moving

dudes... I've moved! I'm starting fresh (thought it's better to do it earlier than later)

Come see me here: http://annabananabomb.wordpress.com/

day two - kick butt healthy eating week

Hi Guys,

It was so lovely to hear from you all that you miss me when I'm gone! I feel super guilty about not writing more often, especially when I have a few days where I just drop off the face of the planet, and at times I wonder if it's worth coming back at all. But hearing that y'all like it here and like what I have to say is really nice. So, I'll be sticking around, obviously!

Yesterday went really well with the kick butt eating. Although I did have one bite of an apple danish, one bite of a custard donut, and one bite of a custard cannoli at morning tea. Three bites of naughtiness 'aint too bad for day one :)

I rode the loooooong way home last night, about an hour and a half, then baked my eggplant dinner. I cut an eggplant in half length ways and scooped out the middle before putting it in the oven to bake. I then boiled half a head of cauliflower with the eggplant insides, then mashed that up with some salt, pepper, garlic and chilli flakes. I put the mash mixture into the eggplant shells then back in the oven to get crisp.

I ate one half for dinner and it was delish, but about an hour later I was hungry again. I wandered into the kitchen and mindlessly ate a small handful of vita weat biscuits and took to the ABC spread with a teaspoon. But I managed to stop at one teaspoon. I paused and asked myself "why are you eating? are you genuinely hungry? maybe you're just thirsty or bored?"

So I had a big glass of water and made a peppermint tea to sit and sip at. I also promised myself that if I was still hungry after the cup of tea I would eat a piece of toast or something similar. Surpise surprise, I wasn't actually hungry and the tea was the perfect way to top off the evening.

I was proud of myself for having that small victory, and know it's just the first of many many more victories (and failures) that I will face during not only this week but until my habits are more intuned with my food "needs" instead of my food "wants".

I woke up feeling flatter in the tummy already, which is no doubt psychological, but still a really nice feeling.

My biggest hurdles for the week are yet to come: farewell drinks for a friend on Friday night, birthday drinks for another friend on Saturday night. I have to be strong and remember how kick butt I want this week to be :)

ABB

winner winner eggplant dinner

Hi Everyone,

Please excuse my absence from the blog, we had a death in the family so I've been out of action.

Now, onto happier things. First things first - announcing the **WINNER** of the lighting comp I ran last week: Seitahn!

Seitahn said: "I remember giving a friend a joint present with another friend for her 16th birthday - it was a sexy 'teddy'. She hated it (and so did her mum!!) so we returned it for her and gave her a $2 scratchie instead!!!"

But also because it was Seitahns birthday last week, so I thought she was extra deserving of a gift!

Seitahn, to collect your prize just drop me an email on annabananabomb@gmail.com.

Now, onto my back on track progress. Things have not gone well. Monday involved creamy pasta and chocolate, yesterday involved fried foods and over eating. So I'm starting this weeks challenge today, Wednesday.

I'll finish my kick arse diet week next Tuesday, but I wont postpone my next challenge, I'll just have a little over lap. No stress!

Today's eats are:

1 and 3/4 slices of rye sourdough french toast made with 1 egg white and 1 egg, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a dash of almond milk and served with exactly 1 tablespoon of real maple syrup. (no butter, no sugar)

1 medium banana with 1 tablespoon of almond spread.

1 small soy latte

1 serve of pesto pasta made with half spelt half wholemeal pasta, with added soft goats cheese, roasted sweet potato, and a generous helping of baby spinach leaves.

half a roasted eggplant stuffed with smashed cauliflower and seasoned with salt, pepper, and chilli flakes.

1 square of organic dark chocolate.

Hope you're having happy weeks and happy hump days!

ABB

Back On Track Month

Check out the deliciousness!

By about 10am yesterday I had declared that to celebrate my birthday all I would eat (up until dinner) was cupcakes, coffee, cheese, and crackers. I had two coffees, two cupcakes, a good serve of blue, cheddar and brie cheese with crackers - but caved at 3pm when I hit the sillies big time - and topped it off with a little salad and fruit.

