Blogger Challenge Week 9: Support

Support is a fundamental part of any life changing event – including weight loss.  As you know by now, weight loss is a mind, body and soul journey, there are so many ways that you need support.

Unfortunately, some people can struggle as their partners/work colleagues/friends may not be supportive, or may sabotage your efforts – you have probably seen quite a few of these kinds of posts on the forums.

In saying this, having that support doesn’t make or break your weight loss success.  It’s true, it can be harder with saboteurs around.  What I really want to get out of this week’s question is acknowledging those that have supported you and most of all how have you supported yourself?

1. What would you tell yourself at the start of the program in support of yourself?

2. What would you tell those around you that may not have been that supportive?

3. Who would you like to thank for being there for you and helping you on your 12WBT journey so far?

I would like to take this opportunity to say a thank you to you all for doing this Blogger Challenge, by having people complete this challenge, I have received support from you all by knowing that you all are visiting and reading my blog – it keeps me accountable.  I would also like to think that you have all been supporting each other when you read the other bloggers posts and commenting on them.  We really are one big family. 

If you are a little confused about what to do, please read through the blogger challenge instructions (opens in a new window).

To link your answer to this blog post, just click the add your blog button below. From here you paste the link for your actual post (not your blog). This weeks Blogger Challenge will close at 11:59pm on Wednesday 18th April 2012.

What a Relief!!

Just a little uni update!

After my freak out a couple of weeks ago in regards to my chemistry exam I am really happy to report that I didn't do nearly as bad as what I thought I did!

Don't get me wrong, it's not a good mark, but it is excellent in comparison to what I thought I was going to get (which woulld mean that I thought I would be lucky to even get 5%). 

It seems that even though I panicked and left pretty much all of my questions without a final answer, I still managed to get 30%.  This also still means that I am still technically passing chemistry at the moment (I do well in my labs and tutes).

So, next step is to get in touch with the lecturer and have a chat about the best way for me to proceed.  All I need to do now is to get at least 40% in my final test.

Where is Everyone?

Well, it seems with the Easter rush, people have forgotten about the Blogger Challenge!!

The next question is up and waiting for your answer! Consider this a friendly little nudge :D

Hope everyone has had a wonderful break :)

Just Say No...

I keep telling myself, "Just say no to the chocolate!"

Unfortunately, I am not listening to myself.

In saying that, I have been able to recognise when I actually want the chocolate and when I am just bored or just want to eat it because it's there, so I haven't had that much really. (well, comparatively at least lol!)

I cannot believe how much chocolate we have in the house at the moment... I even told B that I might get him to hide it and ration it out to me... it was said in jest, but I think the idea does have merit!

I have been a little flat out this week, so I didn't get a chance to pop in here and let you all know that I have lost weight this week.  So I managed to get down to 98.3kg.  However, the amount of chocolate that has passed these lips will mean that I will be putting weight on again.

I am definitely starting to reach my limit with these 'allowances' and I don't think it will be long before I am back into the swing of things...

I think the first step is to hide the easter eggs.... haha!

Blogger Challenge Week 8: Learning

We never stop learning, it is a constant factor of life.  In the 12WBT, we have such a big learning curve, and most of it is early on.  Sometimes we don’t fully realise what we have accomplished until we stop and take a look back.

1. What has been your biggest learning curve of the program?

2. Have you had to learn something new over the last 8 weeks? ie cooking? Have you learned a new sport?

3. Are you planning on learning a new skill in the future? eg taking up a new sport, learning a new technique, etc

Learning always makes me feel so alive, especially when I ‘master’ a new skill.  Take control of your life and live it!

If you are a little confused about what to do, please read through the blogger challenge instructions (opens in a new window).

To link your answer to this blog post, just click the add your blog button below. From here you paste the link for your actual post (not your blog). This weeks Blogger Challenge will close at 11:59pm on Wednesday 11th April 2012.

Organised: My Favourite Word!

