The week that was...

This week has been pretty uneventful consisting of the usual work days with the added excitement of the pending public holidays complimented by Easter eggs and hot cross buns. We celebrated Good Friday (today) with lunch with Alex's family including the little ones (niece and nephews). It's always lovely to see children enjoy Easter and makes the holiday all the more enjoyable for us so called adults.  This year I decided to avoid the usual lunch with one family then dinner with the other. We are always too exhausted after a big lunch and plenty of drink that the last thing we want to do is rush away to do it again. Plus the dinner family always ends up ripped off as we turn up sluggish with little appetite when they have prepared a beautiful feast. Instead we will spend Good Friday with one family and Easter Sunday with the other. I felt at first like I was being a little rude and unsocial but this works so much better for us. It means we are able to spend a little bit of these days with just each other. Today we came home after our long lunch and were able to relax, I even had a nap. So far I am a big fan of this new holiday arrangement and may have to find a way to make it work for Christmas as well.

An unfortunately blurry iPhone photo (I am still cameraless) of Riley finally enjoying some chocolate.

We finished off Good Friday with some Hungry Jacks, yes that's right I had a lovely juicy cheeseburger full of beef on Good Friday. I vowed for this blog to be honest so here I must admit that Alex and I don't believe the story of Jesus, we aren't religious whatsoever and I may even call myself an atheist. I am not here to argue so please don't take this as an invitation to debate. I may not be religious but I am more than happy to have religious people in my life, I wont push my views onto others unless theirs are pushed onto me, it takes all kinds to make an interesting and diverse world. What the religious holidays will one day mean for Alex and I is still yet to be determined, for now we choose to celebrate as our extended family do for the point of spending time with our loved ones, when we have our own children I am not sure what we will do. With my views of religion I do find it hard and a little contradicting to embrace these holidays as the western world tend to do. But that could all change when children come into our scene. 

I have managed to make a lot of progress on our wedding thank you notes which I will post about once completed as well as catch up on some Downton Abbey, my newest addiction. 

My brace and improving scar with still some minimal bruising.

My knee is slowly improving, although improvements aren't really noticed due to spending day and night in a movement restricting brace. My scar is slowly healing and I am coating it in Bio Oil daily to help the healing process. I really need to get motivated and take control of my diet, with limited movement and things like Hungry Jacks I can feel myself putting on some weight. And why is it when you can't move properly you feel as though you could get up early and run? or go for walks! I am not sure where this motivation comes from, we always want what we can't have! Lets hope it continues when I take my brace off on 9 May 2013.

Well I think I'll get to bed and watch another episode of Downton Abbey! Happy reading.

 

You're either about to fall or you have just fallen

The saying goes that there are two types of cyclists, those who have just fallen or those who are about to fall. Well having bought my bike in September last year I didn't really consider myself a cyclist, I merely used my bike to commute to and from work each day. It's convenient, efficient and healthy, why wouldn't I!  I was just starting to want to go riding with friends on the weekends or group rides after work and felt as though although I was reluctant I was starting to enjoy cycling as an activity, shock horror! 

me with my bike when I bought it 6 months ago

It turns our since September I was the cyclist about to fall. I didn't really think I was ever going to fall badly, my ride to work wasn't very dangerous being mostly along a flat bike track and it was a short ride so the likelihood of falling seemed pretty slim to me. I knew it would probably happen eventually but I wasn't too scared, I know plenty of people who fall off their bikes and they never hurt themselves too much. But Wednesday last week I had my first wake up call and unfortunately for me it wasn't a small fall, not the kind where you brush yourself off and continue on your merry path a little embarrassed. My fall was the kind where you end laying in the middle of the road with your belongings strewn everywhere, embarrassed but not being able to do anything about it. Luckily for me a kind lady stopped and helped me, she didn't have much choice I was sitting in the middle the road, she could hardly go around me! 

I had been recording my rides on my Strava app on my iPhone and each day I was trying to record faster and faster speeds down the two hills in my route. I must admit, one day I recorded 56km/h and I was getting pretty pleased with myself and a becoming a little bit of a dare devil. Well that came back to bite me, severely, on the knee. The morning of Wednesday 13 February 2013 I prepared myself for my morning ride to work in my usual way, I went outside and checked the weather, it had been raining (after some really hot and dry weather) but it had stopped so I decided to ride, I always prefer to ride to work but hate getting too wet with the whole day ahead of me so I avoid it if it is raining. At 7.35am I set off down my street, I live at number 13, I crashed outside number 1! Yes I travelled the distance of six houses before completely stacking it, could this crash get any more embarrassing!

my super steep street

As I was going down the hill my speed was building up, the hill ends in a turn so I have to brake going downhill to correct my speed in preparation for the corner. As I was approaching the corner I knew I was going too fast to make it safely around the corner on my own side of the road, I could see there was no traffic in sight so decided to cut across onto the other side of the road. I could see a manhole lid in the road but I knew it was too late to try and dodge it in the wet as I would only fall, I hit the manhole lid and hoped for the best, the bike wobbled for a second, then bam I went down on my right side. My foot left the pedal (if only I had clipless pedals) and my knee bent with my foot facing behind me. The inner part of my knee, leg and foot hit the road as well as the back of my shoulder and my head. I then slid along the road for a few meters with the rest of me still holding onto the bike. My handle bar, pedal and seat also took some of the fall. This all seemed to happen in slow motion and if felt like I could see it happening before it happened. At one point I realised my head was sliding uncomfortable across the bitumen, this really scared me, thank god for my helmet.

