Monday, December 29, 2008

Sewing!

I've almost finished my first garment! I spent a few hours sewing today.... and I was so tired by the end of it! It makes sense I guess because it takes a lot of concentration, especially since I haven't sewn for a long time. I remembered a few things from many years ago such as setting up the machine to sew. I was also pleased to discover I can still sew straight... LOL. Just a few things to do before my skirt is finished.

I just bought a new cordless upright vacuum for our apartment on ebay then discovered a 10% off voucher in my email inbox *me throwing a tantrum here* I could have saved $20....GAH! I get really annoyed at this kind of thing...LOL.

My bench workout didn't happen today. The gym is open limited hours on Sunday and I got up late. Tomorrow! Do I sound like a procrastinator or what?

In other news, I've reached the peak of my fatness. I'm actually nicknaming myself "Tubby" :-P So this week in between having some drinks for New Years I'm going to be watching my diet - good, "clean" protein, fruits and vegetables. My diet this past week has been TERRIBLE. Too little good food, too much alcohol and a few too many sweets. It's been a fun past 3 months since my competition.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas!


Everyone!!

Hope you all had a great Christmas, I had a nice quiet one at home. I made roast pork, garlic roasted asparagus and red onion and potato gratin. We snacked on chocolates and fruit cocktails during the day.

I received a very nice an unexpected gift from my husband. A sewing machine!! I am very excited as I've wanted to learn (or re-learn) to sew for a while now. Today I went out and bought some cheap material to practice on and a pattern and good material to make a nice simple skirt. I hope it turns out okay. I shall show you the end result :-P My aim is to make my competition suit for next year among other things! Here it is:


I just got home tonight from dinner and some drinks. We went to this place called Outback Jacks and I did the 1kg rump steak challenge. You have to eat 1kg/2.2lbs (raw weight) rump steak, potato wedges and vegetables in under 30 minutes. With the potatoes and vegetables it ends up being 1.7kg of food. I was the first girl to do it The amount of food wasn't the hard part - I started to get sick of the taste of steak. It reminded me of the time I couldn't eat my tuna during comp prep because if I ate another bite I was gonna barf. I got close to that with the steak but I managed to eat it all.

I got a t-shirt from it too and it's a nice one My friend told me to wear it at the gym as there are heaps of guys there that tried it but couldn't do it LOL. Not sure if it's something to be proud of, but I got a half price meal and a t-shirt out of it so it's a score!

Tomorrow I'm off to the gym to get my 91kg/200lb bench press. Wish me luck. All that rump steak should make me strong.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Preparations

So this weekend was spent doing a little baking and getting the last of my Christmas presents and stuff I needed for Christmas. I think the only thing I have left to do is the buy the meat and a few other goodies and we're set. I went out an bought a few bottles of spirits for Christmas cocktails, it ends up getting very expensive. I don't tend to drink spirits very much so I don't have any "supply" at home.

No training this weekend. I should have gone yesterday but I gave it a miss as I was busy running around.

I will leave you with some pics of our Christmas tree. It's so cute!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Checking In

I promise I will update this properly tomorrow. I've just been very tired these last few days. I've been getting home from work and crashing and missing out on my dinner! Poor tummy. I did train on Tuesday and Wednesday, but will update the details tomorrow.

Tonight I was busy doing my Christmas cards to family and friends overseas. Tis the season!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

How Evil Are You?



You Are 60% Evil




You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.

Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

Monday, December 1, 2008

2 Recipes

Not much is happening this week in the way of training. My deadlift meet is this weekend so I won't be training. I may get in a light upperbody workout, but nothing major.

I tried some new recipes today. First one was in preparation of Christmas - Hot Spiced Apple Cider. Even though it's sweltering here, I still like to sample the tastes of the season. In fact, most Christmas recipes aren't suited for hot weather! LOL...

Hot Spiced Apple Cider
2L apple juice
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. whole allspice
2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1/4 c. lightly packed brown sugar
juice of 2 lemons

    Bring ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan. Simmer 30 to 60 minutes. Remove spices. Serve hot in mugs. It tastes even better with whipped cream and caramel sauce on top!


