Today I'm grateful for..

My daughter Sara!

She is the single most entertaining and charismatic little girl of her age that I have met.

Why am I so confident in saying this?

We went to a 30th birthday yesterday of a very close family friend and his new fiance. They were having a combined celebration at his parents house as they are out from London for a few weeks.

Sara was the only little person at the party yesterday and as she is such social butterfly this posed no issue at all. She wandered from group to group making new adult friends at every turn.

She danced and jumped and squealed with glee. She picked flowers from the garden and handed them out to her favorites!

By the end of the 6 hour party she had two new best friends... Kim & Joe.

But this didn't stop her kissing almost every single guest at the party goodbye as we left to take her home to bed!

I love you very much my little munchkin, we are very blessed to have you in our lives !

Fitness Friday - My Favorite Products

Todays blog is about my favorite Health & Fitness Products.

I shop for all my supplements at GNC LiveWell, its possibly the best supplement store in Australia and across the world.

"GNC LiveWell is the world's largest retailer specializing in vitamins, herbs, weight management and sports nutrition. Established in Pittsburgh, USA by David Shakarian in 1935, GNC now has over 6000 stores in 49 countries. In Australia, GNC opened its first store in 2000 and now have 39 stores in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT" *

My products of the day are: 

GNC Protein Powder: Myocell-SR GNC Chocolate 908g

GNC Weight Loss/Dietary Supplement: Optibolic - GNC Optidrene 180C

I use both of these products daily. The GNC Protein Powder Myocell-SR is the best tasting Chocolate Protein Powder that I have found after many years of using similar products; the GNC Dietary Supplement Optidrene is the most effective metabolic enhancer that I have tried and believe me I have tried hundreds!

Micellar Casein which is found in the Myocell-SR is great if you're trying a low calorie diet as it helps maintain satiety (feelings of fullness) for longer periods of time than whey or soy protein.

Optidrene is mainy used to retain or increase your lean muscle mass whilst increasing your energy outputs during exercise.

* All information is respectfully taken from the GNC LiveWell Website

Fitness Freak..

I used to be the biggest fitness freak out of any of my friends or people that I'd meet out. I would obsessively run 5-7km each morning, then head to the gym for an hour before heading home to shower and off to work for the day. I'd kick started my morning and I felt on top of the world. 

After work I'd head straight home and change immediately into my gym gear and head back to the gym! I'd either do a class or a weights session with a trainer, or both! 

I was single, footloose and fancy free and had nothing else to do with my time after work so I dedicated my nights to working out and getting fit. 

 

I was so involved in the world of fitness, I began to attend an annual conference called FILEX. Its insane! Over ten thousand fitness freaks just like me attending classes and doing short information sessions on nutrition, sports science and much more. It's aims is to provide a comprehensive range of fitness and health products available in the fitness and health industry to all the attendees! I would organise my 3 day weekend so that it was mainly full of actual classes, sometimes doing up to 4 sessions a day! I WAS MAD ABOUT FITNESS! 

I was so passionate about the Health & Fitness industry I decided to become a Personal Trainer, (PT). A friend of mine and his wife were opening up a gym and he had gotten wind of my qualifications and although I was very new to working in the industry, he offered me a job working as a PT in the gym. 

I was up at 5am to start by 6am. My clients were scattered sporadically throughout the day but mainly between 6-9am and 5-9pm. My life had changed. I no longer had the time to dedicate to my fitness. I wasn't getting the direction or encouragement I needed as a newbie in the industry and I began to HATE it! After 6 months I resigned and went back to my old job! I got MY life back! 

Then I met Rob.... (who is now my best friend and husband).

A total NON fitness orientated person I could not have dreamed that I would fall in love with someone so completely my polar opposite! For example:

• I love the outdoors - he love the indoors
• I love hot summer days and sandy beaches - he loves cold winter nights and the ski fields
• I love to exercise - he loves to watch TV

The list goes on, but I won’t bore you...

