Off to Good Start

Two days in and I'm doing good with my nutrition plan. It has really been helped by  the abundance of tomatoes, beans and zucchini I've been harvesting from our vege patch. They have been great to snack on and I know that I can eat pretty well as much as I want without worrying about calories or fat or low nutritional content. These foods are tasty, healthy and surprisingly filling.

I've also enjoyed a few passion fruit the past couple of days from my father in law.  They have around 30 meters of vine, so we will have a good supply over the coming weeks.

I'm still having a carb breakfast, usually porridge and then a small serve of potato, rice or pasta with my evening meal, but otherwise I'm not slipping up on my usual crackers, biscuits and other naughties - yet.  It is early days, but I'm hoping by next week that I'll drop below the 100kg mark and that will be a huge motivator for me too. My BMI sits at 33.3, in the obese category which is obviously not ideal. My goal is somewhere in the region of 26, or around 80 kgs. This actually still falls in the 'overweight' category, but I think I would have to be a skeleton to fit within the normal range.  I'm realistic about what I can achieve and to be honest I'm quite happy to maintain a few curves in my figure.

I'd also like to add a daily yoga routine to my wellness plan soon. I'm thinking I will need to get up earlier before the household is awake to get it done. I have a few yoga apps to try. My main objective is to improve flexibility and to facilitate fat loss, so I need to find a suitable routine (at a beginners level) for this.

I'm looking foward to a few more days of good progress. I just need to keep up the good work.

A Change Will Do Me Good

I think my recent illnesses have highlighted just out off balance my state of health is and that some changes are in order to help get my wellness back on track.

My first priority needs to be nutrition. I have been attempting to modify my diet for a few days now with the Paleo method. I had actually tried this about 2 years ago, due to a doctors recommendation - before I even heard it coined 'Paleo'. I successfully used this method for 3 months and lost 13 kgs, but now the weight is almost all back again. I think it is a miracle that I am not heavier, with the rubbish I have been eating for 2 years now, but I am determined to get my nutrition back on track - this time for good.

Last time I managed to switch, more or less cold turkey, but this time I am going to work towards some key changes first and then make sure I have those areas firmly established as habits, before I work on removing grains, dairy and sugar from my diet. For now, a reduction in these items will still benefit me and I will hopefully feel more comfortable transitioning over a period of time.  

First on my list of changes is the return to black coffee / tea.  I drink 2-3 cups of espresso coffee and usually one cup of tea per day.  I probably need to reduce this to 1-2 cups of coffee, but losing the milk is a good start.  The second change is Paleo snacks.  I am usually tempted by crackers, biscuits and bread as a quick fix between meals.  I am committing to fruit, veges or unprocessed meat for between meals. For main meals there will still be a carb component, but I will cut it back slowly. Lastly I plan to introduce back more nuts/seeds and good oils to my diet, but only in small amounts and only as part of meals, not snacks, as I am too partial to nuts and might overdo it.

I think these changes are realistic and won't cause too much disruption to family mealtimes for now. I do plan to make changes over time, but I expect a better response to gradual change.

Battling the Bugs

I have been through two separate illnesses in the past 10 days, both have left me exhausted and well behind in my daily tasks and goals. Last week it was a horrible stomach flu that had me running to the bathroom with a bucket. I won't mention more. Fortunately the worse was over with in 12 hours, but the aftermath was that I was tired and still suffered stomach pain for a further 48 hours. 

The next illness struck 6 days later in the form of a head cold - throbbing head, blocked sinuses, nausea and again exhaustion. I've only just started to feel normal again after 48 hours and a tonne of ibuprofen and paracetamol.

I have been awaiting the onslaught of sick children, having brought the germs into the home, but, as yet it hasn't happened. It seems I am the only one who has been loosing the battle with the bugs.

I am hoping to get stuck into a few more projects soon, but as I have had an unproductive period, I'm expecting it will be a while now before my next project post.

Dinner Time Protests

Dinner time has become unbearable at our house at the moment 😣 I have struggled with meal time protests, largely from our daughters and poor meal time behaviour from our son and tonight I finally said 'enough is enough'.

