Diary Of A Dieting Diva

Paleo Flu ..... AKA Withdrawals

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Mon, 01 May 2017 11:10:00 +0000

I haven't posted in a while.

But I have been off the wagon so to speak. Really been on a bad path the last 12 months, particularly the last 6 months.

My health has not been good, I've gained a lot of weight and have been off my paleo way of life. I have remained gluten free, but find that that too, gives me an upset stomach.

So this week, three days ago, I have started eating again, the paleo way.

I am writing tonight, as I am trying to take my mind off things, because I am not feeling well. I remember when I first moved onto a paleo diet years ago, I had terrible withdrawals. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know that there would be such a thing.

Here I am again. I had forgotten, or not even thought of the terrible feelings that I had experienced as my body went through the detox and my liver processed all of the toxins and got rid of them. Tonight I have started to feel strange. Ringing in my ears, anxiety, jittery and I was getting worried. Then I remembered...... I haven't had any grains for three days..... I bet I am going through a detox.

So as I travel this withdrawal journey and get my life and diet back on track, I will share away here, even if I'm talking to myself.

See you tomorrow.

Wet And Windy Day

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 04:31:00 +0000

Well today where I live the weather is really bad. There are weather warnings around, the rain is very heavy and the wind is strong. It's a day where you don't really want to venture out.

So today I have been doing a bit of baking. As of this morning I have lost 6.7kg in the last 25 days. I am thrilled and I'm eating and not don't feel like I'm starving on so many of these low calorie diets.

For my baking today I decided to make a banana bread loaf. This has become a favourite in our house. There is often some in the freezer and my son loves it added to his lunch box to take to school. This recipe is from the fabulous cookbook called "Family Food" by chef Pete Evans. It is a paleo recipe, so it's gluten free, dairy free and I make it nut free (due to nut allergies). I omit the almost flour, increase the coconut flour and add an extra egg.

Here it is, fresh out of the oven

If anyone is thinking of converting to a Paleo way of life or slowly add the food to your families diet. I highly recommend the Family Food cookbook (by Pete Evans). It is certainly what introduced me to Paleo (without realising that is what the book was). It has fabulous recipes for the whole family, that the kids will love and that you can incorporate easily into your families lives.

People Noticing

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 03:27:00 +0000

So this morning gave me a little lift. Someone said to me "you have lost weight". To which I replied, yes I have. 5.7kg in the last three weeks to be exact.

The aim of living a Paleo lifestyle is not weight loss. Weight loss is the bonus. The long term effects for me are to reduce my blood pressure and help with my autoimmune problems, psoriasis, gut problems, foggy brain, malabsorption of vitamins and minerals. But my short term goal is weight loss, all of the other things will come.

Have to love it when people notice the loss, makes you have an extra spring in your step and reinforces that you are on the right path.

Paleo For Three Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sun, 15 Feb 2015 05:44:00 +0000

Well I have been living the Paleo Way for three weeks now.

Like when I went gluten free I've had withdrawals, side effects I guess of removing the sugar, grains and dairy from my diet. The first thing that happened was during week one. My mouth filled with ulcers, it was really quite painful but settled down after a few days. Then at week 2 my psoriasis decided to flare up. Mainly on my legs and particularly behind my knees. It was so very painful and extremely itchy! It was driving me crazy, waking me at night and was becoming rather unbearable.
A week on, it's almost cleared up and I'm starting to feel like the withdrawal and elimination of all of the build up of toxins is finally coming to an end.

Having this sort of reaction, these sorts of withdrawals, just cements the lifestyle even more, of what these things were doing to my body and that this is the best thing for my body.

So what benefits have I found so far. The biggest benefit for me so far is weight loss. I've lost 5.5kg in 3 weeks. This is fantastic. Now weight loss is not what living a Paleo lifestyle is all about. It's about health and feeding your body the right nutrition. But weight loss for me is something important to me at this point. It's something that I need to reduce my blood pressure and reduce the risk of having another vertebral artery dissection (torn artery).

The other most significant benefit I think is the reduction in cravings, craving sugary foods, craving grain filled meals. A meal was not a meal for me without some bread (gluten free of course but still grain), rice, pasta, something filling and starchy. Only thing is, they were filling for about half an hour and then I'd be hungry and ready for more. That has all stopped. I eat a meal and I have had enough for hours. I can often skip a meal. I find that I am now eating when I'm hungry, rather than eating three set meals a day. The meals I'm eating are a decent size too, no more counting calories, I eat until I'm satisfied and then again, when I'm next hungry. I've been finding that I'm sleeping better and I'm not waking up tired like I was.

I will have some blood tests soon to check my iron levels and cholesterol and other things. Will be interesting to see how they are. I'm hoping that this diet will heal my gut and heal my absorption problems that I have had for years. After about 5 years living on iron tablets (yes, little iron supplements like Spatone, were no where near strong enough to keep my iron levels up), it will be nice to be off those and finally get my iron and get my body to absorb it from food.

Time will tell.

I'm Ba..ack

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 03:01:00 +0000

It's been a long time between posts.

Wonder if anyone is still reading? Well I have found my way back to my blog and I'm on a new journey so thought I would write down my journey and get my diary going again.

