I'm back from Melbourne! I got back late Thursday night actually --
and was told to work from home Friday, so it's kind of like a long
weekend. Finding vegan foods was SO MUCH harder than I thought it
would be! I mean, we stayed at a major, posh hotel and it was very
expensive - you would think they could easily toss something together.
The food was included in the expo price, so I approached them before
the morning tea as instructed and told them I needed vegan options.
They assured me there would be fruit at the morning tea, and vegan
options for lunch. They brought me the menu for lunch and asked if
that would work or if I would require something else. The menu had
steamed rice on it, among other things, so I said if you just bring me
some vegetables to put over the rice, that would be fine. Well morning
tea came and no fruit. Lunch came, and no vegetables. OK fine -- I
picked from what was there. I had some of the rice, and on top of it I
put chunks of cold pumpkin that were part of a lovely salad. The salad
also had olives, capers and big chunks of feta cheese, so I just picked
out the pumpkin. It had a lovely flavor, I wish I knew what they put
on it. Anyway, a bread roll with that and I was fine. After nearly
everyone had finished eating, they brought out a plate with some
eggplant, tomatoes and other veggies flooded with oil. I said thanks,
but I've already eaten. I managed with what was there - I had no idea
you were going to bring me something special this late after everyone's
eaten. So that was Wednesday. They asked if I would be there Thursday
as well, and I said yes.
The next morning (Thursday) at the hotel we went down for breakfast and
there was no oatmeal to be found. They did have dry cereal but no soy
milk. All the other options were meat, eggs, cheese, and pastries. So
I went over to McDonalds -- not low fat by any means, but at least I
could have English muffins with hash browns and orange juice.
There was once again no fruit for morning tea, but that's no biggie.
Lunch came, and once again, no veggie options -- even the rice today
had bits of meat in it, and from the color I think there was a chicken
broth in it as well. So this time I picked pasta out of the pasta
salad (which again had feta in it) and some more bread. Once again,
when everyone was finished, they brought out a plate and started
walking over toward me. It was pasta with vegetables and sauce, but
they had put cheese over it. The lady who'd talked to me about the
menu stopped the waitstaff before she got to me and said "there's
cheese on that - I said vegan!" So they took it back and a few minutes
later brought me a small plate with a few steamed bits of broccoli and
squash. That's it. I couldn't believe it -- you couldn't still do
pasta and sauce but without the cheese? This was amazing to me - why
didn't they bring me the veggies yesterday with the rice? LOL So all
in all, it was difficult eating during the expo.
In the evenings, the boss took us out to dinner -- an Italian restaurant Tuesday night, and a Mexican
restaurant Wednesday night. It was easy enough to find good options at
both of those restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised to find
vegetarian options right on the menu at the Mexican place - I chose a
veggie chimichanga which was stuffed with potatoes and spinach, with
rice on the side. (I did have to ask them to leave off the cheese that
it normally came with.)
So while I managed to find things to eat, they were far from low-fat. I did, however, get my walks in!
It was so cool actually -- leaving from the hotel and all the massive
skyscrapers I followed the curve in the road and found myself in an
area with some older, truly lovely buildings on one side, and Fawkner
park on the other. It was just gorgeous! I was out the door at about
5:50, so it was dark -- otherwise I would have walked trough the park.
But still, the view was just gorgeous. I loved all the shops (this was
in South Yarra) and I walked for about 40 minutes just really enjoying
myself. But by then I figured I'd best get back and get in the shower
if I was going to be at the expo on time.
So -- the end result after all this, I was up again this week. I'm at
97.8 kilos (215.61 pounds) but as TOM is upon me any minute, I'm not
overly concerned. I'm back to my routine, eating healthy again, so I'm
sure we'll turn this around ASAP.
To Melbourne, that is! In about an hour the shuttle bus picks me up to
go to Sydney airport. I should arrive in Melbourne about 6:15 pm and
from there I get a cab to the hotel.
