Calico & Co. Stationery Swap

I've joined in the Calico & Co. Quick Stationery Swap. The Calico & Co Quick Stationery Swap is that "trial" swap. It's quick because it only has a short time frame to allow for enough time for the big birthday swap that will follow. So join Amanda and I in swapping stationery with other people from around the world. See here for more details.

fat to fit - What to do when the winter woes set in!

This week I have been fighting sickness. At work there has been a bad cold going around. I have been taking preventative measures not to get sick. I have done only incidental exercise as not to over stress my body.

How do you prevent yourself from getting sick?

 
I do the following:

• take multivitamins
• wash & dry my hands after the bathroom, touching keyboards and handling food
• take time out for yourself
• stress less

 

 

Here are some ideas that I tried last week:

• Eat more fruit and vegetables In pasta, risotto, salad, wraps, sandwiches, for breakfast on Sat /Sun
• Choose healthy zero point food instead of chocolate or wine at end of day when hungry only chocolate 1 day this week
  
• Cut down on sugar (includes sweeteners and honey) 1/2 amount of sweetener / honey
• Eat more unprocessed foods (steel cut oats instead of Uncle Tobys Quick Oats or Weight Wise Oats) Mon-Fri
• Drink less alcohol (4 drinks all week)
• Exercise more - make a date with yourself  Sick this week so little exercise other than incidental
• Plan meals for the week (saves time and money) DONE ALL WEEK
• Cook a soup for lunch

 
 Pedometer readings for the week of 16th July - 22nd July

Friday	7674 steps	4.83 km
Saturday	6397 steps	4.03km
Sunday	8558 steps	5.39km
Monday	6833 steps	4.30km
Tuesday	3574 steps	2.25km Sick
Wednesday	8567 steps	5.39km
Thursday	-- steps	--km

Measurements

Waist: --cm (at smallest part) -

Hips: --cm (on hip bone) -

Bust: --cm

Arms: Right --cm Left --cm

Thighs: Right --cm Left --cm

Weight: -- (51.1kg last week)

 

What I achieved last week: 

• Exercise more (keep above 8000 steps) 2days above + incidental
• Set goals
• Track exercise + food + vitamins + water
• Cut back portion sizes
  
• Back into routine
• Get out and ride
  
• Run (Still need to do this)
• Walk the dog

My things to do this week

• Exercise more (keep above 8000 steps)
• Set goals
• Cut back portion sizes
• Continue routine - with exercise, food and workouts
• Get out and ride
• Run
• Walk the dog
• Spend less time on PC

What are you going to do?

Polly Dolly - Animal Inspired: Cat Fever

Welcome to Polly Dolly Challenge - Week 17: This week's topic is animal instinct. Go visit www.danimezza.com and check out some of the other bloggers links too.

Did you know that I don't own a single piece of animal print, what so ever. So I chose what I would have if I did happen to buy animal print. I also don't wear gold but gold goes so much better with leopard print!  Aren't those shoes just the cutest? I am in love with that jacket too but $495AUS is to $$!.

Wednesday Wants

This weeks wants are from MADEIT!

Aren't these just gorgeous?

I really love the book bag!

Hungry Designs 

A Little Rain Brooch

Ingrid Necklace - Vintage Mustard

Osier

Notepad Birds and Flowers (Unlined)

Created by Jess

Book Handbag 'Dazzle' by Author Judith Krantz

CERIosities

Post-it-note Tuesday

Today is post-it-note Tuesday

Here is my post-it

What's on your post-it-notes today?

Ramblings from Toushka: Giveaway

Ramblings from Toushka: Giveaway

Toushka has one of these lovely books to giveaway, thanks to Kylie at Capricorn Link or you may know her from A Study In Contradictions.

Toushka reviewed the book recently. You can read the review here

This giveaway closes on the 2nd August and will be drawn on the 3rd August. So hurry up and enter it's easy just follow the instructions here.

Weekend Wrap up

I had a nice relaxing weekend with Greg. It is especially good as soon he will move up to Mackay for work for 6months. We chilled out on Sat afternoon watching Tv before the BBQ over at his parents. Yesterday we went for a small bush walk in the Currumbin Valley and then another walk with Sledge by the Nerang river later in the afternoon in the sprinkling rain. I have managed to stay under 50kg, (48.8 - 49.0kg) all weekend. I hope I can still hover around 50kg for a while longer. 