In the last year and a half I have not been on a good path. I've really struggled with my weight and health, got into some really bad habits and my weight has ballooned. The time came when it was getting out of control and I had to do something.

After being gluten free for a little over a year now, I had much improved health thanks to that. But my weight, it just kept going up and up. I have adrenal fatigue, so this is probably not helping but still, I needed to get my weight down.

The Paleo Way 10 week program

About three weeks ago I stumbled across a new program.... The Paleo Way It was a brand new program by Australian Chef Pete Evans. It's a program following a Paleo meal plan, an exercise plan and also some amazing videos from those who are passionate about eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle. It was starting for the first time so I signed up. The first week is Pre-program where you get some great staple recipes, where you get an idea of what is to come in the program before week one begins.

The program so far has been fantastic. I am really enjoying it. I'm enjoying the support (There is a group to share with others doing the program). I'm loving the videos from guests/experts on healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, they are really inspiring and just so full of information. Pete Evans himself posts and shares in the group and interacts with those following his program which is really nice to see. He is so passionate about health and diet contributing to ones health, that to share his knowledge, tips and suggestions is invaluable.

This is not a "diet". This is not something that will end in 10 weeks and you go back to eating as you did. This is an introduction into the Paleo Way of life, to experience the health benefits of eating real, unprocessed food. As a beginner, as my first introduction to the Paleo Way of living it is so much more than I thought it was, so much more than what is portrayed by those who don't follow the way of life. It all makes sense.

If you want to check it out visit www.thepaleoway.com

I look forward to sharing my journey with you.

Favourite Thing Friday... Crackers

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 01:11:00 +0000

So every Friday I'm going to post one of my favourite things. Food, make up, book, anything really. These will be thing's that I eat, wear, read, use. Thing's that I have purchased myself, with my own money, no sponsorship or donations from companies at all. I just want to share with others some great finds. I often buy food or an item on a recommendation from a friend so thought I would do the same for my blogging friends and followers.

So my favourite item this week.....

DeliGrains Brown Rice Crisps. We love the Black Sesame one, there is a Multigrain one too.

These crackers are great as a snack, to have with dip. They are oven baked and best of all, they are gluten-free!

They are a family favourite in my house. My son loves them, he has then as a snack and in his school lunch box. They are lovely and crisp and taste delicious.

We get ours from a local health food store, but I have seen them at a local supermarket too.

I Had Gluten

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 23:10:00 +0000

I have been gluten-free now for 3 and a half weeks. Aside from the initial withdrawal, which seems to have settled down now I have been feeling great.

I do still have some stomach upsets, but very mild. My naturopath has said that after three months of being gluten-free, if I still have some symptoms I should remove all grains from my diet for three months.

Problem was, yesterday I had some gluten and oh dear it was horrible. I ordered a club sandwich from a restaurant. I asked for gluten-free and they said they would use gluten free bread and that their mayonnaise was gluten free. It had chicken in it, which they poach themselves so know it's gluten free. I can tell you now, that that sandwich was NOT gluten free.

It's quite amazing how after just three weeks of being 100% without gluten that having it suddenly, by accident can affect my body so much. I had the most agonising stomach pains, I was very nauseous, but worst of all was the bloating, gas and visits to the toilet. This went on for hours. The gas and bloating for the rest of the day. Actually today it's still not completely better, but it has settled down a lot.

After the withdrawal symptoms I experienced and now the affect of having gluten, it's clear that I do have a problem with it and will be steering clear of it completely in the future.

Tuna Dip

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 13:04:00 +0000

I made the yummiest dip this afternoon, best thing is, it's Gluten-Free.

Tuna Dip.

It had a packet of Light Cream Cheese
A Shallot
Parsley
A Clove of Garlic
2 tins of Tuna Slices in Spring Water (but you could use any light tuna).
Mayonnaise (about 2 tablespoons).

I put it all in the Thermomix. First I put in the Garlic, Parsley and Shallot (I used the whole shallot). After that was crushed I added the cream cheese and mayonnaise and blended that. I then added the drained tins of tuna and blended that.

Served it with gluten-free rice crackers. It was delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 10:18:00 +0000

These are sort of chocolate chip cookies. Actually I call them "Shoe Box Biscuits" They are my grandmothers recipe and she used to make them for me when I was a child and would send them to me in a shoebox, always in a shoe box. Kind of strange, I was wondering the other day if she actually used that as an excuse to go and buy a new pair of shoes, so she had a box to send some cookies to me, LOL.

This is such an easy recipe. Takes hardly any time to whip up and they are so tasty and a little chewy.

So this is what I use to make them...
1 x 225g bag of Shredded Coconut, (I try to buy from the health food store)
2 x 250g bags of Nestle Choc Bits - Dark Chocolate (not sure if they have Nestle Choc Bits in other countries, in Australia they are in the baking/cooking chocolate section at the supermarket, not the confectionery section and they are gluten free),
1 x 395g can of Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder.

