Wednesday 6 June 2012

Week 20 Summary


Diet & Fitness

This week has been about reducing my meal sizes. Though I have to say that I am not succeeding at all. It seems that since I’ve made that decision, my brain has flicked a switch that has sent signals of “eat more” to my stomach. I have been indulging in some of my old favourites like hot chips, Hungry Jacks Whooper burger and chocolate.

A friend of mine has been trying to convince me to try a the latest meal replacement shake on the market that she’s using but funny enough I feel like I would be cheating on my Dukan diet by doing that which is quite ironic seeing as I had already cheated on my diet with eating junk. After being told that it was on sale at the supermarket, I decided to go investigate and see the ingredients that were in there. I was shocked by the amount of carbs and sugars that were in there. I seriously don’t understand how people are losing weight with it. I ended up putting it back on the shelf and went to the outer perimeters to the store to look at getting some protein (real food not a shake) that were on special.

Career

I seem to have hit my slump of not wanting to apply for jobs yet again. I have open so many windows within my browser with all these positions that I could apply for. But each time I go to look at them, I open up my resume and covering letter then I freeze. I don’t know if it is due to me not wanting this chillaxed state to end or if I can’t be bothered to tailor my covering to address the criteria they have set only to be told that I am not eligible for the position. I guess I am having some issues with rejection that I need to work through.

How do you turn a negative into a positive?

Week 19 Summary


Trying to get back on tracks has been very hard seeing as the weather is getting colder and colder here.

Diet & Fitness

I’ve had a great start to the week. Re-started doing P90X this week. Feels good to be working daily again. Though I still dread the day that I have to do Plyometrics. I was planning on getting back on the Dukan Diet band wagon again but due to very dire funds in my bank account I haven’t been able to buy my ration of proteins like I usually do. So I’ve been eating my rice and breads with the foods that mum would cook.

Even though I haven’t been keeping to my Dukan Diet, my weigh in at the doctor’s was the lowest ever recorded. My scales at home showed that I weighed 90.9 kg and the scales at the doctors showed that it was 92.2 kg. Seriously wished that he could weigh me completed naked instead of with my bra and clothes (these scales always add an extra 2kg even if I wear the lightest clothes i.e. legging and just a top).

The doctor really wants me to get down to the 80’s but the thing is for me to reflect 89 kg on his scales, I will have to be 87 kg on my scales. Which is a big feat as that’s would be a loss of almost 4kg. But I a trying to keep positive and reach this 89 kg target (which at this stage feeling like I’m trying to find the holy grail lol).

Career

I’ve gotten back into the zone and decided to apply for a few roles online. Seeing as this University job isn’t working out I thought I should get back out there and apply again.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Week 18 Summary

Motivation


There has been slacking in all aspects of life.

Diet & Fitness

This week I really wanted to get started on the second round of my P90X workouts. I thought of starting it on the Monday but (this is going to sound like an excuse) each time day I tried to do the workouts something came up. Whether it was that I had to run errands for mum or take care of some legal documentation for my case.

So I’ve decided to start the program next week. For some reason I have a tendency to feel better about starting such things on Mondays. I don’t know why I feel that way but it puts me in the right mindset.

In terms of diet, the Dukan diet isn’t going that great at the moment. I’ve decided to restart the Attack phase next week to get rid of the weight I have regained over the past 3 or so weeks from eating the brioches that I made and also all the foods eaten while on holidays and celebrating birthdays, etc.

So here’s to a fresh start next week.

Career

Well I raised the courage yet again to give the Manager of this University a call and he mentioned that he had not heard from any of the interested parties at the University. He mentioned that I should call him at the end of the week to check in but I am really starting to think that this may be a bit of a dead end (for now anyways).

I’ve been a bit deflated in the ‘applying for work’ department. I don’t know why because I am ready to go back to work and I am eager to start earning some moolah again but I have just been slack in terms of sending my resume in. I think getting all those rejections emails and calls has somewhat seized me up a bit.

What do you do to get motivated when you’re stuck?


