Wednesday 29 February 2012

Week 8 Summary


The weather seems to be going through puberty in Sydney. One minute sweltering heat and the next I find myself looking through my closet for warm clothes and getting the heater out.

This is affecting my body tremendously as it means “The return of the headaches and migraines”. Two consecutive days of pain and me popping my strong painkillers like they were Skittles.

Diet & Exercise

Luckily the headaches didn’t occur until the end of the week, which meant a healthier diet than the weeks before and a lot more exercise.

Here are some photos of the foods I ate this week.



This was my first attempt at preparing Japanese foods. I was really hoping that I wouldn't end up with food poisoning. Luckily I didn't and it was a lovely dish that I had it twice for dinner.


This was delish. I bought it pre-seasoned so all I did was to cook it. So nice that I had it twice for lunch.



This meal was a meal on the run while shopping and being completely hungry. Tried to stay away from carbs but little did I know that the chicken tenderloin was thickly battered, the devilled chicken was also crumbed, the chicken ribs had some really sweet sticky coating on them and the marinated chicken was cooked with it's skin on.

Overall, it was a great disappointment as the only thing that tasted nice was the marinated chicken and devilled chicken.


Late night snack






I had a chilli craving and it's quite hard to ignore a chilli craving when you are a chilli addict.



Ended the week with a bad drink and food

While browsing some blogs and sites, I came across this amazing site, Daily Mile. I have been on there for a week and have found it quite helpful in terms of motivation to get my ass off the couch and workout.

The members on there are motivating and supportive. There’s a great functionality to send someone a motivation icon to help them continue with their goal. The forums are great for finding friends with similar interests. There is a section that allows you to join the currently active challenges and also to create your own challenge. I ended up creating my own challenge instead of joining. A while ago, I had mentioned that I had wanted to walk the distance between Sydney and Melbourne. I had started that challenge but hadn’t kept up with it much as it got to be a pain to continually calculate the total amount that I had walked and also the remaining amount. Well now I don’t have to do that because the site automatically records that for me.

Click here if you would like to join me in this challenge too.

Work

Just when I was starting to despair and think that I was only second best in the employment area as I always seem to miss being employed as the employer had found someone who’s has a slight edge over me because they know the system or have slightly more experience in a particular area, I get phone call from an agency regarding a job I had applied for.

On the way to the interview, I receive another call and it just happened to be someone from the same agency. My one interview with the agent turned into two interviews with two agents. I got along well with both agents and felt confident as I was now in line for two positions.

This week has also been a week of reflection about the future for me. Being turned down because you are only slightly less good than someone else had made me think about furthering my studies and getting a degree that would give me an edge above other candidates.

I originally wanted to enroll in a Bachelor of Adult Education as I coordinate and manage courses and seminars but the course was only available during the daytime, which would interfere with work.

Further investigating led me to a Bachelor of Training and Development, a one year course which had quite a few prerequisites. I called and I found out that I had to have at least 196 credit points of prerequisites in the form of previous courses undertaken and work experience which I have both. I have some issues though one of my courses may not be recognised as it does not have a national recognised logo on it and I also require a letter from my employer stating that I have the length of experience I mentioned (very difficult since I am in a legal dispute with them). So possible solution could that I ask my previous employer for a statement of some sort which could be quite tricky.

Love

As I was in the city for my interview, I had arranged to meet with one of the guys I had been talking to online. We met at a bar in the city and had a lovely conversation and it seemed like we had quite a few things in common. The only downside would be that as the night progressed and I was looking at him, he kept reminding me of a cousin that I have. Once I made that connection, the attraction bug flew out of the door and he was slotted into the friend basket. I actually mentioned that he reminded me of my cousin in an attempt to subtly hint that I’m this quite odd but I don’t think he made the connection and now he is trying to setup other dates. I am not as keen to catch up now because I am not attracted to him and also because he lives quite far away (about 40 Km from where I reside) and he does not drive.

How do I tell him gently that I just want to be friends?

