thank you

Work is over for the year. Family shenanigans in Singapore are well underway. 2013 is just around the corner.

But what a year it has been! 2012 has been a year of progress for me. I have made changes to improve the balance in my life. Health and fitness are now firm priorities. Work has been challenging and rewarding, and I'm loving it. My wonderful boyfriend and I moved in together. I have been fortunate enough to travel domestically and internationally. (But I certainly wouldn't complain about the opportunity to travel more.) In all honesty, I have had a fantastic year. There are still so many things I need to work on, but I'm sure I will never stop striving to better myself.

Lately the topics of honesty and openness have been bandied around. While I can be known to keep my cards close, I believe that I am honest and open when appropriately engaged. This year I have shared my thoughts, feelings and experiences through two blogs - openly and honestly. Writing about my struggles with weight loss has been a truly difficult, occasionally frustrating, but overall thought provoking experience.

The support I have received from people in the 12wbt, blog and instagram community has been overwhelming. I cannot thank you all enough. Every comment, like, response, hug, pat on the back has been cherished.

Thank you!

And have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

- Dani

quick update

Olla! Oh what a slack little bunny I've been. I haven't had much time for blog-lovin lately. (Sorry.) So here is a quick update.

The nutrition plan I created for myself was a success and I promise to share more info (including recipes) with you soon.

Despite being the silly season my alcohol consumption has been low and the platters, etc. have been kept to a minimum. Although I do plan to indulge a little during my work Christmas party this week.

While I have been happy with my nutrition of late, the exercise front has faced some serious issues. After a week with the flu, getting back into my usual exercise routine has not been easy. Given that I'm about the leave the country for 3 weeks, I'm going to have to come up with some creative ways to stay motivated. Luckily I'll have more free time.

Yes, I am going to overseas this Saturday! Boy do I feel like I need a holiday. First stop is Singapore, for some much needed family time. Then it is on to Japan for an eye-opening extravaganza.

Fun times ahead!

- Dani

reflection

When I'm out and about living life (working, socialising, doing), I feel great. I would say I'm a genuinely happy person. But sometimes I stop and reflect, think about a past incident or look at a photo, and I tend to focus on the negatives. It makes me feel awful.

Most recently I felt like this when I looked at a photo I was in. Not an old photo, a recent one. I looked overweight, pasty and unattractive. In an instant my whole perception of myself changed. I wasn't thinking about the great time I was having when the photo was taken. I wasn't thinking about the fantastic friends I shared that moment with. All I saw in that photo were things about myself that I dislike.

As already mentioned, I think I'm a fairly happy person and I do like myself. So why do these moments of reflection send me into a downward spiral of mental self-flagellation?

While I have no idea if this thought process will ever change - it would be nice to look at a photo and appreciate my qualities rather than judge my appearance - I am going to try my darndest to make that girl in the picture better.

- Dani

bad start

Hello everyone. How was your weekend?

I had a lovely weekend visiting relatives and resting. That nasty bug is out of my system and I'm feeling tip-top again.

I also used the downtime to put together a pretty decent nutrition plan for this week. (Yay me!)

There was a mess of cookbooks, notes and tabs covering the coffee table as I did my 'research'. Finally, each meal was allocated and I had the shopping list to boot. I even did the shopping - although why I continue to go supermarket shopping on a Sunday, I don't know. I really must get back into my routine of hitting a fresh food market instead.

And what happened next? I just stopped. I had the plan. I had the food. But did I prepare anything last night? No.

How could I start the week so badly?!

Instead of munching on a delightful smoked salmon omelette this morning, I'm currently eating an emergency breakfast bar I keep at work. And lunch will be... something bought. Oh the horror.

So my 'post-12wbt trial week' isn't off to a great start. (I also didn't exercise this morning, although that isn't particularly unusual for me on a Monday.)

Guess the only thing to do from here is to buy a great lunch and up the ante on the preparation front tonight.

- Dani

trial run

I'm still sick and the weekend couldn't come any sooner. The plan is to rest, rehydrate and repeat.

It feels weird not exercising or at least not fretting about exercise. But my nutrition has been reasonable and I plan to get very active as soon as possible - body allowing.

In trying to do all I can to ensure I have a stellar week next week, planning is my key focus. And although I am trying to be the queen of positive at the moment, I have to say... I'm not a fan of the 12wbt nutrition plan for Week 4.

As per usual, I printed the weekly nutrition plan with the aim to identify and replace the unsuitable meals (because of intolerance, etc). But this week I wanted to replace 90% of the meals.

Rather than feel disheartened I decided that this was a great opportunity to test my ability to create a wonderfully healthy and nutritious menu on my own.

The 12wbt team can't create my nutrition plans forever, at some point I am going to need to learn to do it all by myself - week 4 is going to be my trial run.

I haven't quite figured it all out yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend!

- Dani

goals

I'm aching all over, struggling to breathe and all I want to do is curl up in bed. Yep, I am sick.

So I guess the exercise plan isn't exactly going to be adhered to with military precision. (Understatement.) And there are a couple of red flags this week. (Not ideal.)

Whether I like it or not shit happens. Every second of my life can't be planned and executed perfectly, so I need to think of the bigger picture when things get a little haywire.

To get past a bad day or two, or even an entire slump, I've developed some goals. And I'm going to achieve these goals regardless of my ability to 'stick to the plan'.

December goals
- Weigh less than 80kg
- Run 3km non-stop outdoors (record time and aim to beat it)
- Row 500m as fast as possible (record time and aim to beat it)
- Plank on toes for 1 min (more if possible)
- Burn >3000 calories during workouts in one week

January goals
- Weigh less than 78kg
- Run 3km non-stop outdoors (record time and aim to beat it)
- Row 500m as fast as possible (record time)
- Plank on toes for 1 min 30 secs (more if possible)
- Burn >3000 calories during workouts in one week

February goals
- Weigh less than 76kg
- Run 5km non-stop outdoors (record time and aim to beat it)
- Row 500m under 2 mins
- Plank on toes for 2 mins
- Burn >3000 calories during workouts in one week - twice

I think my goals are realistic and I intend to re-evaluate them at the end of each month.

But right now I'm going to focus on drinking lots of water, filling my body with essential vitamins & nutrients, and getting plenty of rest. (Woe is me.)

- Dani

green smoothie

Being lactose intolerant and having a less-than-positive attitude toward bananas, I often struggle with breakfast smoothies. For anyone partaking in the 12wbt at the moment, you would know that Banana Smoothies are part of the nutrition plan next week. So I've been searching for an alternative.

Today I decided to test out a green smoothie, which is based on Angela's (from Oh She Glows) Green Monster recipe.

Serves 2-3 (approx 45-65 calories per serve)

1 cup baby spinach

1 gala apple (or any sweet apple) 

1 continental cucumber

Juice from 1 lemon 

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Maple syrup, to taste (I used approx 1 tablespoon)

Handful ice cubes

1. Peel cucumber. Roughly chop cucumber and apple.

2. Put spinach, apple, cucumber, lemon juice and ginger in a food processor or good quality blender. Blend on high until smooth.

3. Put mixture into a blender (if you haven't already) with ice and maple syrup.

4. Pour and serve!

The verdict: I was pleasantly surprised. I really like the idea of this recipe, but think it could do with some tweaking (e.g., I would definitely consider adding a second apple next time). 

Also, I personally found that my blender wasn't able create a smooth mixture on its own, so I had to use the food processor and then the blender. But just do what works best with the appliances you have.

Have a great weekend!

- Dani