My days and nights had changed. I moved in with Rob and I no longer ran in the morning, opting to snuggle in bed that little bit longer before heading to work. I'd excitedly race home to cook a lovely meal and open a bottle of wine for us for dinner.

Rob and I have since had a baby, well she is a toddler now and almost 2. We took her to Hawaii last year when she was 15 months old and that's where I think I found my long lost friend - my fitness Mojo! 

I would do a few laps around the Lagoon at The Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and then walk along the boardwalk everyday before breakfast, pushing Sara in her stroller. I lost about 3kg's and I felt amazing! 

It was hard coming home to Melbourne's winter and keeping up the fantastic routine I had developed. I managed for a while on the treadmill but its so boring and monotonous that I slowly let the habit slide.

Last week I decided enough was enough. My favorite three pairs of size 27 jeans were just too tight and I was refusing to give in and wear the bigger sizes I have in my wardrobe. I got up and put on my gym gear, hat and sunscreen. Loaded Sara into her stroller with a drink and a packet of sultana's, (as a distraction), while I pounded the pavement, up and down the hills of my suburb for 4km... It took me 45 minutes. 

I was so bloody exhausted! I hadn't realised just how unfit I'd become! 

I have done this 4 times this week and have already noticed that my fitness is increasing. The hardest hill on the way home isn't as hard and I wasn't as puffed today. Oh and as a side note, my size 27 jeans slipped on with ease this morning! 

TIP: Set a realistic goal, keep at it and the results might just surprise you! 

As I am still so very keen on fitness, I thought I'd include a special Fitness Tip section in my blog. An exercise or simple fitness routine that I have found to be successful for me, that might work for you too?

Look out for:

• Getting In Shape With Little Or No Equipment,
• My Favourite Products

Resources:

FILEX
Fitness Network
GNC LiveWell Australia

Recipe of the week

I love Indian food. Its one of my most favourite cuisines to eat. Tonight's meal is a simple yet tasty Tandoori Chicken skewers with raita and wholemeal wraps.

Tandoori chicken skewers with raita

Equipment:  

You will need 12 pre-soaked skewers

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 1/3 cup tandoori paste
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/3 cup thick, plain yogurt
• 900g chicken breast fillets, trimmed, cut into 2cm pieces
• olive oil cooking spray
• naan bread and mango chutney, to serve

Raita

• 1 cup thick, plain yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, grated
• 1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped

Recipe kindly taken from: Taste

I'm adding shaved lettuce and diced tomatoes into our wholemeal wraps, (which we are using instead of naan bread), as a point of difference and to add a summer "salad" feel to our meal!

What are you having for dinner tonight? 

RSPCA QLD is calling for donations...

I'm haunted by the images coming out of flood ravaged QLD. The devastation will be felt for a long while to come.

Please spare a thought and some cash if you can afford it to help the beautiful domestic pets, livestock and wildlife that too are suffering.

RSPCA QLD is calling fordonations:

• $2000 can rent a helicopter to support rescue efforts.
• $1500 can rent a semi trailer to transport feed and animals through affected areas.
• $1000 can purchase a large animal rescue sling.
• $500 can purchase a field medication kit.
• $300 can help to purchase equipment to rescue, transport and house wildlife stranded in the floods.
• $250 can purchase a domestic animal transport crate.
• $150 can help to get a rehabilitation kit to a carer to assist wildlife who have lost their homes.
• $100 can help with Veterinary Treatments for multiple animals.
• $70 can help with equipment to assist with rescue efforts.
• $60 can provide special dietary requirements, a pouch or a perch for wildlife.
• $50 can purchase a pet care pack for stranded domestic pets.
• $40 can buy a bale of hay to feed stranded livestock.
• $25 can buy a pet food pack for stranded domestic pets

You can choose to donate in a way that suits you best. Post, Phone or Online.

To post your donation, send a cheque or money order (payable to RSPCA Queensland Inc) to: RSPCA Queensland Inc, PO Box 6177, Fairfield Gardens Qld 4103, Australia.