You just put the coconut and baking powder in a bowl, combine well. Add the dark chocolate bits and stir again to combine. Then add the can of condensed milk and mix it through well making sure all of the coconut is covered with condensed milk (I often find a little hidden patch of dry coconut in the middle of the bowl at the bottom). Spoon about dessert spoon sized balls onto a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily.

So simple, so yummy, it is almost impossible to stop at just one (unless you don't like coconut of course, then you really won't like these at all, LOL).

Gluten Free - Day Five

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:42:00 +0000

Today was the hardest day so far. Not really that I wasn't having gluten, that wasn't a problem, but what seems to be withdrawal.

I went out for brunch with a friend and had a delicious omelette. Egg white with one egg yolk, spinach, feta, mushroom and shallots. It was absolutely delicious, mouth watering delicious.

I wasn't a big change, it's the omelette that I have all the time from this restaurant, what was the change was not having the two giant pieces of sour dough bread with butter and vegemite!

Aside from doing a bit of laundry, I really did not do much for the rest of the day. I have been feeling so light headed and goodness, my legs and arms are aching! I feel like I've been for a 10 mile walk or have been doing squats and weights at the gym. That kind of muscle sore. But I didn't do anything the day before to cause it (other than clean the house, which I do all the time and have never felt like this). So I'm putting it down to gluten withdrawal.

One thing that I have noticed, is the very irritated patch of psoraisis that I have had for about 4 months and over the week after starting a gluten free lifestyle has not virtually gone! I know where it was, I find that my psoraisis spots leave a little mark where they were, but if someone saw my stomach, they would not know were it had been. That is just mind blowing! This irritated, sore, itchy patch of skin that has been annoying me for months, suddenly gone! Poof!

Gluten Withdrawal

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 04:41:00 +0000

This is something I was not expecting. Gluten withdrawal. I hadn't actually read anything about it when I was reading up about gluten intolerance, coeliac, thyroid nodules, aspergers and going gluten-free.

Yesterday I felt a little light-headed. I didn't pay too much attention as it wasn't too bad. I was hoping that it may be my blood pressure and this new gluten-free diet was having a positive effect on that and lowering it.

Late this afternoon and this evening I have basically spent on the sofa. I am so very light-headed and it seems to be getting worse. I am also so bloated in the stomach. This afternoon I was looking in the mirror thinking I looked 6 months pregnant. I'm always a little bloated but today my stomach is so rounded, a lot more than it usually is. I was feeling a little dejected when I noticed that this afternoon to be honest. I thought that going gluten-free was supposed to get rid of my bloatedness (is that a word?), not make it worse and being four days in I was expecting things to get better not worse.

So tonight, lying on the couch, really light-headed and tonight I've had a bit of a headache. I decided to do a search of the internet, looking up new to gluten-free light-headed. Well, up came the results, page after page, of people who experience "Gluten Withdrawal". It's apparently not uncommon to feel like this and it can last from a few days to weeks! I read that this is a good thing! Shows that the removal is working and that my body was addicted to gluten and it's now withdrawing from its removal. I really hope it does not last a few weeks. It's not a pleasant feeling. But I am so glad that I've taken myself down this path. I am really looking forward to moving past this phase and moving into the feeling great phase!

Interestingly, my son, at this stage, has not had any withdrawal symptoms. He's not bloated (but he wasn't before), he's not experiencing any light-headed feelings. He is a little lethargic (so seems a bit fatigued, but this could be the teenage boy symptoms). I will keep an eye on him and see if he does start experiencing anything.

I do hope that my withdrawal symptoms subside soon!

Gluten Free - Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 04:36:00 +0000

Today was a little harder than our first day. We had two outings. One to a theme park with friends and a dinner out at a restaurant, and not just any restaurant, an italian restaurant... gluten filled meal central!

I had looked at the theme parks website the night before and I couldn't find any information about gluten-free food being available at all. I thought this was a little strange as everywhere seems to be so gluten-free friendly these days so I thought I'd better pack some food for my son and I just incase we couldn't find anything for lunch. The theme park has a "no outside food" policy, but they did not do a bag check so we didn't have any trouble taking in our own lunch.

I am so glad that I did as there really was nothing that I would have eaten. There was lots of burgers, nuggets and fries, hotdogs, donuts, muffins, sandwiches, if it had gluten in it, they had it. I had packed some large gluten-free savoury muffins and some fruit for us and that was plenty. I wasn't bothered not eating the hotdogs and fries, I was really quite happy with my muffin and fruit but I'm not sure about my son. I think he was feeling a little left out not having his usual meal like all the other kids but he didn't complain.

That night we went out for dinner to a local italian restaurant. I really didn't know if we would be able to eat much there but to my surprise, they had gluten-free pizza bases, gluten-free pasta and were able to make most of their meals gluten-free on request (there were a few that could not be made gluten free but that was just a few meals, so it was almost the whole menu available). My son had his usual all meat pizza and I had a ham and mushroom and egg pizza and we all loved them! In fact, we actually preferred the pizza base to their usual gluten containing pizza base! So we are happy that we will be able to continue going to one of our favourite restaurants.

