Convenience in Food, Weight Loss and Our Lives

So this is the tangent I went on while writing my previous post. This started while talking about my visit to the butchers yesterday while doing my groceries.

 

Something I have learned from this is that butchers are actually cheaper than the supermarket and the meat is much better. Now, you might be like B and already knew this, but I had always had it in my head that the butchers were expensive and Woolies was cheaper.  In fact yesterday I bought sausages, mince, marinated steaks, beef stir-fry strips and chicken fillets (which I asked them to dice up for me! WIN!) and it cost me about $30!! At Woolies that would have cost me about $45 or more! The butchers are in our shopping mall, so there is really no reason not to go there!

 

Also, I was under the impression that the meat at the butchers would be full of fat and there wouldn't be any of the reduced fat stuff there.... wrong again! I even had a chat with the lady there about it as I really felt like I was entering a new world! haha!! The beef strips I bought yesterday I would say are 99.9% beef - hardly any fat in sight!  The sausages and mince I got were also the reduced fat form.

 

For me, and I am sure like many others, I have grown up in the world of convenience. Where we go to one shop, get everything and leave.  I think a lot about my Nana and how she would have had to go into so many specialty stores to get her foods; the butchers, the bakers (candlestick makers?!), the green grocers, etc.  And we all know that veggies at the grocers are generally better and much more fresh, even just going to Bakers Delight and getting a loaf of bread is better than the stuff at the supermarket... In fact, I even make our own bread and pizza dough in our bread maker... can't beat it! (Just wish I could cut it nicely... any tips out there?)

 

Does this world of convenience impact on our weight loss? I think so.  I think we are so used to convenience that we expect our weight loss to be the same. The other side of this is that we have compromised quality with convenience. I only know this because I started growing our own food, and if I knew that veggies were supposed to taste like THAT, then I probably would have eaten more.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, I still struggle with it all. Sometimes I am tired and I don't want to cook, or just want to heat something up, and sometimes I just really can't be assed eating my fruit and veggies (shocking, I know, but it's the truth). But I always look forward to having tacos with fresh lettuce, carrot and tomatoes from our garden. I also live with a guy who isn't so keen on eating veggies and a little girl who is better than both of us combined at eating hers.

 

For me, I find that I am learning so much more about quality of food, and what it is MEANT to taste like.  The first time I had our home-grown lettuce, I couldn't believe the taste!! I never knew lettuce was supposed to taste sweet. I hope that this knowledge will help me become a better dietician, that I can help people to see that if healthy food can taste so yummy, that it can really impact on what we eat and cook.

 

 

About time for a weight loss related post...

Seeing as my last few posts have been about my garden, sustainability or the mental implications of losing/gaining weight, I figured it's probably about time that I actually checked in with something to do with MY weight loss!

 

Since Easter I have come off the rails a bit, but I actually kind of expected this and I am happy to say that I handled it much better than I have in the past.  Last year I made myself sick by eating so much chocolate, this year I still ate a decent amount of chocolate, but it was nothing in comparison to recent years.  I really think that the Weight Watchers mentality has really stuck this time, which is a great thing!!! Yes, I overate, not only at Easter, but for the month following, but overall I was only 900g up!  Which is nothing in the grand scheme of things, especially as in the past I have been able to put that on in a week, let alone in 4 weeks. It has really helped having the graph ticker (on the right, under "The Bigger Picture"), as I could see with each little gain, in the bigger picture, it was ok!

 

The truth is, I indulged but tried so hard not to go overboard. And I have come out of it feeling even more confident in my abilities to see this through this time.  Yesterday when I did the groceries I thought I would mix it up a bit and go to the butchers first and plan my meals that way, rather than going to the supermarket, looking at meal mixes and planning that way.  I actually think that by going to the butchers first I have managed to put together a healthier meal plan for the week. 

 

Now, I have just written a bit of a tangent, so I will save that for a new post (look for that one tonight lol) and keep this one focussed on my actual weight loss.

 

This week I focussed on tracking everything I ate, and trying to cook as many meals as possible.  It hasn't been great, but it has been better. I even had some farewell drinks as I was leaving one of my jobs and I am very happy to say that I have actually lost 500g this week! I was hoping to stay the same as I did go over on my points over the weekend, but this is a great loss to see!!

 

Uni is coming up to the exam period, so we will see how my eating goes then.  This time last year we decided to do Lite n' Easy just so we wouldn't have to cook, but  think that overall I am handling the uni side of things better... or at least I hope I am!

