I'm kind of scared......

My friend has decided to enter this competion so after some consideration (and excitment) I have as well. Don't know quite what I've let myself in for.


http://www.toughguyandgal.co.nz/

My weight loss transformation and almost fat free Banana Pancakes

I don't have many photos on me at the moment but wanted to show a little before and after, so this will just be of my face, but even then you can see how much has come off.


January 2009 Me at my very biggest

January 2010 (when my Husband seemed like he was going to move home again)

Actually though I'm really glad he's in both the photos because it shows how much my face has shrunk, in the first photo it's way bigger than his and in the second definitely smaller,

I hated myself when I was that fat.I hated to go in public, I hated that nothing fit me and I hated myself for having so little self control and letting myself get as big as a house. Now I feel amazing. I wear pretty much whatever I want, in fact I love clothes and fashion.

It wasn't easy to lose the weight. There was no magic formula and I worked really hard to get there. It meant long hours at the gym and it was hard, when you're dragging around 60 kilos (132 pounds) of excess weight well everything hurts. I often thought I would faint or throw up (I never did) but as the weeks went by it got easier. It also meant going to parties or events and not being able to eat what everyone else did, no chocolate, no desserts and no fried foods.

But you know what?

It was totally worth it. And as far as food was concerned I never went hungry, I would never be one to starve myself, I love food waaaaay too much. Every week I planned a little treat for myself, so one week it would be a chocolate croissant and the next some french fries. Every day I try to eat four pieces of fruit, three serves of dairy, two to four servings of grains and a truckload of veges, also I'm big on water and green tea. Green tea actually really helped cut my cravings for sweet things. I don't go more than a few hours without eating either.

They say support when you're losing weight is crucial but I didn't have any of that. No friends to act as cheerleaders and my sister and mother weren't exactly helpful so instead I watched episodes of The Biggest Loser on YouTube and believe it or not it really spurred me on.

I also had to deal with the emotional issues for why I ate badly and that's something I'm still working on.

Anyway part of the reason why it wasn't so hard to control my eating was because I had really great recipes to spur me on. I don't eat 'diet' food, I try to eat whole foods. I don't touch things with artificial sweeteners and I stay away with anything that has hydrogenated oils (that includes things like diet peanut butter) I do however use low fat dairy products.

Anyway I'm going to try post some low fat/sugar recipes every week. This is one of my favourites.

I love Pancakes, just love them. However my body doesn't love all the fat, sugar and refined carbohydrates that go with them. Also this recipe is really high in fibre, I have only given enough for one serving so just increase for how many people you are making them for.

High Fibre Banana Pancakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Wheat Bran

1/3 cup skim milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp vanilla essense

3 egg whites

1/2 banana mashed

Canola oil spray

What to do

Pour wheat bran and milk into a bowl and let stand for one minute, then stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in egg whites and fold in mashed banana. Spray a frying pan or griddle with the canola oil and spoon into pan making five small panckes. Flip after two minutes.

I like to have my pancakes with cinnamon, blueberries and a small drizzle of Maple syrup (the real stuff) not that sugary imation kind.

My last bit of advice. You don't have to be fat on the outside to be fat on the inside.

Honey hand lotion

The ice has been replaced by torrents of rain (again!) and it is so cold here today. I don't have to leave the house until I go to work at three so it's a perfect day to spend the afternoon in the kitchen experimenting with new lotions and things.

I'm very big on hand cream because your hands are one of the first areas to age on your body plus they are highly visible. I like to have a little jar in several places (baby food jars are great) so I dont forget to use it! namely my bag, the car, my room of course and above the kitchen sink.

Here is my favourite recipe, so easy and inexpensive to make but makes your skin feel so soft.

Honey hand lotion

1 t clear honey

2 T almond oil

4 T rosewater

1 t cider vinegar

Place ingredients in a glass jar and shake to combine.

Couldnt be any easier right! The reason I make it in small quantities is because all natural cosmetic products tend to go rancid within a few weeks, you can however prolong them by keep them in the fridge.

My wish list

I woke up this morning and everything was covered in ice! My mum rang me first thing to tell me not to get out of bed as it was too cold!

Well I did get out of bed, I needed to try out a new make-up look that I am going to do this weekend for girl at her formal (prom). I got the idea from dolce candy's blog, I love to watch her tutorials on youtube too

Here it is.......

It may be a tad too much on me for me on a monday morning but too bad I love it anyway :) I teamed it with a Jade top, black satin miniskirt, black leggings and black knee high boots.

Whilst Aviva has been making Maps of European countries, I have been browsing my dream dresses for winter.

