Anzac Day Special Edition

Anzac Day is so special to so many of us. It's a day for remembering and a day of reflection. For me, it's one of those days, I look forward to as much as a little kid at Christmas and a reason why I love Melbourne so much !! 

It's hard to describe what it feels like, to be standing amongst 93,000 in absolute silence, paying respect to our serviceman and women ... As the last post blares through the stadium, as the teams line up side by side, arm in arm, as we sing our anthem loud and proud, as the MCG errupts with sounds of Cmon the Bombers' - Nothing can Beat it!! 

Anzac Day at the MCG with 93,000 of my closest mates

And what a game it was too.. After the Bombers smashed the Pies by 46 points I walked across the bridge from the MCG to AAMI Park for another special block buster between the Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors !!!!  Another moving service and another awesome game and a win to the Storm... Got the Double!!! :)

AAMI PARK - Storm v Warriors

 This year, was a little trickier than normal given my recent commitment to 12wbt.  

I was a good girl though. I got a up, went for a walk, had a good brunch and made up a ham & salad wrap to take for between games... Along with the wrap, I packed a couple of bottles of water, protein bar and home cooked anzac day bikkies and off i went...  No coke or fries for me :)

12 wbt Anzac Day Bikkies

Hope I did my boy's mum's bikkies have the justice they deserved... 

Apparently they're soooo good, that no ones will ever beat them! 

I think mine came pretty close!

My ham salad wrap for the footy!!

And with that I it's nigh night from me xo

My Goal Dress

Forgive me father for I have sinned. It's been seven days since my last blog.

First things first.. As you may know Wednesday is weigh in day (our 2nd last for the round) ...  

Unfort I've lost zilch in the last week, not even 100 grams... But it's all good, as mum reminded me, "You've probably just reached a plateau and it will kick start again soon. You just need to keep reminding yourself - I love who I've become, and to suck it up, commit and keep doing what I'm doing" Thanks Mum, you're so right !!!

The good news is I've now lost 5.2 kilos since starting the program and I'm feeling the fittest and healthiest Ive been in along time, as a result, I've even been able to come off my medication that I've been taking for for seven years..  

I'm also very excited cause I almost fit back into one of my favourite dresses I haven't worn in years! (Don't ask me why I still have it, I guess I loved it so much I couldn't bring myself to throw it out and just hoped that one day I might just fit back into it).. It's now my goal to fit into this dress for a friends wedding in January :) ... 

The Goal Dress

Well peeps, that's 11 weeks down and 1 to go - I can't quite believe it...

I've been rather busy and out most nights, so I promise there will be more foody pics next time I promise. Tonight I'm gonna attempt to make Mish's Anzac day biscuits! 

Nigh Night x

Teriyaki Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry with Noodles

It's weigh in wednesday!

After my big blow out weekend, I'm happy to report that somehow how I still managed to lose 200gs. I couldn't quite believe it, and even had to double check just to make sure. What's even more exciting is that I'm now under 62 kilo's! I can't even remember the last time I was under 63 let alone 62...

I guess this is the time I should say, place your final bets!!! 

With only 2 weeks to go I only have 1.8 kilo's to lose before I reach my goal.  It's time to really pull out the stops now, and go even harder !! I've even just signed up for Round 2 (10 km running program) and can't wait to continue this journey! 

It's short and sweet tonight, but I can't leave you without giving a shout out to the special man in my life!  Not only has he had to give up our Sunday Fancy dinners, but yesterday he cleaned all afternoon, paid our bills and then went off to the supermarket. You might be wondering, why is this such a big deal... Well, little did I know that he came home with more flavours I haven't tried yet of my new favourite chobani yoghurt (thanks transformers), muesli and fruit. Then, when I walked in the door after playing netball, he surprised me by preparing dessert. A yummy and healthy dessert instead of the usual ice-cream / chocolate / cake etc we would normally eat!
What a man!! Thanks Peter, you're the best xo!!

Peter's Chobani Yoghurt with fruit and muesli. It make not look that spectacular, but it was thought behind it that made it sooo good!! I'm such a lucky girl to have such an awesome boyfriend!!

And with that It's time to say Nigh Night  xo

Stuffed Tomatoes with Feta, Currents and Mint!

I'm not a big fan of tomatoes so I substituted it for capsicum - and were so yum!

Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

Sweet Spiced Dip with Fruit

Cupcake Quiches

I blew it !!!

Quite literally, I blew it!! I don't even want to think about the amount of calories I consumed as the result of a weekend away with my barhopping buddies on the Mornington Peninsula... 

Saturday was spent hopping between wineries such as Ten Minutes by Tractor, Montalto, T'Gallants, Elgee Park, Quealey's, Baillieu's and Stonier! The highlight of the day was definitely Merricks General Store for lunch. Pumpkin Gnocchi paired with a glass of Quealy Pinot Grigio - delic..  Definitely must go back, and with four wineries at the one stop, what more could you want?
We then followed this up with a my kitchen rules style dinner, where we were paired off and cooked three amazing courses... The challenge of the day was to find wines that would match these courses and that we did!! Sensational effort by everyone!!

Awesome times but today I'm glad to get back into some kind of normality.. 

Feeling very guilty for missing our Sat Super Sess and didn't even fit in a run as I was hoping. 

Really have to make up for it now, and work my butt off for these last 3 weeks... 

