Saturday Scare!

Holy smudges I feel like I'm becoming a fitness retard! When I woke up this morning and tried to roll over, there was pain in EVERY part of my body. It even hurts to sneeze! Why am I tormenting myself with so many crunches and planks?! Simply because I need to.

Last night's dinner was the anticipated rice dish, however there weren't any veges (I couldn't find any in my fridge!), and the chicken was replaced with salmon - Sealord flavoured salmon on sale at your nearest New World Metro! So all healthy in that department. I even averted my attention from snacking on cheese and crackers that seem to glare at me every time I mince past the kitchen. The cupboard and fridge aren't even open, yet still I feel their cheesy/crackery, tempting gaze upon my little paunch. Ignored that shit - Booyah.

Breakfast this morning was poached eggs on wholegrain toast - NO BUTTER! Sprouts etc. etc. Great start to the day! Headed off to Andy's Mojo to show off my new haircut (pretty outrageous for me...) and to grab a Long Black - NO SUGAR! Unfortunately one of his customers bought him a big bag of M&Ms, of which I ashamedly had two... Became a bit worse when I was going to be late for a date with Eve, so caught the cable car up to uni. Eek! A cup of tea followed at Wishbone (I'll forgive the mixup of Earl Grey for English Breakfast because the girl was new), but no food, as tempting as it was, sitting next to the display cabinet and all...

Two corn thins, and the aroma of Bridget's hot chips from the Quad Kiosk for lunch, and the planning of a great afternoon! Andy and I are going to catch the bus to the zoo, then do a MASSIVE walk around Wellington. It's going to be so much fun! Ooops, sorry Bruce, missed our vocal coaching session...

Then I'm going to have some wholemeal spaghetti pasta with mince, before doing my usual crunches and planks. Kill me now...

As for the title, Saturday is Emma's 21st. Fuck. It's going to be a delicious dinner at her house and a ridiculous amount of booze. I'm getting scared already! I'm thinking that I'll only eat a little of each, and no dessert. As for alcohol, I'm told that there's going to be vodka, so vodka and soda water. Definitely with citrus for some taste, but you get the drift. No carbs!

That's all for now, I'm going to go ahead and get ready for my massive walkey walk. EXCITING!

Keep up the good eating, y'all!

Josh xxx

WOW, Epic Times Ahead...

So... I had a big splurge on sick foods during the weekend- pizza, maccas, and even KFC. Soooooo good/bad all at the same time! But then I got told I had to wear a bizarre bra in World of Wearable Art this year. In front of 45,000 people.

The quick 2 month diet/buff up regime begins...

Last night I did an uncounted number of crunches, a great samba dance regime, more crunches, plank plank plank, and went for a half hour run. Sweat has become my sidekick.

Dinner was a small bit of mashed potato, two venison sausages (thanks dad!), peas, and homemade tomato sauce. Very good and rather nutritious, so all thumbs up!

Before breakfast this morn, I did more crunches, a pilates move called 100s, planking, a half hour run around Welly, more crunches and planks, before a warm down walk and stretching. Boy do my abs hurt atm!

Breakfast was a wholebran fruit muffin courtesy of Mojo, half a pear, and about 7 grapes. Along with a long black, this was also considered my lunch, as I'm cutting back on what I eat. This will be torturous, but well worth the final look on the catwalk!

Dinner is going to be a bowl of rice with veges strewn through and probably some slithers of grilled chicken. All before going for another run, the usual crunches, push ups and planks that have started to deteriorate my fragile little body... Well, not as little as it could be!

You can probably tell that I'm typing this extremely hurridly; I have a hair appointment. 6 months of growth, and i look like cousin It's offspring. Let's just say it's another thing I'm CUTTING out of my diet. HA.

Seriously, enough jokes, I'm late!

Josh (finally!) xxx

Day 14: Chocoholic

Day 14: 73.7 kg

Well, the last two days seem to have been quite a success in terms of healthy eating and exercise- I've started to lose weight again!

Sunday morning was church, so no food for breakfast, made up for a caramel and lemon slice... I know, but it was Sunday! The day for guilt-free... my knowledge of my religion is supremely warped. Lunch consisted of a great salad from Tank Juice. And an expensive and horrid tasting Acai berry smoothie. Tasted like plastic! This stuff is supposed to be nature's superfood blah blah, so I guess it was fair for it to taste like crap. Maybe that's why I lost that weight...

I resisted temptation that afternoon too by not having a slice of banana cake. Just putting that out there for the world.

The afternoon's exercise consisted of the Wii Fit, since the weather was tres mal. Twenty minutes later, I was exhausted, but feeling great nonetheless. Dinner was brought to you by the letter R, making a hearty Shepherd's Pie with Pom poms, and dessert was just as healthy: Plums in Yoghurt. Muy bien! Man, am I a linguist or what today!

Today started off with a fresh bowl of muesli, made by yours truly (for the first time, finally!!), with a bit of yoghurt, it was a fantastic start to the day. I went to the Big Sing Finale opening on Queen St, and ended up going to Maccas for lunch... Uh oh. The $5 meals are just far too tempting! So a McChicken and small fries it was. I have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought, not to be had everyday for sure, but not as grease filled as McDonalds usually is.

After voice class, in which the (soon to be) great Pene Pati sang two arias before he leaves to compete in Australia, my friends and I went to the nearest Uni cafe to enjoy a glass of red. Smartly I did not buy any food, and because I was to meet up with A for a run, in my flushed state decided to walk home. The downside was that the run was a fail, but the upside being that the Wii Fit had another outing and I got a rather extensive whole body workout done instead! That damn thing keeps saying 'Imagine your ideal body as you do this exercise'. Well, it's pretty darn hard when I'm wobbling all over the place whilst attempting to do the tree!!

Now here's a great tip for all you pasta lovers! If you like Chicken Cabonara, which is what was for dinner tonight, there is a way to do it guilt free! Use the good ol' Evaporated Milk, or fondly named 'Evap' in our flat (not really), you can cut down on a lot of the fat which cream has. Tastes just as good, if not better!

