Merry Christmas

Well, it’s late on Christmas night and after a full day I am well and truly knackered! We had a 40 degree Celsius / 104 F day today and I thanked God for our aircon and pool!

I had an absolutely magical day with family that was just a joy – kids revelling in the wonders of Christmas and adults relaxing, sharing a meal and enjoying the pleasure of each others’ company.

I just wanted to wish all my blog readers a very Merry Christmas, full of joy, laughter, love and good fellowship. May your day be spent in the company of loved ones and may Santa have found you on the Nice list!

I promise to be a bit more diligent in blog posting in the New Year, but until then …. sporadic is the nature of the beast!

Sending big etheric hugs to you all!

Saturday, 25 December 2010 22:22 Written by Catherine F. 6 Comments

Weigh-In Wednesday 15 Dec

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Each Wednesday until Christmas we’d like you to “weigh” in and tell us about a goal you’ve accomplished, a milestone, anything that will push you to go a little further on your weight loss path. Add your post link to the bloghop and let’s help each other get back on track. (for our non-blogging friends, you are welcome to add your goals in the comments section).

Start date: October 13, 2010
End date: December 29, 2010

Some questions to think about:

What worked well for you this week (please share as your tip might help someone else)?

What setbacks did you have and how did you go with them?

How did you feel physically and mentally during the week?

What are your personal goals for this coming week? Note that they don’t have to be only related to food and exercise. Getting a hold on a source of stress is just as valid, as is finally speaking with the person who has been causing you grief. Our weight issues are multi-faceted.

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My Experience of the Last Week

Well, I’m running out of steam! No time to blog and just barely keeping up. I’m posting this as I’m eating breakfast on the run, just before I jump into the shower to head to school for the Christmas Assembly in 29 minutes!

In trying to think of the positives ….. water intake good and exercise consistent (5 out of 7 days). Feeling in good spirits on the whole, though periods of self-doubt are creaping in.

I’m just going to get this up and add to it later if time allows.

Hope everyone has a week full of scale and non-scale victories!

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If you’re new to the blog hop, we’d like to invite you to follow our blogs:

Anna at The Weight Lost Diaries
Catherine at Transformational Diaries

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Wednesday, 15 December 2010 08:34 Written by Catherine F. 1 Comment

Weigh-In Wednesday 8 Dec

Wow, what a week it’s been. My feet feel like they’ve hardly touched the ground I’ve been so busy. It’s that time of the year, what with Christmas shopping, baking and organising well underway, school activities ramping up for end of year and more socialising, well, it’s been full on! But, I must say, it hasn’t been horrid and out of control.

Things that worked well for me last week…

I kept up my water intake for the most part
I meditated more often
I exercised consistently

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Hiccups for me were ….

Eating on the run and making expedient choices rather than good choices
Succumbing a little to ‘time of the month’ sugar hits!

How did I feel mentally and physically?

Physically I felt pretty tired by the end of each day – you know, where you fall asleep on the couch the moment you sit down!
Mentally I felt like I was on top of things, even though I didn’t make great choices every day. I didn’t seem to be in the space where I beat myself up.
I felt calmer overall for the week, which was a nice feeling. Maybe it’s related to meditating more too….

Things that I want to focus on for the next week…

I would like to be able to do a juice fast for a few days prior to Christmas.
Get on top of my Christmas baking
Go for a run, rather than just a walk, at least once during the week
No sugar for the week – NONE AT ALL! No cheating! And that means reading all labels for hidden sources.

I hope everyone has a week that is full of joy and successful ventures.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone who comments and provides support for me and others in this journey. It really means so much to me to wake up and read a lovely comment that someone has placed on the blog – it really helps keep me positive and better focused.

Have a great week!

Wednesday, 08 December 2010 18:10 Written by Catherine F. 8 Comments

Weigh-In Wednesday 1 Dec 2010

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Each Wednesday until Christmas we’d like you to “weigh” in and tell us about a goal you’ve accomplished, a milestone, anything that will push you to go a little further on your weight loss path. Add your post link to the bloghop and let’s help each other get back on track. (for our non-blogging friends, you are welcome to add your goals in the comments section).

