Things I cannot get enough of

• A lazy dinner for us is vegetarian nachos and I always make sure I get corn chips without many ingredients (really they should only have corn, oil and salt) and I found plain Doritos are the best!! I just want to eat them all the time; it is an addiction!

• Since I started doing a lot of RPM most of my music is now ‘gym’ music however a couple of songs have snuck through recently that I love. ‘I Got U (feat. Jax Jones)’ by Duke Dumont and ‘Nobody toLove’ by Sigma

• On my search for new clothing I found (through recommendation) ASOS Curve

• Flipping Arnott’s Butternut Snap Cookies are totally AMAZING! I am sure they were created by the devil to derail good eating habits

• I love Bliss Balls and am enjoying trying different recipes

What's floating your boat right now? 

Fashion Sense (or current lack of)

 
I used to work in the retail fashion industry when I was at University and I had a beautiful wardrobe full of pretty clothing.

Somewhere between then and now my fashion sense has flat-lined and the clothing in my wardrobe has dwindled and it needs a jump-start ASAP.

One issue is that there are some limitations to reviving my ailing wardrobe. While these are mostly financial, I do not want to go and buy a whole lot of pretty clothes only to lose weight in the next few months and have to get rid of them and buy more.

So what to do….

One of my friends suggested perhaps wearing a bit of a make up to give me a fairly instant lift even if it is just a bit of eye make-up and some lip-gloss. I can do that!

My next idea is to pull out all my clothing and go through everything piece-by-piece to see what I need to help make my wardrobe a bit more versatile and also funky.

I need to take the time to go shopping for clothes rather than making impulse purchases and end up with a whole lot of clothing that I am unlikely to wear.

Recently, I found an amazing plus-size (although she is probably about a 14-16) blogger from the States; she has an absolutely incredible style! Looking through her different posts it is clear that you can dress clothing up or down depending on the accessories you pair things with. This means that clothing that I save for “special occasions” can become a part of my day-to-day wardrobe and I will get more use out of it. The link to Girl with Curves blog is here. 

I also love Lisa’s style and her ability to combine different styles and patterns to create a really young, vibrant look.

I also need some new shoes and I am really struggling as I do not fit the shoes from No 1 Shoe Warehouse which means I have to go to shops that are a bit more expensive. I just need some more shoes so that I am not wearing the same shoes every day and I can give them a rest between wearing them.

How often do you shop for clothes and shoes? Any shops I should definitely check out??

Yakky-yak

This morning we did our normal Tuesday 6.10am RPM class at the gym.

I just want to say that I am never a box of ‘fluffies’ in the morning and my tolerance is normally pretty low due to lack of green tea (caffeine). However, what really shits me is people that talk throughout an entire class.

One thing that Delane made very clear when we were training with him last year is that if you want to chat then perhaps you should go out for a cup of coffee rather than doing exercise. Also, if you can hold a full on conversation with the person on the bike next to you then surely you are not working as hard as you can???? I know that I cannot hold a conversation with Mark when I am doing a speed track in RPM or a standing climb.

The reality is, is that when you are at the gym surely you are there to work out? 

The most satisfying moment was the woman one bike along leaning forward and telling them to stop talking. Best. Thing. Ever. 

So what annoys you when you work out?

Things I cannot get enough of

• This video of how to put pants on without using your hands; I laughed so hard!

• Scandal. My goodness, how cool is this show? How did I not know about it before?

• One of my favourite food bloggers is Jessica from How Sweet It Is I just adore her exuberance and her food blogs are really funny and enthusiastic

• Gel nails are a current obsession which started when I had pink nails with black cat paw prints for some weddings earlier this year. I am trying to wean myself off them…..honest!

• Animal SOS Sri Lanka is my favourite Facebook page. They do so much for dogs (and a few cats) in Sri Lanka and I want to LIKE all their photos *sigh*

• Pretty new seasons clothing from City Chic

What things can you not get enough of?

Meal Planning and Preparation

A couple of weekends ago I finally pulled finger and started preparing food on a Sunday afternoon/evening to see us through lunches and dinners for most of the week. I made Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs in Tomato Cream Sauce and also Manicotti. They are probably not the best options however they saw us through to about Thursday. Mark LOVES the Manicotti. I also use Kraft Lite Cooking Cream in the tomato cream sauce; so surely that wins me some bonus points?

I managed to do this for a fortnight and then I let it slide and we honestly spent so much money on meals last week. This made me think that it is kind of a waste of money and there are better things that we could be spending our hard-earned wages on. This is not to say that we will not be allowing ourselves the odd meal out during the week, but we just need to be better prepared.

All of last week I thought about food preparation and then I read Amanda’s blog and I realised “it does not need to be complex” and so I made a list of things I wanted to do over the weekend to help us be more prepared and save money.

On Friday night I made Granola and I think I have finally found a recipe that I really love. Sometimes I mix up the nuts etc. and I also add other things like Linseeds etc. I always make a double-batch which lasts us quite a while. I like that it doesn’t have sugar in it (like one of my other favourite recipes) and you get the sweetness from Maple Syrup and Honey.

On Sunday I ended up cutting up broccoli, brussel sprouts and a head of cauliflower and popped that in a click-clack container. The irony of why I have these containers is not lost on me as I have heaps after I made 100's of cupcakes to sell to raise money for the Red Cross after the Christchurch Earthquake.

Then I chopped up kumara, potato and carrots for roast vegetables and followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe. The only thing I would not do next time is boil the kumara as that got a bit soggy.

I finally pulled my food processor out of the study to make some balls as I have heaps of different recipes to try. So I made Julia & Libby’s Bliss Balls and then Emma’s Snickers Bliss Balls. They live in a container in the freezer. Next weekend I think I will try Seeded at the Table’s Chocolate Cranberry Almond Energy Ballsand Petite Kitchen's Raw Lemon and Coconut Truffles.

I am also trying to get through the food in our freezer at the moment so I can start fresh so it means remembering to take chicken out. We have some frozen fish fillets but I am unsure about how they will be although I figured that I could always pop them in a curry.

Last night we had lightly boiled veggies with fresh lemon juice and a bit of grated parmesan, with warmed up roasted vegetables with some diced chicken with lemon and herbs. Then we each had two balls. Then I was still hungry and I had plain salted Doritos and some cheese and then some of the chicken for today’s lunch. Eating after dinner is always a problem for me and it probably did not help that we ate dinner while watching Masterchef and Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe I need to have more water (in case it is thirst vs. hunger) and herbal tea.

I also want to make some hummus and seed crackers this weekend. I don’t mind having a cracker or two with a raw carrot with beautiful fresh hummus for a snack.

What do you do to prepare food for the week?