Last night my eldest daughter protested about meat loaf with pasta and cheesy sauce and steamed veges. Her younger sister quickly followed suit and actually ended up barely touching her meal. Tonight I had leftovers planned - but to switch it up a bit, I thought maybe spaghetti with tomato pasta sauce and meat loaf squares (not too dissimilar to sprag and meatballs which the kids love), but when my 8 year old daughter asked what we were having tonight and I said meat loaf with spaghetti, the crying and screaming and foot stamping started. After that I made a firm decision that I would not be cooking meatloaf with spaghetti or anything else for that matter. Do they deserve a meal when all they do is complain about it?

It's not just meals that the kids regularly complain about, but it's meals that I particularly take issue with. So many children are not eating well - but mine, well they are clearly so well fed that they are happy to reject what is put it front of them.

I don't really think that I had full support from my husband on the issue. He had to come home to a crying eight year old, distraught that she was not having dinner cooked for her and a three year old in time out for putting stones down the toilet.  In addition to that, he had to be out the door again in an hour to get to a meeting, so he wasn't impressed that dinner had not materialised and that a scone or a cold meat loaf sandwich was all that was on offer for his evening meal.

My eldest took it upon herself to make toast for her and her siblings which I allowed and was somewhat pleased that when she served the toast, her younger sister told her that she did not want toast for dinner - step into my shoes sister!

I'm not sure if my 'protest to the protests' will pay off. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow night when dinner time comes around...

Purse Clean-out

I purchased a new purse a few months ago, my last purse looked lovely and I always got plenty of comments on it, but it had a huge flaw. It was the type that when you sat it down, it would tip over and most of the time, spill the contents onto the floor! I persevered with it for over a year, but decided in the end that practicality won out, so I re-invested in a sturdier option with a rectanglular base that stands upright when it is placed on a flat surface.

Because of it's size, I knew there was a risk that all my purse supplies would end up swimming around in there and getting lost, so I got crafty and sewed myself a fabric organiser insert to give everything a     home for easy access. I used a remnant of patterned fabric, which I already had and used an iron-on backing fabric to give it some rigidity. I also made a matching rectangular insert to sit at the bottom of the purse to complete the look and protect the bottom of the purse. 

Even with my new purse and organiser insert, the only way to keep the chaos under control is a regular clean-out, so I got to it.

This is the emptied contents of my purse!

This is a pile of all the things I decided are not going back into my purse

This is what I am putting back, I have already tucked away most of it into the individual sections of the organiser insert. The only things that don't fit are my diary/planner, wallet, keys and my phone (which is not in the pic because I am using it to take the photos)

I have decided on making an addition to my purse and that is this cute little clutch. I got it at The Warehouse for $2.50 - it was reduced from $25.00!

The clutch is going to hold my wallet, phone and keys so that I can use it to quickly grab and take with me when I don't need the whole contents of my purse. 

This is what the organiser insert looks like once I have put it in the purse. In fits in quite snugly around the outside, leaving space in the centre of the clutch and my diary / planner.

It looks pretty full now, but it is organised and everything is in it's place. You would be surprised what I fit in there, from a first aid kit to breath mints and antacids.

Another job done. It feels good to have an organised purse again and know that I don't have to waste time digging around looking for things.

My DIY Magazine Holder

I did a bit of crafting the other day, my laundry powder box turned magazine holders. Here's how I did it.

First I took the empty box and taped the top shut.

Then I marked out the shape of the magazine holder on the box ready to cut out with a craft knife. This shape will cut the box in half, creating two symmetrical halves.

This is what you end up with - two magazine holders, ready to decorate.

 I decorated them with some old paint swatches by gluing them on and trimming them to size.

To finish them off, I painted the insides in yellow from an old paint test pot. Total cost $0.00. The best part was my husband asked me where I'd bought them and was obviously quite surprised when I said I'd made them 😀

Second Phase of the Blitz

Yesterday I attempted to tackle my eldest daughters bedroom - and apart from sorting out her fish tank, I didn't get much further.

Today I am determined to make better progress. I started by emptying the large closet space (which admittedly was storing a lot of my massage equipment) and then moved the large storage containers which were stacked on the floor, into the wardrobe.