Well, thats enough ranting for one day. Oh wait! The reason for the title of this post! I've been stuffing my face with chocolate, basically. There's a bag of after-dinner mints sitting on the counter top, and I've been kind of helping myself to them... and also German Kinder Riegel... mmmm

I will attempt to restrain myself in the future. Don't bet on it.

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 13: The Perils of Brunch

Day 13: 73.9kg

Today, being Saturday, is always slightly odd in terms of daily routine. I did however still manage to pull together 10 push-ups and the hold as per usual. The breakfast thing was a bit different however. We had decided to resume our 'Saturday Flat Brunch' at our local hangout Teed St Larder (Not the greatest name if you ask me!), but since that was at 12, I had half a grapefruit to satisfy le stomach until then (Julia, I've forgotten all my French!!).

Today I opted for the bacon and eggs. Now before you say "tsk tsk Jeffrey", bacon is protein and eggs (free range, I might add), are always a good source of sunshine and happiness, so take that. Soy flat white to mix it all together, and that was breakfast and lunch, sorted! Love brunch. Unfortunately as we were paying, a fresh batch of delicious churros came out of the bakery... God help me!! I couldn't resist the sugary deep-fried-ness...

I couldn't go for a run either, the weather was too bad. I know, I know, the excuses seem to flow like the fat that will pour out my stomach when you poke me with a needle, but it's true! Not going to run in the rain. I did however, manage to pull out the Wii Fit board and spent a good 20 minutes doing yoga and more pressups and jack-knives. So all good in the hood!

Dinner was a bit more complicated. We had a really awesome concert of Arvo Pärt choral pieces, and after that went to my new favourite hang-out, the Elliot Stables on Elliot St. I should be writing for a magazine or something! Anyways dinner was a hearty Spaghetti Bolognese. I could've had a calamari salad, but sometimes carbs are good! And a non-cream based sauce is better too! Just remember that next time you order ;)

Yes, mother, will be doing pressups before I go to bed.

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 12: Back on track!

Day 12

So the weight thing is not really an issue, cos its all about eating healthy!! Nah, its just that I weigh a whole lot less in the morning than at night, with all the water you drink during the day... lets not get into details here, it could get nasty...

It has been a really great day! I must say I did end up doing the allotted pressups for day 4 (Thursday) last night, and this morning too! Love motivation :) Top that with some muesli and yoghurt, and I was ready to challenge the day. I dressed quite sharply today just because like Josh, I also had to sing- a really hard to remember German song I must say: strophic (meaning lots of words and the same melody over and over!!) songs are a pain. So I sneakily wrote the first couple of words on my hand, no one knew a thing at the performance. Mwahahaha!!

Lunch was healthier than I anticipated. We went to a cafe and I looked for something cheap, and ended up with a delicious beetroot (red and yellow!!), apple, rocket and goats cheese salad. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar, I was thrilled to be eating such nice food quilt-free. Soy flat white on the side, you could say I was on quite the health buzz :) Even walked home. Oh yeah.

I cam home to find myself a little peckish. But instead of going for the amazing bag of chips lying on the kitchen bench ever so seductively, I went for the poor ol' neglected grapefruit, who tasted very sweet, I might add, made me feel quite satisfied, both stomach- and conscience-wise. Upon the return of le flatmates the slutty bag of chips was opened, but this way I didn't have to have them all now, did I? Good thinking, J.

Dinner was a takeaway pre-choir rehearsal, We headed to noodle canteen to grab a nutritional chinese-in-a-box (Sounds like me, if I were in a box). Sweet thai chili beef noodles were on my menu, and boy were they good. I wish they'd given me more broccoli though, apparently you only get one per box. Boo Mr Canteen.

As I'm lying here typing this out, I must admit I had a scoop of strawberry frozen yoghurt upon arrival chez moi... I also put my hand into the chocolate bag, then took it out quickly again, close call!! It's ok, I'll plank for an extra second or two tonight... (get your minds out of the gutter. Its the exercise as per regime!)

xoxo Jeffrey

PS looking forward to the Comps Josh! Have to send my stuff off tomorrow. Eek! Did email/forward her a scan of my form tho. Hope it worked...

Nom nom nom...

Alright! I admit it... I too indulged a lot this week, just like Jeff. Such as maccas after watching Inception (great story and wonderous graphics, even if Leo's acting sank with the Titanic...), a danish for breakfast, and various amounts of the BEST hot chips in the country via Vic Uni Quad Shop.

Today was a bit useless too:

Started off with a nice walk back from Newtown - a good 40 minute walk, so check box for exercise! When I got home, breakfast consisted of an Up and Go (sorry Rick, I owe you one...) and then nothing for quite a while after that. Bad idea, seeing as I had to sing in workshop. Thank goodness Freddie had some of those Natural Confectionary Dinosaurs. Good for sugar levels and totally helped me NAIL my song.

After fainting with hunger (not really, but dramaticism is great fun), it was off to work for 4 hours or so, and then a MASSSSSSIVE dinner. I was kinda starving, and there were roast veges, mashed potatoes, beef strog, lasagne, salad, fruit salad, and mini pavs... Of course I had to have some of everything. I kinda feel as if I'd eaten Maccas every day on choir tour, or snacked on never ending supplies of M&Ms from the front pocket of my bag...

Yeah, I went there.

Gross. So now I'm going to go and puke, do some press-ups (maybe...), and have a great night of sleep!

Glad to see that you're getting back into the spirit, Jeffster. Looking forward to seeing you soon for comps! I need to enter them by tomorrow.

Blah blah, bit dilerious now...

Josh xxx

Day 11: Rejuvenation

Day 11: 74-ish kg

Ok last week. Yeah. That long, lazy week where nothing in particular happened. Oops.

So lets say, I've been rejuvenated. A lot of people have been admitting to reading the blog, and being very encouraging of this whole endeavour. So gotta keep trucking on!

The past week has kinda just been a mixture of really bad eating (Maccas after choir on Tuesday night...), no exercise, and general laziness. Even the general push-ups in the morning and night. Lame.

Ok so this is going to start again! I am energised (sort of) and am ready for action!

