Tag Archives: food

A December to remember

Posted on by
Reply

As colleagues return to work, the first thing they do is ask one another how their December break was. My reply has generally been “great!” and I really do mean it. For a change KK and I weren’t rushing around planning for Christmas eve, we had loads of time to ourselves and each and every day we did well… pretty much nothing but lie at the pool, watch TV and veg. The perfect holiday in my mind!

I flicked through some of the photos I took during my time off and it’s a great reminder of the fun we had…

Lots of braai’ingBraai2Lying next to the pool and swimming (and yes, even I swam with my head fully dunked!). This was the view most days of the sun beating down on us. I’m not as pale as I was last year. 😉PoolJo’burg is so quite over December, we managed to eat out at some of our favourite restaurants, including the Mexican restaurant in Illovo, Peron. The food is superb!Peron eveningTalking about food, a Domino’s Pizza opened up around the corner from us so we decided to try it out. Not bad, but I don’t think we’ll be back. I much prefer Andiccio’s.Dominos pizzaChristmas came around so quickly and we celebrated with KK’s family on Christmas eve and with my family on Christmas day. But it’s our own Christmas tradition of putting up trimmings in our home which I look forward to the most. We dedicate an entire evening where we have a kickass supper and then have fun placing all our ornaments all over the house with carols playing in the background. Xmas 2014Speaking of Christmas, this year we also visited the Bryanston Organic Food Market at night. There were carol singers and the most divine food on sale. The market is just down the road from us and I’m ashamed to say that we’ve never been before. We promised to return after a really relaxed evening out.Bryanston organic market eveningFor New Year’s eve, we slipped away to Mount Grace for a few days of pampering. We entered the new year with massages, food and snoozes.New YearIt wasn’t all relaxing. During December, we both managed to get great training under the belt attending as many track sessions as we could. I clocked up over 120km’s of running during the month which really prepared me for the races I’ve just completed now in January. TrackKicking the year off with some wonderful memories is just such a great way to start a new year!

I love Christmas. I hate getting fat!

Posted on by
2

I’ve been having more fat days than skinny days of late. I seem to wake up, climb on the scale, see that I haven’t dropped 2 kgs over night and proceed to be in the worst mood for the rest of the day. I know I shouldn’t weight myself every day and should gauge my weight on how my clothes feel. But you see, that’s just the problem.

My clothes have become tight so I know I’ve definitely put on weight. And what’s worse is that it’s just before Christmas so I don’t even have that 1 or 2 kgs to play with. I can just see myself going back to work after the holidays with camel toe!

It’s tough though. Trying to stay ‘good’ and on track when all around you, there are loads of delicious, scrumptious munchies is torture. But in an attempt to survive and do the best I can in order to not put on (too much) weight, I pulled out my dietician’s notes from a few years back. (Thank-you Melanie Levy!)

As I read through my notes, I picked out a few simple tips which I’m going to try and stick to…

  • Salads are fine as long as you avoid the dressing. Go for vinegar, not oil. Ditch the olives, avo and cheese.
  • Bread rolls are silent evils. Do you really need them?
  • Don’t be fooled by the vegetables at a restaurant. They are usually loaded with butter or even cheese.
  • Stick to the white meat.
  • Choosing to have the fish is not the best option as it is usually basted with butter or oil. Ask for dry-grilled.
  • Steak or chicken, grilled over an open flame is actually one of the safest foods to order. No side sauces.
  • Tomato based pasta sauces are better than cream-based ones.
  • If ordering pizza, ask for less / no cheese.
  • For desserts, choose jelly (no custard) and swiss roll.
  • Sugar based sweets are allowed. These include boiled sweets, gums, lollipos, marshmallows.
  • Opt for skinny cappuccinos or freezochinos (if made with water)
  •  NO NOs! Potato chips, crisps, pies, peanuts ‘n raisins.

In the back of my mind, I do know that it is Christmas and it is a time of enjoying the time spent with family and friends as well as all the yummy dishes that we don’t normally eat during the year. Like gammon, christmas cake, trifle… *drool*. And I can always diet in the new year, surely.

PS: my running shoes are parked next to the bed, just as a reminder that a second helping of roast potatoes is simply not worth it in the long run…