Telephone our donation line on (07) 3426 9972 -- have your credit card details ready! US or Canadian residents can call tollfree on 1866 539 6589.

Direct Debit, please call our donation line on (07) 3426 9972 for RSPCA Queensland Inc account details. Please indicate "Flood Appeal" when depositing. 

(respectively lifted from the RSPCA NSW blog)

please-give-to-rspca-qld-flood-appeal 

Disappointed is an understatement

He didn't come to our first IVF appointment!

Tears.....

Wishing upon a star..

Sometimes I wish that things were so different....

I love my husband and we have a very very good life, barely ever wanting for anything. In fact at times I think we are able to buy what we want, when we want it, way too easily. So when it comes to something that's not materialistic.. like a baby, which I WANT desperately, it has thrown a spanner in the works being so hard to conceive our second child. 

There is nothing on this earth that I enjoy doing more than spending hours playing make believe or dress ups with my little girl, or even reading her favourite book 27 times because it makes her giggle and smile. 

Then I watch her father with his short fuse and hot temper get frustrated at all the "daddy" demands for attention and I wonder if I really did pick the right man for the job? Recently he seems preoccupied with relaxing on the couch after his stressful week and would rather immerse himself in xBox games and crime shows or out on boys nights, than running around the house with his beautiful daughter. 

We have being trying to conceive now for over a year, with no luck. Tomorrow we have our first IVF consultation and so I'm worried that he doesn't want this to work either! Why do I feel this way? Because he has been making excuses to not complete some of the initial and very vital paperwork which has to be done and approved before we can begin.

Well finally we have the signed and witness documents.. Yippee!!

Now if only they didn't take 10 days to be processed we could get the ball rolling a hell of a lot sooner.... 

Stay turned for updates on our progress...

Natural Disaster in Queensland

Despite our better judgement ... I don't think anyone really expected this to end up the way it did!! 

Queensland on the Eastern coast of Australia, has been rocked by its worst natural disaster since the floods in 1974.  Seventy five percent of Queensland has now been declared a disaster area as some residents prepare to evacuate their homes for the second time in weeks.

To view the extend of the damage click on the link below:

Photo Slideshow: Floods-ravage-queensland.slideshow

How can you help? 

Donate to the Premier's flood relief appeal by calling 1800 219 028 or by visiting the web site:

www.qld.gov.au/floods. 

OR Donate by Internet banking 

 

The account details for donations are:

Account Name: Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal
BSB: 064 013
Account number: 1000 6800 

SWIFT code for international donations: CTBAAU2S

Great Find..

Yesterday while meandering through the St. Kilda Esplanade Market, (toddler free), I found a stall that sells some very cute clothes for kids.

Although not cheap by any means, I picked out this cute little dress for Sara. 

You can view more designs at: www.wyldtimeunlimited.com.au

or 

Contact the designer directly: Maria Sokratis 0425 785 102

DT's otherwise known as Dummy Tantrum's

We are currently weaning our 21 month old daughter off her dummy. Christmas Eve was the last time she used one, as we told her Santa was coming to take them away for all the new babies to use. 

She understands this as she says, with a sigh "oh mummy, for the babies..OK"

Christmas Day was day 2 of this traumatic change in her bed time routine, and it was been very hard for her. To watch her is to imagine she is having withdrawals like a junkie coming off their last hit.

Thankfully as time passed so is her need for a dummy. 

However its certainly made me rethink using one for the next baby, or perhaps we just take it away much earlier so the dependence isn't as great?? 

What are you experiences with removing dummies from your children's routine??

Cherished Christmas

What a fantastic way to end another year!

The week before Christmas was filled with many family social events which allowed us to catch up on the year that everyone had had.

We had extended family join us from Canada and since then some have joined us from Sweden which was just so fantastic and such a great experience for Sara to meet them all too. 

Christmas Eve and Day were both filled with excess wrapping paper, especially for Sara, who got very very spoilt. 

My two favourite presents that she received are:

What presents did your little ones receive this year that are your favourites?