I am enjoying my Lorna Jane workout gear it was great yesterday afternoon as it was waterproof and kept me warm.

This week is shaping up to be busy at work. I am looking forward to Friday's Athletics Carnival. I hope I'm not catching the cold that is going around at work, I'm dosing up on multivitamins anyway as a preventative measure. I haven't been sick in ages. I want it to stay that way.

Have a great week.

Polly Dolly - At the Races

I went to the races a few weeks ago and wore heeled boots and it was not good on the grass, so this time I am choosing ballet flats.

fat to fit - New lease on energy!

This week I have had a new lease of my energy levels. I have started exercising and have tried to up my amount of incidental steps at work. 

 
Last week I spoke about goals and my goal was to start exercising again and to begin running towards 5km again.  I purchased a goal book from Kikki-K and have started filling it in. There are a few tricky questions about values as this leads to many of your goals. 

This week I am talking about exercise clothing. I have a drawer dedicated to exercise clothing. I have crop tops, sports bras, shorts, singlets, bikinis, 2 pairs of riding pants, 3 short sleeved jeresys, 3 gym singlets, 3 motivational tops and one baggy pair of 3/4 tights. The question is do I really need all these exercise clothes? The answer is simply yes; and I needed more!

I went to Lorna Jane and bought a few more items to add to my overflowing exercise clothing drawer. 

 I bought 1 riding long sleeved jersey, 1 light zip up jumper that I can workout in, 2 hoodies and a pair of 3/4 yoga trackies (the pink band has determined on it)






What items of clothing do you need for a basic workout?

• A supportive bra or crop
• A shirt or singlet that does not show sweat or chafe your arms
• A sturdy pair of undies, G Strings are not supportive
• Shorts, pants or leggings that are correctly fitted.
• socks that wick away sweat 
• Sports Specific Shoes (If I am running I wear my running shoes, I have flat soled shoes for classes and aerobic activity)

 
What items of clothing do you need for running?

• A supportive bra or crop
• A shirt or singlet that does not show sweat or chafe your arms
• A sturdy pair of undies, G Strings are not supportive
• Shorts, pants or leggings that are correctly fitted.
• socks that wick away sweat 
• Running shoes (I was fitted at Athletes foot - I tend to roll out when I run. Since being correctly fitted I don't have sore knees when I run or exercise)
• Spibelt (a expandable belt) It holds your ipod/iphone, keys and any other little items)

What items of clothing do you need for riding? (I ride Cross Country Mountain Bike)

• A supportive bra or crop
• A riding jersey (mine is Fox branded)
  
• A sturdy pair of undies, G Strings are not supportive
  
• Riding Shorts with built in Knicks and pockets (My current pair are Oakley, I also have a pair of FOX These are Women Specific)
  
• ankle socks that wick away sweat 
• Riding shoes (5Tens) They grip like glue to the peddles so I don't need clip in's yet!
• Gloves (mine have gel padding and are full fingered for bush riding)
• Helmet
• Camelback 2ltr with room for spare tire and first aid

What do you wear when you exercise?

Here are some ideas that I tried last week:

• Eat more fruit and vegetables
• Choose healthy zero point food instead of chocolate or wine at end of day when hungry
• Cut down on sugar (includes sweeteners and honey)
• Eat more unprocessed foods (steel cut oats instead of Uncle Tobys Quick Oats or Weight Wise Oats)
• Drink less alcohol (4 drinks all week)
• Exercise more - make a date with yourself Sunday (ride), Monday (workout), Tuesday (workout +2 PE classes), Wednesday (workout +2 PE classes), Thursday (workout +2 PE classes)
• Plan meals for the week (saves time and money)
• Cook a soup for lunch
  

Pedometer readings for the week of 16th July - 22nd July

Friday	6627 steps	4.17km
Saturday	4448 steps	2.80km
Sunday	10105 steps 15.9km MTB ride	6.36km
Monday	9043 steps	5.69km
Tuesday	11861 steps	7.47km
Wednesday	steps	5.43km
Thursday	10472 steps	6.59km

Measurements

Waist: --cm (at smallest part) -

Hips: --cm (on hip bone) -

Bust: --cm

Arms: Right --cm Left --cm

Thighs: Right --cm Left --cm

Weight: -- (51.1kg last week)

On Wednesday Morning my scales read: 

What I achieved last week: 

• Exercise   incidental + workouts
  
• Track exercise + food + vitamins + water
• Cut back portion sizes
  
• Back into routine
• Get out and ride
  
• Run need to do this
• Walk the dog

My things to do this week

• Exercise more (keep above 8000 steps)
• Set goals
• Cut back portion sizes
• Continue routine - with exercise, food and workouts
• Get out and ride
• Run
• Walk the dog

What are you going to do?

