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I've had some trouble with this blog due to a 'parsing error' which resulted in the feed never getting updated.

I don't know if this has affected people who are followers - I hope not.

I've done some fiddling around, and have now also added some subscribing thingamies on the left hand sidebar. In case none of those work for you, here is another rss feed that works: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IdXcA

Progress

At the start of the year I was 64 to 65kg.

After seven months of occasional exercise and sort of slightly more careful eating...

I am now 61kg. Yay me!

=D

I'd love to lose another 3kg, but I'll be more than happy with another 2kg... to be under 60kg again will be fantastic.

I must reiterate though - fit over thin. I'd rather be over 60kg and fit and toned than under 60kg and at the same fitness level as I am now.

Eating My Way to Healthy

I love to eat. Loving exercise is something I'm working on. 

Though I did walk up a hill today. In the rain. My feet were filthy.

Today while doing some grocery shopping I successfully ignored the chocolate and instead got a bag of almonds (natural), a bag of walnuts and a 1.5kg packet of sultanas. And a 6-pack of yogurt.

Healthy snacking, here I come! 

That said, I still have 2L of my favourite ice cream in the freezer... Tomorrow, if I walk home from uni, I'm going to DEVOUR a substantial amount of it!

Not Stretchy

I just did a stretching video.

I am not stretchy or flexible at all, I have found out.

Truthfully, I already knew I wasn't, but I am even less flexible than I thought.

This will be fixed.

(video: Stretching for Flexibility)

The Dimensions of Health

This semester at uni (my last semester before I graduate!), I am studying a subject named "Personal Development and HPE" (HPE = Health and Physical Education).

Today was the first tutorial, and one of the things we talked about was the "Health Alphabet", more commonly known as: The 5 Dimensions of Health.

I wanted to note them down here, because it fits in so well with what I'm starting to focus on in my own life - being healthy inside and out.

So, the 5 dimensions of health are:

Social - family, friends; our support network

Spiritual - morals, beliefs, values, belonging

Mental - intelligence and thinking

Emotional - feelings, self esteem, etc

Physical - strength, fitness, energy, nutrition, hydration, sleep, etc (I would probably also put down flexibility).

Personally, I think I'm quite healthy in the first four areas, but the physical aspect really needs improvement. In fact, it doesn't just need improvement, it needs a total overhaul! My sleeping patterns are bizarre, I feel tired a lot, I know I don't drink enough and I can count the number of times I've done a substantial amount of exercise in the last month on one hand. But things are going to change!

Also, my tutor has had two kids in the last 2 or 3 years, and I can't even tell! She's rather inspiring!

Decisions

I have decided I am not going to count calories or even think about them much at all.

The truth is that while they are useful for people who need to loose weight, I do not fit in that category and loosing weight is not my main aim.

Also, I have not put on weight all year, but have actually gone down a couple of kilograms just by being a little more careful and starting to exercise a little more. I don't eat too much. Maybe I don't eat enough of the "right" foods, but I'm not eating junk... I can't even remember the last time I had McDonald's and the thought of KFC makes me feel sick.

I desire to get fit. I actually wouldn't be surprised if I start eating more, like I used to when I was bushwalking every weekend back in January. Seriously, I was eating 2-3 times as much and still loosing weight (which indicates that I was eating way below what I needed to).

Most of all, I dislike how thinking of calories steals my joy and makes me feel confined. I'm doing this to improve my life not make it harder.

As an aside, I realise that calorie counting is useful for some people, and suits them, or that it may simply be necessary. For me, however, it doesn't sit right. 

So yes, my decision: eat well and don't worry.

Back Again!

I have been away since Thursday (Saturday's post was a scheduled one), and now I am finally home again!

I didn't even try to eat well or exercise while away (but did lots of dancing, and also a laughing fit that lasted about 15 minutes - no one can tell me that laughing isn't exercise! hahaha!!), but now I am back home, and ready to start exercising some self control over eating choices, and some self discipline in regard to physical activity.

Today, I'm just enjoying being home SO MUCH.

My Ideal Vegetable Garden

Fresh fruit and vegetables are so much better than shop brought ones, and cheaper too (spinach is a perfect example). Working the garden is also great exercise! I grew up eating produce from a garden my dad maintained, and from fruit trees he cared for (as well as eggs from our chickens and the occasional chicken, too). I know that it's not impossible to grow a large majority of the produce a family needs - it just takes time and effort.

If I had the space and the time to grow all the veggies I wanted, my vegetable garden would ideally include:

• beetroot (you can use the leaves in salad, too)
• tomatoes (large and tiny tims)
• cucumber
• zucchini (just 2 plants!)
• pumpkin and squash
• spring onions
• leeks
• onions
• lettuce (iceberg and loose leaf varieties)
• spinach
• bok choy
• capsicum
• chili
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• garlic
• carrots
• peas (snow peas, green peas, sugar snap peas)
• beans (green beans, scarlet runner beans)
• rainbow chard (the rainbow bit is very important)
• corn

I've never grown sweet potatoes, but if it turns out that they're less backbreaking to grow than normal potatoes I might allow them on the list.

NOT: brussel sprouts.

I would also want to grow things like sunflowers (beauty and seeds), strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackcurrants. I would want an apricot tree, as well as plum, nectarine, peach and cherry trees. 

I would love to have a bay tree (which could be a shade tree or kept small in a pot) and a herb garden filled with rosemary, thyme, mint, chives, parsley, coriander, marjoram, dill, sage, basil (for caprese salads) and more.

I think I'm going to have to hire a gardener.

At the moment, in my nearly non-existent garden, I have mint, thyme, lemon thyme, marjoram, rosemary, lemon balm and a nearly dead sage (it's too cold for it here), toadstools (not good) and a giant, ugly, useless bush.

Kathy xxx