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Tuesday 8 May 2012

Week 17 Summary

Hair straightening Diet & Fitness 


I haven't been exercising as much this week as I had my hair straightened and didn't want to wreck with sweat after spending $200 getting it done. Though I did squeeze in a good C25K workout prior to getting my hair done. It was so great to complete Week 2 of the program.


Career


Well it seems like I can't even get a job that I am temping at. I received the call and was advised that I had not been successful as the applicants that they had were quite strong and that there was someone else more qualified for the position. I seriously do not know what I am doing wrong. I mean I must be completely flunking the interview portion of the application process because I was a perfect candidate until that moment. It was such a complete downer the day I found out.


The University Manager got in contact with me and told me that he had provided my resume to the different faculties and that they were impressed but requested an updated resume to convey that I was no longer employed. So I updated my resume and sent it to him to distribute throughout the University. Now I wait.


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Monday 30 April 2012

Week 16 Summary

Job seeking

I can proudly say that I am back.
Diet & Fitness

I'm back on track with some of my workouts. I've been able to take the dog for a few walks this past week. They were gentle, as I didn't want to aggravate any musculature pain.

I also restarted my C25K Program. Which is quite big as I am jogging at 7.3km an hour in the jogging sections. I managed to complete Week 2 Day 1. I also didn't feel any soreness the next day nor the day after. I did do some stretching after that program but I am wondering if I should incorporate more stretches after all my workouts to avoid the soreness I had the week of the 44km were covered.

Any advice on effective stretching that you do after your walks or jogs would be helpful.

Career

The interview at the temp job went very well. They were very friendly and the interview as quite informal. I was able to answer all their questions and hopefully I answered them correctly. I will find out whether I have been successful or not for the position by the end of the week.

I called the Manager at the University and I was told yet again that he was in a meeting. I am really starting to doubt whether or not this Manager has anything for me. I hope I am not going to be disappointed by the outcome of this as it has been a few weeks now that he's been telling me that he is arranging meeting and getting into contact with people to get something happening for me.

I guess there's no point expressing my frustration to him as I wouldn't want to sour the relationship / rapport that I have built with him. I just need to continue being patient and see where this goes.

In the mean time, I guess I'll just keep looking through employment websites and keep prostituting my resume to everyone.


Wednesday 25 April 2012

Doctor's blood test result

Blood This is a bit of delayed post as I found out my blood test results a few weeks ago. 


My doctor has been doing routine blood work on me to monitor this sudden laziness with my insulin production. He has also been testing my thyroid as my weight loss has somewhat stalled a bit and he wanted to know whether or not it may be related to my thyroid. 


I went to the medical centre and the doctor told me my results were good. My insulin is now back to normal which is great news and has been achieved thanks to the Dukan Diet. 


The bad news is that my cholesterol seems to be increasing each time I've seen him. It is not considered as high but it is not as low as it originally was (4.6) it is now 5.8. I've been slowing down on my egg consumption the past few weeks as I will be getting a blood test in the next 2 to 3 weeks to keep abreast on both the cholesterol and diabetes issue. Other bad news is that my vitamin D is abysmal. It should be in the high 80's and mine is 24. I have been prescribed some vitamin D tablets to take. I guess all those years of avoiding the sun so that I wouldn't get more freckles have caught up with me. 


Have to keep working on my health. 


What do you do to stay healthy?


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Thursday 19 April 2012

Week 15 Summary



Work has taken priority over fitness this week.

Diet & Fitness

This week has been the first time that I have been able to move around without my legs feeling sore. I don’t believe that it took three weeks to recover from the week that I completed 44km.

Now that my muscles are all better, I am hoping to get back onto the treadmill and restart my Couch25K program and also to walking the dog as I feel like I’ve fallen behind.

Even though I felt better, I just couldn’t bring myself to workout on the days that I was working. I just felt either too drained or just couldn’t be bothered to visit my old friend the treadmill.

Working on improving all those areas throughout the upcoming week. So keep lookout for my comeback in next week’s summary.

Career

I’ve applied for the full time position that is being advertised at the workplace that I am currently temping. I had an informal interview with one of the colleagues and they seem pleased with me experience thus far. I was advised that I will be having an interview with the General Manager on Friday.