 

However, when uni is finished for the semester I will have 12 weeks off! I am so excited about that! I really feel that this time will be good for me to recharge my batteries, but I am also excited as I am planning on getting back into the exercise over this time, so hopefully it will also help with the weightloss, measurements and toning... as well as mental wellbeing! I will be going back to using the Wii again I think, but I am looking forward to setting myself that challenge.

 

I should also let you all know that I have made a slight change in my Weight Watchers journey.  Instead of doing the Unlimited option (online tools and meetings) I have dropped back to just the online tools.  This does save us a little money, but I also found that for me I am in a good space with it all and I have a great support group on a forum I am on. If I find that I do need that encouragement of a meeting I can always go back to the Unlimited option or even just pay meeting by meeting.

 

 

The Power of New Clothes

I have been thinking about this a lot today, mostly because I finally bought myself a couple of new tops yesterday, but new clothes seem to have an impact on my self image... and it seems to be a really common thing.

 

I don't really buy myself any clothes, mostly because I think I am a bit of scrooge when it comes to money and I always talk myself out of it as an unneeded expense (always been a budgeter, and just never made it work), and also because I am trying to lose weight I have always said I would have a shopping spree when I reached goal... well, as you all know, I am yet to reach goal. I have just never quite made it.

 

In fact, the last time I actually had a bit of a shopping spree was back in 2008... I never realised that until now!  I am still wearing those clothes (well, the ones that still fit!)... I went shopping before my big trip to Europe, as I needed clothes I could layer and I had lost about 15kg.  I took my sister with me and I had so much fun. It was a bonding experience for us both, and having her there with her honesty and love is a great way to buy clothes... who else is going to tell you that you honestly look like shit but a sister?! hahahaha!!

 

What made me realise all of this is that I am actually really excited about wearing one of the new tops I bought yesterday... in fact I have been thinking about it all day.  I also know that when I do wear it that it will make me feel good about myself and I will feel happy and confident within myself. Looking back, it's what happens every time I buy new clothes, or wear something new.

 

So, why am I still wearing things that are 5 years old? If it makes me feel good, gives me self confidence and a lift in my step why do I wear things that make me feel fat and frumpy? Is it really something that I should just hold out for?

 

I have to admit... At least once a week I think about what it would be to always look chic or stylish... but in all honesty, I wouldn't even know where to start... although I wouldn't mind a new pair of boots. haha!

 

So... what about you? Does this sound similar to you or are you someone I should take shopping with me?

 

My new top I am planning on wearing tomorrow. From BeMe

 

2 Weeks of Bokashi

I thought I would pop in and update anyone who is interested about my bokashi adventures.

The bokashi bucket, all ready to go

We have had our bokashi bucket for about 2 weeks now and it's almost full and time to seal up!  Initially I was curious as to how it would all go, would we find it helpful or a hindrance?

 

B has mostly been away while we have had it, and we have basically already decided that this is my thing lol... trying to explain to him how it works, while simple, it's really not something that he wanted to worry about.

 

But, it really doesn't take up any time at all!  It's fantastic!  At the end of each day, I take our food scraps, and pop them into this bin, give it a few sprays of the bokashi EM spray and seal it all back up again!

 

I try to only do this once a day as it does work on an anaerobic (no oxygen) basis. I usually keep our scraps in a container or plate until night time.  I also go through the fridge and see what needs to be thrown away and add that in too.

 

Where the bucket is located in our little kitchen

What I love about the bucket is that anything we would usually eat can go in there!  In fact, when I went to take the bins out for collection on Sunday night, I put our one and only rubbish bag for the week in there... along with a full recycling bin!  How fantastic is that!!  For a family of 3, we only had one bag of rubbish as we had either recycled or composted the rest! There wasn't a single food scrap that went into the rubbish bin!

 

Our bin does have a lot of processed foods in it, as admittedly our life seems to be one of convenience atm, but even so, it still has a lot of fresh foods in there too.  A quick list of things that are in there atm are:

• pizza
• bread
• egg shells
• yoghurt
• shallots
• carrots
• capsicum
• chicken
• paper towels
• tomato
• avocado
• mandarins (peel and all)
• banana (peel and all)
• pasta
• fish
• chips
• coffee grounds

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but you can see that it has a bit of everything in it!

 

Just to give you a look inside...

The process is actually quite simple. Once you have the bin set up, you place your food scraps in (cut up smaller if possible, although I have been a little slack in doing this), push it down with the little tool they give you.  This helps to push the air out of it.  Then you give it a couple of sprays of the EM spray and seal the container back up, making sure that the seal is tight so that no air can get in.