So I'll have to try to remember my foods for the next couple of days if
I don't have a chance to log them - it'll be interesting to see how I
do without the comfort of my normal meal choices readily available.
And it was pouring down rain this morning so I didn't get my walk in.
Ah well ... see you Friday, if I don't get a chance to post Thursday
evening - I may not be back until very late.
So this week I saw a gain of .4 kilo (.88 pound) and right away I
started questioning myself. Is it those muffins I made for him earlier
in the week that I couldn't seem to leave alone myself? Is it the fact
that I exceeded my normal calorie intake probably 3 times this week? I
don't really count calories to 'restrict' them per se, I'm kind of at
the point where I just eat what I like through the day and then at the
end of the day I total it all up in FitDay and it just happens to fall
between 1600 and 1800 most days. That's a good thing! I don't want to
feel like I have to count calories. But three days this week (because
of the muffins or the trip to Sydney or whatever) it was over 2000 -
once even over 2500. Add to that that I missed a couple of days walk,
and I guess I can see why I wouldn't lose - but did that cause the gain?
I don't beat myself up about these things, I'm doing very well and
happy with my overall progress. I've gained more weight in my life
from being 'on a diet' than anything else, so I don't ever want to be
'on a diet' again. If I can eat as I like and most days find myself
within the calorie range I need to lose, that's great. I have developed
the habit of walking for about an hour most days (today I went over an
hour and a half, but that's usually only on Saturdays). I've developed
healthy eating and exercise habits that have just become who I am now,
not what I'm doing to try to lose weight. So I'll get there at my own
pace, and I'm fine with that.
Then I looked at the calendar. Ah! Three weeks since TOM last
visited. Well there ya go -- it could be that as well. In the end it
doesn't matter why I'm up this week - most weeks I'm down, and the
overall progress is steadily down, so I'll just keep doing what I'm
doing.
Now, wish me better luck finding healthy vegan options in Melbourne in
the coming week! It won't just be one meal, I'll be heading down there
Tuesday afternoon, and not coming back until Thursday evening. So I'll
have to manage for several meals - and not on my own where I can decide
where to eat, but I'll be with a group from work. The event we're
going to provides morning tea and lunch - but it's a fancy hotel, so
I'm sure if I can't find anything in their offerings, it wouldn't be
hard to rustle up something else. In the evenings, the work crew
generally goes out to eat and then out to enjoy the nightlife -- we'll
see how it goes. It's my first time going on a business trip with them,
so I want to enjoy myself, but I also don't want to break with my
healthy habits any more than I have to.
I went to the Apple Store in Sydney - it's awesome!
Yeah, my business trip to Sydney was today, and after the presentation
portion the boss had to meet with some higher-ups and that gave me a
chance to wander around aimlessly in Sydney for a while. Well it didn't
take me long to stumble upon the amazing Apple Store in Sydney -- it's huge!
We
do have a smaller version closer to home, but this one was incredible,
and really made me want to trade up. Leopard is so cool! My Mac Mini is
cool too, but since I previewed Leopard some time ago, I've longed to
run that operating system, and sadly my Mac Mini won't run it. So now
I've got to come up with some reason why I need to upgrade! LOL I
called hubby when I got there and told him where I was and that I had
my credit card in hand. He said slowly and calmly, 'step away from the
Apple Store. Turn around, put your left foot out, then your right --
keep doing that until you have exited the store." Very funny. I was
tempted, I must say. In any case I had fun playing.
The
presentation went well too. And we stopped afterwards at a lovely cafe
that was only too happy to modify one of their 'vegetarian' sandwiches
to leave off the cheese for me -- but it definitely was not low fat!
Delicious! But not low fat. Ah well. Anyway, today went well, so now I
feel a bit more confident about the trip to Melbourne next week now.