I am very happy that I will be interviewed as I really enjoy the workplace and fit into the team well. They are very entertaining and it almost feels like these people hardly work because there’s always laughter and jokes and people talking loudly all the time. Which differs marginally from my previous workplace where I was basically isolated and iced out because the lady that I managed had it in for me and bad mouthed me to everyone.

Regarding the University position, I touched base with the Manager that had interviewed me and mentioned that he would circulate my resume through the University. He advised me that he has sent it to everyone he can think of and he has received three expressions of interests. He mentioned that he will be in communication with those colleagues and that I should touch based with him again this Thursday.

I was so pleased that he had received interest in me as I would absolutely love to work there as it is in the city, it would be a great career move and also they pay very well.

If I had to choose between either it would be very hard as I have already built a very good rapport with the people I am currently temping with but it would make more sense for me to work at the University in terms of career progression.

If you were in my position, which would you choose?

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Wednesday 18 April 2012

Four week review of the Dukan Diet



Over four weeks have passed and I am still loving the Dukan Diet. I have to admit that I have not been completely true to the Dukan Diet (in other words, I haven’t followed it to the letter) but I have seen some good results.

For weeks, I was stuck in a rut of being between 94 to 96 kg and by undertaking the Dukan Diet I was able to break through that barrier and made it to my lowest weight this year of 90.4 kg, which is a loss of almost 4 kilos. Not bad for over four weeks of just eating certain foods and also cheating.

The Dukan Diet was easy to follow as it was just eating the right foods. During the Attack phase (a protein only phase), I ate to my cravings. At that moment I had a big salmon craving so I ate it in different ways. Grilled, as sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi, with cracked pepper and lemon, poached, etc.

The Cruise phase (a mixture of protein only days and protein plus vegetables days) was a bit more difficult for me as I was craving my vegetables. I found that on certain days I was skipping the protein only days and still eating vegetables. I mainly ate broccoli and spinach and my all time favourite, my mixed lettuce that I completely pounced onto.

The Dukan Diet made me feels very healthy. I felt less bloated after my meals, my stomach didn’t feel rock hard after eating like it previously was and wasn’t sticking out like I was pregnant either. I felt like my food was being digested instead of feeling like it was stuck underneath my chest and suffocating me.

Since the Dukan Diet is a low carb and high protein diet, it is said that you may experience constipation. I found that that wasn’t the case with me. I was fairly regular. I found that I became irregular when I reintroduced carb into my diet. Breaking my Dukan Diet has happened over the Easter period and I have found that I have not been regular since.

Though I have cheated plenty of times on this diet (the occasions that this happened have been while being out with friends at restaurants and I’ve had to choose the closest item of food that would be Dukan approved, when I’ve had cravings and gave in, when I’ve been too lazy to cook a Dukan meal and ate what ever had been cooked at home) I think that I’ve still had an amazing success with the diet.

Overall, this is diet that I would recommend to others as it didn’t feel invasive and harsh on my body and it was simple o follow. Success was still gained even though I didn’t stick to the diet 100%.

What has been your experience of the Dukan Diet?

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Week 14 Summary



Is pain a good sign of progress and achievement or not?

Diet & Fitness

I received my weekly summary from Daily Mile and I have beaten a personal record. I achieve to walk / jog 44 Km for the week ending of 1 April and boy am I feeling it. I took my dog for a walk on Monday and the remaining days of the week became hard to work out. My thighs felt like the muscles were being torn off the bones (might be exaggerating a little).

My legs felt really tight and it was painful when I did simple things like walking up stairs. I really felt it over the Easter period. Having to kneel down at church was painful and I really hard to force my muscles to get back up.

I took the week off and got a 2 minutes massage from my dad as I couldn’t handle being massages for any longer. Hope I get back into the swing of things by next week.

Can any of recommend good stretches for the sides of your thighs and sides of the knees?

Career

Well I found out that I didn’t get the University position. But the Manager of the department was very impressed with my resume and interview that he has asked me for my permission to circulate my resume around the University. Let’s hope that something comes from it.