    Another snack I made today was Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip. I couldn't find any blue corn chips at the supermarket I went to, so I had it with baked corn chips and rice crackers instead.

    Hot Spinach And Artichoke Dip
    224 g cream cheese, softened
    60 ml mayonnaise
    25 g grated Parmesan cheese
    30 g grated Romano cheese
    1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
    1/2 tsp dried basil
    1/4 tsp garlic salt
    salt and pepper to taste
    1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
    80 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
    30 g shredded mozzarella cheese
      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
      1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
      2. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.
      Yum!

      Sunday, November 30, 2008

      Tuesday, November 25, 2008

      Today's News

      I'm sitting here downloading Christmas Carols from iTUNES at the moment. I'm getting excited for Christmas! http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b80/Sportsgirl019/Smilies/th_presents1.gif A lot of the songs are about how it's snowing and cold, and it's like hell here!! You walk outside and a heatwave hits you....LOL

      Nothing to report today as far as training - I had a rest day today. I hope I'm not getting sick. At the moment I have a sore throat, sore ears, mild headache and achy body - definitely not what I need right now considering that meet is up next weekend!

      I got my textbook today to start studying for my training certificate. Exciting! Watch out everyone

      Thursday, November 20, 2008

      Pumpkin Pie Filling

      Pumpkin Pie Filling

      300g cooked pumpkin
      1 scoop vanilla protein powder (or similar - I use Muscle Milk Cake Batter)
      Pumpkin Pie Spice (50% cinnamon, 25% ginger, 12.5% nutmeg, 12.5% allspice)
      Splenda or Stevia to taste

      I actually had this while I was dieting for my competition now and again and it was heaven! It has around 20g of carbs and depending on what protein powder you use, around 20g of protein.

      Wednesday, November 12, 2008

      Spicy Deviled Eggs

      I tried a new recipe the other day that I found from Muscle and Fitness Hers:

      Spicy Deviled Eggs

      6 eggs
      2 Tbsp low fat cottage cheese
      Salt to taste
      Hot Sauce to taste
      1 green onion, thinly sliced.

      Hard boil the eggs (about 10 minutes). Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks, discarding three of them. Place remaining yolks in a small bowl with cottage cheese. mash with a fork until smooth and then add salf and hot sauce to taste. Spoon yolk mixture into egg white halves and top with green onion.

      I actually added a little low fat greek yoghurt to the egg yolk-cottage cheese mixture to make it more smooth.

      Makes 2 serves - each serve 284 calories, 35.5g protein, 3g carbs, 14g fat.

      Thursday, November 6, 2008

      Happy Guy Fawkes Day

      Curried Lentil Soup

      1/2 medium onion, chopped
      1 tablespoon olive oil
      2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
      150g (5.3oz) red lentils
      1 tablespoon red curry paste
      Spinach (amount can vary, I used about 80g (3oz))
      Salt to taste

      Pour olive oil in large saucepan and heat. Lightly brown onions and garlic then add red lentils. Stir mixture in heat then add 2 cups of water. Simmer for several minutes until mixture thickens then add red curry paste (use more or less to taste). Add 3 more cups of water and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Add spinach and about 1-2 more cups of water and salt to taste. Simmer on low heat for another 5-10 minutes. Let cool for a 5-10 minutes then serve. As with most soups, it tastes great the next day!


      Had a great day at the gym today! I'm working on my bench/board pressing a lot lately as I have a goal to bench 200lbs/91kg by the end of the year.



      Monday, November 3, 2008

      Happy Beer Day

      Well, I didn't end up going to the gym today. Instead, I went to the bar *lol*

      Had a breakfast of eggs, hash browns and spinach then in the afternoon we hopped off to the bar to practice my one arm beer curls.

      Dinner was some shared nachos and Thai Beef Salad. Yum!

      I am looking forward to the gym tomorrow! :-D

      Thursday, October 30, 2008

      Roast Rosemary Pumpkin

      I love pumpkin and I tried something new today!