REwind-> Blog this Challenge 11 - What's on your bedside table?

I ♥ Books

{Books in my bedside table}

Well I have a number of books on and in my bedside table. I am at the moment reading The House of Night Series by PC and Kristen Cast, I am reading book number 4 - Hunted. I'm not getting into this one as much as the rest of the series but I will persevere and finish it.

House of Night Series is a thrilling, series that follows 16-year-old Zoey Redbird as she is “Marked” by a vampyre tracker and begins to undergo the “Change” into an actual vampyre. She has to leave her family in Broken Arrow,and move into the House of Night, a boarding school for other fledgling vampyres like her. There are many challenges she faces along the way but her friends help her find her way with the help of The Goddess Nyx.

 

I have a bookmark in a Bryce Courtenay Book: Fishing with stars the sequel to Persimmon Tree. I will finish it once I finish The House of Night Series.

Fishing with Stars is set in Australia, the Pacific islands, Japan and Indonesia during the latter half of the twentieth century. Nick Duncan is an ingenuous male with a great deal more female on his hands than he can possibly hope to understand. The contest he is called upon to referee is the clash between the two great loves of his life: the seductive Anna Til, and the older, equally fascinating Marg Hamilton. I loved The Persimmon Tree and I can't wait to pick this book up again. 

Need by Carrie Jones is one book I had to hunt down. I found it on a booklist recommended if you liked Twilight. I was even contemplating ordering it from the USA but found it for 1/2 the price at Big W. Need is a great book for paranormal romance fans – and a fantastic “next book” for those looking for something to read after TWILIGHT. It is a novel about teens, pixies and werewolves. http://www.needpixies.com/

I love Jodi Picoult's novels. There is something that I adore about her writing. I love that this novel is based on her Aunt's adopted son David who had Autism.

House Rules is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.
I teach 2 students on the Autism spectrum and these kids are the nicest, happiest and highly intelligent kids I teach. Sure they have their problems and outbursts, but their personalities make up for that. I have learnt lots from these students and I hope they have gained a lot of knowledge from me too.

I currently don't have a bookshelf or bookcase to put my books in so they sit in my bedside table, in a box in my music room and on a couch.Yes that is a toilet paper box (they have been there for 4 years now) I'm waiting for out house to be finally renovated.

What books are on your bedside table? 
What is on your reading to do list?

Wednesday Wants

Today's wants are from madeit.com.au

 Gorgeous shiny lamp $88.00 Ritzy Home Decor

My Mechanical Heart $35.00  Run Wild Horses

Paper Butterfly specimen $189.00 Almond Tree Frames

 What do you want?

Post-it-note Tuesday

Today is post-it-note Tuesday

Here is my post-its:

 

So I like Mussels but not oysters. I have tried a number of foods of late that I would never had tried; EVER!

I've begun doing my morning workouts again.  I'm doing the My Workouts on Lifestyle you at 6:30am. So I have to run as its starting. Have a great day!

What's on your post-it-notes today?

Polly Dolly - lingerie

Welcome to Polly Dolly Challenge - Week 15: This week's topic is lingerie. Go visit www.danimezza.com and check out some of the other bloggers links too.

There is nothing like feeling sexy and confident. I have many outfits that make me feel confident in the bedroom.  I have a couple of cheeky costumes, some corsets and a plethora of sexy nighties.  I am not a fan of lace; I love satin feeling clothes. 

My favourite places to buy my lingerie from are:

Peter Alexander  

(the bottom left corner image of my Polly Dolly) I own that nightie and it is very comfy. My mother bought it for Christmas for me.

Sex Kitten 

(a store at Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast)

I used to walk past the store when going Clubbing in Surfers Paradise in 2003 - 2005.
It is cute clothing not just lingerie either.

(I so want that outfit)

Bras and things

What makes you feel sexy?