We still have not noticed much of a difference in ourselves. I will say though that I have had this psoriasis patch on my stomach for about 4 months now. Usually I break out in winter and under stress and with the weather being so hot, it's unusual that my psoriasis is playing up at this time of year, but it has been. Even when it does break out, I will have the break out patch stay around for a couple of weeks, maybe a month, where it seems to go away (and sometimes leaves a faint mark of where it was). But this 4 month one was a little sore and a little itchy but it looked terrible and it was right on my short/jeans line, so it would rub. I wondered if this is why it had stayed for so long. Anyway.... to cut the long story short... it's starting to go! It's probably faded by half (my psoriasis doesn't shrink, it sort of fades away if that makes any sense). So I'm wondering if this is down to the diet? I'm hoping so!

Gluten Free - Day One

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 04:35:00 +0000

Today has been our first day 100% gluten-free. I have been putting it off and putting it off. I have been slowly converting everything in my pantry and refrigerator to a gluten-free product. Thing's like flours, cereals, snacks, sauces. I have been doing this for two weeks.

Two weeks ago I made the decision that my young teenage son and I would become gluten-free. I gave myself a week, then it was another week and was going to start Monday. But Monday came and it didn't happen. We had a sandwich for lunch that was not on a gluten-free roll. My son had a terrible upset stomach last night, he was up half the night. It was then that I thought to myself, as I lay there listening to him getting up again to go to the toilet at 2am, that enough was enough! If cutting out gluten can help him with this then that is what we will be doing.

So when we finally got to sleep and awoke in the morning and it started. My son had a breakfast cereal that he loved from before. It was not one he had all the time. I always bought him Wheat Bix, yes, pure wheat! This morning he had Freedom Maple Crunch, so this will be his new go to cereal for breakfast. I had a protein shake, just from a bottle I'm ashamed to say. It is one by a reasonably new brand called Kate Farms. I had the Cocoa Fudge flavour. So yummy. It's gluten-free, soy free, dairy free among other things.

I made a risotto for dinner, chicken and mushroom. No additives, no gluten, no dairy. I made it in my new best friend... My Thermomix!

I must say that I don't feel any different after the first day and neither does my son. But it's only day one. You can't expect miracles in one day after years and years of build up.

Tomorrow will be a challenge, we are off to a theme park with friends.

Hi Everyone.

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 02:35:00 +0000

I am sorry that I have been neglecting my blog. Life has been very busy, no excuse I know, I am sorry.

So my life is taking a new direction. In the health area anyway.

As many of you know, I am the mother. But many of you may not know that, I have had a life threatening peanut allergy my whole life. 40+ years (did I just admit I'm in my 40's?). It has never really been a big thing for me to avoid nuts. Yes I say nuts as I am allergic to all nuts except Almonds and Macadamia. My allergist has said that I need to avoid all nuts as those may be contaminated, so it's completely nut free for me. Being nut free is all I know. I don't buy a product without reading the label, I don't put any food in my mouth if I can't read the label or speak to the person who made it (or the waiter or chef). I avoid eating at functions, cocktail parties with lots of nibbles being passed around on trays. Just too risky for me. Due to my allergy being so severe, it's a trace and airborne allergy, we don't have anything in the house that contains nuts. The whole house is nut free, thanks to me!

Again, I have never found it to be a big deal. It's all I know. It's the only way I have ever lived. I've never been able to eat them. So avoiding nuts has been a lifelong habit and I don't even think about it. I don't have to remember to read a label, I just do it. But we, my household, is about to make another change. We are becoming Gluten Free! This is a whole new ball game for me, for us.

Why are we becoming Gluten Free you may ask? Well there are a number of reasons.

I have been anaemic for over 4 years now. I take up to 6 times the amount on the bottle (on doctors advise) and it keeps my iron, most of the time, just below the bottom of the normal range (sometimes it drops a long way below normal). I've had many tests to find out why this may be happening. Both my son and I were recently tested for Celiac and they came back negative (borderline it actually said, but I really don't know what that means). I also just found out I'm very low in Vitamin D and seem I to have trouble absorbing Magnesium and Potassium. So there is clearly some sort of problem with absorption.

I have just found out I many thyroid nodules. One quite large. I have read that thyroid and gluten are not friends, that thyroid problems can be greatly improved with a gluten-free diet.

Both my son and I have a range of digestive issues, sometimes quite bad and rather embarrassing and painful, very painful (trying not to give you too much information here as I'm sure you get the jist).

I have psoriasis, an auto immune skin disease. I've been doing a lot of reading about how a gluten free diet can also help.

I think that both my son and I have a gluten intolerance at the least. So no more gluten it will be for us to see if it helps any of our "issues".

It's a big thing cutting gluten out of your diet completely. We are going to do it 100%, see if there is any improvement in my thyroid, my iron levels, my energy, my digestive system, my son's iron levels, his aspergers, how he feels in his skin, his digestive issues.

For the last couple of weeks I have been buying gluten-free products, flours, snacks, bread to move over completely. I'm hoping we will be 100% gluten-free by the end of this week.

So here on my blog I'm going to share our progress, our success, our recipes, some of our new favourite foods and share our new journey into the world of Gluten Free living.