The temp position is going well. I was hired to help out with their education program but so far I am doing a lot of photocopying and collating. Which in hindsight isn’t bad as it’s a smoother transition into the workforce than getting a full time job and being thrown into the deep end to learn a new system.

The people there are very lovely and welcoming. By the end of the week it felt like I had melded into their little department. The person that I report to is very nice and has informed that there is a full time position available in their department. After talking to her about my previous roles, she advised me that I should apply.

I did my research some research and found the position online. After reading the job ad I feel like I have a good chance of getting the position, just need to apply for it now. IT doesn’t pay as much as I was getting at old workplace but I think I need a workplace that has a good environment than paying a lot of money.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

P90X Attempt 1 Review (Before & After Photos)


90 days have come and gone. Who knew that it would go by so quickly. I have to admit that I didn’t follow the program to the letter. I did the videos here and there instead of doing them on a daily basis as I did them here and there.

Also, half way through the program the connector cable from my laptop to the TV broke. So I couldn’t transmit the videos on the TV anymore and did the workouts  from my laptop. Not a good way to workout at all. This is why I didn’t complete all of the 90 days of exercise.

Here are the before photos.




The after photos.




Not a drastic difference but my stomach is less protruded and my arms are a bit firmer.

Pre P90X measurements and weight

Weight: 95 kg
Chest: 116 cm
Waist: 104 cm
Hips: 110.5 cm

Post P90X measurements and weight

Weight: 91.3 kg
Chest: 114 cm
Waist: 102 cm
Hips: 110 cm

I enjoy the workouts (with the exception of plyometrics) it’s just trying to find time to do the workouts now that I have to squeeze it in around work. But I am really keen to undergo the program again.

Round 2 here I come.

Monday 9 April 2012

Happy Easter



Hope you all had a lovely Easter


Week 13 Summary


Not smoothly cruising through Dukan.

Diet & Exercise

The Cruise phase has really been playing with my mind this week as I was only losing 100 grams daily for the first few days of the week. I couldn’t understand why because I had increased my exercise this week. I have been walking 5km for most days but I persevered through.

Towards the end of the week, I do have to say that I had given into my cravings and had a chocolate croissant and also several fun sized chocolate bars (Twix and Snickers). Luckily they didn’t make a difference in my weight and actually stopped my continuous loss of 100 grams and moved to losing 200 grams. I am not quite sure how that works but I’m happy that it was a loss instead of a gain.

I think I spoke too soon as I had a gain of a 100 grams the following day due to eating at a restaurant the night before. I had Thai fried rice with some yummy Thai noodles. Luckily it was only a 100 gram gain.

This week, I decided to start to the C25K program. I downloaded it after seeing that a lot of my friends on Daily Mile had used it and since I wasn’t enjoying the running program that I had been undertaking the few weeks I thought I would try it out.

Week 1 down and I am loving this training app!

Career

Well good news (finally). I got accepted for a temp position, working 3 days a week for 3 weeks with a possibility of extending the timeframe.

I had a great interview at a University that I had applied to work in. I would absolutely love to work there.

How was your week?


Sunday 1 April 2012

Week 12 Summary


Diet & Exercise

I completed the first 100km on Daily Mile since joining roughly over a month ago. I am so proud of myself and I am astounded that I have clocked up 100km already.

This Dukan Diet has been quite enlightening. I have to say that I have changed on so many levels. I have been cooking a lot more since my food needs to be prepared a certain way and I have to say that I am quite enjoying it. On odd days, I do get lazy and don’t really want to cook but I have to since I cook a meal at a time.

The diet has made me more focused and more resilient to wanting to binge which was something that I would do quite a bit on previous diets that I had undertaken.

Since being ill the week before I had gained a little over a kilo and this I found that I had been losing it quite quickly an average rate of 300 grams a day which is great. I am now back to a low 92 kg.

Saw my doctor this week to get an updated medical certificate and he mentioned that I should get some blood work done to check whether or not my blood sugar levels had dropped back to normal and if my vitamin D levels had risen. I get the results next week. Hopefully, it will be good news.