Today was right back on track. I had muesli for breakfast, gotta love those healthy carbs! I did however get a ride into Uni, no exercise there, and I guess the karma in that was that a couple of hours into my day I realised I had left my wallet, phone and keys all at home! Luckily my flatmate Nick was home and lent me his keys. Whew! It meant that I had to walk home too, so fantastic!

Before that tho, I had a unbelievable time at the Town Hall watching the dress rehearsal of Elektra with an amazing Elizabeth Connell. Mind-blowing! And so inspirational. Actually more depressing, like I'd never be able to sing like that... ah digression.

So for lunch, shouted by good friend and running-pal Andrew, was a nutritional pita from my new favourite store Pita Pit. You can get lite mayo, lite aioli, and even wholemeal pitas! It's amazing. Like Subway, you can choose your own fillings, and of course I went cheese free, roast beef with a fuckload of salad. Delicioso!

After that, against my lazy-bones wishes, we went for a run. The first one all week! Tsk tsk. We continued on with week 3, having to painfully stop and regain my breath at one point, but we got through all the running parts! Good work, team.

Dinner consisted of a couple of left-overs from our past couple of nights. Roast lamb with carrots and kumara, and hawaiian fried rice (made by yours truly!). Weird mix, but it had to be done, and it was good (Sorry for plagiarising you, God). I shall post this amazing fried rice recipe sometime, when I feel like typing isn't such a mission.

So I promise to do some pushups tonight when I go to sleep! I have decided to write up my eating habits at night now, just because I can't always remember the night before. Ily, byo.

Yay! Back on track! I feel healthier already.

xoxo Jeffrey

Feeling Spiffy

Am I imagining that the title of this post is a real song, played on the piano by youngsters at beginner levels? Hmmmm... Partial recall as opposed to total; I fail.



But to the point!



Today has been a GREAT day, hence the title! I awoke at 6, went running at 6:30 (I was sick of regime. I wanted to spice things up), stopped at the supermarket on the way back, and warmed down carrying groceries home. Good exercise! Again, I can't be bothered doing the colour code thing. Urgh...



Breakfast was as per usual - wholegrain toast (freshly purchased), oliv-inated marge, and poached eggs, with sprouts, S & P.



All goods! Then I headed off to Mojo, where I made a long black for myself (I'll boast; a very good one), one for Andy, and a couple for some customers. Was tempted to accept a buttery scone from Pandy, but resisted, so KUDOS for that! Didn't even take a snack home, such as the most amazing Florentines you've ever tasted. Will power was in FORCE, let me tell ya.



Following this, I all but walked to uni, feeling very afraid that I'd be late for my Russian class at 1pm. Upon going from room to room trying to find the right place, sweating my entire day's water intake onto my face, and dying of self-diagnosed asthma, a kind young boy by the name of Tom told me that Russian was in fact at 3pm.



Damn.



So instead I had some of Renee's, more so than before, fresh, delicious curry (It's too yum to say no to!), which was the envy of everyone in the common room. Homework, singing practise, blah blah blah...



Russian! Someone had left some Megoreng noodles in the common room for AAAAAGES (in actuallity it was like two days), so the third year singers stole them and ate them dry during class. This was a bad idea, because it's not healthy...



Dinner has been planned, and I'm having George Foreman grilled patties, with a nice salad. Simple but satisfying.



Okay I'm sick of uni, so I'm going to go home now.



Tomorrow's adventure starts with another run at 6:30am. Endorphins. Rock. My. World.



Josh xxx

So... Hungry...

The weekend is SUCH a tragic time for me. I feel like I don't eat enough good food (I know that I don't...) because I sleep in, and drink, and spend all my money. It's a bit horrible, actually...

Anyway, I don't remember what day I was up to, but I'll just list everything I ate, slash not list everything I should've, if that makes sense.

I was okay for Saturday, having my usual poached eggs on wholemeal, and some sprouts on top. Such a good combo, let me tell you. For lunch I had a coffee; slack, I know, and then for dinner I had noodles - the bad kind... I don't have time to colour code, because I have 18% battery remaining and a singing lesson in 15 mins. Eek! After dinner, my friend's friend, Megan was up from Christchurch, so we got rip roaring drunk, and a wee bit high, not going to lie. It was great fun, until I rolled off my bed, failed to break my landing, and managed to smack my head - accio door frame!

More about dieting, though. The next day, after I woke up feeling like I was split in half, we had $12 in our pockets, a craving for pizza, and the hope that Dominoes still had Hawaiian Sunday. Success. Two large hawaiian pizzas for $11.80. Yaaaay! Although bad for my dieting. I didn't eat for the rest of the day though... Perhaps that makes up for it. Probably not.

And today hasn't been any better either. I was going to go to the supermarket and buy lots of food. Turns out we don't get paid during the weekend for work, or transferring money from my sister's account. So there's another fail, hence the reason I haven't eaten until I get home. It's going to be rice dish tonight. Mmmm... Rice...

So that's my boo-ful life at the moment. Starvation nation but probably going to be a bit lighter! Great!

Josh xxx

Day 10: Amnesia

Day 10: 74.05kg

I am a genius. My colour-coding is, that is.

Ok so you know how I'm actually writing my blog a day out so I don't exclude any midnight snacks/I weigh myself in the morning? My memory is totally failing me at this point, I can't actually remember whether I had lunch or not. I am pretty sure this is how yesterday went:

The day started off late (as usual), with the 20 prescribed press-ups, and the beginning of hell: bloody plank press-ups. It was horrendous. If you are new to this blog, click here (heheh I always wanted to do that) and look up Day 3. It's torture I tell you! I got through at least 20 seconds on each side, but that was about it. How're you doing J?

What was I saying?? I was just bombarded with like 10 texts. Gosh I'm popular. And no, they're not from my mum, she's in Korea. Not back in the homeland either, I'm Taiwanese :P

Um... non-sequitur-ness aside, oh yes, breakfast. It consisted of the usual MUESLI! I think this muesli deserves a theme song, maybe to the Team America tune? Since breakfast was so late, I'm pretty sure I didn't have lunch. I had a coaching at 1:30... OH THATS RIGHT!!! Haha so I hope that they don't read this, but I had a coaching that I thought was at 1:30pm, but it was actually at 12:30pm! I realised at 12:20, so I ran to catch a bus, making it to SoM at 12:38, whew! I did have to tell *#$^ that my bus had broken down.. hhehehe. Please don't read this, *#$^.