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Start date: October 13, 2010
End date: December 29, 2010

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Some questions to think about:

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What worked well for you this week (please share as your tip might help someone else)?

What setbacks did you have and how did you go with them?

How did you feel physically and mentally during the week?

What are your personal goals for this coming week? Note that they don’t have to be only related to food and exercise. Getting a hold on a source of stress is just as valid, as is finally speaking with the person who has been causing you grief. Our weight issues are multi-faceted.

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My Experience of the Last Week

I have had a week of struggling. We’ve been so busy moving furniture out of the lounge / office, painting, getting curtains cleaned, carpet laid and new couches delivered …. that plus everything else that goes with this time of year and well, it’s lead to poor food choices.

The poor choices always seem to go hand in hand with my fatigue levels – looking for that quick burst of energy or that comfort from feeling knackered, but still having to soldier on. It’s all ‘fueled’ by my sugar addiction too, which is deadly for Candida (which has flared up more too). So, I must say I feel almost like I’m back to square one …. like I felt before losing the 12 Kg. But, in trying to be positive, I lost a heap of weight in the first 4 weeks of my weight loss journey and I can do it again ready for Christmas!

So, for my week, what went well was consistently drinking 2-3 litres of water each day. Filling up water bottles for each day and putting them in the fridge ready for our hot days seems to be working well for me.

The major hiccup was that my diet went down the tubes for a bit (just didn’t keep up the low carb / no sugar approach). I went into ‘survival’ mode, eating what was easy rather than what was good. I had more carbs, even including pasta, which is something I haven’t had in a while, and the overall feeling from this, after the initial burst of energy, is just drained. I love my carbs, but I just don’t seem to be able to balance my energy levels well with it in my diet at the moment.

Image from www.printactivites.com

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I felt physically and mentally done in by the week and really dis-empowered, like I just couldn’t be bothered. Like I’d had enough and just want a fairy godmother to wave her wand and fix it for me! I’m waking up way too early as well and that is not helping with energy levels during the day either. I really have to sort out my handling of stress for it is such a trigger!

This week I want to focus on getting back to basics – diet (eliminating sugar / low carb), exercise (because I feel good when I do it) and using my spreadsheet.

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Hope everyone has a week full of scale and non-scale victories!

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If you’re new to the blog hop, we’d like to invite you to follow our blogs:

Anna at The Weight Lost Diaries
Catherine at Transformational Diaries

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If you want to place this button on your post to show your participation, you are very welcome. The more people we can link up and provide a supportive and encouraging environment for, the better it will be for all of us.

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Wednesday, 01 December 2010 06:26 Written by Catherine F. 7 Comments

Raw Hummus

When we eat a diet high in unprocessed food, we are healthier. Likewise a diet higher in uncooked food, where the process of cooking hasn’t removed, killed off, denatured, changed ….. whatever you want to say here ….. some of the good things in the food, again, we are healthier.

So, I’ve been trying to introduce a diet higher in raw foods, trying to have more raw food meals throughout the week.

But this requires a bit of an adjustment, for it’s not all about just adding some nuts to a salad.

One of the things I love is Hummus. The chickpeas that form the base of it are a great source of protein, which is great for me in a low carb / high protein diet.

The recipe is:

1 cup dried chick peas soaked overnight, then sprout the next day – so the recipe uses chick peas that have just started sprouting

Juice of 1-2 lemons, depending on size and juiciness (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup juice)

Fresh orange juice – 4 tablespoons

2 cloves garlic

3-4 tablespoons unhulled tahini

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground Himalayan rock or sea salt

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, starting off with 1/2 cup lemon juice and adding more juice or water to get desired consistency.

Store in air-tight container in fridge – if it’s not eaten before, it seems to keep well for about 1 week at least (I haven’t kept it longer because there’s been none left!).

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Dried chick peas on left. Sprouted chick peas on right.

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Close-up of sprouted chick peas

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Sprouter that I use - has drainage holes in green lid

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Hummus! Blend more for smoother consistency; adjust liquids for thickness

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So, an easy dip to make, that is low in fat and high protein, and has no additives that shop-bought processed versions have.