 

There is also a fantastic liquid that comes out of it, that is excellent for the garden (it does need to be diluted), or you can pour it down the drain to clean them out!!  Now, I actually haven't had any liquid from mine in 2 weeks, but after a little research I have found out that you won't get much liquid if there are a lot of processed foods in there as the fresh foods will release more liquid (makes sense).  On further thought, I also think it could be because I lined the bottom of the bucket with pizza, which I think would probably soak it all up. 

 

See how full it is?

I am ok with this as there is no smell coming from the container... which is something that I was worried about... everyone says it shouldn't smell bad, but have a faint "pickling" smell... if it smells bad then something has gone wrong.  I am very happy to say that mine has that pickling smell and nothing is mouldy or gross in there!!

 

Speaking of mould, once the bucket is full, it needs to be sealed for at least 10 days, 2 weeks preferably.  During this time it will ferment and will grow white mould.  if it grows green mould then it has had too much air in the bucket. The white mould is good and it's the microbes at work.

 

Once it has fermented the food scraps can be placed into the composter or straight into the garden bed.  It is acidic at this point, but needs the soil to be able to decompose.  The food scraps also won't decompose in the bucket, so if you open it up and nothing is happening... this is a good thing!

 

Our Composter

As you can see from my last picture, the bucket is almost full (this picture was taken a few days ago, there have been more food scraps added since then).  I can't wait until it's time to seal it up... I am curious to see how it will go in the composter... I think I will put it in there first to see how it goes. I will need to buy a second bucket to use while this one is fermenting, that way I will be able to rotate them.

One of the main reasons why I decided to give this a go was actually that I had realised that my soil was really depleted of nutrients from when I was gardening.  The soil wasn't retaining any water and through research I found that it's because I wasn't putting any organic matter back into it. I was going to just get a composter (which I did, see pics), but while I was researching I realised that I could only put certain foods in there... whereas with the bokashi I could put any food scraps in there and then put it into the composter.  This way I can make sure I will have enough organic matter (bokashi, composter and worm farm) to be able to build up a great veggie patch and garden.

The first scraps added to the composter

 

I thought I would also post up a couple of videos by the CompostJunkie that I came across as I really like his videos the most from when I was researching (and he's not bad looking either! haha!)
 

 

I also came across another great site called Greening of Gavin - he is an Aussie who after watching An Inconvenient Truth (btw - love this movie) set about changing is and his family's lifestyle to be able to improve their carbon footprint!  Amazing!!! I first read about it in the "Your Veggie Patch" magazine.

 

Anyway... this post turned into a bit more of a novel than I was expecting... but can I just say that I love my bokashi bucket!



Whirlsie's Roast Capsicum & Tomato Soup

I have been trying to find a yummy tomato soup recipe and this one seems to do the trick!!

Whirlsie's Roast Capsicum & Tomato Soup

ProPoints™ Value: 1
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 50 min
Level of Difficulty: Moderate

My own recipe

Ingredients

• 1kg fresh vine ripened tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 large red capsicums, seeded and cut into quarters
• 1 medium red onion, quartered
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 cup(s) salt reduced chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced.
• Place the tomatoes, capsicum and onion, cut-side up, in a single layer on baking tray. Sprinkle with the oregano.
• Roast for 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Place the roasted tomato mixture in a large saucepan along with remaining ingredients over high heat and bring to the boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and puree the soup until smooth.
• Return soup to the pot and stir over low heat until heated through.

What 2000 Calories Looks Like

This video came up in my Facebook newsfeed and I really think that it puts a little perspective on what we eat and portion control.

Now in saying all of this, it doesn't take into account the nutritional value of foods. As you all know, I am a big believer in moderation.  I believe that all foods are ok to eat, as long as you are responsible about it.  Obviously you should try and eat a balanced diet first and foremost, but everything starts with just one small change.

Sometimes it's interesting just to have it laid out like this, to show you the comparison.

Achievement Unlocked: Lost 5kg!!

Actually... I have lost 5.9kg!!!

I am so damn excited and proud of myself! Regular readers (from when I was posting regularly lol) will remember me being so down on myself and not wanting to write anymore because I felt like I kept setting myself up for failure...

Taking the time to step back and focus on myself mentally has really helped me.  I feel like I am in control and that I can do this!!!  Which is what I really needed. My first goal of losing 5kg was a way to prove to myself that it can be done.  I had lost weight in the past, but I needed to confirm to myself that I could do it now that my lifestyle is completely different.