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Week 7 Summary


Getting onto the horse after recovering from my migraines.

Diet & Exercise

The nutrition component has not been the greatest at the moment as I have been eating simple carbohydrates in the form of rice and bread again while recovering from my migraines.

Though I had eaten quite a lot of high-energy foods throughout the week I didn’t have the energy to workout much this week. I felt sluggish and would often fall asleep after eating lunch (carb coma as I like to call it).

14 February: 93.6 Kg (loss of 0.2 grams)
15 February: 93.3 Kg (loss of 0.3 grams), walked 8 Km on the treadmill
16 February: 93.3 Kg, walked 4.81 Km
17 February: 93.3 Kg
18 February: 93.3 Kg
19 February: 93.3 Kg
20 February: 93.6 Kg (gain of 0.3 grams)

Work

Not much to report. Applied to lots of roles but no responses back as yet. The baiting continues. Hopefully, I will be able to catch a job.

To add more chaos to the mix, my income insurance company are being completely rigid with providing with me with my payments. They keep making up excuses about not receiving the right information from my doctor when he has sent them documentation on three separate occasions. These insurance people are really starting to test my anger management skills.

Love

There seems to be a bit of a trend this week. I seem to be getting emails from doctors (well 3 so far). I’ve had a few emails from people who are just way too old for me.  I do have to say that I am a bit half hearted about this online dating now.  It just seems like so much tedious work but I guess I have to go through this motion in the hopes that I do come across someone worthy of my love.

I went on a date with one of the doctors. We were due to meet at a café and he had previously offered to give me a massage as I had complained about the bad neck pains and headaches I had been having lately. Depending on whether we hit it off we were to watch a movie together at his place.

Upon meeting him, he was dressed very casually (shorts, t-shirt and slip on sandals/flip flops). There was no parking at the café so he advised that I park at the fuel station across the café. We met at the fuel station and he gave me directions to his place. Thought it was odd but I submissively drove there. Now I know how this may sound, completely insane!!! I mean who just goes to a completely stranger’s house without thinking “this is a bad idea”.

We there and I walked and was shocked. It smelled musty and closed off and it looked slightly dated. As we were talking he mentioned that he was house sitting for his mother, which explained the décor. He offered to give me a massage which didn’t quite help and had me thinking that maybe I should have seen my Chinese masseuse that day.

Anyway, as the night progressed the conversation was fluid. There were awkward silent moments or odd silences. But the subject matter was getting weirder and weirder. There were conversations about how there are countries in the world that allowed incestuous marriages (he gave me his views on them totally disturbing), this lead to a conversation about Woody Allen and how he ended up marrying his step daughter, then somehow he disclosed a story about him returning from holidays with 10 dildos in his bag and hoping not to be stopped by customs.

I felt quite prudish for someone who is very open and outgoing but I couldn’t help thinking “why is he telling me this?”.

There more odd conversations, one that he lingered on a bit was about threesomes and which one of my friends that I would like to be involved with sexually. I answered truthfully and said that all of my friends are married and tried to change the conversation. There were more odd instances but I don’t think I can even share them.

I wouldn’t say that it was a bad date but it wasn’t the greatest either. I just can’t believe that that guy is a doctor.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Week 6 Summary


What a horrible week that was!!!

Diet & Exercise

I had horrible migraines for 4 days out of 7 that week. They all stemmed from a whiplash neck injury I got while in a car crash over 2 years ago. It gets aggravated at times and that week it was due to my hair feeling heavy (a mixture of having thick hair and also the sweat from my workout) and also from the workouts that I’ve been doing.

Sticking to my diet has been quite hard. These extreme headaches have increased my appetite for bad foods such as potato chips, fried foods, bread and soft drinks.

Workouts went from active to none as any movement made me feel sick and aggravated my sore neck. So for 4 days I was in a horizontal position with lots of pillows under my neck. By being in this position so much and eating all that crappy food, it felt like I went into a carb/junk coma afterwards and slept for a few hours.

