Healthy Girl 365, Day 30 - The Green Tea Pact

So sorry for the delays this week! It has been a CRAZY one, so I'll be playing catch-up over the next couple of days.
So I'm a tea lover. My sweet friend Hayley learned one day that I had an extreme aversion to tea, and bless her, she made it her mission to change my attitude with her special tea-making method. My life has turned full circle since she put in those hours of effort with me, and I will be eternally grateful to her. Sniff.
Anyway, this post ain't about your average run-of-the-mill cuppa tea. As I mentioned in my last post, this week has been our annual staff retreat. The lady in the photo above is someone I've mentioned before - her name is Gen, and she's the receptionist who stocks lollies at the front desk like she was born to do it. On the first day of the retreat, it came about that neither of us had tried green tea before, but both of us were keen to check it out. So we made a solemn pact that the next day at morning tea, we would try it together. And so we did! The word on green tea? It tastes kind of like grass. I spoke to my sister, a once heavy-user of green tea, about the phenomenon and she explained that yes, it still tastes a bit grassy even when you're used to it but most people drink it for its health benefits. Because green tea is a healthy brew to get into you! I could do the research and tell you some facts about it, but earlier this month my friend Bronwyn posted this so I thought instead I could just direct you over there!
Am I completely against picking up another cup of green tea again? Nope. I can see myself begrudgingly getting used to it. I just wanted to put a warning out there that despite its health benefits, too much green tea (like a few cups a day) can cause severe stomach issues so don't overdo it!

Healthy Girl 365, Day 29 - Prayer and Reflection

You would be forgiven for forgetting that at some point when I was starting this project, I promised it wouldn't all be about weight loss. I've kind of largely focused on that, I guess because it's the most urgent part of my journey that needs fixing. Anyway. Because I work at the most amazing place in the world, I get to go on an annual staff retreat in Mandurah! 2-3 days of bonding with my co-workers, good food and a little bit of vision/planning sprinkled in. Chris and I are so lucky! Today we were given an hour of personal prayer/reflection time after an all-staff catch-up over cake and hot beverages. Now, I haven't brought my faith into this blog yet (other than mentioning that I work within a Church office) but today I will and I hope not to alienate anyone by doing so! I believe that God can and should be my ultimate source of strength in all areas, including my attempts at gaining better health. I've clearly demonstrated throughout the years that I'm weak in this area, and so I am trying to lean on Him through prayer. I absolutely fall short, but I try. Prayer and reflection time is something that I admit I don't engage in nearly enough. Today's time was good. I found a bench near the resort where the retreat is being held and I sat there for an hour, reading, praying and listening. I spotted a bird flying over the water, and instead of gliding gracefully through the air it was flapping speedily the whole time. It occurred to me that birds are designed to fly without very much effort - they flap their wings and hold them at the right angle, and they literally glide through the air before having to flap again. They have some kind of aero-dynamic system built into their design. I don't know how it works so that's as science-y as I get! This bird wasn't relying on its built-in aero-dynamic support system. It was just flapping crazily and energetically, putting all the effort of flying solely into the movement of its wings.
All I can say is... I seem to be flapping a lot, and my arms are going to get tired sooner or later if I keep going in my own strength... Through this journey I've got an amazing support system of friends, many of whom are travelling similarly at the moment! That in itself is an amazing start support-wise but still doesn't compare to doing things in God's strength rather than my own.
If you believe in God, then I encourage you to bring Him into your journey of health! He knit you together before you were even born, and His intention for you is not that you trash your carefully designed body by being overweight and unfit.

Healthy Girl 365, Day 28 - Once You Pop, You Can Totally Stop!

This afternoon Chris had some man-time with his friend Steve. They played video games and chilled in the air-conditioned living room while I hid out in the bedroom, reading and preparing a photo collage that I have to present at our staff retreat this week. An hour or so after Steve arrived, I made the executive decision to be an amazing lady-of-the-house/hostess and pop some popcorn. Also, I really wanted some popcorn. Now, keep in mind that all we keep in the house is the full-butter full-fat kind - none of this flavourless air-popped garbage for us. Seriously, does anyone enjoy that??? In the interest of being good, I pulled out a little bowl of my own and claimed a small portion of the salty gold, and I gave the boys free reign on the rest. None of this constant reaching into the big shared bowl, fooling myself into believing that I'm not eating that much popcorn! While it wasn't an ideal treat for someone on a healthy kick, I know that I at least didn't go overboard and stuff my face with the stuff. And today, that's good enough for me.

