More mind games

Over the past 7 or 8 months, I've put in some hard work, been pretty damn good with my nutrition and I know that I've made great progress. I'm wearing smaller clothes, I'm definitely fitter, and I'm a lot less twisted and bent than I used to be. But some interesting mental stuff is happening too...

I keep having moments where I'm surprised at how I look. Just this morning, I turned a corner in the gym and caught sight of myself in a mirror way on the other side of the room. I actually stopped and stared. Do I really look like that? Where's the out of balance, over-heavy bottom half I've always had? And are my shoulders actually that wide?

You'd think that after years of training, and given how far I've come, that I'd feel super-confident. But most of the time, I've still felt not quite good enough. It's like I perceive gym-goers as belonging to one of two groups of people: the lean, fit and athletic ones; and the slightly flabby, can't-quite-keep-up, below-average types. My inner fat girl keeps classifying me in with the latter group. It's like I've tried and tried to be one of the others, but I just feel as though I'm faking it. Inside I'm still the girl who always trailed at the back in PE when the class was made to run around the footy oval.

Lately though, I see my reflection in the mirror, nod to myself in a kind of satisfied way, and feel like: Yeah, I actually belong here. Then I just get on with my workout.

That inner fat girl of mine is a lying cow - one of these days I'm going to give her SUCH a smackdown!

Note to self:

When a magazine photographer is in the general vicinity, one should NOT place oneself next to Melita Jagic. Being that close to a buff goddess makes one look white and pudgy.

Damn!

Rapido enchilada pollo

I love Mexican food. Even if I have to make it myself to get it just the way I like it.

(You'll have to excuse my very bad Spanish - I'm sure I got it completely wrong)

Tim Tam Crush-crush

Further to my "I'm not on a diet" post.... in case you're wondering what I might eat when I have a treat, read on.

Bike Boy and I were at the supermarket this afternoon, doing the *yawn* grocery shopping. And I remarked that I planned to have a treat tonight. I cruised along the ice cream freezers, picking up Cornettos, Magnums, and various other frozen delights and putting them back. I couldn't decide - I wanted something...well, SPECIAL. Chocolate, thought I - that's what I want!

But in the chocolate aisle, again I was indecisive. Lindt 85%? Some Lindor balls? A Peanut Slab? Hmm....

So when we got to the checkout, I still hadn't decided. I was unloading veggies, cereal, canned tuna and so on and still pondering. Then I had a brainwave (or perhaps it was a mini-stroke; who knows?). I finished unloading the washing powder, toothpaste and paper towels out of the trolley and told Bike Boy I'd be right back.

You know those Tim Tam Crush bikkies? Well, with a name like that, they're really just ASKING for it, aren't they? I grabbed a pack of those, a small tub of premium vanilla ice cream and this is what I came up with:



You smoosh up two Tim Tam Crush biscuits (I chose the toffee nut ones), chuck them on top of a couple of scoops of ice cream, and add a little toffee sauce (just happened to have some in the fridge). Mmmm.......

The REALLY good thing? You only get 8 in a pack of those Tim Tams, so assuming you're making dessert for 4, temptation is completely removed once you've had your indulgence.

Attention fish lovers!

I have two fabulous new fishy recipes over on my food blog.

You can take your pick from my Linguine Marinara, or Jill Duplaix's Salmon and Potato Salad. Both are yummy!

Seriously, you could serve this up to posh dinner guests and they'd be blown away. Unless they don't like fish.... in which case you'd have a big problem.

I'm not on a diet

I have to credit Claire with the inspiration for this post. How often does some ignoramus spot your tasty yet healthy meal, or hear you refusing alcohol or dessert and ask: "why are YOU on a diet?"

My other favourite *rolls eyes* is when I have one of my not-so-infrequent treats, like a glass of wine or a delicious piece of chocolate and I get told "You can't eat that! What about your diet?" Uh...diet? What diet? And can't? Just watch me!

So, in honour of those of us who are NOT ON A DIET, I'm starting a meme. It's a simple one.

Rules:

1. Post a photo of one of your favourite healthy meals.
2. Title the post I'm Not on a Diet
3. Link back to this post.
4. Tag 5 other people. :o)

Who knows, the idea of eating (mostly) healthy meals voluntarily because a) you like to feed your body good food, and b) they taste way better than processed crap, might even catch on.

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Here's mine:


Linguine Marinara. And a spinach and rocket salad with olive oil/balsamic dressing way in the background there. Yum!

I tag:

Sara
Raechelle
Liz
Linda and
Claire


P.S. I'll be posting the recipe on my food blog soon.....

What's the salary and is super included in the package?

Sandra Sully on the late news: Blah, blah, police shooting....blah, blah, police sources described the man as a career criminal.

Me (to Bike Boy): So, what qualifications do you need for that particular occupation? Is there a TAFE course?

FINALLY

The Melbourne MDC results were posted late this afternoon. I am not happy with my net time. 25:16. Harrumph! That's a tortoise-worthy pace of about 6:31.

My publicly-stated goal was to finish sub-26. Which I achieved. But I really, REALLY wanted to do it in under 25.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I was sick (and I have still got the festering throat thing. Ugh). And there were those 3,597 other people I had to dodge around (So 1,390 of them were never in any danger of being overtaken by me, but still....).

I shall just have to train harder for my next run. Grrr!

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My Phat Camp tops finally arrived yesterday! Yay!

Now I'm just waiting for my Stretchalicious pants.... in Size 1. Is that the most ridiculous size you ever heard of, or what?

They're the ones Jen's wearing in this pic:


Cute!!

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Speaking of parcels, today I got an Amazon order. It's Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. If you didn't go view the video of this amazing guy when I posted the link last time, you really should.

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Yesterday morning was definitely chilly. According to the BOM, it was 4C. We got the same again today - Bike Boy even had the first icy windscreen of the season. Brrr! From now until about October, I shall be going to the gym in multiple layers and doing a striptease as I progress through my workout.

Once again, it was a magnificent afternoon though - blue sky, sunshine, autumn leaves and a lovely 22C.

But the early mornings have knobs on. Tomorrow I get to sleep in till 7:00, have a leisurely breakfast and THEN head to the gym at a civilised time. Mmm, I love not having to rush!

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In case anyone thinks I'm being a bit sooky-la-la about my run time, I was beaten by a couple of 70+ year-olds. By a large margin.

And also

It was FREEZING this morning. I got out of bed at 5:20am to get ready for the gym, and I almost yelped out loud as the cold air hit my skin. Then I realised that my throat is still sore -worse than ever, in fact. It's only sore in one spot, as if there's some hideous festering thing there. Which there probably is. Eeuww!

I seriously, SERIOUSLY thought about climbing straight back under the doona.

Of course my conscience got the better of me and I got dressed and went to the gym anyway. In a t-shirt, a long-sleeved top, a hoodie and a nice thick jacket.

It's not even winter yet - how on earth am I going to survive?

Waiting.....

No, I do not have my time yet. Slackers! How is it that Canberra, Sydney and Hobart results were up on Monday, Adelaide and some others got added yesterday and there is STILL no sign of Melbourne?

I shall be surreptitiously checking the internet at the office today to see if they've updated. About every 5 minutes.

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Looks like I've dobbed myself in for a 5km run on June 22nd. Uh....I hate running. So does this mean I've gone nuts?