The fog clears... sort of

Thanks for your messages of support ladies.

We are making progress with the house, although I'm loathe to say it out loud, because Sod always seems to have another plan. An architect came to have a look today and will be drawing up some plans to take to the bank for an additional loan. You've already seen the stove and oven. I seriously don't know what these people did to the house between July when we bought it and February when we moved in, whatever it was, it doesn't seem possible.

I will post the weeks eating plan and exercise regime a little later.

Thanks again!

Feeling a little lost

Hi ladies,

I've not updated my blog for a little while. To be entirely honest with all of you, I'm feeling a little lost. At the moment I'm floating from one day to the next in the hopes that I will remember to breath. I need to vent, to write, but once again too many people read my blog and assumptions will be made about whether I'm happy or not. And I am, happy.... I just feel lost?! Does that make sense. Maybe it's my hormones playing havock. Maybe it's the fact that I really don't feel all that safe or comfortable in my home, it's still such a disaster area, and we are 3 and a half months post baby birth, and I still don't have a nursery, or one complete room to live in, over a year later. Could be that I really haven't had maternity leave, when you own your own business you just don't get that privilage. I just don't have the strength to do anything other than exist. The only thing that gives me true joy at the moment is my son.

So there you have it, perhaps I have confused you more than I've confused me... but that's how I feel. Totally and utterly lost!

Welcome to the World Jayden

Well done Mommy Marthie and Daddy Craig!

Welcome to the world little Jayden.

May your lives be filled with love, joy and laughter.

Baby M

Dearest Baby M,

You are a miracle, Mommy and Daddy tried for so long to have you. They asked God everyday for you and they waited for what seemed like forever.

One day Mommy woke up and didn't feel that good and Daddy decided that Mommy should have a look and see what was happening. Mommy bought a magic wand that tells you if there is a baby in her tummy. One line for no baby, two and there is. You can imagine how surprised Mommy was when her magic wand had two lines. I don't think she believed it, because she even went to the doctor to find out if it was lying, and then she went back to the doctor just in case it was all a dream. Mommy and Daddy went to see if everything was alright and to take a photo of you. I know that they will never forget the day they saw your beautiful butterfly heart beating on the screen in the doctors offices.

You've spent 9 months growing in your Mommy's belly and in your Daddy's heart, you've even grown in some of Mommy's Internet friends hearts. Mommy and Daddy have decided that it's time to meet you though. I'm asking you not to give your Mommy a hard time coming out. I know she is comfortable and cozy, but there are so many people who want to meet you. We are all going to pray that you arrive safely in Mommy and Daddy's arms and we are all going to thank God for the little miracle that you are.

Tomorrow you will be born into a world of love.

Aunty Nikki

Dilemma

Ladies help me out here. I have a dilemma, one involves instant gratification, the other long term planning, both will make me equally happy.

There are two things on this planet that make me positively giddy. Cooking/entertaining and capturing memories.

My camera is in desperate need of an upgrade, it is no longer focusing and is quite literally making everything look fat, and my kitchen is circa 1960, complete with old cracking linoleum floors and open shelving cupboards. My stove and oven were replaced very quickly because the built in looked like this..........

... yes that is seriously what it looked like, these are actual photos on the day we moved in. I had reasons for almost losing my mind when we moved in, and I'm sure you will agree that I'm justified in pulling it out and throwing it away.

So my dilemma is this,

Instant gratification that I can buy tomorrow if I like

OR

which will take at least 6 months to save up for.

HELP, I'm torn!!!!!!!!!

Plan for today

BREAKFAST: 2 slices of toast with Avo.

SNACK: None

LUNCH: I felt like a chicken pie.... I had a chicken pie:)

SNACK: Hot cross bun

SUPPER: Deboned, skinless chicken breasts, stuffed with chedder and bacon bits, drizzeled with olive oil, spiced and grilled. Savoury rice, a green salad and balsamic vinegar.

EXERCISE FOR THE DAY: A brisk walk around the block with baby in the pram to get my heart rate up, weights 5 x 10 reps with 2.5kg dumbbells.