My 2nd Goal... Almost There

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:36:00 +0000

When I started 12WBT at the end of August last year (keep going to say this year, LOL), almost 5 months ago, at over 84kg (185 lbs), my first goal was to get back into the 70's (kg's that is) (154-174 lbs). I achieved that and then as soon as I was 79kg, my next goal was to get into the 60's (kg's that is) (132 to 152 lbs).

Well I am so excited. I am almost there. Today I weighed myself and I'm 70.1 kg (154.54). I have just 200 grams (0.44 lbs) to go until I reach that goal. I will do that this week, so for next week's 12WBT Wednesday weigh in I will be there.

Next goal is to get into the 50's (kg's that is) (110-130 lbs). I actually only want to get to 58kg. I'll be happy to have my weight at 58-60kg. My weight fluctuates depending on that time of the month, so to be 58-60 is my goal.

Slowly but surely I'm getting there. But will be thrilled when I hit the 60's again. I haven't been there in a long time!

Hamilton Island Buggies

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:06:00 +0000

The main mode of transport on Hamilton Island are the very cute golf buggy. I guess they are not for golf in this instance so they are just buggies. They are usually four seaters, with two seats at the front and two at the back, that are in the backward direction.

This back seating that points out the back of the buggy rather than facing forward can create a bit of embarassment. Well I feel they do anyway. Say you are driving along and there is a buggy in front of you. And you are reasonably close to them. Not driving dangerously close, but just following each other along at a safe distance. As the driver of the buggy you have no option to look forward (although I can tell you from experience, on Hamilton Island, people do not always look ahead whilst driving!!!).

Anyway when there are people in the buggy in front, that are in the back seats, facing you. It's kind of like you are watching them, they keep looking at you, like "what are you looking at" LOL. If it's kids, they will make funny faces or constantly wave (which is fine when you wave back once, but when they continue to wave for the next 5 or so minutes you are following them, it gets a bit old, LOL). So I find driving the buggy, with people in the buggy in front, who you don't know to be a bit uncomfortable.

The buggy parking is tight, like they are really small spaces. But that's ok as they are only little vehicles. Don't let the size fool you though. They can still be dangerous vehicles and I'm surprised to be honest that there aren't more accidents.

The buggies have seat belts, which is good, makes them a little safer and you do have to be a licensed driver. Some people do ignore this and you see kids driving, but not often! It would be a nightmare if there were kids driving everywhere, so at least this is restricted to adults only, which is bad enough! As you can see from the photos, there are buggies everywhere.

The problem's arise with the drivers. I do enjoy sitting at the Marina Deli or outside the bakery and observing some of the nightmare drivers first hand. People seem to be in holiday mode (or vacation mode), they seem to have a false sense of security with this little open air, slow moving vehicle, that it can't be dangerous, cause some damage if they run into someone, or slam on their brakes suddenly and the buggies driving behind run up their behinds. People seem to just be in their own little world sometimes.

Once afternoon I was sitting at the Deli having a coffee. It was a really busy day on the island, so there were a lot of people in the street (another danger, people just seem to walk out into the street, maybe forgetting that vehicles do drive down it). There were buggies, pedestrians, tourist, holiday makers, adults, children everywhere. I was watching two women in a buggy driving up the road. They were driving quite slowly and did have about three or four buggies driving along behind them (quite close too). All of a sudden, outside the deli, they just slammed on the brake and came to a complete stop in about one second. The poor drivers behind were so very lucky to run into each other. These two women were completely oblivious to what they had just caused! Just after they stopped, the first buggy went to go around them (remember, these women were not in a parking space, they were in the middle of the road, as they simply just stopped), the woman driver jumped out of her buggy and was almost collected by the poor guy who went to drive past (buggies don't have doors, so it's very easy to just jump out). The woman, getting a bit of a fright and looking back and noticed the line of chaos she had just caused proceeded to step back in the buggy and took off, not caring about the other buggies that were coming along and almost ran into her as she suddenly took off up the road.

Then, without indication, without stopping, this woman did a Uturn, she did not look for the cars that she almost collected as the did the turn and did not worry about the buggies directly behind her that again almost ran into her due to her sudden turn.

It was unbelievable. The then went to the side to park, where she tapped the buggy in front of her as she tried to squeeze into a parking space.

There is a run down on the day in the life of a buggy driver on Hamilton Island. Now I will say that not everyone is like that woman. Most people are pretty good. But some, really, makes you wonder what they would be like behind the wheel of a real car! Scary thought!

Up, Up and Away

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:26:00 +0000

This is the first time that I have done a blog post using the Blogger iPad app. I don't seem to have a great handle on it, I can't get the writing off centre (I normally post with the writing to the left) and I can't seem to work out how to add a caption to the photos.

Anyway please excuse me if anything looks a little odd over the next week or so as I blog whist away on holiday, without a computer, using my iPad. Now back to my post.

