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being fit & healthy, going to the gym & eating right.
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February 19, 2009
no tolerance for caffeine anymore - 09:21 AM
i seem to have lost my tolerance for caffeine. the other day, i had one single cup of tea relatively early in the morning, not even a strong one, & that night i was wide awake for ages!
i've never been a big tea drinker (& even though i love the smell of coffee, i can't stand the taste). when i did drink it regularly, it was maybe one cup a day if the weather wasn't hot, but these days i have a cup of tea only perhaps once a month. i've also stopped drinking coke as much as i used to, which also wasn't that often anyway.
so now when i do have a coke or a tea, it affects me in a big way. it's kind of annoying.
January 26, 2009
why are they putting toxins in our water? - 04:22 PM
anna bligh, queensland's premier, decided to put fluoride in our water supply, despite massive public objection to it when the idea was brought forward. so much for a democracy. perhaps she was feeling left out because every other state in australia has had fluoridated water for many many years. hmm. you know the saying, 'if your friends jumped off a bridge ..', etc?
i followed a link to a site which is about equipment for dosing water with fluoride. on that page, it says this about fluoride (italics added by me for emphasis):
'Fluoridation of potable water has long been an accepted practice for the prevention of tooth decay. Water is generally treated with either:
* Fluorosilicic acid (commercially available as a 22% solution)
* Sodium Silicofluoride (Powder)
* Sodium Fluoride (Powder)
While each product has associated risks with regards to handling, fluorosilicic acid is a particularly aggressive and hazardous chemical and requires specific operator training and awareness. In addition, specific system design, pareticularly with regard to equipment flushing, also needs to be considered. On the other hand, powdered products present their own health issues, specifically with regard to management of the dust problem when handling. This normally requires a reasonably complex and costly dust extraction/air filtration system. All of these OH&S issues can be overcome, but generally at a cost, which makes the application of fluoride to small water treatment facilities uneconomic.'
it sort of reminds me of a baker who worked at an industrial bakery (you know, like for one of the big bread companies) once telling me about the anti-moulding stuff that they were not allowed to touch or breathe that they put into the bread ..
.. oh, but it's okay to put that crap into stuff we consume!!
this is why i got myself a reverse osmosis water filter (the only thing that will take out fluoride. if you're told that any other filter will take it out, then you're being lied to) & why i don't buy supermarket bread.
January 14, 2009
eucalyptus oil for blocked sinuses - 07:09 AM
a week ago i wrote about my head cold. i was feeling heaps better over the weekend, didn't even need to take any cold & flu tablets. (i'd found that they weren't working very well, anyway. the main reason i was taking the tablets was to try to stop the pain from my blocked sinuses; i just can't stand sinus pain.)
so after starting to feel better since thursday, it's taken another turn for the worse. it's left my chest, but set up camp with a vengeance in my sinuses. i took some tablets yesterday for it but, again, they were only just taking the edge off the pain.
i took more tablets last night (the night time ones) & woke up in the early hours of this morning with my head still killing me. i think i'll just give up on those for good, because this morning i got some eucalyptus oil & matters into my own hands.
i'd used some eucalyptus oil last night on the neckline of my pajamas & rubbed onto my chest to clear my nose to breathe, but it just wasn't cutting it being so far away from the source. so i pretty much just shoved it right up my nose: i dipped the tip of my pinky finger into the bottle & put my finger as far up my nose as i could.
immediate relief.
the mucous broke up, my nose started running (as well as my eyes just a touch) & my sinuses felt sweet relief! it seems i do have to do it every ten minutes or so to keep my sinuses clear, but at least it works right away instead of having to wait forty-five minutes to an hour & then have only the edge of the pain taken off.
they suggest on the bottle that you do an inhalation (via the oil being dripped into a bowl of hot water) but that doesn't seem to be enough in this case. i'm just going to keep shoving it up my nose all day if i have to.
August 06, 2008
butter keeper - 10:11 AM
brisbane is not the sort of place where you can keep real butter out of the fridge to keep it nice & soft & ready to use. i prefer to use real butter since i know there's no yucky chemicals or other things added (or made completely from gross stuff like margarine is), but butter is always so hard when you take it out of the fridge.
quite a while ago i saw these very cool butter keepers online (link takes you to google images of butter keepers)—also known as a butter bell, or a butter crock—where the butter is kept in a kind of bell shaped thing which is submerged upside down into clean water kept in the other half of the butter keeper. this keeps the air from circulating around it, but means you can keep it out of the fridge & a little bit insulated from the hot weather we get in brisbane summers.
however, not once have i seen them available in australia, not even from online shops or australian ebay sellers. i really wanted one, so a couple of weeks ago, my friend dave, in the usa, kindly ordered one on my behalf from amazon. i paid him the money, plus postage to here & he sent it off to me.
it's so cool! i do so love me something which functions really well at what it's designed to do, & this does it perfectly.