Hmm ... wonder if they have an Apple Store? LOL
Weekly update - and staying on track when I travel
Today is weekly weigh-day, and I'm at 96.8 kilos (213.41 pounds) -- a
drop of 0.6 kilos (1.32 pounds) since last week. I sure do miss those
3 pound weeks, but I'll take what I can get.
That brings my total to 17.8 kilos (39.24 pounds) since the start of the year.
Over the next couple of weeks I've got a couple of business trips --
one day in Sydney next week, and 2 days in Melbourne the following
week. My boss is worried I won't find things I can eat -- I think
Sydney and Melbourne, being big cities, should have more options if
anything -- but not necessarily low-fat and healthy options. So wish
me luck. What might be harder is they like to go out on the town
together in the evenings and are threatening to spike my drink so I
party with them. (I don't drink.) I don't want to sit in the hotel
room alone while they party, but I really don't enjoy the party scene
either. Maybe I'll bring a good book and just read or phone my hubby
in the evenings. Or call my sister-in-law, she lives in Melbourne.
Maybe we can make some other plans. Ah well ...
We went out last night to hook up with friends and usually they order
from a local pizza place. I generally have them get a small (8")
vegetarian pizza with no cheese when we go there but this time I looked
at the menu again and saw a vegetarian pasta neapolitana dish that
looked promising and I figured it might have less calories.
When
it arrived, I remember being surprised by the kinds of vegetables in
it, but they tasted really nice -- there was broccoli, zucchini, snow
pea pods, bell pepper (capsicum) etc., and even potato slices which I
found odd in a pasta dish, but it tasted good. A bit oily perhaps --
which I noticed more as I got further down into the dish because the
sauce tended to sink to the bottom. And as I got past most of the
veggies and was finishing up the pasta it definitely seemed high in
fat/oil - I could feel it in my mouth, there was just a greasy feeling
even though the sauce had a lovely flavor. For the next hour or so I
could still 'taste' the oil and was really thinking maybe I should have
stuck with the pizza. Then suddenly my gut was churning and I knew I'd
made the wrong choice. I'll be delicate and just say I visited the
bathroom a few times, and my host was concerned, she said she hoped it
wasn't the pasta, was it perhaps bad? No, it wasn't spoiled or anything
like that -- but I just don't use oil in cooking anymore, I've been
eating that clean and healthy for that long that I think all that oil
just assaulted my system. I felt bad the rest of the night, and we
ended up leaving sooner than I'd planned because I just needed to get
back home.
Now, to try to guess at the calorie content of that
so I can add it to FitDay is so hard! There's nothing similar in the
database, and if I search online the closest thing I can find is a
calorie count for those new pasta bowls that Dominos sells in
Australia. They have a veggie primavera one, and while it's not the
same thing I figure maybe the nutritional data will be close. I was
horrified to read the nutritional data for the Dominos version -- 676
calories, 32.7g fat! 18.3 of those are saturated! OMIGOD. I do hope my
dish wasn't that bad, but since I've got nothing else to go by I'll use
those values. And I resolve never again to assume a vegetarian pasta
dish is the best choice on the menu at a restaurant. I'm still paying
the price this morning.
Slowly but surely, this tortoise is plugging along.
In the beginning of the year I was dropping on average 3 pounds a week
-- and while I knew that wouldn't go on forever, I'm still wishing I
could pull 3 pound weeks. But alas, today's weigh-in shows a .8 kilo
drop from last week, which is 1.76 pounds. So I'll plod along slowly,
like the tortoise in the race. I know it's more likely I'll lose it
and keep it off if I go at this pace, but when you have a lot to lose
you just get impatient. Those 3 pounds weeks just FELT good.
So the stats as of today are:
97.4 kilos / 214.73 pounds currently
0.8 kilos / 1.76 pounds down since last week
17.2 kilos / 37.92 pounds lost so far this year
38.4 kilos / 84.4 pounds to goal.