I find this a great snack with celery sticks, carrot, capsicum (bell peppers), snow peas, lebanese cucumber …. hey, you name it!

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What healthy snacks do you like?

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Thursday, 25 November 2010 10:38 Written by Catherine F. 4 Comments

Weigh In Wednesday 24 Nov

Thanks Anna for hosting this week’s Weigh In Wednesday. I too am grateful for healthy family members, with my nephew having survived a horrible multiple roll-over crash on the weekend with the worst injury being taking the skin off 3 fingers down to the bone (all 4 people in the car survived, 3 walking away with nothing but bruises). I am also extremely grateful for the wonderful and supportive people I’ve met on this weight loss journey – far more supportive than all my years experience with Weight Watchers, EasySlim etc where contact is often only once per week.

So, back to the last week……….I had a week where although I didn’t exactly keep rigidly to the goals I’d set myself, I felt pretty good on the whole. Had a few too many detox headaches for my liking, but at least it said my body was getting rid of stuff.

Thinks that worked well for me last week:

I kept my water intake up.
I made a raw food meal that I hadn’t made before – Raw Humous (or Hummus or Hoummos depending on your point of view!). It was great and really easy and I’ll make a post about it tomorrow. I also dehydrated a heap of apples that we all loved!
I ate more raw food meals during the week – 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches

Hiccups include:

Not having all my various herbal medications, supplements etc to help with the Candida. I realised that I forget to take them when I get busy or when I go off track.
Exercise was inconsistent, although I did paint our lounge and office area (including ceilings) over the weekend that took a lot of energy and going up and down ladders! Didn’t get any Kettle Bell sessions in though …
Green smoothies was a failure – only 2 days in for the week, but I guess that’s better than nothing.

But what I learned this week was a bit of a light bulb moment for me. A few weeks ago I blogged about a Star Chart spreadsheet that I had up on my fridge to help me keep on track. The spreadsheet listed my targets, like trying to exercise 5 days a week or having a green smoothie each day.

The problem I’ve been having with it is that it works fine when I’m in a place of keeping on track with ease, but when it’s challenging, it’s actually a bit degrading.

For example, last week I wanted to have a green smoothie each day. Well I had one on Day 1, but by Day 2 I’d already failed. That feeling of failure is just not productive, not helping at all..

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So, for this week, I’m going to shift the emphasis of my spreadsheet from meeting targets, to trying to get as many squares coloured in as I can, regardless of what activity they fall under.

Image from www.gadgetguy.com.au

Other things for me to focus on in the next week:

Complete my tax for the quarter and send it in to the Accountant
Having my daily detox herbs etc
Get back into meditation that has slipped in the last couple of weeks.
Try another new raw recipe

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Hope everyone has a super week – feeling positive and feeling on track!

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Wednesday, 24 November 2010 09:02 Written by Catherine F. 0 Comments

Focus on Being Fat and That’s What you Get!

Readers of this blog will be well familiar in the not so conventional approaches that I take to things and for some I’m a bit weird, a bit ‘out there’!

Well, I have been struggling with the more mental and emotional side of this weight loss journey. One of the things I’ve listened to from time to time is a recording of Abraham-Hicks on natural weight loss. There are several tracks on the CD, but I jumped on You Tube and found one that was there.

Esther Hicks is a lady who channels through (although she doesn’t like that term) a group of higher consciousness, called Abraham (not biblical Abraham). This loving being comes through to teach us that which we’ve known on some level for eons ……. you reap what you sow. You get back what you put out. Now, I’m not heading down the karma path, but I am heading down the Law of Attraction path.

You Get What You Focus Upon

Essentially it says that we experience that which we predominantly focus upon. Another way of looking at it, an example if you like, is whether you consider yourself a person who sees a glass as half full or half empty, for that position colours the way you see and interact with the world (and therefore invites the world to interact with you in the same way) – if you’re angry and aggressive all the time, plenty of experiences will come your way to match up with that. If you’re predominantly positive, helpful, joyful to be around, well you tend to gravitate to people and situations that match and avoid or minimise exposure to harsh, negative people. You just don’t like being around them. It feels wrong.