The best thing I could have done was to take all of the pressure out of it... for me, while I love that the 12WBT has helped so many people, I find it a little too extreme for myself, and I work much better with little pressure and keeping it all slow and steady.

In fact, "Slow and Steady" has been my motto.  It has taken me 11 weeks to lose that, which fits with my 'goal' of 500g a week. Nice and manageable :)

I have found that if I focus on filling and healthy foods I tend to lose a little more and I try not to use my 49 weekly propoints, but I always seem to dip into them a little lol.

My reward for losing 5kg is to do Ixchel's fibre club, so I will be sending her a message soon to let her know that I am in!  I only have 4.9kg to my next goal, which will mean a total of 10kg lost, I will be under 100kg and almost halfway to my goal of 85kg!

Right now I feel so freaking amazing!!!

Feeling Skinny

About time for an update... don't you think?

 

Once again the thought of posting has been on my mind for the last few days... but that might be because I have an assignment due on Friday... and I am sick of looking at it!!

 

My life is one big chaotic ball at the moment, and the honest truth of it all is that I am not sure if I am coping.  With 2 jobs (yep - 2 now!), uni and a family it's really hard, but right now I am dealing (or not really dealing (or not at all)) with the fact that my Nana has been diagnosed not only with dementia, but also with terminal cancer. I have recently come back from a week in New Zealand to spend some time with her as it is unlikely that she will be with us for much longer, in fact I doubt if she will be here in 3 months time. My Nana is my world, she is the woman who has encouraged me my entire life, who has been always there for me when I have felt so incredibly alone and who has shaped me into the woman I am today. She is the type of woman I strive to be; independent, strong and happy to be who she is. She belongs to no man, lives her life the way she has always wanted and has always helped and supported where she could. I cannot imagine a world without her and our last cuddle together has to be one of the hardest things I have had to face in recent years.

 

However, one positive side to it all was that while I was over there, I didn't put on much weight (1kg) and I have since lost that and more over the last week.  I am currently 300g off my first mini goal of 5kg, I am really looking forward to reaching that as I feel as though it will cement it in my brain that I can lose this weight again. I have also been looking at myself in the mirror over the last few days and thinking to my self that I feel skinnier!  Maybe I am just not as bloated or something, but hopefully it is something clicking in my brain and it is catching up with the weight I have lost.

 

The slow and steady mentality has kicked in again, and for me this is how I lose weight... this is what works for me.  No pressure, just life and trying to get the right balance. Always aiming for a 500g loss works for me, and trying to keep my food as healthy and nutritious as possible seems to be the key.

 

For example, today for lunch I had Curried Pumpkin Soup (Weight Watchers Recipe) and grain toast. So delicious!  It was a favourite of mine when I first did WW over 2 years ago now, and I still love it.  Now that the weather seems to be turning colder, I need to find some more delicious soup recipes, so if anyone has any that they would like to share, please do!

 

While I didn't take an official start photo, I am thinking of taking some for each 5kg I lose, so hopefully next week I can put up a progress pic.

 

Also, a little update on the garden front, I have potatoes in at the moment and I also bought a mandarin tree! I am a total newbie to fruit trees, so if anyone has any tips, please share those too!  I have ordered the compost bins I spoke about in my last post and I am just waiting for them to be delivered! Hope it's soon! I can't wait!!

 

I think that is all for me for now, hope everyone is going well, catch you next time!

I think I'm back?

You may have noticed that I have added a couple of posts over the last few days... I have been thinking about coming back and posting again... but thought I would wait for some kind of milestone... looks like I can't wait that long! lol

 

So, how about an update?

 

I have been keeping things really quiet lately as I really was sick of posting stuff up only to "fail" or at least fall behind. After 3 months or so, I finally feel as though my head is in the right space.  Things seem to be falling into place, at least weight loss and uni wise.

 

Over the last few months I have had a chance to really think things through, with no pressure, no goals and no obligations. It took a fair bit of soul searching, but I have finally come to peace with my new way of life and how I can fit things in/work things out.

 

In early January after a little holiday I signed up to Weight Watchers again, and this time, it's working!  My goals have been simple with my weightloss:

• no comparing myself to others
• taking it slowly
• not getting worked up on "the right way", just doing what works for me at the time
• aiming to lose 500g a week, but not beating myself up if I don't make it (hasn't happened yet lol)

Before uni I was exercising everyday, now that uni has gone back I'm not doing any.  While this isn't ideal, my experiences from last year proved that it's just not going to happen... and that's ok, so my focus will be on my diet.

