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