July 17, 2008
breastfeeding is not a perversion - 08:54 AM
i'm on a yahoo group for extended breastfeeders. 'extended' (sadly) can cover anything from continuing for longer than six months to one year.
one lady recently wrote a long post about how she can feel that she's taking on the guilt given to her by others for planning to breastfeed her child for as long as four years if he wants to go that long.
this woman is in america. almost all .. no, actually, all of the stories i've heard (stories spread widely by the media or just personal stories told privately in the extended breastfeeding group) have come from america. it really seems to be the only place in the world where people have this weird attitude about a mother feeding her child the way nature intended.
yes, there are plenty of women here (in australia) who choose to formula feed their children, so it's not like we've never seen a bottle here, but there is rarely seen any of that bizarre attitude that there's something wrong, weird, or perverted about a child breastfeeding.
america is looked up to by much of the world. so many places in the world are mirroring the attitudes, the look, the fashions of america, instead of breeding their own culture. mainly it's the youth who seem to have this attitude, but those youth then grow up & keep much of that attitude. are other places in the world going to follow this strange belief that there's something wrong with breastfeeding a child? i certainly hope not.
the people of the usa are renowned for their hospitality, for how welcoming & warm they are. does it maybe stem from this? perhaps the effort to welcome others & to not offend is taken too far, to the point that no one dares to do anything slightly differently to anyone else lest the other party is offended? this whole political correctness movement originated in the the united states. yes, it's a good thing to not single people out in a bad way, but for crying out loud, things can be taken too far. almost anyone who's aware of how far politcal correctness has gone, knows that it's gone way, way into the realm of the ridiculous.
as far as breastfeeding in public (or even in private) is concerned, the more that people feel they need to hide it (or stop it), the more it will become some strange thing that people feel is wrong or shameful.
those who are breastfeeding their children need to rail against this poisonous attitude & go out & feed their children proudly in public. don't use a silly cover to just prove your shame. i'm not saying that you should go out to your local mall & lift your shirt over your head with both hands to display your breasts to the general public at large. i'm just saying that the more that people see this normal part of life, the more it will become normal.
it's times like this, when i read about people being made to feel guilty about doing the very best thing they can for their child, that i'm so glad i wasn't born in america. i would hope that even if fate had caused me to be born to american parents, that i would still have the attitude of a non-follower & that i would still be as individual as i am, & still be happy to be breastfeeding smiley at almost five years old.
March 03, 2008
reached my goal weight! - 06:37 AM
after starting my diet a few months ago (can't remember exactly when i started. maybe november last year?) i weighed myself this morning after the morning wee & before breakfast & i've reached my goal weight of 50 kg (about 110 pounds)!
i've weighed myself up to about 54 in the last week or so, but some variance is quite normal. i might go this morning to get weighed officially on the scales at the betty baxter booth at the chemist just to confirm my weight since i know those ones are accurate. my home scales are good ones, but obviously they won't be as accurate as ones which cost about $2000. lol!
so now i just have to mantain my healthy eating to keep the weight off. i won't be aiming to lose any more, because if i was at 50 kg all the time, it'd actually be an unhealthy weight for me.
i'm very pleased with myself. i haven't been down to such a healthy weight for about six or seven years. very pleased, indeed. 
November 16, 2007
coke *is* healthy! - 06:03 PM
after looking at their website, make every drop matter, i've totally changed my mind & now i really believe that not only can coke & other soft drinks be healthy for you, but that the coca-cola company's biggest concern is for the health & well-being of humankind.
</sarcasm>
for crying out loud. please tell me that people aren't actually sucked in by this garbage.
October 26, 2007
need another notch - 09:29 AM
i'm going to have to get another hole punched in my belt.
last week, beginning only a few days after i'd started on betty baxter, i had to move up a notch on my belt occasionally because my pants were starting to hang a bit low. this week, i haven't had to move back to that first notch even once. the last couple of days i've been having to hitch up my pants because they're getting looser & looser.
when mum heard about my diet, she offered that when i reach my goal, she'll go shopping with me & buy me a new outfit. i said thank you, but that i didn't really need any new clothes (most of what i wear is just t-shirts, you see). however, i may have to take her up on that offer after all & get a couple of new pairs of jeans. i seem to be moving down a size. woohoo! 