I am breaking my weightloss down into 5kg mini goals. To me this is much more achievable, as you all know I have struggled to lose 5kg in one hit in a long time.

Rather than aiming for my healthy BMI range weight of 75kg, I have decided to aim for 85kg, as that was a weight I was able to maintain for a long time.  I am even thinking of just maintaining at that weight for 6 months or so, to let my body, brain and mindset catch up.

Anyway, onto the stats that I know that you all want to hear.  Since the 9th of January, I have lost 3.6kg, which is more than the 500g a week!  Pretty happy with that! So far I have even lost 11cm in a month.  I am due for more measurements as of this week.

So, sticking with my no pressure rule, I will stick with updating when I can, with no set routine. 

Hope to see you all soon!

Sustainability - I love it!

My poor garden has been neglected for probably about 6 months... since the last time I planted really... and today I finally pulled all of the dead/overgrown bits out of it as well as trimmed down the rose bush and the lavender. This left me with a lot green waste that I can't really put into the worm farm... mostly because they are struggling to keep up with what is in there at the moment.

 

After a year of having the worm farm, the bottom tray is finally full of worm castings... I honestly didn't think that it would take that long.  While we still add bits and pieces to it (at one point I even added extra worms to help them get through everything...) we are still throwing out a bit of waste simply because the worms cant process it all... and in all honesty, we don't really produce that much green waste!

 

About a month ago I actually entered a FB competition through Tumbleweed to win a composter, a tumbler one in fact.  I didn't win.  But since then it has been on my mind about how much we could add to it...

 

Fast forward to today, and I have all of this green waste and a garden that is struggling to soak in water (hydrophobic soil would you believe! haha) and as a novice gardener, I took to FB to ask my lovely friends what could be done, and most of the responses was to add more organic matter. Now I currently have some from the worm farm, but once that is used I will have to wait another year...

 

So I have spent all afternoon doing research on composting, how it works, best bins/set up and how it can best be used for our household.

 

We don't live in a big place.  We don't have a lot of scraps, particularly fruit and veggies (I am trying to work on this though lol) which is what composting uses (it is a little more complicated than that with green and brown wastes), but we do have a few weeds and the garden has green waste, so we don't need a particularly large compost bin.

 

Now you can pick up a bin a Bunnings for only $30... the thing with this is that while it is cheap... it doesn't suit how B an I are because we simply don't have time (or the inclination) to aerate it manually... which is why I think that a tumbler would be the best option for us. The bin that I have found is the Maze Roto Twin Composter I think suits us, as it's compact and wont take up much space in the back yard, it looks stable, it has 2 compartments (a big selling point for me!) so I can have one "curing" and another that I am adding to. I also really like that it's easy to spin (looks easier than the long tumblers) and it would be fun to get Miss 4 to help me too.

 

One other thing that I have been thinking a lot about lately was purchasing a little bin for our sink, so that I could put scraps into it straight away, but what has held me off was the smell... how gross would it be...

 

However during my research I found out that there are actually bins designed for fruit and veggie scraps, including this one at Composting Home, basically it can use a liner that is also biodegradable.  What appealed to me on this one was that it was lined... it wouldn't be as messy AND it would be easier to take out to the composter.

 

However, while I was on their site, I came across this Bokashi composter, something that I had heard of years and years ago, but never really looked into... but O.M.G!!!  This thing is amazing!!! You can add practically ANY food scraps to it! In this one you can add cooked meat, dairy, and even processed foods like pizza and pasta!! Imagine the small amount of garbage you would have by using this!!  The foods ferment in the container, helped by the microbes/spray which also reduces odor.  This can then be added to your garden (not my style) or added to your compost (my style!) where it can then further breakdown and then be added to your garden. I love that practically anything can be added to this, this is definitely my style!!

 

I have never had a compost heap, but I have always wanted one, even from when I was little :) I think that teaching Miss 4 about sustainable living also helps to promote how to help our planet for future generations.  We already have separate bins for recycling, grow some of our own food (when I don't neglect the garden lol), and she helps to feed and "bath" (aka add water) the worms.

 

The other thing is that if on the off chance we actually produce more organic matter than we need, it's definitely something easy to get rid of... both my sister and aunt are avid gardeners!

 

Now... to see if B likes this idea too... haha!!  Hopefully this is something I can implement... I have to admit I am actually more than a little excited! :D

EDITED: On a side note, as I was having issues with my plants getting enough water, a friend showed me this site where you can use empty plastic bottles to help keep your plants well watered!  Something else I am going to do!!