So I got home, it was supposed to be a run day, but Andy's and my timetables clashed, so we had to call it off till the next day, not that I was particularly saddened by this, I was not looking forward to failing that 2nd 3-minute run again!

Dinner was cuisinated (<-- yes, bitches, I just did.) by our resident roast and meats man, Nick. I call him that (well I don't, but I ought to start now) because he is actually the man at roasts. He would outroast you anyday, Josh. We need to have a roast off. Lamb Chops, with mash potato by Becs, and steamed carrots. Yum! I do hope that I work off that lamb fat tomorrow tho!

Finished the night off with some delicious Chinese tea and some Harry Potter. Good combo! Oh, and just so you can be really impressed, I actually crawled out of the warmth of my bed to do my exercises. Like me, world!

I'm proud of you Josh! Keep up the good work :)

xoxo Jeffrey

Pain in the EVERYWHERE

Jeff, no lies, I'm beginning to regret all this exercise (good colour code, by the way! You're totally right in saying you have no life :D). I didn't realise holding up an entire body could make you so... so farking achey! None the less, I've been doing press ups and holds - I'm tossing between calling it this or calling it plank... the running is what gets me the most, because, you see, I, in all actuality, am a lazy, flat-footed retard when it comes to jogging/exercise/getting off the couch. Or out of bed.

Sigh.

My dieting has been pretty easy over:

Day 8 - This is really really bad, but I didn't have time to eat any food until the late afternoon, when my friend Sakura-Chan gave me a delicious lettuce, ham, and tomato on rye sandwich from Mojo. Mojo calls them Super Yumness Snacks. Not really, but they should.

Then Andy and I ventured to New World to prepare for our roast dinner! Chicken, Pumpkin, Potato, onion, garlic cloves, olives, and BEETROOT!

Totally roasted that sh*t, and it was goooood. Balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top; let me tell ya, darl, it was Rippa.

Day 9 - The press-ups were so hard! I couldn't even manage the last 3/15 without a bit of a rest... But I didn't stop doing them! Take that, life. Then went running *wipes solemn tear out of eye.

I was intending to have some leftover roasted veges for breakfast, but turns out we ate them all, so instead I headed to Mojo for another sandwich, toasted this time! I love having friends who work in cafes! Lunch was a really delicious beef curry that my flatmate Renee made. I kidd you not (LOL!), it was the best tasting beef curry I've ever eaten. I asked how she did it, and this was her answer: "It came from a packet".

So after my dreams and hopes of a healthy home made curry were crushed by artificial flavours, I sulked for a wee bit, got over it, and went for a walk along the waterfront, soaking in the rare Wellington sun rays. Magic, dears.

Dinner was made at Louisa's house by James, and it was fantastic in so many ways. One, I just happen to LOVE spinach and feta cannelloni. Two, haven't seen those cats for AGES, so it was great to catch up. Three, we had many bottles of Merlot to drink - It's okay because it's red! And four, there was some cheesecake and icecream (in small portions!) for dessert. Of course, I had to stay the night because I'm a useless drunk and would've died walking home. Or I'd have woken in a ditch.

Aaaanyway...

I'm now sick of hold, sick of being sore, but confident I'll feel all the better for doing something, even if it has turned out to be a torturous escapade.

Keep it up, Jeff, and if people want to add, then do, do! Haha. I love poo humour.

Josh xxx

P.s, check how many green words I've got! Très good of me :p

Day 9: Starting to get tired...

Day 9: 74.1kg

Man those press-ups are achy! I'm not as fit as I thought... It was 15 today, and the hold didn't last for that long either. But at least I did them!

Breakfast was had at lunchtime, I was meeting up in town with a friend for lunch, but I was hoping for a carb-free meal, so I got some muesli in my system. No harm in that!

I did ease up on the walking however, made my way into town on the bus. Washed some great sushi down with miso soup, not altogether a bad meal, but lots of carbs in the system! I grabbed a juice on the way up to University- and boy- it was up! The hill was massive, my thighs thanked me later by being really epically sore. Cheers, guys.

I was going to have a dinner-free night, voice class finishes and choir starts within half an hour, and being choir admin, it all gets a little hectic. But alas, that plan failed. (Now before I begin this story, I have to say I cannot blame my flatmates anymore! But I do, I do blame you.) After choir, we were all very deprived of food, and made a stop at Burgerfuel. OH SO GOOD!! I had a Tofu burger. It was absolutely delicious, and upside: wheat buns! I will be going back soon. I want to also make it know I had ONE chip. That's right, world: ONE!! You should be proud.

The night concluded with 15 more pressups, a hold that lasted like 30 seconds... I just cannot keep this shit up! No run either. The high is sure wearing off... I need a shot of Red Bull or Morphine or something...

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 8: No pain, no gain

Day 8: 74.1kg

What? WHAT? I can't believe I gained a whole 0.15kg in the space of a day. Actually I don't mind, it's probably muscle. Though I am still looking a bit flabby in the mirror...

Just to let you all know, I've been hearing from a lot of people that they read the blog :) Join! It makes us feel better about ourselves, people DO care! Or maybe they just find us amusing, Josh. Nonetheless!

So as promised I have started on the exercise regime posted way back in yesteryear. <-- this is a link, by the way, you know, just fyi. And it is so hard! I'm one of those people that has no will power, I give up all too easy, just listen to my piano playing, you'll understand (btw, I suck at the piano, so it testifies to the willpowerlessness). Wow I digress. Anyway, the push-ups were ok, there were only 10 to do today. But that 'hold'! I only managed like a minute before calling it quits. I actually have it on good authority its called a plank, too. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

For breakfast, I had a bowl of muesli along with a little yoghurt. This has become a delicious regular fixture. My friend Andrew had actually crashed at ours the night before, but since we had run two days in a row already, we felt we definitely deserved a break, no run today. My legs were furiously sore though: we need to stretch more, Andy.

Lunch was a myriad of vegetables stir-fried along with some chicken. I had run out of time to cook pasta or rice, so it was carb free too! Muy bien!