Very exciting! I am having my first holiday of the year. It is to one of my favourite places Hamilton Island in the Queensland Whitsundays (in Australia for those outside of Australia and don't know where Queensland is)

We arrived a couple of day ago, flying with Jetstar on an unevntful flight. A lot of people don't seem to like Jetstar but to be honest, I've never had a problem with them. You can check in 48 hours before the flight, you can get your boarding pass via SMS, no more paper (unless you want paper). I think this is the handiest thing! How often are you away and check in for your homeward bound flight and you have to somehow find a printer, maybe from the hotel or maybe you just have to line up at the airport (which is fine if you have luggage, but a pain of you don't have checked bags). Anyway, the service I've found at the airport and on board to be fine, planes are nice and clean. So I jut take the cheapest flight, wether that's Virgin Australia or Jetstar, I'm happy with either.

Whilst at the airport, my son had to visit here!

This is a bit of a tradition for us on our trips to Hamilton Island. We always stop at Krispy Kreme at the airport whilst waiting for our flight and pick up a box, yes a whole box of original glazed donuts. This time there was no way I was going to have a box of donuts sitting there and resist. So instead of a box, we purchased one glazed donut for my son in a bag and he was generous enough to let me sniff it! They had some cute Christmas designs too that I would love to have tried. But sniffing was the closest I was going to get to a Krispy Kreme on this trip!

It wasn't long before our flight was boarding and we were on our way.

Continued next post...

Hamilton Island Here We Come

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:02:00 +0000

Boarding the plane was different this time. It was the first time I have used the SMS boarding pass. Have to say that I was impressed. It was quick and very easy. You just open the SMS that Jetstar sends to you when you do online check in and at the boarding gate there is a machine. You just place your phone with the text message on the screen into the machine and it spits out a paper boarding pass and off you go on to the plane.

We were sitting in the forth row. Just my son and I. I had the aisle and son had the middle seat. We were hoping for the window to remain empty but were not that fortunate! Just before the doors shut, a rather odd looking man came and sat down. He proceeded to online chat on his mobile almost until the plane took off but before this he picked his nose. Oh my goodness, I almost threw up as he then proceeded to roll it in his fingers for the next 10 minutes! I would look back to my magazine, then glance over and he was still rolling! What is wrong with people and public behavior these days? I had a similar experience at the Dr's recently too. He the proceeded to bite his nails along with pick his teeth for the rest of the flight! I was pleased when the flight was over!

We know we are getting close as the water down below has become a beautiful bright blue colour!

Water from the plane

Flying into Hamilton Island, you come in between two mountains, with water at both ends of the runway. Here is a few photos of coming in to land, with the Yacht Club and Hamilton Island Harbour/Marina on one side and Dent Island on the other. Dent Island is a golf course and golf club, that's all that is on the island and when staying on Hamilton Island you get there by boat. It's a lovely place for lunch, with amazing views.

I am finding updating this blog with the blogger iPad app to be very frustrating! Yesterday, with difficulty I was able to add photos throughout the post. Today the app is not allowing me to do this. So please excuse all the photos being at the end. I will fix this when I get home and move them throughout the post.

Dent Island from the air (golf course)

Another photo of Dent Island from the plane

Hamilton Island approach from the plane

Naughty Consumption

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:00:00 +0000

I have developed this bad love of something new. It's certainly not a daily indulgence, it's a once a week treat that I have been working it into my daily calories on the day I have it, so it has not affected my weight loss. It counts as two snacks for the day as it's 230 calories per serve.

Fortunately this is only a seasonal drink, it is around only for the Christmas season. This beverage will cease to exist on the 6th January, so from then I will not be able to have it any more.... thank goodness! Well, until next year that is. We go away on the 31st December, so really I only have another three days to indulge in another one before they finish.

What is this naughty consumption that I'm talking about you may ask?

Well it is none other than the Gingerbread Frappuccino from Starbucks. I get it made on skim milk to reduce some of the calories. But yes I do still have the cream on top, but I don't drink much of the cream.

Here it is....

Starbucks Gingerbread Frappuccino

Receiving Compliments

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:00:00 +0000

I don't know what it is, but I don't know what to say when people notice that I've lost weight. Particularly people who I haven't seen for a while. I guess they can see a big difference. I've lost about 13 kgs now. I guess that is a lot, but I still have about 12 kg to go and I don't know I know there is a difference in my clothes, I've gone down two to three clothes sizes. But I just get embarrassed and say "Oh thank you. I still have a bit to go".

At the Christmas Eve party the other day, there was someone there who I hadn't seen since I first signed on for Round 3 of 12WBT this year (2012). That was back in August. The round hadn't started, but I had signed on. We were having lunch at a coffee shop with a few friends and we were talking about it and I hadn't seen any menus or exercise plans at that stage, so I was feeling very motivated that I was going to lose this excess weight that I was carrying but I didn't know how the program would be, if I would like it, or even if it would be a success or something I could maintain long term. I didn't know anyone else who had done the program, I only found it whilst searching google for something, I'm not sure what. I actually wasn't looking at joining a 12 week program.

Anyway when I saw her on Monday night she yelled across the room. "OMG, dieting diva" (although she used my real name, LOL). "Look how much weight you've lost, there's nothing of you". Well all night, she kept saying, "I can't believe how good you are looking, I just can't believe how much weight you've lost, I keep looking at you, your face is different". This is lovely to hear, compliments. But I don't know. I find it hard to hear. I sort of get embarrassed. I just say "oh thanks, but I still have a lot more to go". Many are saying "from where?".