Then I started on the floor, all the clothes, blankets, towels etc. were piled on the bed to sort. Many of the soft toys were put back into the storage bins and all the books stacked back on the over-desk shelving unit. The myriad of crafting supplies, pens, stickers and notebooks were stacked on the desk or the top of the set of drawers ready for sorting. I then straightened the rug, hung a picture back on the wall that had at some point fallen down and opened the window to let some fresh air in. Total time on this task was 30 minutes.

It is still a work in progress, but there is now clear access to the desk, bed and wardrobe and there is a good starting point for phase 3- cleaning and organising the remaining clutter. 

I'm happy with my progress - it is a huge improvement and a lot less overwhelming than before 😀

5 Minute Blitz Cleaning

The kids bedrooms have been really bugging me the last few weeks. In the initial weeks following Christmas, I resorted to removing two thirds of the twins toys in an effort to minimise the amount of mess in their rooms. This was successful for a week or two, but somehow the remaining toys have still managed spread themselves across the room from corner to corner.

I had come to the point of being overwhelmed and fed up with the situation, so I set myself a small and totally achieveable challenge to improve the rooms as best as I could in a five minute time frame.  

So out came the kitchen timer and off I set to work on my son's room. Cars, books, teddies and clothes were cleared from the floor and put away, the bed and rug straightened and a range of girls toys we're returned to their proper bedrooms, then voila - time's up and wow! The difference was huge. Obviously not perfect, but certainly in a ready state for vacuuming, a proper clean and a change of duvet cover.

Next it was onto my youngest daughter's room. Straight into it - 5 minutes on the timer and... Oh my gosh - there is a lot more on the floor than the last room - hair clips, jewellery, pens, books, tiny toys  - arghhhhhhh! But pressing on, I get down on my hands and knees and start with the larger toys, clothes and toys that don't belong, I get onto the small stuff and get a lot of it off the floor. I actually work a little past the timer - straighten the rug and pull open the blinds behind the desk, but no straightening the bed or tidying the books but, you know what - not bad, an improvement (and not unnoticed by Miss 3 after pre-school). She was very appreciative that her room was tidy!

Lastly, my eldest daughters room - oh dear! I start the timer and... I stand in the middle of the room and just look at it :-( after about a minute, I notice the fish tank  - it is only half full of water and the fish, I begin to wonder, when was it last fed? The fish was fine but I decided it needed urgent attention, so gave it food and then gave the tank a top up of treated water. 5 minutes gone and no progress on the state of the room :-(

Here is the scale of my problem:

Now, I know - it's not the messiest room ever, it may not look overwhelming to everyone, but it is one of those rooms that has been wearing me down over time. It is the sort of room you can spend hours tidying and then in a few minutes it can be back to the same state as before! It is soul destroying and frustrating and it just makes me want to bury my head in the sand.

So that is where I left my cleaning blitz. I need to restrategise on my plan for this room and how I'm going to get my daughter involved in keeping her room tidy and organised. I don't want to have to face it like this ever again.

Making an Entrance... More Inviting

This is our main entrance to the house - before I gave it a little ZB (zero budget) makeover:

I only took one pic, quite honestly I don't think I could bare to take any more of the dreary dumping ground. Here are the after pics:

I had to source things from around the house and garden for this little project and I have to say, although it is not the ideal set-up, it is an improvement. I have borrowed the long gate-leg table from the dining room, which I was a bit sad to lose, but it was the only option available for now. The stool was just lurking around the house and the small round table is borrowed from my son's bedroom.  I particularly like the table cloth on the small table, as it is an old linen curtain of my grandmother's.

The gate-leg table does not offer me the storage I was hoping for, but there is at least some display space and the idea behind the chair and stool are to provide drop zones that I can use to free my hands for a few minutes while I'm getting school bags and groceries in the door. The basket on the floor is for kids shoes, and I can store shoes under the tables if needed and I have thinned down the coat rack, which will build up again - but I will thin it out again when that happens.

The front door is in a state of incompletion in an attempt of whitewashing and the space is still a bit on the dark side, but only lighter paintwork, a different door which has glass panels and/or a sky light will make the space as light and bright as I would like it.  For now it's as good as I can make it, over time hopefully I can improve it even more.