As per the requirements of the exercise plan, I walked to and from University. Had a 10 minute stop at home before a rehearsal/recording, so had a very quick scrambled eggs on toast moment. I wasn't about to eat dinner after rehearsal at like 10pm! And as I predicted, our posse ended up at the local Burger stand, the White Lady (classy, eh?) after the recording. I was very tempted, but in the end decided against a, possibly very scrumptious burger. I hi-fived myself. Mentally.

10 more press-ups when I got home, along with that stupid hold thing. I will try harder tomorrow, hopefully I won't be convulsing like a Shake n' Dog when I attempt it.

xoxo Jeffrey

PS Josh, It's acutally a code! Green = good, Orange = ok, Red = bad. Purple = exercise. I actually don't have a life.

Weekend Dramas!

Alright, so I haven't been on here for a while now, but that's all explainable! You see, I STILL don't have internet at my house, which results in weekend forced weekend visits to uni. As you can tell, I refused.

So I rest my case.

I think I've been rather good with my eating, though!

Day 5: Friday night was going to be big - Jess' flatwarming was a great time! Before heading over to that cool cats, I had a light meal of lean mince, shaped into a patty, then grilled on the George Foreman, and then placed inside two toasted wholemeal slices and topped with sprouts and olives. Ignore the fact that I had a little bit of mayonaise - it's the Edmond's egg recipe!

It was all going so well!!!

And then my gals, Rick and Andy called me... So of course I went to the pub and had two huge, cheap, carb infested beers. Tasted nice! And I excuse it with the red wine that I had at the party.

NO hot chips on my return home. Applause is unnecessary x

Day 6: Feeling a wee bit woeful after a big night, but mainly because I'd dirtied my clothes scaling my apartment building to get into my room through the calcony door. Fran had the keys!

So it was decided that a good breakfast was needed! The leftover mince was thrown with onions, garlic, potatoes, and herbs etc, then left to become a delicious orgasm in a pot. We ate the meal over wholemeal toast. Goooood shit!

Lunch was late; in fact, it didn't even eventuate, so we had an early dinner! Of the same mince, none the less... So Saturday was a fail of variety, but it was still healthy!

Day 7: Not yet ashamed to say that I had more mince for breakfast the next day... except I'd run out of bread. Flour, water, salt, and heat. Tasted good, and because I made it, I knew I wasn't getting any surprise in nutrition!

Lunch was the best! The gals and I put our schrapnel together (about $5), and went to the weekly vege market - which just happens to be 50 metres from my room. We managed to procure a pumpkin, leeks, fresh garlic, potatoes, onion, and kumara.

I don't lie when I say it was the best soup ever created. It was incredible. Formidable, you could say. Totally edible, that's for sure.

Okay I'll stop with that now.

So all in all, it was a pretty goooood weekend. With controlled amounts of booze, good foods, and great times.

Today's ventures will come tomorrow, but I might just slip in that we're planning a roast tonight. All types of jealousy accepted.

Josh xxx

P.s, Jeff, I don't know HOW you manage to be bothered to do the whole coloured text thing!

Weekend 1: Eat your heart out

Ok so basically I'm knackered, and I can't be bothered typing (much). I ate out at every meal, so it was such a fail on both the save money front and the diet front. I did try to eat healthy though- oh, you be the judge.

Day 6: 74.05kg

I've totally become really used to this waking up late thing, I can't be like this: Breakfast is good for you! My friend from England Jilly was going home after like 7 months in New Zealand, so our whole flat went to yum char. A bit - ok, a lot- of fried food, with some dumplings thrown in. Not entirely a good meal. I did wash it down with like a gallon of tea though.

My friend Andrew came over to run at around 7-ish, we were caught in the rain last time we went running, so I had to dry all my gear, so we didn't really make it out the door till it was quite dark. It was a good run though. Same routine as Day 4. We made a pact to run a lot more, so we'll see how that goes!

For dinner, we started off being really optimistic and keen for some Caesar salad, ingredients to be bought from the Supermarket. But since we only got home around 8:45, by the time we got home and cooked it all, it would have been a very very late dinner, and not so healthy. Actually that was an excuse- I just couldn't be hacked cooking. So we went in search of healthy options at the Chinese food court: CLOSED! Oh well... we tried! So a hop and a skip to Nando's - Chicken leg and corn on the cob. Generally really healthy- I did eat the skin though. Oops!

And then came the cravings. We DID end up going to the supermarket. But instead of salad and dressing --> blueberry danish and mango sorbet... heheh. Helping number two was definitely not needed, but absolutely worth it.

Day 7: 73.95kg

The sleep was minimal. I went to bed at the same God awful hour, but since I had to get up for church, it meant the count was something like 3-4 hours. I'm getting into this show Pretty Little Liars, hmm bad Jeffrey, bad. You do not need another TV show to be fixated on. Oh, well, until Grey's, Gossip Girl and Cougar Town return... what was I saying? Oh yeah. Food blog.

Had a bowl of muesli for brekkie, and at morning tea had a cup of tea and a tiny muesli slice. Be proud, people. There was a table spread fit for, like, really wealthy important people. Oh I'm tired, forgive me for bad metaphors.. is that even a metaphor?

Andrew and I had organised for a run again today, so we decided to start week 3 of the scheme:

5 minute warm up walk

[90 second run

90 second walk

3 minute run

3 minute walk ] x2

5 minute warm down walk

I bailed on the last 3 minute run, 30 seconds out from the finish line! But the sun was blaring down, I felt like throwing up! Tomorrow is a new day, kids.

So for lunch we went to the mall, I got a healthy smoothie juice thing and a chicken teriyaki bento bowl. White rice = boo, but it was better that a lot of the other things on offer.

I did have a naughty snack for afternoon tea: long black and carrot cake. But by golly it was good. I'm allowing myself this luxury cos it was brown and had carrots in it. It looked healthy.

Dinner was a farewell dinner for Jilly (see above) at a Curry house. I was a good boy though! Had tandoori chicken and some roti (wholemeal flour naan). No rice, no curry! And to pat myself on the back we went home and got frozen yoghurt and tidied up that mango sorbet, while listening to ourselves on the radio. New Zealand Youth Choir, repping hard!