October 21, 2007
one & a half kilos - 08:21 AM
yesterday i went back to the betty baxter booth at the chemist up the road to have my first weigh-in since i started on the diet one week earlier.
i've lost one & a half kilos! (that's about 3.3 pounds.) i'm really pleased!
after just a few days last week, i found that i had to tighten the belt on my jeans, but i thought that surely i couldn't have been losing weight that fast, so i figured maybe my belt had stretched. but nope, 1.5 kilos gone, just like that. woohoo!
i also lost 7.5 cm (almost 3 inches) off my waist. very happy, indeed, with those results.
October 14, 2007
hungry this morning - 09:49 AM
after starting yesterday on the road to healthier eating & feling quite satisfied & not hungry at all by the end of the day, this morning i do feel hungry after my morning shake. it's not even 10 am i'm already thinking about my morning tea.
quite a few years ago, shroom & i went on a diet together by eating the food from lite & easy (or one of those companies where you buy full meals from them. i can't quite recall who it was now). the first week or two—since the portion sizes were much smaller than the oversized portions we were used to eating at the time—i felt hungry every day & spent much of my time trying to resist eating the unhealthy snacks which i'd made a habit of eating daily. once the first two weeks were over, my body was used to eating the much more suitably-sized portions & i didn't feel hungry anymore.
let's hope this phase goes quickly. at least with this healthy eating plan, it's up to me to choose from the good variety of foods suggested to make up the other meals of the day. that is, the ones that aren't the meal replacement shakes.
when i spoke to the lady at the chemist before buying any of the shakes, i made sure that the shakes didn't contain any artificial sugars. i don't like that stuff at all. even before they became really popular & all sorts of urban legends (true or otherwise) started spreading about them, i disliked it. it tastes terrible & like chemicals.
if you're serious about losing weight, then surely it's far better to limit your intake of foods & snacks that contain sugar & fat, than it is to replace it with something that fake & unnatural. swap the unhealthy food with healthy, unprocessed, natural foods.
excuse me while i go through a food obsession phase over the next week or two. lol!
October 13, 2007
time to lose weight - 07:40 PM
after my entry a month or so ago about getting fat, i haven't made any changes to my diet. i've seen billboard after billboard around for the betty baxter weight loss systm. when i walked with smiley up to the post office this morning, i saw they had a little booth set up in the chemist, so i went in to take a look.
it's mostly based around meal replacement drinks, but it's also got a handbook for what to eat for other meals & snacks.
i've decided that i really need something like this at this point in my life. i need a day by day guide to help me get back to some healthier habits. once i've established a better eating pattern, it'll be easier to continue eating well.
the meal replacement drinks are actually filling, which is amazing. they taste quite nice, too. well, i know the chocolate one does, anyway, since it's the only one i've tried so far.
i've been good with making sure smiley eats well, with lots of fruit available (& he likes fruit) but when it's come to making my own meals, i've been slack & just 'making do'. time to get tough.
after three quarters of a day on the eating plan, i've not been hungry, so it's all good so far.
September 22, 2007
getting fat - 07:34 PM
i've been eating way too much crappy food lately, & my body is showing me just how much. i'm getting a bit tubby. it's time to start eating better.
tonight i'm having grated carrot & zucchini lightly fried with just a bit of butter. it's yummy.
August 01, 2007
delicious almost vegetarian meal - 07:29 PM
i just finished making a really yummy meal made to a recipe given to me by a friend. it's like a shepherd's pie (not sure what american's call that) but instead of the meat at the bottom, the bottom is made with lentils, lots of other vegies & a bit of bacon. the mashed potato on top is makde with half & half normal potato & sweet potato.
it's absolutely delicious!
angie gave me a vegetarian recipe book as a gift for having her here, so i'm keen to try some of the recipes in there, too.
i really like vegetarian meals. i do eat meat, but i can just as easily go without it as well. i should try to eat more vegies, anyway, so vegetarian meals are a perfect way to do that.