And that’s sort of how it is with the Law of Attraction.

And to where I am now. I’ve been feeling very up and down about this whole weight loss thing. I have periods where I’m really focused and enthusiastic and other times when I feel like a failure and can’t be bothered. Guess what my results have been over the last 6 months?

I’ve lost the same 2Kg and gained it back about 4 times. My results match where my head and emotions have been. Mixed!

A Conscious Approach…

So, I’m going to try and approach this whole thing slightly differently.

I’m going to try and be more conscious of when I drift into negativity – when I berate myself for a food choice, when I look in the mirror and find fault, when I feel lazy and kick myself for it.

I’m going to try and look at what triggers these excursions into negativity and away from my predominantly positive outlook.

Is it the time of day and fatigue?

Is it the time of month?

Is it stress and having too much on?

Is it a person in my life?

Is it a task I loathe?

You get the drift.

Below is the You Tube clip of Abraham responding to a woman who has ‘tried everything’ to lose weight. If you’ve got the 9 minutes, it’s a bit of a laugh and a salient message.

We have to make peace with where we are and stop fighting against it. We have to learn to love ourselves regardless of what a set of scales say.

Let me know what you think – baloney or some truth in it?

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 16:38 Written by Catherine F. 6 Comments

Tag! You’re it!

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Anna from The Weight Lost Diaries has tagged me to answer a few questions. She in turn was tagged by Michelle from Those Last 75 Pounds in an on-going chain that prompts some thinking on the individual writer’s part and some learning about others on the reader’s part.

I found it really interesting to just read other people’s responses and the questions they prompted for their tag – it all helps us complete the picture of who we are in this journey to find out underlying reasons for why we carry weight. Remembering things we love …. reinforcing things we need to get a handle on.

Here are Anna’s questions:

1. How does blogging help or hinder your weight loss efforts?

Blogging helps me be a bit more accountable, especially when I’ve teamed up with someone like Anna, and we check in regularly. That sounds like I’m too weak-willed to do it on my own and maybe I am at this point in time, but I think it’s got more to do with helping me not get caught up in my day to day chaotic life and forgetting about me. I also get such inspiration from reading about how other people are going, their successes and challenges and how they get through. I love that people are so supportive of each other in this blogging world and that support and inspiration is at our fingertips when we’re feeling a bit at sea.

The hinder side is minor, but blogging and reading blogs does take time and I’ve learned that I need to manage my time better to fit it all in – eating properly rather than on the run, exercising, family stuff and me time.

2. What is the biggest change you’ve made since starting on this weight loss path?

Because of a Candida condition, the biggest thing for me has been to change my eating to a low carb / high protein diet. Not that I don’t break it, but I’m more conscious of having good sources of protein at each meal, rather than heading for bulky things like breads, rice etc. It has allowed me to not have that dramatic 3pm energy slump and that’s been a huge difference – not reaching for the chocolate / biscuits / cakes for a quick hit.

3. Do you feel confident you will meet your goal weight?

There are times when I think that I’ll never get there, but overall, although it will take time, I will get to my goal weight. The thing I’ve shown myself over the last few months is that I can maintain a weight, plus or minus a little bit. So, even though it’s been a bit of an annoying plateau, it’s showed me that when I hit goal, I should be in great shape to stay there.

4. What if anything are you giving yourself as a reward, if anything, when you reach goal?

I actually hadn’t thought like that until you asked the question. Don’t know if that’s weird or not, but it just felt like being slim, energetic and full of life was the reward in itself. But, if I was going to treat myself and money, baby sitting or time was not an issue, I would love to go to France and travel through some of the lesser visited regions, soaking up the feeling of being able to travel comfortably and feel like I fit in!

Now it’s time to pass this on ….. here are the questions:

1. What would you say to someone just starting out on a weight loss journey?

2. What is your passion? The thing that you absolutely love doing, that is not necessarily, but can be, related to your job or role in a family?