Tomorrow marks the start of the dreaded exercise routine. I was supposed to tidy my room up so that I can have space to - as Josh puts it - 'hold'. Goodbye flab and hello painful existence!

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 5: Damn you, Plum Pudding

Day 5: 74.25 <-- I've decided to weigh myself in the mornings now, its so much more satisfying to see yourself at your lowest possible weight, when you're most dehydrated. Water weighs a lot boys and girls!

Day 5 started off great, slept in because of the party night before of course, and, feeling quite remorseful for the wrong-doings of the past 12 hours, wanted to get back on the band wagon.

I had the fried rice that I had made a couple of days ago, really filling, and really healthy. Homemade food is great, you know exactly what's in every bite! I'd actually had a whole day in, just sorting out Uni stuff, hanging on the couch mostly (and by mostly I mean entirely), so a healthy meal was very much needed.

It wasn't until my flatmates got home (and yes, I do tend to blame most things on my flatmates) with a block of delicious Whittaker's 72% Ghana Peppermint and dinner that I broke out of the good regime and dove head first into ecstasy. That shit is gooood! Its not even that bad. Becs tells me it had half the carbs that most chocolate has, and her word is pretty golden, she's a primary school teacher.

For dinner we had roast chicken, frozen steamed veges (well, defrosted and heated veges), and potato roasters. They were probably going to be the worst part of my day, until Dessert King N.F. came round and made the most delicious Self Saucing Black Doris Plum Pudding. I didn't even have to have it, but YOU HAD TO HAVE IT. It was absolutely mouth watering. Shoved it back with some whipped cream, you know, just to make sure I was really piling it on.

Tomorrow / today will be better, I promise. We'll see.

xoxo Jeffrey

Domestic Goddess: Muesli Recipe

Here is that Muesli Recipe that I promised! Courtesy of my flatmate Rebecca. You're the best.

Homemade Muesli

1/2c lite EVOO
2T honey
4c whole oats
1/2c bran (wheat/oat)
1/2c coconut
1/2c wheatgerm
1/2c(or more!) crushed nuts
1/2c sunflower seeds
1c various dried fruits (I use sundried apricots (LOTS), cranberries, sultanas/raisins, and other dried berries, but you can use pretty much anything you like)
I also add 1/2 packet of sesame seeds and 1/2c pumpkin seeds and some whole nuts for a bit of extra texture.

Heat oil and honey on stovetop. Combine all other ingredients (except fruit) in baking tray. Mix oil and honey through combined ingredients. Spread evenly on baking tray and bake at 125degreesC for 25 minutes. Stir it a couple of times to make sure it all gets nice and golden. Remove from oven when it's nice and light brown. Leave to cool and stir through all that delicious dried fruit. Serve with yoghurt or milk for a wholesome snack/meal any time of day. YUUUUUUM!!!!

Thanks Bex!

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 4: Glad I'm not the only fail...

So I now feel so much better about myself, having read Jeff's blog. But that story after I list my meals over the last day and a half.

Started out yesterday with two poached eggs on wholemeal toast, bit of salt, and quite a bit of pepper. Sounds all good! Plus a large glass of water. This was, of course, after I'd awoken from the night before.

It was a good day, I'd had the weetbix breaky, one black coffee (which is very good for you, apparently), one small sundried tomato brea stick, and then was going to cook a nice meal for dinner. However... Ended up going to the pub with my gal pals, Rick and Andy. Five dollar beers are terrible. I only had two, though, and then we started on the wine. I can't help it! On Wednesdays we almost ALWAYS go to Bingo. Didn't win anything, so to console ourselves, we had hot chips from Welcome takeaway. I don't remember if it was just one scoop or two - I'm pretty adamant it was one.

BUT, in saying this, the next day, I had nothing for lunch, and the healthiest dinner. Grilled chicken breast (lean and stuffed with garlic), on toasted Foccacia bread with cottage cheese and tomato. On the side was a salad consisting of spinach leaves, sprouts, black olives, mushrooms, tomatoe, and carrot. It was pretty good. Although now I hate cottage cheese.

Today, was an egg for breakfast, a black coffee and wheaten biscuit with raisins for lunch, and I'm going to surprise myself with dinner!

However tonight is Jess' flat warming party, which means a glass or 3 of RED WINE, which is a good flusher. Onto it!

Bad news is that my vegefreak friend Fran is moving out tomorrow, so it's going to be up to me to make vege meals. Urrrgh. At this, I fall down stairs.

Side note - scales are broken. I want to start guessing my weight, but that's cheating. Jeff, you're doing amazingly well! Kudos!

Josh xxx

Day 4: The Yoyo

Day 4: 74.5kg

So yesterday started off a bit of a mess, really. I woke up to my phone ringing at around 11:08am, the number not being one I recognised. So I tried to sound really awake: 'Hello, Jeffrey speaking.' 'Hi Jeffrey, this is Dean' 'Oh f#%k.' I had totally forgotten about a coaching with him at University, starting at 11! He was very nice about it and let me off the hook which I'm very grateful for.

Since I got up so late, I decided to make my breakfast my lunch also. Half a cup of oats to make porridge, lite milk, some raisins, cinnamon and a little brown sugar. Once cooked I also added some of our homemade muesli to add some texture and flavour. It was really good!

I only had an afternoon lecture to attend, so taking Josh's advice, I walked the half hour walk to Uni, and after the lecture, met up with my friend Andrew to walk back home again. Andrew and I had been on a running program 'Couch to 5k' before we left for the international tour, so we wanted to resume it.

When we got home, feeling very hungry, we had some muesli with yoghurt (A had milk instead), and half an apple each. Then there was the run. We were only up to week 2:

5 min warm up walk

90 second run (x6)

2 mins walking in between the runs (x5)

5 min cooldown walk

It was so good to get back into some exercise after doing nothing for almost a whole month. The endorphins really kicked in and I was feeling fantastic. We did however get caught in like major torrential rain for a while so needed to take a shower to prevent from getting even sicker!