Todays eating plan and ab secret

BREAKFAST: Bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes with 1/2 banana cut into it & of course a cup of tea

SNACK: A marshmallow chocolate Easter egg, (af is obviously about to arrive)

LUNCH: 1 Italian roll with pickle mix cottage cheese. (I use plain chunky cottage cheese, chop up pickled onion, a gherkin and some spring onions. Mix it all together and add salt n pepper to taste

SNACK: I really don't know... probably a plum or two

SUPPER: My stepson has invited his girlfriend and their friends around, so I'll be cooking for quite a few hungry teenagers tonight. We will definitely be braaing to wind down. On the menu, a rib eye steak each and boerewors to share. A green salad with the usual ingredients, a potato salad, mielies on the cob and a French loaf stuffed with feta, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and olives. (I only stuff half with olives because half of us eat them and half of us don't). A glass of wine... my special treat.

THE MUCH AWAITED AB SECRET... (I will post a video on Monday, just in case you're confused).

1. Get yourself a big towel or yoga mat, you will sweat.
2. Lay down on the towel on your back.
3. Bend your knees so that your feet are on the ground and your knees are about 90 degrees to the floor. Walk your bum down, so that your back is absolutely flat on the ground, (a bit difficult for us ladies with a hollow back).
4. Straighten your arms next to your sides, palms facing the floor.
5. Tighten your abs and take 5 deep breaths. (This may take a little practice).
6. Now lift your shoulders about 2cms from the ground, taking care not to bend your neck or round your shoulders too much. Lift your arms from the ground so that they are in line with your knees. This is your starting position.
7. Now rock slightly forward, do not use your lower back at all, the aim here is to crunch your abs, you should be able to just touch your knees with your fingers.
8. Now here is the tricky part.... back down to your starting position. You may not rest your shoulders back on the floor, you need to remain 2cms from the ground and you need to keep your neck straight and shoulders only slightly rounded. You can test your position by placing one of your hands on top of your abs, they will feel tight and hard.
9. If you're doing it properly, you should start to feel your top abs begin to burn after about the 10th crunch.
10. Start with 10 crunches, lay flat and take 5 deep breaths. Now repeat the process.
11. Depending on how strong your abs are, you should start with 50 crunches and work your way up to 100. You will know you're ready to add an extra 10 when you are not feeling the burn at the end of your allotted amount.

SIDE AB CRUNCHES.

1. Repeat steps 1 through 6 above. Instead of crunching your abs up toward your knees, twist your body to the right and aim to touch your left knee with your right hand, taking care not to lift from your back, but rather from your stomach.
2. Back to starting position, now to the left and touch your right knee with your left hand.
3. If you feel you can, extend the crunch to just past your knee, but not too far, as you will start to lift your side of the floor.
4. Repeat.
5. Repeat steps 10 and 11.
6. You should start feeling a burn on the top and sides of your stomach.

LOWER ABS.

1. You might want to do this in private, because, well there is no dignified way of doing it and you will look stupid.
2. Find a continental pillow or fold a towel up and kneel down on it.
3. Make sure your knees are about 10cms apart.
4. Hands on your hips. Pull your stomach and bum in nice and tight.
5. Thrust your hips forward and moving to whichever side feels natural, begin a figure of 8 movement with your hips only, don't use your knees or your thighs.
6. Repeat 5 times and rest.
7. Repeat the process until you have done 25.
8. WARNING: This particular ab exercise if done too often or with too many reps causes that v shape going down into the pubic area. Now although it looks super sexy on men when that area is very defined, it can look a little strange on women. I learned this the hard way. What you're going for is more of a "come hither" look, not giant flashing neon lights.

Some strangeness.... If you put your hands on your top abs, the ones just under your rib cage, straight after you have finished a set of crunches, and particularly near the end of your work out you will still feel them contracting and releasing.

New task

It has become abundantly clear over the short time that I have been blogging, that people take offence to certain things that have been written. As a result, many of us our too scared to express our thoughts on our own blogs, for fear of backlash. We don't know who reads the things we write and sometimes we hurt the people we care about because of that.

Because of the above I have started a separate blog, a place where anyone can post anything anonymously. Whether it be poetry, pictures, your random thoughts or just a good old rant about someone or something. You may choose to have the comments disabled for that particular post, and your name will not be published unless you specifically ask for it.