And finally, in 12wbt news, thanks Transformers - I finally tried the Chobani yoghurt you all keep raving about it... And I Love Love Loved it.. Can't wait to try em all now..YUM!!

Nigh Night xo

The famous Chobani - yum yum yum!!

Beef Pad See Ew

Time to knuckle down !!

Firstly, Ive been receiving a lot a lovely comments lately about my blog and just want to say a big thank you to all my lovely readers out there. I'm so stoked to think that not only are people reading my blog but I've somehow managed to inspire and encourage friends and strangers to achieve their goals and get out there and JFDI. Some of you have even decided to join me & sign up for
Round 2 - AWESOME!! So THANK YOU - can't wait to do it all again with you...

 Now - down to business...

It's Wednesday which means it's another weigh in day... 

The good news is I'm down another 800 gs - so yay me... I'm edging closer and closer to my goal and with only 4 weeks to go, it's really time to knuckle down and commit even more. 

Now - how many of you are still facing this every time you open the fridge door? It's really not fair at all is it? Wish my boy would just hurry up and eat em, so the temptation is removed!!

That's all I've got for you tonight I'm afraid - I'm exhausted and need an early night!!! 

But before I go, here's your foody pics!

Nigh night xo

This Jacket Potato with Tomato and Coriander Salsa was an absolute winner - love love loved it !!!

Chicken and Grape Salad with Walnuts and Feta

Strawberry Bruschetta

Smashed it!

I'm so pumped at the moment.... In case you missed my last post, I set myself a challenge for this week's mini milestone to run 20 mins without stopping. Today - I SMASHED it!!! So proud of how far I've come and can't wait for Round 2 to begin!!

I don't know why I ever doubted myself and thought it was gonna be so hard.. I made myself a 20 min play list, with one of my fav rev up songs last, so I knew when I was near the end.. It really is a mental challenge more than anything. I had to keep telling myself "Just keep running, Just keep running" lol.. I'm laughing cause as I'm typing this Im saying it in the voice of Dori from finding Nemo, as in "Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming"!! Sorry, but lol..

In other news, tonight, I tried to make the char grilled chicken skewers (minus the skewers), cause they sounded so yum and I'm gonna be away the night we're suppose to cooking them. Flavours, were awesome, but for some reason I just couldn't get the consistency right with the sauce. I followed the recipe exactly, which is what's more frustrating,  just not sure what went wrong. I'm beginning to wonder whether there was an error in the recipe in that it should be coconut milk instead of coconut cream as it states.. Anyone, care to enlighten me ??

On a final note, the Rice Pudding with Raspberry Jam was an absolute winner!!

Nigh Night all, I'm exhausted.. This change of day lights savings is gonna play havoc this week!!  x

Rice Pudding with Raspberry Jam

Char Grilled Chicken with Satay Sauce

You can't go wrong with Laksa!!!

In the words of Mother Teresa " It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."  Thank you Michelle, for reminding me of this morning, it couldn't have come at a better time!! The last few days I've been feeling exhausted again and lacking in motivation. With 8 weeks down and 4 to go, it's time to step it up again.

The good news is that over Easter I managed to continue my weight loss journey and lose another 300 grams. Was stoked that I didn't gain, considering like most of you I over indulged a little. I mean really it's un-human to not have hot cross buns and Easter eggs right ???

It's also week 8 which means. its measurements time and mini milestone / fitness test week. I'm excited to report I've lost a further 9 cms which now means a total of 17 cms gone. I'm now also 4.2 kgs lighter!!! It's very much slow and steady but as I've said before, it's the best way to do it, and feeling so much better for it! With some encouragement from KB, I've decided my mini milestone will be to run 20 minutes without stopping!! Stay tuned, for my report on Sunday!

Before I say Nigh Night, just one teeny tiny confession .... 

I've been out every night this week and haven't done any cooking. Apart from tonight where I attempted my first ever laksa. It was a success and so yummy and so easy anyone can do it!!! 

Oh yeah, and I'm also very excited, cause I just purchased the finale party and workout tix.... 

Now to buy a new dress and shoes and bag... :-)

Chicken & Broccolinni Laksa!

Pink Ladies

My lovely Pink Ladies after beating the top team!

Don't know bout you but I'm happy Easter is now over and I can get back into routine again. I like most of you are a little worried bout weigh in tomorrow but all things considering I'm pretty happy with myself that I didn't over enduldge and also managed to fit in a 10.5 km walk with my lovely mum... As long as I don't gain anything I'll be happy!

Tuesday nights are netball nights for me and tonight's blog is in dedication to my wonderful pink ladies.. We've come a long way in 6 or so weeks.. Who would have thought after 5 games we'd be 4 wins and 1 loss.. Considering we got flogged in all our practice matches. YAY us!!! I so look forward to each and every tuesday :)...

This week is also our mini milestone week. Trying to decide what my challenge should be... If you do have any thoughts please talk to me.. I'm yet to run a full 5km without stopping or a full 20 mins without stopping, so I'm thinking along those lines!! Guess we'll soon find out, hey!!

And with that, I think it's nigh night from me and hope you enjoy my few pics below !! 

My lovely 10 km walk with mum! Should have got a photo of the both of us - whoops... 

There will always be next time!!

And of course, I can't leave you without more foodie pics! 

Quinoa porridge and banana

Chocolate and custard tart

Baked Trevally with cherry tomatoes, lemon and dill (except I couldn't get trevally and baked blue grenadier instead!