I had a great day, all the happy thoughts my friends and bloggies and family were thinking about me yesterday gave me a lovely sense of contentment and well being. It is so good to be loved :)

Now, back to everyday life as a 25 year old - eep!

Thanks to Lauren, Angela, and Caitlin who are all completing their own personal "back on track" style challenges I am inspired to begin my own.

Unfortunately I get majorly bored doing the same thing for 30 days, but I do recognise that a week just isn't going to cut it for me this time around (I need some serious butt kicking). So after a bit of thought, I've decided to do a four week Back On Track challenge, with a different theme every week! That way, I'll get the benefits of going hard out for a full month, without getting bored half way through week two.

First week starts Monday 16 November and the theme is: Kick Butt Healthy Food Week

I'll be spending Saturday stocking my fridge and cupboards, and preparing some healthy feasts for during the week.

I'll be aiming for 7 days of:

• 3 - 5 litres of water a day
• 2 serves of fruit or more a day
• 5 serves of vegies or more a day
• limited treats (if I'm going to eat chocolate it should be good quality, organic, dark chocolate - the proper stuff!)
• cook two new recipes (this is the fun part!)
• no takeaway
• no coffee
• no alcohol

Those last two scare me but are totally necessary after my recent carefree attitude towards stimulants and depressants ;)

Stay tuned over the next four weeks to see my other themes of Tour de Melbourne, Yoga Madness, and Whittle My Middle.

Oh and don't forget to check out my lighting giveaway!

Birthday Giveaway!!

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear ABB
Happy Birthday to me!

I have been so spoilt already and it's only 12.30pm :)

I've got money, a top, cupcakes (with PINK frosting!), earrings, and this weapon:

It's Japanese stainless steel and it's beautiful. The Boy knows me too well - all that chop chop chopping in the kitchen!


..... and now, because I like to mix things up a bit, I'm turning the tables on the birthday gift giving tradition and giving YOU, dear readers, a gift!

***GIVEAWAY*** (for Australian readers only - sorry internationals)

pew pew pew, ksssshhhh, *insert more lame fireworks noises here*

The lovely peeps at Buyster Lighting are generously giving an $80 gift voucher to one lucky ABB reader to use in their online store!

These guys do all kinds of lighting, from lamps, outdoor, indoor, wall lighting, ceiling lighting and stock a wide range of brands. So if you're in the market for some new lighting (or looking for an easy Christmas present) this is just the giveaway for you!

To enter, just leave me a comment describing the worst gift you ever recieved or gave. I'll judge the winner and announce on Monday!

ABB

getting older getting wiser

It's my birthday tomorrow everyone!

I'm not as excited as I have been in past years, I'm having a bit of an off week. Just feeling tired and sluggish and under pressure at work. But I've no doubt I'll have a wonderful day none the less.

It has been a hectic work at week, managing the logistics of over 150 employee information sessions to which 13000 people were invited, and 5000 (at this stage) have registered to attend. I also presented at one today with much success. I was happy to have a lecturn to hide behind though because my legs were a shaking!

I had a good old cry last night for no other reason than I was tired and emotional. I missed yoga, again, so that's two weeks or 4 classes that I have missed out on. Back on track Saturday, I miss my stretching and serenity!

I did manage a run this morning, half an hour in the heat. I literally took an hour for me to stop sweating, which is not good before work. But it was enjoyable, and my sun tan is coming along nicely. Oh, I crack me up! I'm so pale I get excited over a couple of freckles :)

In other news, The Boy salvaged a framed black and white photo of Humphrey Bogart for our new place from a hard rubbish pile out for collection! I love it and I love Humphrey :)

Right, this is getting a little out of hand because I've cracked the major sillies, so I'll catch you tomorrow for birthday celebrations :D :D

healthful preparations

Happy Monday everyone!