I was at the office the other day and my dad has been away for a few months. He had noticed I'd lost weight before he left. But I was standing at the office the other day, the day after he arrived home and he kept saying "you have just lost so much weight", "you are looking so good", "skinny minnie". I haven't told my dad that I'm doing any sort of weight loss program. I don't know why, but he and my brother are very very fit, very healthy. Yes they have their treats, chocolate, ice cream. But neither of them have ever been over weight, ever! They have never even been on the high scale of normal BMI, they have always been thin (not too thin), but more towards the bottom of the normal BMI for their height. They would never say anything about being me overweight but I'm sure they don't understand (I could be wrong)

Anyway, my dad just kept going on and it was lovely, he was being nice but again I felt uncomfortable hearing those compliments. I said I still have a bit to go and he said "doesn't look like it". He said you must have been working really hard! And I just said "oh no not really", when in reality I have!

Not sure how everyone else feels getting these compliments about how they are looking. Am I the only one that gets sort of uncomfortable, embarrassed by the compliments? Guess I should just enjoy it, LOL.

Christmas Weight Loss

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 02:42:00 +0000

I had a Christmas/Birthday Party on Christmas Eve, then the big family Christmas lunch on Christmas day.

Our Christmas Tree (before the presents and I have lost the tree skirt, so apologise for the naked tree)

Christmas Eve

I did allow myself to enjoy some of the yummy food on offer and didn't deprive myself too much. On Christmas Eve, I made this heaven Salmon Pate or sort of a dip. It's thick and you spread it on a slice of bread stick. It is SOOOO yummy, but as it's filled with mayonnaise and lots of butter it is NOT low fat or low in calories. Well as it's my favourite thing and it's not something I make very often and I have been so good over the last few months on 12WBT, I limited my calories during the day, knowing that I would be indulging for dinner. I had three bits of dip on bread. It was SOOOOO good. I could have eaten the whole pot and it's one of those things that once started is really hard to stop. But I did stop and I just enjoyed and savoured every mouthful.

For dinner there was lamb, salads and potato bake. Well potato bake is another weakness for me! I LOVE it. So I did have some, but not my usual half the plate full. I had just a small tablespoon full. A small piece of lamb and then half the plate of salad. I then did indulge in dessert! Pavlova!!! Who can resist pavlova. I got up and cut my own slice and I literally had a sliver. The kept handing me a "small piece" to which I would say, no I'll have a really small piece and would pass that piece to someone else, just like a shaving was all I wanted. So in the end I just said, "can I cut my piece". Which I did and it was only about half a cm thick but it was enough to have about 3 mouthfuls with some cream and fruit on top and I got the flavour and it was really all I wanted.

Christmas Day

So I survived Christmas Eve. Now it was time to survive Christmas Day! Now my family are not known to skimp on the Christmas lunch servings! We have roast turkey, baked ham, roast potatoes and pumpkin, asparagus mornay (my favourite), broccoli, peas, stuffing and lashings of gravy! I again asked if I could do my own plate as I could see the serving sizes were just massive. I just had a small piece of turkey, a smaller piece of ham, one small baked potato, once small piece of pumpkin, spoonful of peas, a dessert spoon of asparagus, a large floweret of steamed broccoli and instead of the usual, plate drowning in gravy, I just did a small drizzle over the meat. It was about half the size of everyone else's, but it was plenty for me!

Then came time for dessert. There is a little history there. Growing up, my aunt always made the Christmas puddings filled with treasures that we would exchange for money, topped with brandy custard. I on the other hand have a nut allergy, so I was never able to have it. So I always had my own pudding, it was a chocolate chip steamed pudding with chocolate custard. Over the years, people... family members, were getting jealous of my special pudding. They wanted that too. So slowly but surely the traditional Christmas pudding vanished and all that was served was the chocolate chip steamed pudding with chocolate custard (also filled with treasures). So this year was no different. We had steamed chocolate chip pudding with home made chocolate custard and served with home made chocolate and vanilla ice creams. OH MY Goodness! I can tell you my blogging friends, this is a dessert that is out of this world. I was not going to miss out on my favourite dessert of the year! So I again served myself. I had just a tiny piece, about a 1/4 of the size of everyone elses. A small spoonful of the chocolate custard, instead of the pool of custard everyone else had and then a teaspoon full of each of the ice creams, as apposed to the large scoop of each that everyone else had.

It was a spectacular couple of days. Filled with lots of laughs, great company, great food and just a really festive time.

After the last two days I was not expecting to lose any weight today for our usual Wednesday weigh in. But I have to say that even though I did indulge in some naughty things. I did watch the calories, I did have small portions and I guess I didn't go overboard. I am pleased to say that I still lost 400 grams this week!

I hope that you have all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. Next challenge... New Years Eve and a holiday to Hamilton Island!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. Hope your holidays are filled with love, fun, family and joy on this festive season.

Doctor Visit Update

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:34:00 +0000

I saw the Doctor today about my high blood pressure medication and about possibly coming off it as my blood pressure is now on the low side.