Healthy Girl 365, Days 26 & 27 - A Piece Of Me & A Wisely Chosen Snack

Day 26: There are going to be days in the project that I won't have anything healthy to post about. I'm hoping those days are going to be few and far between, but Day 26 was one of those days. A friend suggested that on such days I begin sharing my journey with you, pieces of me and a story of how I got here. So here it is, part one...
I was 9 years old when I realised that I was heavier than my class mates. We went on an excursion to the zoo, and in the African Safari section you could sit on a scale and it told you which African animal your weight most closely matched. All of my classmates generally weighed in as the same animal - I can't for the life of me remember what that animal was. But when I sat on the scale, I was one animal up from them - a cheetah. At the time, I thought that was pretty cool because cheetahs were a favourite of mine. But when my younger sister came home from school some time later and announced that the biggest, chubbiest boy in her class weighed in at the same weight I did, my brain started ticking over, and weighing myself suddenly became a ritual. I was 10 years old when I decided to go on my first diet. The sad thing is, I wasn't even overweight back then. I was one of the tallest kids in my grade at school, so it made sense that I would weigh a little more than most of my friends. When I was 12, the family doctor prescribed me to be within a healthy weight range for my height. But my "overweight" mentality had already kicked in, and these things can become self-fulfilling prophecies...

First let me say, this might actually by the worst photo of anything that I've ever taken, ever. Can you even tell what's packed in that bag? All will be revealed...

Day 27: Today I had a movie date with my mama! I think we were the only two people left on the planet who hadn't yet seen Les Miserables, so we decided it was high-time we fixed that! As we walked into the cinema, the salty smell of popcorn hit me in the nose in a delicious way, and Mum was craving a choc-top icecream, but we manned-up and got in the "tickets only" line which meant no Candy Bar for us! I had packed myself some cherries (a fave Summer fruit of mine!) and an iced bottle of water at home before we left, and not only did I therefore save calories but I also saved me some dollars! Cherries are a pretty great movie snack by the way, I thoroughly recommend them!

Healthy Girl 365, Day 25 - Klara 1; KFC 0

To the untrained eye, this might just look like an ordinary dinner of crumbed fish and salad. But today it represents one giant victory for me! Chris is out at the basketball tonight and I stopped at a friend's house on the way home from work. By the time I was heading home, alone, it was after 6.30. I was hungry, and was faced with all of my favourite takeaway restaurants on the drive home. Painful. Nasty. The toughest to drive by was KFC - basically the worst of them all! I was facing a major inner battle. I'm not going to lie - I decided 10 times in the space of a couple of minutes to just blow it and get KFC for dinner. But luckily, I also managed to decide 11 times not to! I knew I had some leftover salad ingredients in the fridge and some crumbed fish in the freezer, and somehow I made it home without the dreaded white plastic bag filled with greasy chicken and chips. And you know? The fish and salad was freaking delicious. I'm counting tonight as a huge win!

Healthy Girl 365, Day 24 - Day-To-Day Resistance

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person out there who struggles day-to-day with temptation. You can do everything to make sure you don't have treats and indulgences in your fridge and pantry at home, and you can prepare yourself to make good decisions on the occasion that you go out. But when you work a 9-5, it can be pretty easy for your resolve to break down during the course of the day! It might be a quiet period, where you can't help but turn your mind to food (I'm a total bored-eater!), it might be a particularly stressful day that can be numbed with sugar, or you might frequently visit the receptionists and find yourself facing the "welcome lollies" perched on the front desk. For me, it's all those things and more! It always seems that someone's baking treats for everyone to share in my office, and our receptionist is a whiz at stocking an array of sweet treats for visitors, volunteers and co-workers alike. For me, this can mean the difference between eating the perfect amount of points in a day, and thoughtlessly blowing my points by chowing down on snacks that I forget to track throughout the day. This week's temptation was Milky Ways, and you'll be pleased to know (I'm assuming, because you're supportive of me) I didn't indulge. I had one on Tuesday which I incorporated into my points allowance, but the rest of the week I bravely avoided them. I'm always going to come up against temptation, if not at work then at parties, or at the movies, or out with friends. Avoiding temptation is a strong, healthy mind-set to get into, but one which is going to require some work. Join me!

Healthy Girl 365, Day 23 - Glowing

This morning I had big plans to post a photo of the office chocolate supply today, and tell you how clever I was for avoiding eating it all day. And I was clever, I did avoid eating it all day, but something even better happened. I work at a Church office, and my co-workers are the greatest people one could ever work with. I mean, it's their business to care about people! A few of my co-workers have been keeping up with the blog, and today was filled with encouragement and energetic discussions not only about my efforts, but their own efforts and weaknesses. It seems that everyone I know hopes to be healthier, not necessarily to lose weight but to look after themselves better. We all see room for improvement in ourselves. We all connect over this pursuit of personal health. And those who have gone before us and have achieved their goals love egging the rest of us on and giving us good, real tips that have worked for them! Today I felt happy to be doing what I'm doing, and honoured that so many people are on board to encourage and hold me accountable. It was a glowing day.