, still haven’t bought any raspberries, but I have a number of very intriguing ideas for shake recipes when I get some), took my Multivitamin and headed into town.

Guess what, I wasn’t hungry so I wasn’t tempted to put a whole heap of ‘bad for me’ items in the trolley. Stocked up on some lovely fresh vegies, fruit and bought some fantastic Tasmanian Atlantic salmon for dinner tonight, mmmmm can’t wait.

Got back from town just in time to put all the groceries away (a job I absolutely hate) have another shake (Blackberry Beauty) and off to work.

Quote for the day:

The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books - how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook. ~Andy Rooney

Tip for the day:

Buy a 1 litre drink bottle and fill it with water, drink from this throughout the day and you’ll know you’ve had at least half the water you should be drinking each day.

Day 3: A Brief History of the Waist

Had a delicious Chocolate Vanilla shake for breakfast this morning (I dissolved 2 teaspoons of pure cocoa powder in some boiling water then added skim milk, 2 scoops Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix and 1 scoop Herbalife Personalised Protein Powder, in the shaker, delicious and nutritious, and best of all, only took about 1 minute to make)  and a Peach Delight shake for lunch.

So by now you're asking yourself how did she get to this size. I mean I haven't always been a contender for  the part of 'The Blob - Returns'.

In fact when I was younger (WAAAY younger) I was thin, yes truly I was (and I've got pictures to prove it).

Baby Jayne with Dad (see not fat!)

 Then I got older...............

Still not fat!

And older..............

Still not overweight......

Then I got married...................

Boy those suits are dated!

So off we go Farmboy and I, to start a life together. Now I was doing all the cooking, I may have mentioned I LOVE food? Well that's when it all started.

Cooking portions enough to feed 3-4 instead of only just Farmboy and I. There was always someone visiting and as I love to cook I always made way more than anyone could reasonably consume. Of course everyone loved to come to our place. I mean who wouldn't, to Farmboy food is fuel so he doesn't care what's put in front of him so long as its edible. 

So the years went by, me cooking and Farmboy and friends consuming. Of course you've got to taste what you cook so I did...................... time.................. after time..................... after time. Gradually over the years my weight and waist increased.

Then we moved to Tassie and started a Tearoom and Bed & Breakfast, the perfect way to indulge my love of cooking with a career! So there were always yummy things to eat in the kitchen, and never enough time to exercise or eat regular meals (that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!).

So here I am now, as I said before very unfit, very fat and very over forty.

Hopefully there will be a new me in time, a fitter, thinner and younger looking (can't physically turn back the clock, but I'll give it a darn good try!)................ stay tuned.

Quote for the day: another favourite from the Python Team - the classic Parrot Sketch!

Mr. Praline:  "It's not pinin'! It's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, It rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it'd be pushing up the daisies! It's metabolic processes are now history! It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off it's mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!"