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.

Week 18 Summary

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?

Technorati Tags: Job Seeking, The Dukan Diet

Week 17 Summary

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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Technorati Tags: C25K Program, Interview, Job Seeking, Treadmill

Week 16 Summary

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.

Technorati Tags: C25K Program, Job Seeking, Interview, Walking, Treadmill

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 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?

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.

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.

Week 3 Summary

A week of celebrations and fun has brought me back to earth after seeing the numbers on the scale.

Last week ended on a great note, I had a second interview for a position that I was interested in and I was going away with friends for the weekend. We went camping near a beach. It was great with lots of laughs and fun in the sun. Some of my friends even caught some fish that we had for dinner. After a drinking card game and lot of red wine I somehow ended up making out with the only single guy that came camping. Not something I’m all that proud of but I guess it something in the moment. Following the camping trip, I couldn’t move much for few days due to sleeping on the ground had bruised the soft tissue on my ribs.

I eagerly waited for Monday to come, as that was the day I was to find out whether I had gotten the position or not. I must have checked my emails and phone every 5 minutes that day to see if something had come through. At 4:30 pm I got the bad news that I had come a close second for the role and that they would like to keep as a back in the event that the candidate they hired didn’t meet the criteria’s. I was a little down as I wanted the role but I was also a little relieved as the location of the role was less than desired and I would have had to drive there.

Approximately 30 minutes later, my phone rang and had an interview lined up for the following day. Tuesday morning came and it was time to step onto the scale and see the magic numbers. Unfortunately, it had not shown the lovely numbers I had seen last week. It went up. I am now 94.7 Kg. A little alcohol (well I lie a lot of alcohol) and a little bit of junk food has catapulted my weight up by 2 Kg (massive jump). I had considered starting a bit of detox but thought I would skip it as I had a close friends birthday celebrations that day and my own in a few days.

Off I went to the interview. I think I did well but all HR workers are nice and friendly so it’s a bit hard to gage. Started out well at the birthday drinks, I only had 2 glasses of white wine and then water. But then some bought me a scotch and I couldn’t resist, as it’s my fav drink. After three scotches, it was time to leave and get home.

Wednesday night I went out to celebrate my birthday with friends and had a lovely dinner followed by some dessert at Max Brenner. Boy that place will give you diabetes automatically. I had the banana crepes and the filling was so rich. I wish I had shared it with someone as I was overly full after eating it.

Thursday was my birthday. Yay!!! 28!!! It seems so surreal. I still feel like I’m 18 at times. Entering the late 20’s is somewhat scary. Especially when almost of your friends are married, expecting or already have kids and here I am, on my own. I am not one to normally look too deeply in terms of ageism but I am really feeling the pressure for some reason. In 2 years, I will hot the big 30 and all I’m hoping is that by then that I am not alone.

I’ve been hitting the online dating scene a bit and I’ve chatted a few people but it seems as though I am only half hearted about it. At times I am very empowered and then at times I get down and think that once they see me they may not be interested as I am curvier than the norm. Guess I’ll find out as I have a few dates lined up this week.

Week 2 Summary

I have had a productive week in terms of being a job seeker but not so much in terms of exercise. I am still trying to figure out my next step in terms of what I want to do this year and the goals I want to achieve.

Diet & Exercise:

I still have been quite lazy in the workout department but by some miracle I have lost almost 2 kilos. I went from 94.6 kg to 92.7 kg. So since this is the lowest I’ve weighed since starting this journey to weight loss. I have to say that I haven’t been the most disciplined but I am happy that I am a lot more conscious of the things that I put into my mouth and really ask myself whether it is really worth it.

On the diabetes forefront, I had a blood test last Monday to see how I am tracking. Great news, my insulin is no longer as lazy as it was. It still needs a bit of a boot in the backside but I’m on the road to recovery. Bad news is that I am completely failing in the vitamin D component. It ended up being worst than the blood test taken 6 months ago. So vitamin D tablets are my best friends right now.

Work:

The week has been filled with viciously applying for work at the start of last week and filled with interviews towards the end of last week. I had 4 interviews and two of them were with an agency, who I have yet to hear from. I just found out that I am up for a 2^nd interview with a company and role that I am really interested in. I really hope I get it as my previous workplace are now considering terminating role due to the illness they have caused. Getting this role would be a godsend.

Keep me in your prayers this week :)

Love:

I felt as though I was in an episode of Days of our Lives or Bold and the Beautiful on Sunday. Mr Sydney was casually saying hello to me via sms and it turned into a declaration of his feelings for me and how he wanted to explore it further. I questioned him in terms of his current situation (being and living with his ex and all) and from what I gauged from his sms was that he was thinking of he and I being in a relationship. I was considering it as I thought that he would be leaving his girlfriend.

The following day the conversation sounded completely different and I questioned him once more and he bluntly expressed that he wanted to remain with his girlfriend and that he and I should be friends with benefits. I was so annoyed as I had told him that I wasn’t comfortable with being ‘the other woman’.

Haven’t spoken to him since.  Although I had offered to be friends, I think it may be best if I just stop communication with him now as he just seems to be playing games and I can’t encourage someone to cheat on their partner. Also, I don’t think that I would be able to resist his advances if we hung out. 

So goodbye Mr Sydney.