      Roast Rosemary Pumpkin

      Cut 1/2 a small pumpkin into thin-ish slices and place on tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Scatter sprigs of rosemary and halved garlic cloves on the pumpkin and bake in the oven until soft (about half an hour).

      The result:














      I had it with grilled chunks of lean lamb - yum!

      Friday, October 24, 2008

      Broccoli Soup and Training

      Vegetable soups are one of my favourite foods. I'm making Broccoli Soup for dinner tonight so I thought I'd share the recipe here. The recipe only has a few ingredients but it tastes absolutely delicious! It also has a decent amount of protein which is surprising for a soup, but it does contain milk :-)


      Broccoli Soup

      1. 600g broccoli florets(prepared weight)
      2. 1 onion, finely chopped
      3. 450mlwater
      4. 1 vegetable stock cube
      5. 600ml low-fat milk
      6. salt & pepper


      1. Wash thoroughly the broccoli. You will need 600G so remove the stems and just use the heads.
      2. Chop the onion.
      3. In a saucepan cook the broccoli and onion together with the stock cube and the water for 15 minutes Keep the lid on while you do this. (you can get this cooking time down to 10 mins if you chop the broccoli quite small).
      4. When the broccoli and onion are very tender add the low fat milk.
      5. Blend the soup thoroughly using a blender.

      Yum yum!!

      Wednesday, October 8, 2008

      The Cleaning Workout

      The only thing I like about cleaning is how it looks after it's done. But I absolutely had to do it today. The only other good thing about cleaning is that it actually burns a decent amount of calories - more than sitting on your butt watching your dirty dishes anyway :-D I think if you're trying to lose fat keeping active via housework, general activity is just as important as making sure you get your workouts and cardio in. I had to laugh though, I was washing my floor and I had this little insect/cockroach follow me around. It looked like he was licking the floor where I had washed. I was using sugar soap and it made me wonder if it was actually sweet :-D No I didn't take a swig of the bottle.

      So as you may have guessed I didn't work out today but I did clean and I did go for a run when I got up. The run was fantastic - since I'm not on super low calories I have much more energy. I love running in the morning too; it gives me time to think.

      I'm trying a new recipe today. It's probably more suitable for winter, but I haven't had turkey for a while and bought some at the store yesterday. It was beautiful! Very tasty yet not too heavy - Dad's Turkey Stew.

      Tomorrow we're off on holiday. I was going to be competing at the WNBF Asia Pacific show in Sydney but due to my tanning/skin problem that's now not happening. We're spending a few days in Sydney and then off to New Zealand for a week. Woohoo! I can't wait to go visit my family and friends and hang out at all the bars/restaurants I used to frequent.

      Tuesday, October 7, 2008

      First Post!

      Today marks my first day off my "offseason". I just finished a long stint of contest dieting for a bodybuilding contest. My goal this year was to surpass my condition from last year and have a good time and I achieved both, so I consider this year very successful. Unfortunately my contest season was cut short due to a tanning mishap but I think I have that all figured out for the future should I compete again.

      I went to the supermarket today and it was the most glorious affair I have experienced for a while. I was actually a little disgusted by how happy grocery shopping made me. Although I don't really restrict food groups while dieting, being on a strict calorie allowance really restricts your choices sometimes. It was nice to just be able to get the stuff I had been missing: a variety of fruits, feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes in oil, whole grain rye bread, hummus, camembert
      mixed dried fruit, greek yoghurt. I only bought one "bad" thing... the Christmas goodies are out for sale already so I got this packet of mini chocolate Christmas puddings. Okay, I did go back later and buy some of those pudding cup things and a Christmas Cookie (see below).


      Now that I'm not dieting I definitely intend on honing my baking and cooking skills. I *love* trying out new recipes. Gordon Ramsay is one of my favourite people. He makes healthy, simple but yet tasty food. I'm quite intent on trying to make as much of my own food as possible to avoid those hidden preservatives and badness. Home made always tastes better anyway!

      So anyway, if you're interested in heavy weights, good healthy food, beer and having a good time then stay tuned!