Being sedentary and all that eating made my weight go from 92.5 Kg to 93.8 Kg. It was disappointing to get back to that weight after seeing such progress the week before on the Dukan Diet.

Work

The interview I attended went surprising well. Answered all questions that were fired at me and asked quite a few inquisitive questions. I felt a good connection with both interviewers.

A day later I received a phone call from one of the interviewers, advising me that I had been shortlisted for the role. I was told that I would know whether I had the position or not by the end of the week.

The end of the week came and I received a call telling me that I had not secured the position as there was another applicant that was well versed with the system they were using at their workplace. But I was given great feedback and also to give them a call in a few months as there could be a position available at that company for me as that particular department was expanding.

I guess the outcome was not all that bad.

Back to square one I go with getting back on the job-hunting websites.

Love

Well surprise, surprise. No response from Mr. I’m too busy to send a text or email. Oh well, no great loss to me as I got turned off him after that whole waiting game that he put me through.

Good thing is that the online dating site is working out well for me. I’ve been chatting up a storm with quite a few people that I’ve lost track of the names of the guys and also their basic interests that they told me. Hopefully I will be into one of them.

My love life is starting to look a little like a telenovela or Bold and the Beautiful without all the incestuous relationships of course :)

Monday 13 February 2012

Week 5 Summary


This summary has been quite delayed but I’ve been quite preoccupied this week. Apologies for such a long and picture intense post.

Diet & Exercise

This week was the beginning of my Dukan Diet. Attack phase for 7 days. For more information on how the Attack phase works click here.

30 January: Weight - 94.3 Kg, walked the dog for 30 minutes
31 January: 93.7 Kg, walked the dog for 30 minutes
1 February: 93 Kg, walked 10.35 Km on the treadmill
2 February: 92.7 Kg, walked the dog for 30 minutes
3 February: 93.2 Kg, walked 5 Km on the treadmill
4 February: 92.8 Kg, walked the dog for 30 minutes
5 February: 92.5 Kg, walked the dog for 30 minutes

Overall weight loss: 1.8 Kg

Not quite the anticipated 2.7 Kg weight loss as per the Dukan calculator but it's still a loss.

Foods eaten throughout he week have mainly been beef. Here are photos of a few meals eaten.












Work:

Didn’t do too well in this department this past week at all. Received quite a few disappointing phone calls from the places that I had interviewed at. I was also brought down slightly by receiving an email from my current employment stating that I would be terminated because I had yet to recover from my injury. This didn’t phase me as much as I thought because I suspected that that would have been the outcome. This did raise my stress level though because of the negative outcomes of my interviews.

So in a bit of a panic I hit the job sites with a fury and gained one interview for a part time role. Fingers crossed that I do get the job.

Love:

Oh what a rollercoaster.

Ended up chatting to the guy I was being set up with and we exchanged a few emails and photos. Everything was going well and we decided to go on a date. We had dinner at a Korean place and the conversation was good. As it is daylight savings here the sun does not set until at least 8pm, so it was quite bright at 7:30pm so we had a coffee and chatting some more. We were talking about the nationalities that we had dated previously and I found out that he had only gone out with Asian and I felt so awkward as the suburb we had agreed to have dinner was mainly Asian based. I asked him why he wanted to get to know and said that he was taken my how attractive I was, which was good enough for me.

As we finished out coffee and didn’t have anything else to do in that area and I thought we could go for a walk near a waterfront suburb that looked to the city. We walked around for a bit and then sat down on a bench where we discussed a few movies that we wanted to see. I could see that he was trying to lean into me at times but then pulled away. Out of the blue he blurted out that he had wanted to kiss me ever since we sat down but each time he tried someone walked past us. I thought that was so cute but then it kinda made things a bit awkward afterwards as all the sudden no one was there. Luckily it ended up being a good kiss.