Work

I had a Centrelink appointment this week to finalise my application and was 10 minutes late due to not being able to find parking in that area of town. I spoke to a consultant and they advised me that I would have to wait in line as I missed the appointment and would have to reschedule. I cursed in my head as the line was a little long and I knew that I would be waiting at this god forsaken place for hours once again.

After 25 minutes, I was seen by a consultant who took 5 minutes to tell me that I would to take a seat and wait to see someone to make an appointment. I was furious as this just seemed so ridiculous and such a waste of time. After a 35 minute wait, my name was called and it took another 5 minutes for them to make my next appointment and I was done.

I seriously loathe that place and I don’t believe that I had to go there once more next week.

Love

I am still talking to architecture guy but it’s been a bit of a slow process as he doesn’t go onto the site much and neither have I lately. Lately I haven’t really been in the mood to shop for a boyfriend / potential husband. I just feel a bit over it and that I should concentrate my efforts on finding a job for now instead of a man.

So I am going to give that site a rest and only log in to reply to architecture guy. Going forth there won’t be a love portion in 

Saturday 31 March 2012

Week 11 Summary


My sinuses have finally given in to the cooler weather and it has now turned into a sneezing and runny nose.

Diet & Exercise

I haven’t exercised much this week due to having headaches and my face hurting from the sudden irritation of my sinuses. I did get in two dog walks and a jog from the running program but it wasn’t a good jog.

I have kept up my Dukan diet throughout this entire sinus issue. I am really hoping that this doesn’t turn into a cold as it has in the past.

Work

I came across a position at a University that I wanted to work at and noticed that the closing date for applications was last week. I called the contact listed to discuss whether I could still submit an application and he agreed to it. Hopefully I will be able to get an interview from this application as it took me two pages to answer all of the selection criteria listed for the application.

Received my call form the Centrelink representative, who basically asked me information about my current bank balance and further details of my situation. It was a good hour long conversation but the lady was nice. She organised for me to meet up with a job seeking agency.

I went to the agency and there was a bit of a mix up with my name but it all got sorted in the end. The agent who saw me was very impressed with my resume and my achievements and he gave a listing of website where I could look for potential work. He also advised that if I was still unemployed within 3 months that I would have to come back to the agency regular for meetings on interview techniques and a review of my resume, etc. I was a bit disappointed that I would have to wait 3 months for that advice as I needed it now because I was already striking out and coming up second best at all my interviews.

Love

I am still talking to Christian boy on and off but it is more casual and brief. I have started talking to someone new online and he reminds me of Aaron Eckhart. We seem to have quite a few things in common like we both love old buildings and he’s quite cultured. A few bonuses are that he’s quite tall and I find him attractive. Thus far it’s fairly new but we will see where it goes.

Week 10 Summary


Perseverance has been my challenge this week.

Diet & Exercise

I have been working out hard and eating almost right but the scales just don’t seem to reflect it at all, which is VERY FRUSTRATING!!

I started the Cruise Phase of the Dukan diet this week. The Cruise phase consists of having a protein day followed by a protein combined with complex carbs in the form of vegetables day.

This has been a challenge for me as I love my salads and I am finding that I am not having a protein only day after eating vegetables or salads. Something that I have to work on I guess.

Good thing though, this morning’s weigh in has put a lovely smile on my face. 92.1 kg :D

Work

Since I am no longer employed, I have had to go and visit Centrelink this week. For non-Australian, Centrelink is a government-funded scheme that assists unemployed individuals like myself.

It was a pain to go there, as there is always a line. After waiting in line for over an hour, the consultant advised me that I should use their phone service to get more information on my situation. So off I went to the phone section and dialed the right number. After a 35 minute wait of listening to classical music, a human voice was heard and they gave me advice but as the reason for leaving my work was a bit complicated she advised that I should talk to another department to double check which scheme I should be on. So another 40 minute wait and the person I spoke confirmed the same information that the previous phone consultant told me.

So I spent over 2 hours at this place, only to be told that a person will be calling me the following week to get further information on my situation. After all that, to me it’s easier to go to work than having to wait around Centrelink for unemployment payments.