If the Purple one was just a few inches longer, it would be perfect! Hope wherever you are it's warmer than it is here and p.s can I come live with you if it is?

The dress up box

It's every girls little dream. A dress up box complete with tutu, her mothers wedding veil, various hats belonging to grandmother and an assortment of shoes, and maybe if shes lucky a feather boa, all held together in a wooden chest.

I didn't have a dress up box and neither did my daughter. When I was a child dressing up was not really high on the priorities list for my mother, she didn't even have the emotional energy to read to us let alone for other creative pursuits but that's o.k because instead I fostered a life long passion for reading instead. And as for my own daughter well fashion of any sort has never appealed to her. She has never shown an interest in the way she looks, I can't even recall a time I've seen her look at herself in the mirror :)

However at the age of twenty six I have decided to create a dress up box for myself!!

It is going to house my many scarves, sari's, pashminas and other thrift shop accessories finds that I seem to come home with.

I'm so in love with scarves at the moment. They make any outfit complete and they are so versatile. You can wind them through your hair, use them as a belt or tie them cutely around your neck. I am a big fan of wearing a pashmina and putting it around my head and shoulders and pairing them with a huge pair of Sunglasses so I can saunter down to the Library or local shops and pretend to a be an incognito celebrity LOL

But seriously they look fantastic with everything, it's really just how to wear them. I might write a post on this too. For under a dollar from any thrift shop they can make a plain outfit look amazing.

I'm becoming a much bigger fan of hats too! I have the cutest selection of beret's that will be making it into the box as well. My proper Lady's hats, have to stay safely in their hat boxes but the other ones will certainly be going in my new chest.

So on the coldest of the winter days (and it's been raining her everyday for well over a month) I can pull out a french lace vintage scarf or sequined beret and add some much needed colour to my day.

I'll post some photos of it all soon, I lent my camera to a friend over a month ago and am yet to get it back.

Hope you had a restful weekend!

Natural beauty

As of yesterday I have my very own laptop, so I can finally start posting on a regular basis-yay!

Fashion, make-up and accessories are a big interest of mine, I like to treat everyday like a special occasion worth dressing up for. Since this is something that I get a lot of comments on from both friends and strangers I have decided it's something I'm going to focus my posts on for now.

I am a qualified Beauty Therapist and worked as one for many years although now I work solely as a make-up artist. So much of my knowledge base with skin products has come from that although I have done my own private research for years now including many, many hours of experimenting. Most of my own recipes or recipes I have picked up come from India in origin. You can easily pick up any of the ingredients in any Indian shop. Indian women tend to have beautiful skin and hair no matter what their income, they use what they have.

Today I'm going to focus just on face masks. I wouldn't be without my weekly Facial, which I will detail more another time, but the face mask is certainly the star of the show. You don't have to spend huge amounts of money to have amazing skin (no matter what any celebrity may tell you) and the recipes I am going to tell you all cost under fifty cents.

Oily Skin

One and a half tablespoons of Sandalwood powder

Tiny pinch of turmeric

Three tablespoons of orange juice

Dry skin

One egg white

One tablespoon of honey

One tablespoon of cream

Normal skin

Two tablespoons of milk powder

Rosewater to mix

Cleansing face mask

2 tablespoons oatmeal

4 tablespoons of whey ( I use the 'water' that separates out of natural yoghurt')

All of these mask recipes you just need to combine and brush on and leave for ten minutes. For best results you should lie down in a lavender scented bath with candles and relaxing music playing ;)

I use the normal skin mask and every time I use it my skin becomes amazingly soft and radiant. Try it for yourself!

* Sorry for the no spaces between anything! Blogger wont let me today......

It's been so long....

Since I've written, hope everyone has been having a wonderful Easter. When I sit back and truly think of it my eyes fill with tears because I can't imagine how someone as perfect as Jesus gave up his life and suffered immensely for someone like me. I also love to contemplate the Apostles joy to see their saviour risen again. How lucky I am to know our Lord

I have had so much to write on lately however the reason I haven't written has been that my Mum became very ill and for a while I honestly thought she was going to die. My life was suddenly filled with long days at the hospital and taking care of her house as well as my own since I am her only child who is at home during the day.

Also I then developed a very bad kidney infection which would just not heal, I am still spending most of the day resting and trying not to stress myself at all so I can recover hence the short post. However don't feel sorry for me!! this has been an amazing time for me where I have begun to sense Jesus presence in my life in a way that I haven't before. Hope to write more soon!

God is good all the time

All the time God is good