It's already set up, all you need to do is send an email to; behindourveil@gmail.com and I will publish what you have to say. It goes without saying that pornography and the like will not be accepted, but everything else goes. A disclaimer will be posted at the beginning of any content that may be offensive.

ME: with your permission I would like to post a request for anyone who needs to write, but doesn't have a blog at OPM.

Sometimes we need a special place to hide, sometimes a place to run, and sometimes a place to prove we're not insane.

The First Step...

What gives you the impression I am stalling with the pictures of my body..... I promise they will be posted soon.

But, in the meantime I need to share a secret with you. I do NOT believe in diets! None of them, no low GI, no no protein, no negative calories, NONE.... I'm I making my point clear here. I've seen so many people dieting and losing weight only to put that same weight and some more back on. Our bodies are simply not designed to be deprived of anything.

Having said that, we are also forced to put an enormous amounts of chemicals and synthetic vitamins into our bodies in the foods we eat. Even the water we drink is not healthy.

Years ago I made some changes to my diet, permanent changes that have become a lifestyle. These changes resulted in me dropping kilos, not 1 or 2 but 15. I didn't diet, I did no exercise, and I didn't deprive myself of anything. In the beginning it was difficult to get used to the changes, but now if I go back to any of these items they taste strange and my body reacts violently.

Before I start though, I want you all to know that I have a very deep passion for food. I love everything about it, the smell, the taste, the texture. Every aspect of food thrills me and I've often said I could go without very many things in my life, as long as I have a descent kitchen, stove and oven, cooking utensils and a fully stocked pantry. I am a business owner and I work from home, my husband and step son work with me and as you know we have a small baby, so our meals are quick to prepare, usually don't contain strange ingredients and are done 3 times a day. Anyone can do it.

So, here are those changes, don't do them gradually, make them all at once and bear with the strangeness, within a week you won't even notice them.

1. No more white sugar. Substitute it for brown sugar instead. It's far less refined. Once you've had brown sugar for a while, try the white and feel how your body reacts. White sugar will taste metallic and you will sugar rush and burn.
2. Start cutting down on the coffee, or drink decaf. I drank anywhere between 5 and 10 cups a day, if I drink 5 cups a year now, it's a lot. Large quantities of caffeine causes the body to hold water and fat. Again, try a cup once you've eliminated it from your life and feel how violently reacts.
3. Try to keep you tea consumption to a maximum of 3 cups a day. I still struggle with this, but it's well worth it.
4. It goes without saying, keep your water intake up to 2 litres or 8 250ml glasses a day.
5. No more full cream milk, 2% or skim. I find that skim is a little to bland for me, so I use 2%.
6. No more white bread, it doesn't fill you up, it is full of refined sugars and flour and it's generally not good for you.
7. Eat breakfast every day, you need to kickstart your metabolism. I hated breakfast, now I can't go without it. 2 slices of toast will do, maybe a bowl of muesli or cerea, but eat when you wake up, it's important.
8. Balance your meals. I will post our daily meals for the next two weeks. Feel free to steal any ideas or ask for ingredients if you like.
9. Try to differentiate your body's pangs. Hunger and thirst pangs feel the same but, if you really pay attention you will learn the difference.
10. Most importantly, never deprive yourself of anything. If you feel like chocolate, have it. You don't need a whole slab, just a regular size chocolate will do. When we deprive ourselves, our bodies crave that particular food more. I have a particularly large issue with crisps. Ask yourself the question, do I want it because I see it, or do I need it because my body needs it.

Here is what we've eaten as a family;

BREAKFAST: 2 slices brown bread toast, one with Bovril and one with Strawberry Jam, and a cup of tea.

I've had a banana in between because I got peckish.

LUNCH: Good 'ol sandwich, with lettuce tomato and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste, and I can't live without my Mayo. Cup of tea

I'll probably get snackish at about 15:00 and grab about 5 Provita or salty cracks, or if I feel like something sweet Maries.

SUPPER: I pre cooked an Indian beef curry yesterday, and will switch the stove back on tonight and heat it. We'll have some rice and I will chop some onion, tomatoes and banana's to serve with it. Cup of tea.

Water, as much as possible.

