Grand Final day!

Grand Final day! Luke and I had a tradition where we ate copious amounts of junk food (footy food) while we watched the match and veg out for the day. Today, was going to be no different. Despite the diet, we were going to be naughty - and therefore, Grand Final Day was declared Cheat Day.

The biggest irony is that I don't think I even ate that many calories.  I made a layered dip comprising of homemade refried beans, sour cream, roasted tomatillo salsa (the one I got from the supermarket in my earlier post), tasty cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo. It was yummilicious! I just served it with the Mission White corn chips ... and maybe some grilled chicken wings (because it's not really footy food without wings!)

BUT, to my absolute dismay, I couldn't get through my food- it was almost as if my tummy had shrunk! So it looks like I might not be able to shovel as much food as I want in my mouth anymore... only one solution to that- strategic eating!! But that's another conversation for another day... for now- PHOTOS!!!

Expanding horizons

So freaking excited. I think Australia is finally embracing Mexican food! Not that I'm an expert, mind you. But I would like to have things like masa, tomatillos, chipotle, ancho, etc be readily available at the supermarket. But no, just El De Paso. Recently, they have started bringing in some Mission products, which up until the beginning of the year, I didn't take much notice of. They appeared to be the only brand which carried plain-ish tasting corn chips.. and they are delish!

But I digress...

Someone told me that I could get Mexican products from a little shop in town. As I didn't work in town, it was a bit of a trip for me, but once I was in there, I was like a kid in a candy store. I got most excited when I saw pinto beans. I had to blink twice to make sure that I wasn't seeing borlotti beans. PINTO BEANS. How exciting - my dreams of making my own refried beans, cowboy beans and just plain boiled beans can now be a reality. One kilo in my trolley, thanks.

Then a can of tomatillos... WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ARE $7?? Oh well, I'll take two thanks... I'm hardly in here and I want to make a tomatillo salsa dammit.

I could go on and on about the different products I saw, got excited by and purchased. But I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, I bought a lot of things that day. And the tomatillo salsa I made that weekend was delicious. Cut to the week after my big shopping expedition and we were in the Mexican aisle at the supermarket grabbing some Mission chips and my husband pointed this out to me on the shelf:

I can't decide whether I'm mad because I went through all that trouble of finding tomatillos in some obscure shop in town, or happy because now I don't have to trek into town to get this, or go through the effort of making some from scratch. I think I'm going to go for the latter. :)

Woolies and Coles, if you could stock pinto beans too, that would be super. But you have time... I bought quite enough on my last trip to last a couple of months. ;)

xoxo

Some Monday love..

Usually I hate Mondays. Especially when I was at my last job. Then I started my current job and I hated it less... but now, thanks to some Lorna Jane wisdom (below), I love Mondays. And happy to be alive!!!

Forget about the past week, forget about the naughty foods you may have eaten throughout the weekend, forget about last week when you didn't exercise or do anything active. Not only you have the gift of a new day, but a new WEEK. Carpe diem!!!

Thanks Lorna Jane!! xoxo

I pledge...

I pledge to take my dog for more walks. Not like she cares, lazy thing. But I will.

On another note- some Cookie Monster wisdom, not sure who wrote it, but credit to you, whoever you are! Bring on Monday! xoxo

PS. Me will eat a cookie of an appropriate size and right amount of calories of course!!! ☺

Weight loss challenge

The challenge is simple. Keep within your required calorie intake (in my case, 1200 calories), otherwise, pay a couple of dollars into the naughty jar.

It should be noted that the monetary penalty does not act as a disincentive to break the required calorie intake... it's the SHAME of seeing that money sitting in that jar, as a symbol of your weak will power. No one said that this was going to be an easy journey.

I decided to undertake this weight loss challenge with my beloved, Mr Lukini. The first milestone is 10 kilos by Christmas. 1500 cals for him, 1200 for me. As he could not exercise, and I could (and did all the cooking), we agreed that I would be allowed to count up to 300 calories of exercise toward my calorie intake, putting us on equal ground. However, if I didn't exercise it would be the measly 1200 cals.

Ready, get set, GO GO GO!!!! :)

So hungee....

Are you freaking kidding me? Do I weight THAT much? And...how did I let it happen???

I have done EVERYTHING to try to lose weight. EVERYTHING imaginable. Short of having my stomach stapled, I have tried all the fad diets and exercise crazes and I'm still the size of a freaking heifer. This ends here.

Let's dissect the problem... I love food. A little too much. But I love food. I could talk about it all day. I love to eat, create, cook, read about, live and breathe it. LOVE IT.

So the diets were never going to work. And exercise doesn't work if you eat enough food to feed a small nation. So what to do?

I've seen my husband drop 15 kilos with proper diet and exercise and mostly staying within his recommended calorie intake. That is what I need to do. Portion control. So I can still eat the foods I like, but I will just need to watch my portion sizes and think about what I put in my food.

So. Armed with myfitnesspal loaded on my iPhone and this blog to keep me on track and motivated, I will endeavour to drop 30 kilos. Who is with me? Anyone?