I am such a planner.  I love to be organised, or at least feel like I am organised.

I have been slowly adding recipes to my Menu Planner app for my iPad and I have been testing it out this week. So far, I have only planned our dinners, but doing this has really helped me mentally as it feels as though there is one less thing that I need to worry about.

When I did the groceries the other day, it was fantastic, as I took my iPad with me, opened up the app and everything I needed was there in a list for me.  The only thing I need to do is set which aisles the products are in as this will save even more time.  I can even add in the prices of the product so that I an get an idea of what our next grocery shop will cost - I love this kind of stuff!

I was able to tick off each item as I put it into the trolley, and as I had already culled the list with what I had in the pantry or in the garden, it made my shopping list much more compact and easy to work through. 

Sure, there were a few things that were added to my trolley that weren't on the list, but this is normal, and I will be adding these items into the app so that we can have a complete list of grocery items (it allows you to add in the nonfood items too!)

I have also emailed the meal plan to B, and he has access to the recipes for the plans online, so it makes it much easier to be able to have everything ready to go.

I am kind of looking forward to planning next weeks meals and going shopping for them again.  Only this time I think I will be trying to make note of what aisles the products are in to make it much easier later on down the track.

One Little Red Capsicum

I have written a few posts on my garden - something I started when I started the 12WBT last year for Round 3.

I am surprised by how much I love gardening!  I love watching it all grow, and I feel sad when it doesn't... I am always looking for ways to improve the garden and learn more about how to keep my plants thriving.

 

The other night, we made tacos, and we used tomato, spring onions and lettuce that Miss 3 and I went out and harvested.  So yummy!! I don't usually like tomato, but it was really nice and 'meaty'.  The lettuce is sweet and I love spring onions in cooking! I am loving cooking using veggies I have grown! I am surprised by how different it all tastes!

Because we are in a colder climate of Australia, I am currently looking into ripping out our current garden and replanting with winter crops.  I love the idea of doing this, but I am a little sad to see the plants I have grown go.  I am thinking of making a tomato relish with our left over green tomatos (apparently it can be done) and I want to give my sister one of the leeks I have left (they didn't grow as much as what I thought they did!)

This weekend, being Easter, we have friends coming up from Bendigo.  I think we might do the tacos again, but this time we might also add in some carrots (as I think they are ready to come out) and there is also my one little red capsicum which I am oh so proud of!!  There are also green ones on the plant which we can pick, but I am just so excited that I have managed to grow the capsicum (they were struggling for a while) but that it survived and it's turning red!

"You are a very visual learner"

So, after a couple of sad, frustrating and stress filled days, I have been thinking a lot about 'my kind of learning', as in how can I study/learn better that works well for me. I have always thought I was a visual learner, but I know that this can change over time, so I went googling (or binging as the case may be lol) and I came across a couple of articles, including a quiz.

This is the result I got:

You are a very visual learner.
You probably use visual references a lot and say things like "I see now" or "I get the picture." You like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, charts, and other visual aids in the classroom. You take great notes and you probably use color coded highlighting. You could benefit by drawing outlines of your notes and creating pictures of processes or events that you study. Always write down explanations and instructions. Use flash cards when available.

Funnily enough, I do actually write in different colours, and I had a bit of a chuckle.  You see, this is what my notebook looks like:

My chemistry notebook - isn't it pretty??

There are 4 different colours on that page!  I also use different colours to write out my flash cards and yesterday I was thinking that what I really need to start doing is to summarise my lecture notes in my own words so that I have to think about the content and have it in a way that I understand... Admittedly, my next thought after this was "When will I find time for that?!"  In saying that though, I am hoping that the more I do it, the more I can train my brain to be used to it and get better at it.

When I was studying for my exams, I turned the whiteboard in the study into a huge visual aid - note all the colours? Most of the equations are colour coded! haha! Having that there was great to be able to look at, but I find that writing it down helps most. I think that I am going to have to find a way to make this whiteboard work more for me.