It's incredibly COLD and rainy today -- I really hate winter in
Australia. They are all amazed at how much I complain about the cold
being as I'm from Wisconsin and it doesn't even snow here. But I
remind them -- at home it's only cold OUTSIDE! We have heat! I never
had to see my own breath in the kitchen when I woke up, or bundle up in
sweats and a blanket to sit and watch TV. We have a little space
heater, but you have to close off the room you're in to get it warm,
and if you have to go into another room for something ... BRRRRR!!
I think I'll be looking for homes with fireplaces from now on. LOL.
We saw 2 homes today, both vacant and both a far cry from what the
description made them out to be. With some work, they both have a lot
of potential, but we won't have enough money to put the work into them
for some time. But what really got me is the first place -- they
didn't even bother to clean out the mouse traps and droppings in the
pantry before the open house! Do you WANT to sell it???
Yes, TOM is finally gone so I've seen a lovely drop this morning - 97.8 kilos, or 215.61 pounds. Hooray! :)
I'm not sure if I've pulled a groin muscle or what, but it's been
bothering me for over a week now - but I don't want to give up my
morning walk/jog. I hope it gets better soon. Well -- off to work!
After getting lots of opinions (most of whom said the power lines would
NOT bother them in the least) and much discussion amongst ourselves all
weekend long, hubby and I have decided to withdraw our offer on the
house. It stinks, because there's so much about the house that we
really loved. But he just couldn't get past the proximity to the high
voltage pylons and the fact that the lines themselves would pass right
over our back fence. Even if he weren't worried about our own health,
he's worried about future resale potential if others would be leery to
buy the house. Or if at some point it's proven that they are a health
risk, he fears our house would be suddenly worth nothing.
I added that if, by chance, one of us were to get cancer down the line
it could be totally unrelated to living near these lines but in the
back of our minds we'd always wonder. Whether or not they pose a risk,
going into the purchase of a new home should be a joyous event, so if
he's going to be haunted by these nagging doubts, then it's best not to
buy it. So we are pulling the offer on Monday, and we'll just keep
saving and waiting for the right house to come along.
It's only disappointing because I'd gotten so excited about finally
having a place of our own, and one with a game room and pool no less!
But in actual fact we wondered if we weren't more drawn to those
features than to the house itself. I asked him, if it didn't have the
external game room and the pool -- would you still love the house
itself? He admitted he wouldn't. So I think it wasn't meant to be. So the search continues.
So that dream house I was talking about -- the one where we made an
offer that's been accepted and next week we get the ball rolling and
start signing papers and all that -- well after wanting it for months,
hubby comes to me yesterday and asks if I'm at all worried about the
power lines. Behind the house is an open paddock where there are double
rows of high voltage power lines on these pylons or towers. Not just
the normal power lines in front of everyone's homes, these are the
larger ones that supply the entire area. And suddenly, though he's
never brought it up before, he's concerned and having second thoughts.
We've
asked quite a few friends, co-workers, relatives since then and no one
has said it would bother them or stop them from buying the house, in
fact quite the opposite. But hubby is still having doubts and as much
as he loves the house he's wondering if we should back out and wait for
another place. He says he personally is not worried about the power
lines, but about resale value. Suppose down the line they find there is
scientific evidence to back claims that they could pose a threat -- now
not only have we lived near them for years, but the house will be
impossible to sell.
He called our brother-in-law, who's very
knowledgeable about lots of things, so we frequently consult him. He's
bought and sold enough properties that we figure he'd be a good one to
ask. Like the others, he says it would not worry him in the least and
he doesn't believe we'd have trouble selling the house down the track.
Maybe 20% of people would be afraid to buy a house near high voltage
power lines, but most wouldn't worry -- that seems to back the opinions
we've been getting -- no one would worry, they tell us.
But have
a look at this video and tell me your thoughts -- anyone have a
different opinion? The towers themselves are not near this house, they
are a few houses away in either direction, but the power lines between
them would run parallel to the fence in the back yard and pretty much
right over it, though granted about 60 feet in the air. What do you
think? Would it worry you?