When I started this journey, just 4 months ago. I was on 300mg a day of medication. I was then reduced to 150mg a day and today I was put on 75mg a day. The Doctor said that if I continue the way I am then I will be off the medication soon. Unfortunately with blood pressure medication it is not something you can just stop, not when you have been on it for a long time as I have been. I've been on it for about 2 years now. So the only way to come off it is to wean off it. So I have been reducing the dosage and have gone from 300mg a day to 75mg a day. I am to stay on that for a few weeks, maybe a month and see how my blood pressure is, to make sure it's stable, then reduce to 75mg every second day. I am not sure what happens after every second day. Maybe be off it all together then.

Anyway it's an exciting day! It's a real step in a positive direction and it shows that the changes I have made in my life so far thanks to Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation are improving my health.

The only downside to the Doctor visit was the unpleasant man sitting opposite me in the waiting room. He was coughing and not covering his mouth, spreading his germs everywhere. But the final straw was when he sneezed... a huge sneeze.... and he again did not cover his mouth so the two ladies who I was sitting beside along with myself were sprayed with his vulgar germs. It was absolutely disgusting and I almost threw up. Bad enough being exposed to germs but to have someone actually sneeze on you, not cover their mouth, was just an all time low.

Baggy Shorts... again

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 10:25:00 +0000

At the beginning of this journey, at the beginning of round 3 12WBT. I purchased a pair of shorts. Bright green shorts. I absolutely loved them but was a bit nervous about colour. I feel very self consious wearing bring colours on my bottom half. I don't want to draw attention to my large area!.

So I purchased the shorts. I bought a size 14. They were a really firm, if I hadn't known that I was going to be losing weight, I would have bought the size 16 as I did have quite a muffin top and they were not comfortable, I knew I was losing weight so would get into them eventually. Well about 7 -8 weeks later, I was wearing those shorts to a friends house and she said. Oh, look, I just have to say, those shorts are too big, they don't look right! Now someone may be offended by this comment, but I was thrilled. I knew they were getting baggy and are the type of shorts that stretch as they are worn, so when I got home I did look in the mirror and they were looking too big. So I went out the next morning and bought the size 12. Yes, that's right, the size 12!!!!!

I am now at the beginning of week 4 of 12WBT. I have lost about 12kgs, but I know I have lost a lot of cm's. I'm looking forward to this Wednesday weigh in as it's a milestone week, so we do all of our measurements again.

Now for the exciting thing. I have been wearing the size 12 bright green shorts for the last 7 or so weeks and on Thursday I was in the office and someone said to me. Gosh you are looking good, those shorts are too big! AGAIN, someone else talking about my shorts! So on Friday I popped out and bought the same shorts in a size 10. Can you believe it, a size 10!

Now I know I still have about 13kg to go. I wouldn't say that I am a size 10.... yet.... Whilst the 12 are getting big, the 10 are quite firm, but I know that in a couple of weeks, they will fit nicely. They were the only 10 left so I wanted to snap them up, after all it's only the beginning of summer and I don't want to be without my cute green shorts for the rest of the summer. I have gone down three clothes sizes!

The size 10 is firm, like the size 14 was when I started this journey, but I can not wait for those too to become baggy and too big and I will then have to slip into the 8! Won't that be a day of celebration!

Time To See The Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (M) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:07:00 +0000

I have been on high blood pressure medication for a couple of years now. I didn't ever have what was considered high blood pressure very often. I had borderline hypertension. Sometimes it was up, if I was stressed it was high. It was always on the very high side of normal, just tipping into high. But after tearing my artery, I was put on medication to lower my blood pressure as the Dr's were worried about the long term borderline hypertension may have been the cause.

Well I have lost close to 12kgs so far (about 26lbs) and I will be honest. I haven't really been monitoring my blood pressure for a long time. My machine was out of batteries, I'd been meaning to buy more and just kept forgetting. I have been taking my medication daily though, never miss it as I don't want to tear the artery or another artery again due to my blood pressure.

The last week I have been getting quite light headed. Particularly when I get up, but sometimes just standing there, or sitting on the couch. I have also had this annoying tingling feet! I thought it may be magnesium or my iron levels as I'm regularly with very low iron.

So yesterday I started taking my blood pressure. Not sure why I suddenly started monitoring it again. I guess I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't high. To my surprise, it is LOW! 107/60. 104/62. 96/60. That is why I have been feeling light headed I think and low blood pressure I have just googled (never had it before so never knew the symptoms) can cause tingling feet! Maybe losing this 12 (26 lbs) odd kilograms is bringing my blood pressure down.

I know this has been a goal of mine on this 12WBT journey. To get my blood pressure down and get off this medication. Until I tore my artery I had never been on regular medication (except asthma puffer when needed). So I am heading off to the DR on Monday to speak to him about it. I am now on the lowest dose of the drug I'm on, so I guess the next step will be to take it every second day for a little while or maybe if it's consistently low stop ween me off it all together.

Anyway I'm doing a happy dance! I have not seen my blood pressure be anything other than on the high side of normal to high for the last few years (even on medication it was still always on the high side of normal). I have joked with a friend who has low blood pressure that she can have some of mine, but now it's looking like I don't have any to give away (if only we could, LOL)

12WBT! You are my saviour!