3. If money and time (or any other obstacles) were not an issue, how would you spend a week (or even a weekend) that you had to yourself (and who would you spend it with, if anyone)?

4. What has been your most satisfying moment so far on this journey?

I pose these questions to the following beautiful people:

Lucy from Diminishing Lucy

Big Mama from Big Mama and The Bristol Project

Shelley at My Journey to Fit

Andrea at Revealing the Real Me

Have fun with this and get to it when you can if you decide to continue it – no pressure! Any other people reading this, feel free to answer in the comments section or put a post on your blog and link back.

Friday, 19 November 2010 09:53 Written by Catherine F. 3 Comments

Weigh In Wednesday BlogHop 17 Nov

Each Wednesday until Christmas we’d like you to “weigh” in and tell us about a goal you’ve accomplished, a milestone, anything that will push you to go a little further on your weight loss path. Add your post link to the bloghop and let’s help each other get back on track. (for our non-blogging friends, you are welcome to add your goals in the comments section).

Start date: October 13, 2010
End date: December 29, 2010

Some questions to think about:

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What worked well for you this week (please share as your tip might help someone else)?

What setbacks did you have and how did you go with them?

How did you feel physically and mentally during the week?

What are your personal goals for this coming week? Note that they don’t have to be only related to food and exercise. Getting a hold on a source of stress is just as valid, as is finally speaking with the person who has been causing you grief. Our weight issues are multi-faceted.

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So, for my week, what went well was getting some green smoothies into me and ticking off a number of tasks that were hanging over my head.

Hiccups were that my exercise faltered a bit, although I got out, not just as much as I would have like.

This week I want to focus on ‘cooking’ or should I say creating, more raw food meals and using the dehydrator. First up is some cashew bread.

I have felt like I’ve been struggling, but am just putting one foot in front of the other….. will post about it when I get a chance, but wanted to get this up and running quickly!

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Hope everyone has a week full of scale and non-scale victories!

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If you’re new to the blog hop, we’d like to invite you to follow our blogs:

Anna at The Weight Lost Diaries
Catherine at Transformational Diaries

.

If you want to place this button on your post to show your participation, you are very welcome. The more people we can link up and provide a supportive and encouraging environment for, the better it will be for all of us.

.

Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:27 Written by Catherine F. 5 Comments

We Interrupt This Transmission …

Imagine watching tv and having the show you are watching interrupted with ‘breaking news’.

Something that will change the way we think about our world, much like how viewing our world as flat was changed when is was shown to be round.

Well, that’s what the science of quantum mechanics is doing at the moment. Science is showing us that the way we thought the universe worked is not quite the way it is. We all have a far greater role in the creation of our environments and our experiences than we have previously thought.

If you want to see some more about this and be part of a world wide group of people meditating (or put another way, just consciously focusing positive thought and love on our planet) for 11 minutes each day for 11 days from the 11th of November, go to New Reality Transmission.

Imagine what it would be like to wake up in a world where we found out we didn’t need to compete for things, where fear didn’t exist, where transparency was the norm and nothing was needed to be hidden because we were all naturally heart centered.

The video clip on the link above is just beautiful, so if you so choose, spend some quality time having a look at it. If you don’t think you can be a part of this movement because you don’t have the time, any time spent doing this is adding to the whole and can only be positive.

Thanks Kirrily from Energenetics for this timely link. It was just awesome!

Friday, 12 November 2010 13:22 Written by Catherine F. 2 Comments

Merry Christmas

Weigh-In Wednesday 15 Dec

Weigh-In Wednesday 8 Dec

Weigh-In Wednesday 1 Dec 2010

Hope everyone has a week full of scale and non-scale victories!

Raw Hummus

What healthy snacks do you like?

Weigh In Wednesday 24 Nov

Hope everyone has a super week – feeling positive and feeling on track!

Focus on Being Fat and That’s What you Get!

Tag! You’re it!

Weigh In Wednesday BlogHop 17 Nov

Hope everyone has a week full of scale and non-scale victories!

We Interrupt This Transmission …

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