All Things Mum

Hello everyone! I've reached the end of the 12week transformation journey. I don't like the word *diet* so I'm calling it a transformation journey . My motto is "It's not about the destination, it's all about the journey". So how do I feel? Well, I feel pretty good. I wanted this to be sustainable and close to the reality of my life. I stopped drinking shakes and eating protein bars probably after a few months in. That's not to say that doing these things will not work for you. I mean, they were working for me but I felt that I wanted to just adjust what I was eating and wanted to eat things that were not processed and did not include too many *other* ingredients. It's not easy I will say honestly. It requires planning which I kind of sucked at. Sometimes the e-mails from BodyTrim would go straight to my spam folder so I never got to see them and I was relying on myself for motivation and advice. I would speak to others who were on their own...

Last week I was in the city doing some ITIL training. Urghh it was very dry material. Last time I did probably was around 10 years ago. So some of it at least made sense to me. It involved going to Central and being nice and high in the sky again. I did enjoy being away from the office but I did not enjoy the studying part. The trainer wanted us to study 3hrs per night. Oh my, little does he know the life I live with children! Anyway, I would read my hand-book on the train to and from home and studied for a few hours after dinner, amongst my chores. On the third day we revised and sat the exam after lunch. The pass mark is around 60%, I got 85%. I felt so good after but we were all stressed out right before the exam. I even felt as though I didn't answer all the questions correctly. The other good thing was being so close to Market City (in the pic) so I got to shop during lunch, which my friend found quite funny! My first-born turned (16) ahem! 12. She's 12 and qui...

So here's the story of my life: I have been pretty busy working full time and dealing with everyday stresses (insert four primary aged kids here). My weight goes up and down and I try every now and again to 'diet'. I don't follow any particular diet fad but I wish I had enough willpower to change my habits. I wished that I had more time to look after my health and body basically. I seemed to have a bad habit of forever snacking at my desk and it's been affecting my waistline. My low point recently was not being able to fit into an evening dress for a christening. It's just an awful feeling but I got over it after thankfully finding a less fitted dress.  My general daily cycling to and from work has seemed to assist in keeping extra weight from piling on but my weight loss seems to have stalled. Maybe I have hit a plateau? I've never been big on any fad diets but as they say " A summer body starts in Winter!" so when Bodytrim asked if I...

Another year older and I'm beginning to think that with old(er) age comes injuries. I happen to be cleaning all day when my neck started to hurt. I thought it was only mild and could be massaged away but it got progressively worse and the gp said it was a common neck strain. I don't recall doing anything in particular but I bought my pain medication and stayed home. That night was rather uncomfortable and turning in bed was painful. I foolishly went to work the next day thinking that I could bear the pain and discovered that taking codeine during work hours makes for a terribly sleepy experience. Anyway, it seems to be getting better day by day as last night's sleep wasn't as bad and I rode the bike in. I got sick of the stress of having to drop off the kids and then trying to get to the car park only to find out that there are no spots left.  At least the sun is out and it's not raining. Winter has set in but it's actually not bad... yet. Over the ...

Happy Easter everyone and especially the Orthodox who will be celebrating it this weekend! Wow, it always goes so quickly but it's always the best time of the year. We had a really nice Easter and I even got to do a reading at church for Palm Sunday. At least I fit into a nice 'church' dress that I hardly ever wear. I don't have any pictures of it though. It was from Target.  This year I really was thinking about donuts and got the recipe ready but come Saturday I was like, I have no time or energy for this. I must have done about 4 loads of washing and was exhausted. So I was like, let's just make brownies. So I cheated and got two boxes of triple-choc brownie mix from Aldi and wow, they got eaten up within 5 minutes when dessert was ready. They were really good!!! On Monday, as hubby was working, I had a swim day with my sisters and the kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The weather was so warm and by afternoon quite hot. We washed up and heade...

I'm so grateful for everything in my life. I try not to take anything for granted. I keep these things in my mind as I focus on staying alive when riding to work. I drop off the kids and jump on my hubby's (now mine) mountain bike and head down towards the riverside where there is a lovely bike path towards work. It's stress-busting and it's always been my dream to ride to work. People should do it more often, but we need more bike-friendly paths. I like to think cyclists are generous beings. There is a type of camaraderie among us and we say hello to each other and help each other. I am lucky to have a bike shed, a locker and showers to use in my building. All these things I am eternally grateful for. I am also grateful for love. We went to a wedding recently and I took home a few macarons from this ombre tower. So pretty. So pink. So not a fan of macarons. Too sugary. Everyone seems to be catching onto this Instagrammers cake designs (#adikosh123) with...

Azzura Greens Resort Apartment Let me tell you that this was the first family holiday we have had which included hubby. He normally stays behind (by choice) when I holiday with my sisters and mum. However, this family holiday was so different because we were in another state and he was with us. Plus, it was the first time the kids were on a plane. Yipppeee! I was a bit nervous about all my plans but in the end they worked out perfectly.  Above is the glorious Surfers Paradise. The tallest building in this pic would be Peppers Resort. We did not stay there. We stayed in Hope Island. It was only 7 mins drive to the theme parks and Coles was just a heartbeat away so we loved the location. The 3 bedroom apartment I chose at Azzura Greens was fabulous. So.much.space! Two bedrooms with ensuites, one master bathroom, one single toilet, lovely clean laundry and huge balconies. Air-conditioning! Loved the lay out of the kitchen and lounge area. For six nights it cost us $2,200. I...

I may have to span our holidays over to another post but here are some pics so far. Oh and Happy New Year to all! It's been a fantastic break if I must say so myself! Above is the cake I put together during Christmas as my son celebrated his birthday. It's actually a very lazy way to prepare a cake. I bought some Woolworth's cake, smooshed icing all around it with choc sprinkles and added these Star Wars figures on top. It was a bit fancy in real life, lol.  My sister made these dessert cups for mums place for Christmas dinner. Yummo! In my tummy! Salmon Cup  My sister's infamous salmon avocado bites, now into cups. So delish. I'll share the recipe soon! Christmas Day also saw this awesome arrival of this jumping castle. Much fun was had by all ages including getting grandmother on it (however she did not jump). Kids had a blast and well worth the money spent on entertainment. Surfers Paradise We were off to the Gold Coast last week and had the...