Tomorrow I will share the ab secret, but I'll have to get hubby to take some photo while I do it.

Happy 3 Months

I know I promised before photos of my bod, but something more important has to be done today.

Today our little boy is 3 months old...

Congratulations Jahni

A massive congratulations on the birth of your little girl, Nicole.



May your love for eachother grow everyday.

All our Love
XOXOXOX

I got this off of Nats blog, and I really enjoyed it - if you want to play along, please do.

For Today...

Outside my window... The sun is shining, and there is not a breathe of wind, quite something for good old PE.

I am thinking... about our trip to my Grandparents tomorrow, I'm so excited

I am thankful for...Everyday I am able to get up and live

From the kitchen... Tonights fare, bacon pasta with a tomato and basil pesto, a Greek salad and garlic, feta and sundried tomato bread.

I am wearing... Blue summer pants and a black top

I am reading... Dean Koontz, The Taking

I am hoping...for a safe trip to Hiberdene through the Transkei

I am creating... A bling binky for the arrival of baby M

I am hearing... Sky FM

Around the house... Chaos

One of my favorite things... is my 10 minutes in the morning with my son lying next to me, and seeing the love he has for me

A few plans for the rest of the week... Drive through the Transkei, get to my Grandparents and relax

Before the Before Pictures...

After a whole lot of internal debate, I'm going to do it! (Gulp). I'm going to post my "get my body back" pics, updates and tips. As motivation, I have posted these two pics from photo shoots that were done prior to baby and fertility drugs. This is what I'm aiming to get back to.

Now before I start, I cannot fit into either pair of pants anymore, and it's safe to say that my breasts are never going to be as small as they were, so the white top is out of the question. I have been blessed with abdominal muscles of steel, and the only thing that seems to have bounced back is my tummy, (thank you mommy), although I still have a little bit of a paunch.

The problem is my ASS. I developed this tyre of fat around my backside, hips and upper thighs during my pregnancy, so that is priority number 1. I will however, be working on my stomach, arms etc as well. I want to reiterate that this is not about kilo's lost or gained, but rather about feeling comfortable with my own body again. I want to be able to prance around in undies in front of my husband, quite frankly I'm not designed for this whole leopard crawling to avoid being looked at.

And ladies, because I love you all, I will reveal my top secret ab crunches. You're bound to have a flat stomach in 19 days of working the little buggers out this way. They hurt like hell, your body will protest, but it's so worth it in the end.

I will put the post baby pics up after Easter, because, well.... it's bound to get worse with all that chocolate around, but Wednesday next week we start the process of getting back into shape.

GRILLING GOODNESS...

Got this from Nat's blog http://thehenmans.blogspot.com/, so here goes it.

1. Are you competitive?Extremely very competitive, I don't however compete with other people, only with myself.
2. What do you most often eat for breakfast? Toast and tea on every day except Sundays when we usually have a full English breakfast.
3. Do you have a 'raggidy' piece of furniture?No... although my mattress really needs to be replaced.
4. What do you wash your face with? Placecol, only Placecol, their products are awesome!
5. What colors does Spring make you want to wear? Blue
6. Do you like working your flower beds? No, I don't have green fingers, plants die around me
7. What is something you want that you've never had? I'm pretty content with my life as it is.
8. How many miles do you have on your car? 25000km
9. Do you prefer to write with pen or pencil? Any stationery, I LOVE stationery, as long as it's mine and you haven't touched it
10. What was off limits to you growing up that you do all the time now? I dunno. I pretty much stick to what I was raised with, but we don't have a dining room and east in front of the TV which I HATE!!!
11. What is the age difference between you and your spouse? I'm not saying, but let's just sat he's much older
12. Did you hurt yourself in anyway this week? I'm always bashing myself about
13. Do you like wallpaper enough to hang it in your home? No way, only thing resembling wall paper in my house is the teddies on Jordan's wall
14. What do you need to do that you've been putting off? Nothing, I do things the moment I get them. It creates order in my little life.
15. What did you do this week that you wish you hadn't? Lost my temper with my poor suffering husband
16. Did anything keep you up late this week? Nope, only the little mans night feed, which, touch wood is getting later and later... YAY!

So, tag anyone who wants to do it.