I finally stopped sliding and I was sort of tangled up in my bike. I took my backpack off, wiggled out from underneath my bike and tried to sit up. My knee was killing me, I was in a bit of shock, then I realised my ear phones were still in my ears with my music still going (no this did not contribute to my accident whatsoever!). James Blunt was singing You're Beautiful, exactly those lyrics, in my ears. At this point in time, this was the most annoying thing ever, I angrily ripped the ear phones from my ears feeling a lot less than beautiful.  All chance of that song being featured in our wedding video is gone, I am not sure it will ever be the same for me! 

the base of the street before the intersection and where I crashed

I could see a car coming down the road but I didn't even try to move, I knew they would stop. The car pulled over, a kind young lady walked over to me and said 'did you just crash?', (nah I just thought I would sit in the middle of the road with my bike like a derelict) I shouldn't be so mean she really was super amazing. She got my bike, backpack, drink bottle and earphones which were all strewn across the road for me, then she helped me up. I stood up, leaning against the traffic barrier and assessed my body, I had the littlest tiniest cut on my finger, for some reason this was my biggest concern. She stayed beside me talking to me about bike accidents etc. I called Alex, I could still see our house but there was no way I was walking, he drove down to me. The kind lady stayed with me the whole time, even though she clearly had to get to work. Alex parked the car, I hopped in and burst into tears while he walked my bike back up to the house then returned to get me. The super kind lady left, the garbage truck went pass, the drivers staring at me, again like I was some derelict. Alex took me home and I managed to hop to the couch and started shaking and crying because my knee was absolutely killing me to the point where I felt sick, I called mum and work and then cried some more. 

my helmet, without it I think I would be dead

I managed to limp into a medical centre at 9am to see a doctor who prodded and twisted my leg, told me I had sprained my knee and I should just walk on it and it will heal over time. Off I went to work, in agony. The damage to my knee is now a whole other story. So there you have the details of my crash, I am not sure when I will get back on my bike and how I will feel about it but we will just have to wait and see. Please if you ride a bike or any other mode of transport, slow down and drive to the conditions, this was way too scary and painful but could have been a lot worse!

Talk soon

 

Where did the time go...

The 12th of January 2013 has been and gone, that's right my wedding has happened!! My honeymoon has happened! Where did the time go? Life is slowly getting back to 'normal'. In theory now that the wedding is over I should have plenty of time to blog but lets not make any promises just yet!

My wedding day was truly brilliant, the best day of my life so far. Once I receive my professional photos (which should be soon) I will post more about the day but, in short, it really was a perfect day which couldn't have been any better. Plenty of guests left saying it was the best wedding they had ever been too. There were tears and laughter, dancing and singing and plenty of love. 

The honeymoon in Thailand was also very awesome, I am in love with Thailand and can't wait to go back there someday. Thai people are so giving and their food is amazing plus they live in a very beautiful country.

Lately I find myself wasting hours re-reading our wedding cards, re-reading our guest book and going over the same photos on facebook. I just want to relive our wedding day, I am sad it's over and that I never get to do it again but it's also very awesome being married and being able to call Alex my husband.

We both went back to work this week which was a bit of a challenge and our body clocks are taking sometime to get used to the working hours after five weeks away. My body is also begging me to eat a little healthier and get moving a little more. Back riding the bike to work was also a little challenging after not riding for a month but that should get easier and quicker over the coming weeks. 

So now the weddings over what do I plan on doing with all my free time?? Well lots of blogging of course, I think now I will post more about the wedding then I did leading up to it. A little backward I know. Some travel posts are also in the works. I would also like to focus on doing some more exercise and riding on the weekends, spending time with family and getting my house organised. I really need to clean out cupboards, de-clutter and spring clean (in summer?). 

Talk soon,

Blogging

Argh I am so sorry I haven't blogged since April :(  I seriously considered no longer having my blog as I obviously can't commit the time I would like to but I do love it so I will continue to blog when I can.  I will try to move it up a little on my priority list though!