I have also got a couple of the Chemistry for Dummies e books which I will be going through, as I really like the examples they use. I really feel that at this point in time, I really need to take everything back to basics and just understand it all in the simplest way possible that works for me... I even came across a Chemistry for Dummies Workbook, which I hope will also help me have a step-by-step process that is easy to understand for my final exam (which I need to get at least 40% in).

I know that given the time, I could figure the question out.  In my chem labs and tutes I am getting 80-90% most of the time, so something must be working, I think it just takes me a bit longer to work through what the question is asking me.

Most of the times, I just want to know what it is and why it does whatever it is doing.  It doesn't need to be explained in 10 pages of textbook text, just a simple similie and explanation usually work for me.

Somehow, I need to find a way to stop overthinking it all and stressing myself out...

(btw - sorry for yet another non-weightloss related post! haha!)

Reevaluating...

Today has been a bit of a kick in the teeth uni wise... and I am feeling so sad and disapointed in myself.

Today I had my chemistry exam and I failed... it might seem like it is too early to call, but I know that I did... I answered maybe 3 questions (of 40!) in total... 22 of them were maybe partly answered but probably getting my equations confused, and the other 5 were unanswered....

I have been trying to get my study in for a subject I barely understand and memorising what the lecturer told us to (which we didn't need!!! WTF!!!) and then when I got in to the theatre, I looked at the questions and hit panic mode... and just didn't perform well. 

If I had a bit more time, I probably would have been able to work them out and get it right in my head, but 40 short answer questions in 50 minutes is just nuts!!

To top it all off, I just found out that I only just passed my biology exam... and this is an exam that I was so confident that I did really well in... It was actually something I thought I was going to be so proud of...

Struggling to study, to understand the work, and trying so hard to do well, I seem to be not getting anywhere, and I am really struggling to understand what I am doing at uni... people say P's get degrees - that may be the case, but that's not my style.  I want to do well.  I want to understand it. And most of all I want to enjoy it.

Am I really doing the right thing... maybe I am just not cut out to be a uni student... maybe I am not meant to be a dietician...

Maybe it's just not for me...

Oh, Easter!! It's A Love/Hate Relationship...

I love chocolate!!

So much so that I can, quite easily, polish off a block of chocolate in one sitting... While B probably thinks I eat a lot of it (he doesn't have a sweet tooth lol), I barely eat it compared to the amount that used to pass my lips... which, looking back, was quite a scary amount!

However, it is Easter - and I love Easter egg chocolate!!! It is by far my favourite kind of chocolate (in particular, Red Tulip Bunnies).  A friend and I, years ago, actually used to go into town on Easter Monday and buy up all of the half priced  eggs! It was heaven!!

Admittedly, now I find that I can't eat as much chocolate as I used to, but I can still consume a fair amount!!  The other issue I have found over the years, is that I seem to need to "detox" from chocolate... after 3 days of not eating chocolate (and craving it something shocking!) I find that I don't really want it.  I can go without! I love it when I am in this frame of mind!

Another observation I have had, is that when I stress, I want comfort food... and uni seems to be a bit of a stress filled experience for me at this stage.  I find that when I am studying, I want to snack on foods... I don't know why, I don't know if this is what I used to do and it's subconcious, but I just want to eat...

So, what does this post have to do with anything?  Well, right now, I can't stop thinking about chocolate... the fact that it's almost Easter, and the stores are filled with Easter eggs... and I want them!!  I have made it though 3 months of having them on the shelves, but now that Easter is around the corner, it's all that I want!!

In fact, I had one the other day, and even while I was eating it, I noticed that it didn't give me the same "happy" feeling I used to get... which is great!!  The only problem is... I still want it!

So, I am glad that Easter will be over in a week... although it won't stop me from eating the eggs in the meantime... at least it won't be as much as what I would have usually have eaten, and I can find some form of self control...