Love

Organised a date with a lovely Christian boy. We met up at a coffee shop at night and just had a lovely. He was very interesting and nice. On a previous phone conversation I had advised that I was available during the day and at the end of our lovely conversation he organised a second with me for the following day.

I met him at his house and we went for a mid-morning coffee. The conversation started out normal but then he started talking about religion and contesting certain things that I believe in. I automatically felt turned off by him. He was someone that I was kind of looking for, cute, nice guy that’s into religion but even though I go to church everyday and I have my faith, I don’t like talking about religion or debating about it for hours. I have to say that was one of the most uncomfortable conversations I have been in. I was sitting there, hoping that it would stop.  I think he caught on after a while and changed the subject. At the end of that date, he organised to see me again the following day. I told him that I would play it by ear and confided in a friend for advice who told me not to dismiss so quickly.

So the following day, I went to his place to watch a movie. We just hung out and while I was on the couch I was hoping that he would make a move and he didn’t. So I automatically allocated him to being a friend. Once the movie ended and I had to go home, he grab me by my waist and held me. It was nice but all I could think of was “Oh my god, he’s making a move and he’s probably going to kiss me’. And he did. I went along with it and came out with sore lips. Not because we were kissing for a long but because my lips were literally vacuumed into his mouth. My lips were sore the whole drive home. After that performance and having doubts about whether we click or not, I decided that we would be better as friends and told so.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Week 9 Summary


Welcome autumn. I can see that my nose has noticed that you have moved in because my sinus is acting every morning. It’s so good to wake up and just start sneezing like the big bad wolf. I’m surprised that the roof hasn’t been blown off.

Diet & Exercise

Ok sarcasm aside, I am loving this cooler weather. It has been more enjoyable to continue my current love affair with Mr. Treadmill. I have also purchased some dumbbells to use while walking on the treadmill. 


Gotta love being able to multitask.

As mentioned, I recently restarted the Dukan Diet and so far the all protein attack phase is going well. I have been giving into my craving of eating sashimi and I am starting to quickly get over eating steak. Hope this seafood phase lasts.


While grocery shopping I came across these diet cordial drinks.


With no added sugar and having only 1.5 grams of carbs and 1.3 grams of sugar, thought it would be a good way to spice up my water intake.

Work

As of this week, I am officially unemployed. My work had sent a letter stating that they would be terminating my role as it seemed to them that I was not going to recover from my illness. It was fine by me because I didn’t want to return to that company but now comes the hard part updating my resume to state that I had finished my current role.

I wonder I am going to explain to people at future interviews that I left due to a worker’s compensation issue without freaking them out.

If anyone has any advice or pointers on this matter I’m all ears.

Love

I decided to go on a date with someone whose race I don’t normally go for because he seemed like a nice guy. The date went well and the conversation flowed nicely and was fluid. But unfortunately there was no spark at all.

We both made it clear that we were to be friends and I reinforced that I wasn’t ready for a relationship and only wanted to be friends. I don’t think that that sunk in quite well with him as I was still getting messages that stated differently. As someone who’s in the profession of listening to others problems he didn’t listen to what I was saying at all.

I’m really wondering whether I should continue this chase of finding love or just put it to rest.

Restarting the Dukan Diet


After a week of ups and downs, well more downs. I decided to restart the Dukan diet as I was starting to feel very sluggish and also started feeling bloated again, which was something I didn’t feel while being on the Dukan diet.

So Attack phase commences yet again. A week of no vegetables, salads and obviously carbs, but a welcome of steaks, fish and chicken. I seem to be a bit in love with salmon at the moment, so the fridge has been stacked with raw salmon, smoked salmon and flavoured salmon. Lots of yummy foods to eat.

Starting weight is 92.9 kg

This is approximately 2 kilos lower than when I first started the Dukan diet 2 weeks ago. So according to the Dukan website I should be down 2.7 kg after completing the Attack phase for 7 days. Then the Cruise phase will kick in and I should be down 27 kg after completing the Cruise phase for 187 days, which should be mid-September.

So here we go again.