January 15, 2007
laptop lunches - 02:20 PM
something i mentioned in my recent post about finding the right child care place for smiley was that one place provided lunches & another didn't. this probably isn't a big deal to most people, but it actually did have some sway with me. it wasn't because of the cost of providing food for smiley's lunch. it's because i hate packed lunches & actually doing the packing of lunches about as much as i hate ironing.
i've hated eating & packing packed lunches ever since i was old enough to have to make them myself. i like sandwiches, but not packed ones. no matter what you've put on a sandwich, by the time you're ready to eat it, it's either warm or soggy or both. best case scenario, even if your sandwich is still fresh & at a normal temperature, is that you don't feel like eating that particular thing anymore once lunch time comes around.
my favourite foods are ones that go on a plate or in a bowl, generally not things which are easily packed for lunches. that's the other pain in the bum thing about packed lunches: choosing something which will travel well, then finding a way to pack it so that it will travel well!
there are heaps of options with portions of things such as yoghurts or small packets of biscuits or fruit sticks & the like, but i'm not keen on feeding smiley such processed products as a regular thing. also, i'm not happy about the sheer amount of waste that's produced from each meal with all the packets & wrappers which then have to be thrown away.
i believe i've found a solution. it's laptop lunches. these lunch boxes are designed with different sized inner containers that fit perfectly inside the larger one. the idea is that the individual containers can be taken out to eat from, or to heat the contents, if need be. the lid of the outer container fits flat against the top of the inner containers so that dry foods are held inside without the need for extra lids. one of the inner containers is lidded for wet foods, but the rest come wthout lids.
seems like a simple concept & i suppose it is, but having read really good things from individuals who use them, i'm convinced. they aren't cheap at all, but i've seen the prices of good quality plastic containers in the supermarket & to buy six individual containers would cost close to that, not to mention how much trouble i'd have trying to get them to fit together into one neat little package. i know i'm not keen on plastics, but there are times & places where it's useful & packed lunches is one of those.
there are several reasons why using this system makes packed lunches easier to prepare & more likely to be eaten. firstly, they look great. secondly, no lids, except for the one for wet food. kids open their lunchbox & instantly see a brightly coloured selection of yummy things to eat. apparently, the no lids things makes a real difference.
for me as the packer of the packed lunch, other reasons are that i can very easily pack left over dinner into the containers to be ready for the following day. i don't have to dig around for containers which might be too big or too small. another reason is that when the lunch is being put together, i'll be able to see plainly see what healthy things are in there already & how much more room (or not) i have left to fill for a good sized lunch.
all of these things are only little issues on their own, but if not sorted out with a great solution such as this, they add up to me hating packing lunches & being terribly uninspired to put anything decent & fresh into a lunch for smiley.
the people who have used these successfully for years have found that it makes such a difference not only to them being happier to prepare lunches, but to what they put in there & how much of the lunch is eaten by the kid. i've even found a flickr group or two dedicated specifically to lunches packed into laptop lunch boxes as well as one that covers kid's lunches in laptop lunch boxes as well as other lunch box styles.
i'm really excited about making nice lunches for smiley. i want to foster good eating habits for him .. & me being happy & inspired about packing his lunches will help a great deal.
January 06, 2007
the law of attraction - 09:37 AM
just lately i've been reading & hearing about the law of attraction. it's not a new concept, it's been around for a very long & time & is well proven in many fields.
as a related example, in the sporting field, top players will visualise their play/run/shot before they go out there to perform it. the brain doesn't seem to differentiate between visualising the action & actually doing it, so going through it in their mind first means that they've already, in effect, practised it again before they perform it.
the same goes with telling yourself something over & over. if you're constantly telling yourself that you're bad at maths, then you'll never become good at it. if you're always telling yourself (or if someone else is telling you & you believe them) that you're ugly & useless, then you'll be ugly & useless.
what you surround yourself with or immerse yourself in, that's what you become. that concept is a feature in almost any religion or philosophy you can think of.
so last night, i made myself a list of things which i want to confirm to myself. some are things which are already true, some are partly true & some aren't true at all, but if i keep saying them to myself, believing them & acting on them as if they are true, then they will become so.
i figured that somebody else might benefit from this list, so i'm putting it here on my site. if you want to use it, please do. i've also made it into a word doc which you can download if you like. it even has proper capitalisation! 
whether you pray it, meditate on it or write it on sticky notes & cover your walls with it, the result is the same. if you believe it to be true & act on it, it will be.
so this is my list, in no particular order of importance:
- i have more than enough money for everything i want or need.
- my body & mind are healthy, happy & whole.
- i sleep deeply & soundly & am well rested.
- i am surrounded by people who love & support me.
- i actively show love & support to those i care about.
- i promptly start & finish jobs i need to do with joy, efficiency & care.
- i love & care for my body & mind by feeding them healthy things.
- i radiate joy.
- i affect those around me in a positive way.
i dare say i'll add to this list & include other aspects of my life (such as how i care for smiley & that sort of thing) but this is a start with things which are directly related to me.
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