Wild Wednesday!

This is an especially action packed week. I'll try and update you quickly.

Let's see.  Firstly, I have a new BEASTIE in my life. Rowrrrr.

Party 4 of 4!

This year my birthday has stretched out over four celebrations. I feel thoroughly spoiled and quite a bit like I ate too much. The good thing is that between indulgences I've kept myself under control. Maybe I gained a few lbs but it won't be a disaster.

Tonight was my fancy dress party and what a blast! I wanted to be Cleopatra but all the costumes I found were far too big for me and so I settled on a costume that was called the 'Queen of the Nile'. The hardest part was the freaking false eyelashes. I've never worn them before and did actually manage to glue my eyelids together with eyelash glue (I'm sure that's great for the Lasik) before successfully attaching the falsies. Getting them off may also be an interesting expedition. I wonder if I'll take my real eyelashes off with them! Here are some photo's.

Jase

Jo and Caz

Jases sister

Caz (my sister) and Me

Me

The Niece (she settled on a butterfly costume)

My mum

Bruce (mums hubby)

TT19, 66 days to go! Lasik update

Yesterday, being my actual birthday day, was a pre-designated 'non-compliance' day. I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted, which turned out to be not too much different to the usual plan, but with the addition of some yo-yo biscuits (my favourite!), caramel chocolate and apple pie with icecream. I once read an interview with Bill Philips, where he was discussing his approach to special occasions. He said something like - the main problem with indulging, is that people don't indulge when they should and then they do indulge later, when they shouldn't. I can understand that. If I'd held myself back on my birthday, then you can be sure that today, or tomorrow, I'd be in the presence of something delicious and I'd be telling myself 'well, I didn't really indulge on my birthday, so I deserve it'. That thought pattern could persist for a week. Far better to cut loose for a night, then get right back to my regular routine.

Today I'm back on the path. I do feel a bit squishy in the belly area, but as I'm avoiding the scales for the moment, I can also live in ignorant bliss about what they might say. I will weigh in at the half way point of my challenge and by then, the post birthday jiggle will be long gone. Fridays are my rest day, but I'll probably do some Salsa tonight and some stretching.

Yesterday morning was also my Lasik one month follow-up. So far, so good! My left eye has slightly better than 20/20 vision and is fully healed up, looking and behaving like a model patient. At the post-op check (day after the surgery) my right eye was (intentionally) over-corrected, meaning I was temporarily long-sighted. This has resolved itself, as expected, but the astigmatism that was there at the post-op check is still there and is unchanged. So, the vision in my right eye is slightly less than 20/20. At the 3 month check they will decide if I need a revision to fix the slight remaining astigmatism. It's really not bad. I can see the computer screen and read with my right eye, even quite fine print, it just requires a bit more concentration.

Spicy!

I was reading a fitness magazine today - I would name it, but the two main NZ produced fitness mags are called 'Fitness' and 'Fitness Life' and I can't remember which one I was reading. It presented a list of 10 things most essential to slimming. It was written by someone with a PhD in exercise science and contained such gems as add honey to your food (it's a lower GI sugar!) and avoid spicy foods that stimulate your appetite. Yes! that's the answer! Eat boring food! ...with honey in it! In my experience, spices are not fattening and not any more appetite stimulating than any other tasty food. In fact I find them to help with satiety because your tastebuds know something is happening. Eat something spicy! You won't feel like dessert.

Today I had a need for some cayenne and ginger powders to add to a 'blood cleansing' type of formulation. I don't know if it does cleanse the blood, but it does give a warm glow and certainly feels like it must be doing something. I happened to be reading 'Cuisine' magazine last week and had learned that The Spice Trader is about 500m up the road from the factory. I went in there feeling a bit moody and I came out feeling high on the spicy aroma's and the good company of the man that runs the shop. His whole business is importing and selling spices. He's like the Mistress of Spices.. except he's, you know... not a mistress.

I got home from work all ready to crack into Workout B, but Jase tells me no. He tells me we are going out because it's my birthday tomorrow and I can train tomorrow morning ('cos it's my birthday and I want to start the day well.... yes, master of logic) and, of course, I allowed myself to be persuaded. We are going to Simo's for some Moroccan spiciness. I saw it on a TV program and it's supposed to be the authentic Moroccan eating experience. It was certainly an authentic experience booking the table. I think the man at the other end knows we are coming at 7.30. I couldn't really understand a word he said. It was just like trying to book a table in a foreign country.

Tango

There is so much to blog about lately (that's good, right?). It's my birthday next week and I've been 'strongly hinting' to Jase that I would really like to see the Tango show 'One Night in Buenos Aires' which is touring NZ at the moment. Out of all the dance styles I am familiar with, Tango is the one that I find most visually arresting. Performed masterfully, the dance is full of suspense and that's even before you get to the really fancy legwork. I sat there, in the good seats (when the Jase does something, he does it well), plastic wine glass in hand, totally entranced. I need more of this in my life. Less work, more dancing.