I woke up with a headache today - ack! I think I'm dehydrated. I really need to finish the bottle of bailies that's in my fridge because I'm developing a serious nightly habit of glass of bailies + milk for dessert. Either that or hide it somewhere so it doesn't speak to me whenever I open the fridge!

Weekend recap:
Friday I went out for dinner with friends to Helenic Republic. We drank a lot of white wine. The food was great, but I think I was expecting too much because I wasn't "wowed" by the experience. I'll definitely be going back for a second shot at it though!

The boy and I got up fairly late Saturday and did some couch shopping. I was pretty proud of our efforts. We've picked something out but I want to measure the lounge area to double check it will fit ok before we put down the moola.

We couldn't decide what to do with the rest of the day so we ended up at a little pub I stumbled across, Penny Black. It doesn't look like much from the outside but has a HUGE beer garden, $6 pizza's, $14 jugs of pimms and sangria, pool, darts, board games behind the bar, live music and just a really cool vibe.

We spent 5 or 6 hours there, got sloshed, and played a best of 32 uno tournament. The Boy was kicking my butt, I was down 9 to 15 then came storming home to win. We are so competitive with each other, but it's (nearly) always good natured. We also played a little pool before walking home. My skills are definitely improving, but they are still a long way off being mad.

Having started the session quite early in the day we got to bed at a reasonable hour, and miracle of miracles neither of us woke up with hangovers! I'm convinced that Pimms is a super grog, I never get overly drunk or hungover on the stuff.

Sunday was a healthful preparation day for me. The Boy and I decided to hit the Queen Vic Markets in the morning, and with everything so cheap I brought home a veritable haul of goodies:

soy milk
cob of corn
garlic
rye sourdough bread
red capsicum
avocado
broccoli
asparagus
artichoke (what the hell am I going to do with it???)
watermelon
sweet potato
honey dew melon
green apples
prawns
Tasmanian salmon steak
nuttelex
red onion
cashews
almonds

I was excited to get cooking once I'd lugged it all home, especially considering I had also received a fresh box of organic vegies on Friday :D

In the vegie box I got

tomatoes
cucumber
zucchini
mushrooms
salad leaves
potatoes
brown onions
leek
silver beet
celery
cauliflower
peas
baby carrots

I made a salad of asparagus, broccoli, salad leaves, peas, tomato, cucumber, baby carrot, and celery. Which I enjoyed with half the salmon steak and a chunk of rye bread for dinner (along with a sneaky glass of white):


I grilled the salmon steak with almond oil, chilli, garlic, and ginger then topped it with some natural yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon. The salad was nude (dressing free) just the way I like it.

Here's the salad pre tossing:

I also made my famous red curry with chickpeas, butter beans, red curry paste, coconut cream, brown onion, garlic, zucchini, carrot, celery, mushroom, cauliflower, and sweet potato. I let it bubble away on the stove top for a good hour or so to really infuse the flavours and then tupperwared it all up for freezing.

I put together a fairly plain and simple muesli for my breakfasts for the week: finely chopped green apples, rolled oats, natural bran, cinnamon, agave, and shredded coconut with soy milk and natural yoghurt. Then finally I prepared a fruit salad with honey dew melon, watermelon, seedless purple grapes, and strawberries for snacking. Phew.

After all the preparations, but before dinner, I headed out for a half hour run. I'm not even sore this morning, and felt no pain yet again so I'm confident I've recovered from my various injuries - WOOH!! Back into the running groove :D

It was over 30 degrees Celsius (about 90 Fahrenheit) when I left the house, and it definitely hurt to be running in the heat. But I took it nice and slow, sunsreened up before I left the house, and drank plenty of water along the way. Which meant I was able to squeeze out the 30 minutes I wanted to do. I think I'll aim for leaving earlier in the morning or later in the evening for runs now it's starting to get a little hot.

Hope you all have a fabulous day (and this headache passes!!)
ABB