The night kinda ended after that. He mentioned that he would have to look at getting a car as he wanted to see more of me and I thought that was a good sign and we had made plans to catch a movie throughout the week. The next day we didn’t quite text that much. Then Monday came around and I hadn’t heard from him at all. This really annoyed me and I felt like I had to chase him. I spoke to some of my friends and they told me not to message and see if he sends something. By Tuesday, I cracked and I sent him an email saying hello. After I had received a response, I asked him if he was still interested in meeting up during the week as I thought he had lost interest due to the lack of communication. He explained that he was busy at work and I understand that but it doesn’t take hours to write a text to see how someone is. Funny enough that day I also received a call from a friend who works nights and even he was annoyed at this guys behaviour.

This lack of contact had turned me off a bit and the responses that I was getting was just not good enough and I just started to care less and thought well if he writes back then good but if it doesn’t then it’s not skin off my nose. But it must be a really busy week for him as it’s been a few days since I’ve heard from him lol.

Anyways, I’ve been back on the dating website chatting to other guys in the mean time and looking for someone else who is willing to show a bit more interest.

The Dukan Diet


At beginning of January, I was invited to a friends place for dinner and during general chit chat he revealed that he had recently been undertaking the Dukan Diet and had had more success and it had also helped with food digestion as he is a lap bander.

He gave me a copy of the book to read and I do admit it took me a while to open it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. It was very informative and opened me eyes to nutrition and the way that we currently live.

So I decided to undertake the diet.

The diet consists of four phases.

The Attack Phase

This phase is a low fat protein phase. Dairy such as Greek yoghurt or zero fat yoghurt can be eaten. 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran is to be eaten daily and spices can be incorporated onto your low fat choice of protein.

This phase is to last between 2 – 10 days. The book suggests to go to the Dukan Diet website to figure out the amount of time this phase should last by calculating your true weight.

It is recommended that at least 30 minutes of walking is done on a daily basis.

The Cruise Phase

This phase consists of incorporating complex carbohydrates back into your diet such as green vegetables and low in sugar vegetables. The Cruise phase works on an alternating pattern of having one day of protein and vegetables followed by a day of protein only foods. This is repeated until you reach your true weight.

Oat bran consumption is to be increased to 2 tablespoons and exercise in the form of walking is to be increased up to an hour.

The Consolidation Phase

This phase is all about maintain your true weight for a certain amount of time so that your body adapts to the weight loss you have undergone.

Here you can incorporate simple carbohydrates back into your diet by having it once a week. For example, pasta can be eaten once a week. One piece of fruit can also be eaten once a day. A celebration meal can also be had (this is an anything goes meal so knock yourself out) twice a week.

Oat bran is to be eaten daily and exercise in the form of walking to be kept up.

The Stabilisation Phase

This phase is similar to the consolidation phase but there is a mandatory all protein day to be eaten on Thursday as well as continuing eating your oat bran daily.

Below is the length of time that I would have to spend per stage as per the Dukan Diet calculator.


Wednesday 1 February 2012

Week 4 Summary


Turning 28 has raised a few red flags with me. Mainly in the dating department and moving on with life. But like the saying goes, “things come to those who wait’.

Diet & Exercise:

I lost a kilo, yay!!! I am now 93.7 kg. I am determined to get back to that 92 range again. Will share what I changed to lose that weight in another post.

Work:

No news regarding that last interview I went on in the city. I’m hoping that I do get a second interview. But I do have an interview coming up within the week in Northern Suburbs of Sydney.

Love:

I had a few dates lined this past week but I rescheduled all of them because I was just not feeling like it at all. I just felt like I was a hamster on a wheel and I was just going through the process.

In doing so, I ended up getting the weirdest proposition. The guy I was due to meet up with on Monday told me that while a friend was at his place my picture accidentally popped up and his friend was blown away by my photo. He proceeded to tell his friend about me and now he has been playing matchmaker. So far he has provided his friend with my email address and provided me with his friend’s email address. I’ve been waiting for him to add me onto MSN and nothing. So I decided to add him.

His friend came online and I started questioning him as to whether or not this guy actually exists. I really hope that by me asking that I haven’t given the impression that I am needy or worst desperate.