For dinner, we went out to Mexicali, a mexican restaurant, if you hadn't already guessed. I had nachos with beef mince, black beans (protein!), a little cheese, salad, salsa, guacamole and sour cream... It was generally quite a healthy meal, but there are a couple of things on that list I could've done without!

That night, after choir rehearsal, I went to my friend Amitai's 21st drinks, now I was content with my glass of wine to start, but as the night progressed and the Samoan (drunken) generosity overflowed, I got pretty plowed on Baileys and Vodka. Towards the end of the night, in my drunken state, I was shouted a Burger... It was from a burger stand, not the fast food outlets, so at least the ingredients were a lot fresher. Chicken breast (not processed), shoulder bacon (I think...), aioli, tomato and lettuce. I feel quite guilty, but its a tradition right? Night out = BK? At least it wasn't BK!

xoxo Jeffrey

Day 3: The Twilight Saga - Eclipse

Day 3: 75.5kg

I went with my friend Bella to watch the new Twilight movie tonight, slightly depressed now because I had to stare at bloody Jacob (aka Taylor Lautner) with his perfect abs all night, shoving my mouth with popcorn...

I had the second half of that grapefruit for breakfast, along with a small bowl of homemade muesli, which was absolutely DELICIOUS! Will be posting that recipe soon, too. Dash of milk and a plop of yoghurt - actually it 'plop' doesn't sound altogether appetising, does it? - and voila, sorted.

Lunch was of the same as yesterday, I had cooked it the night before so I was very much prepared! I actually only spent like 2 hours at University anyway, came home and plopped on the couch. Rainy day, blah blah.

My flatmate did make this FANTASTIC Chai Latte while I was munching on my Granny Smith:

Recipe - Chai Latte

2 x Tea Bags

1 x Cinnamon Stick

4 x Cardamom Seeds

4 x Cloves

1 tsp Ginger

1 tbsp Sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup trim milk

Everything goes in minus milk on the stove for 10 minutes or so, the milk needs to be heated and frothed. Pour mixture over a strainer into a large mug, top with milk, including lots of foam. Sprinkle with some ground cinnamon.

However that didn't satisfy my cravings (Oh no, KFC- get out of my head!), so I had a little more muesli, that homemade shit is ingenious.

Dinner was entirely me though- Chicken Fried Rice. Oooh yeah. Take that, Uncle Chang's. (PS its a restaurant, not my actual uncs.)

Recipe: Chicken Fried Rice

120g chicken -cut into strips, marinade with whatever.

1 cup of the contents of your vege stash, chopped

2 eggs

1 cup brown rice (cooked)

Stirfry the chicken in a very hot pan, then place it on a plate to rest. Same with eggs, then the veges along with some crushed garlic. Stirfry the rice, then return all the ingredients to the pan and mix. Add some salt and pepper to taste, chili powder if desired (for that extra fat burning quality!)

Thats whats for lunch tomorrow too, kids.

So post-dinner. As I said before I went to watch a very depressing movie about how inadequate my body is. Munching on popcorn and diet coke, so not too bad. I did have the restraint to say no to Self saucing chocolate pudding when I got home, WIN!

The exercise regime looks so fantastic, J. I shall start it on Monday too. Partially cos I am really lazy and it means 3 more days to recuperate! I am hopefully going for a small run tomorrow with Andrew. Taylor Lautner bod, here I come!

xoxo Jeffrey

The Moment

So here it is...

I worked a long time on this, in case you're wondering. But not really. I was watching Entertainment Now, and saw that it's what Bradley Cooper did to get into character for a movie. And look how fine HE turned out!

It goes on a weekly basis, starting out quite easy, then getting harder, before reverting back to easy. As time goes on (I'm starting this thing next week to take full advantage), you will be able to, instead of doing the said amount, keep going until you feel you might roll over and die. Or worse - roll over and crush someone else with your well chiseled body.

Monday

-Start the day with getting out of bed and doing 10 push-ups.

-Next, lie on your stomach on a flat, even surface. Raise your entire body on your forearms, placing them directly in front of you and parallel to each other. Raise yourself with your toes also. Hold this position for as long as you can, and then a bit longer. It is imperative you keep going until you almost explode. I will call this, hold.

-Unless you live on the other side of a harbour, there is no reason to drive anywhere. WALK your fat ass around.

-Before going to bed, do the hold until you can no longer stand it.

-10 push-ups, and then maybe a shower. Only if you prefer to be clean...

Tuesday

-15 press-ups

-Hold

-Evening run for 10 minutes. Do NOT slow down. Keep up a fast pace and breathe deeply into your back/most likely underfilled lungs. Be sure to stretch before running and after.

-Hold before bed

-15 press-ups before bed.

-Shower (I think this should be compulsory as well.

Wednesday

-20 press-ups

-Hold. This time, add some press-ups, lowering one side of your body to the ground, holding the other up and stopping the lowered side from touching the ground with your abdominals. Hold this for about 10 seconds on each side, or until it hurts.

- Evening run. Another 10 minutes - short bursts of exercise increase lung capacity.

-Hold + press-ups

-20 press-ups

-Shower

Thursday

-20 Press-ups

-Hold + press-ups

-Evening run for 20 minutes (5 minutes running fast, 5 mins regaining and walking briskly, 5 mins running fast, then remaining 5 mins to warm down. Again, remember to stretch.

-Hold + press-ups

-20 Press-ups

-Shower

Friday

-15 press-ups

-Hold

-Evening run goes for 20 minutes again

-Hold

-15 press-ups

-Shower

Saturday

-10 press-ups

-hold

-Run for 10 minutes

-Hold

-10 press-ups

-Shower

Sunday

-10 Press-ups

-Hold

-No run

-No hold

-10 press-ups

-Shower

You can change it to however you want it to be, but this is what I'm going to stick to.

I want to look like Bradley Cooper

http://borrowingtrouble.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/bradley_cooper23.jpg

That's all for now, kids

Josh xxx

Ten Minute Typer

So I don't have much time before my acting class. Luckily, the perks of being addicted to Facebook include the ability to type rather quickly.

I think I had a semi fail last night, World. It was all goods until I decided to make my lunch 12 hours early. It started with dinner: two poached eggs with the vegeterian slop poured over. Tasty slop, though. And highly healthy next to my anti-cyclone herbal tea.