The reasons I haven't blogged over the winter break?  Well I have been seriously immersing myself in wedding planning like mad.  I have so many wedding updates to do it just isn't funny, invitations, centrepieces, dress shopping, accessories shopping, cake tasting, music listening, the list goes on!!!!  And with only three months until our wedding date I still have so much I would like to do.
I have also been completing Certificate IV in Business Administration, which I am 2.5 modules away from finishing!  Thank god!  Work is flat chat acting in a different position and being short staffed most of the time, I barely have time to go to the loo!  Not really we have plenty of fun but there is heaps of work to get through.  

My mind is now in an awesome place and I feel content with myself, this is awesome.  More on that to come.
I am sad to say I haven't lost any weight :(  I really am hopelessly reliant on food and comfort eating.  But I have bought a bike and ride 7.2km to and from work every work day, 4-5 days a week.  So I am content knowing that I am being active and am reasonably fit.  I will continue to try and gain control over my comfort eating.  

Today I am off to a Tupperware Party at my mum's house, my sister-in-law has recently became a demonstrator and today is her first party.  Good luck Annalese.
Talk soon.

My New Lifestyle

After a weeks annual leave I went back to work this week hence the lack of blog posting.  It looks like I will only have time to post on weekends but I will do so as much as I can!  With only 336 days until my wedding day I desperately need to begin a health and beauty regime.  I already have regular facials and spend a fortune on my skin and I am lucky to have really long naturally blonde hair so the only thing I really need to work on is my weight and boy do I have my work cut out for me.  Now don't get me wrong, as much as I want to lose weight for my wedding I want to keep the weight off this time, this is no fad craze diet to shed kilos fast.  Notice I said 'this time'? Yes I have been here before and lost it before, this time I want to keep it off.  Having put on 17 kilos in the last three years I really have my work cut out for me! 

But I am pleased to say in my first week of my new healthy lifestyle I have already shed two kilos, the weight comes off a lot faster the more you have to lose!  Last year I began having regular appointments with a naturopath to try and work on my energy levels, then being diagnosed with depression I realised I had a lot more to work on.  Half the reason my energy levels are so low is because I do not do regular high intensity exercise but it's a bit of a catch 22, too tired to exercise but exercise will make me less tired!  And when I say tired I mean tired!  Without an alarm I sleep naturally between 9 to 12 hours every night, of course having to work means I don't get this much but I easily get 7.5 to 8 hours on weeknights and was still complaining of being exhausted.  This steals way too much of my time and is something I am desperately trying to fix.  After Googling 'how to out of bed', 'how to get motivated to get out bed', 'how to stop feeling tired' etc etc.  I realised I just needed to stop damn procrastinating and start exercising and eating as healthy as I can.  This week I have been to the gym for three 55 minute sessions with a mixture of weights and cardio, I have also done a interval walk/run and home resistance training.  Today is my second day off from exercising for the week (I know lazy right) because I am so sore all over (legs, tummy, arms and shoulders) I am walking around like I literally have a stick up my ass.  And don't get me started on trying to sit on the toilet, I get half way and my legs give way and I free fall to the seat!  Weights are a very important part of an exercise routine for me, the more muscle mass you have the more energy/fat you burn at rest, so girls reading this don't ever be scared of weights, you would have to be lifting mighty heavy weights regularly to even begin bulking up and who doesn't want to shed kilos while resting!  My energy levels have been amazing this week I don't think I have complained once of being tired and that's a big thing for me.

As for my diet this week, my lovely facial girl inspired me to take my own salads to work for lunch.  I was spending up to $10 a day on lunch and could really use that money towards my wedding.  I used to be a 'salad doesn't fill me up' kind of girl but this all depends on what you put in it.  I have been pan frying up half a chicken breast mixed with lettuce, carrot, alfalfa, cucumber, mushroom, boiled egg, avocado, light cheese and Red Kellys Tasmania Traditional Dressing, this makes a killer yummy salad that is really satisfying!  And for everyone who hasn't tried this dressing, it is amazingly good for any salad, get your hands on some ASAP. For snacks I have a banana, unsalted raw mixed nuts, a rice cake with light cream cheese and maybe even a little ham.  I am not a big fruit eater but this is all getting me through the work day perfectly.  Breakfast for me is some gluten free cereal with almond meal and tea is usually meat and vegetables or stir fries.  Weekends are definitely my down fall, without the routine of the work day I just eat whenever and whatever but so far this weekend I have been doing really well, sticking with some type of salad whenever I can. I have over the week had far to many chocolates.  I have been advised to swap a chocolate for jelly beans or licorice as I believe (I may have this wrong) these are simple sugars giving you the sweetness hit you're craving without the extra fat.  I am not saying licorice or jelly beans are good for you but they may be a wiser choice when you just must have something sweet.

Okay that's enough babbling about my weight loss week!  I plan to regularly update you on my weight loss/healthy lifestyle journey and would be very interested in tips, tricks or advice that you may like to share.  Now I am off to watch some True Blood without scoffing any chippies :(