Next, there was the decision to make pumpkin soup. Epic win, it tasted amazingly delicious!

Recipe:

1/2 a pumpkin
2 small potatoes
1 massive fuck off onion
1 tsp of crushed garlic
1 good dose of mixed spice (adds a sweet taste)
1 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 dollop of tomato paste
Salt and pepper

Just boil the pumpkin and potatoe, add the onion (diced) and all other ingredients and MASH!

Total deliciousness.

But then I had half a bowl with one bit of bread. Boo... It was great though, and now I have it for lunch.

Breakfast was easy. Three weetbix, milk, and four pear slices.

Jeff, the exercise regime is in my book and being posted in two hours after class

Josh xoxo

Day 2: Self Control

Day 2: 75.7kgs

Ok, so I totally think the clothes I was wearing yesterday were weighing me down, no way I could've lost like a whole kilo in one day. Or maybe its one of those sudden weight drops that will result in me gaining 2 back. Nonetheless, I'm stoked! Mwahahahahha vanity.

Oh PS: I totally forgot I had a pearl milk tea yesterday. LARGE!!

Had a fantastic day today, started off with half a grapefruit and tea for breakfast while I made my extremely healthy lunch. This better bloody last.

Lunch was absolutely delicous! It was just a bit of asian ingenuity and daring combinations that resulted in one healthy snack-o.

Wholemeal Chicken Pasta Salad

Wholemeal Pasta (btw Josh- the Pasta is like BROWN, so it's pretty easy to differentiate); Diced Chicken marinaded in Soy sauce, Sweet Chili sauce, S&P; Broccoli; Beans; Courgettes, Lite EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) Now here's the kicker. I stir-fryed everything, mixed it all together, and then decided to add some natural yoghurt. Yeah, me too, I thought it was going to be quite foul, but it turned out amazing! I'm so having the same thing tomorrow.

So that was lunch, I was feeling really good, you know, then my mates at Uni decide to go to Subway... dun dun dun (distaster music). It's not even that bad, but believe me, Chicken Fillet, Cheese and Ranch Sauce later, you'd feel so guilty. That's where the self control came in! I got a salad with chicken pieces, cheese-less, and sweet thai chili and sweet onion sauce- both low fat! I am well chuffed.

OMG speaking of self control- my flattie just handed me a jelly baby, AND I SAID NO! take that, you glucose-filled infant.

Looking forward to that exercise regime, Josh!

xoxo Jeffrey

And so it begins...

Alright. Here goes my fatty food existence, straight into the bin, just like the entire contents of my fridge after leaving it for three weeks. Eww.

Turns out I already hate this diet. Vanity is such a hassel! It sucks even more seeing as I've lost my little compact mirror, which is extremely useful for the average vain boy. But I digress. It seems that I've already started our little diet without even realising. Because I have a fully fledged vegeterian staying with me, last night's meal was an extreme health buzz. Score one for Josh, a maori (personal joke...)

Day 1: 75.8kg

Shopping trolley: pumpkin, leeks, beans, tomatoes, lentils, carrots, chillies, wholemeal bread, olivite. Fresh fruit = nill... Plus lots and lots of water!

So dinner consisted of lots of these vegetables cut up and cooked together in a big pot. Unfortunately I don't have wholemeal rice yet, so once I use the last of my white stuff (I'm not a supremisist) it's wholemeal all the way. And as soon as someone tells me the difference between wholemeal pasta and non - it looks the same to me! - then I can acquire some.

As for exercise, has anyone ever walked up Wellington hills to Vic Uni four times a day?! I haven't, but I'll probably start running soon. But, as Brad tells us, in short busrts. SO, I'll start the day off with stomach exercises. Not too many sit ups, but that one where I hold my body up on my forearms. You know what I'm talking about.

I'll write up a big exercise plan and post it. More chance of me actually doing it.

The biggest problem is finding out drinking limits. In my mind, beer is disgusting so I don't need to worry about that giving me a gut. And wine is just squeezed grapes. All sweet? I think so.

That's all for now.

Josh xx

Day 1: Here we go...

Ok, so my friend Josh and I decided that we needed to go on a diet. We have just been on a 3 week tour with the New Zealand Youth Choir to Asia and Australia, which meant a lot of MacDonalds, KFC, Burger King (or Hungry Jacks in Oz). Not that we really need to go on a diet, but all of that really made me feel quite guilty... and we both want to look and feel healthier. Vain right? Oh well. So we made a pact to eat better, exercise (maybe...), blah blah blah.

Ok so, I'll write my bits, he'll write his, and together we'll hopefully push each other to keep going on this!

Basically the rules are as follows: Low G.I. I haven't really done any research, but basically it's lean meat, lots of fruit and veges, grains, and wholemeal carbs.

Oh, this is Jeff by the way.

Day 1: 76.7 kgs

Ok so today doesn't exactly count. I wasn't prepared! Skipped breakfast because I slept in, my alarm didn't go off, at least I didn't have Uni this morning. For lunch I had a wholemeal sandwich with mayo (should've cut down on that too...), wholegrain mustard, chicken, lettuce, and beetroot; an apple; and a feijoa smoothie. I was feeling really great, getting a head start on the diet, yay!

I wasn't even going to have dinner, I was feeling so healthy. But then when I got home... uh oh. My flatmates and I decided to go get curry for dinner... WHITE RICE, NAAN and LAMB KORMA! I think that basically negates any good I had done that morning. So tomorrow, we'll see. Hopefully I'll be a bit better.

I did however go to the supermarket and stocked up on some essentials:

For breakfast

-Natural Yoghurt

-Quick Oats (for Oatmeal)

-Lite Milk

Fruit

-Apples

-Grapefruit

Veges

-Broccoli

-Green Beans

-Courgettes

Carbs

-Wholemeal Pasta

-Brown Rice

Meat

-Skinless Chicken

So that means some great ingredients to make some really healthy food, methinks! Josh, you better start getting on this too, otherwise I'll be looking/feeling fab as, and you'll be, well... skinny but not as cool!

xoxo Jeffrey