The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl

Friday Link Feast #4 - Active Recovery Edition

Mornings are brilliant, if you can get past that having to wake up and get out of your scratcher thing. Mornings mean you get a fresh start every twenty-four hours.

This is painfully bloody obvious now that I think about it, but nevertheless an opportunity I'd been ignoring. Recently I gawked up the ceiling the morning after a particularly rubbish day and thought, I could do something differently today. Doesn't have to be important or perfect or loud or dazzling, but it could be different. It could be better than yesterday. Why the hell why not?

Anyway. Here are some links to things that have lit up my world lately.

• Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal
  The title is self-explanatory. It's a journal that you systematically dismantle. Every page has a simple instruction - punch holes in this page, set fire to this page, rub dirt on this page, sew this page, scribble on this page, chop out this page and mail it to a friend, etc etc etc. I bought it back in 2007 but was too scared to mark it; I couldn't decide which pen to use, for goodness' sake! But now the time for mindless destruction. It's great.
   
• Jazz Apples.
  Not to be confused with jazz mags. I bought a bagful just for the amusing name but they are sweet and crunchy. Normally I fall asleep halfway through eating an apple because they are so bloody boring, but not so the Jazz Apple.
   
• The Black Dog Books
  Kylie May, are you out there? I've been trying to hunt you down to say a huge thanks for sending two wonderful books - I Had A Black Dog and Living With A Black Dog.
  
  They are both picture books, the first about depression and the latter designed for someone who knows a depressed person. If you struggle with depression and can't put the fuzzy bleakness into words, these are the books to shove into a loved ones arms. They take all of ten minutes to read but are funny, insightful, helpful and full of hope.
   
• 8 Steps To Conquer The Beast Within
  This Martha Beck article about tackling your demons was in an Oprah magazine I'd bought for purely the cupcake recipes. But months later I felt compelled to read the non-cupcake pages, as I feel the same guilt for an unread magazine that I do for a shriveled carrot in the bottom of the fridge - the object has not fulfilled its destiny because of my laziness and neglect. Turns out every article resonated, and this Beck one mega useful, particularly the Lifeline Graph exercise.
   
• My Tiny Plot
  It's been eight whole days and my brand new herb garden is not yet dead! I'm devouring all things gardening and Gillian's blog about her Bath garden is the dogs' bollocks. That's Bath as in the City Of, by the way; not a garden full of bath tubs. Although that could look very cool.

Note: I didn't end up finishing this until Monday, but let's not spoil the alliteration!

Friday Link Feast #3

• Ooh yeah. Edamame Hummus from the always super-classy Pink of Perfection - I'm trying to clear out our freezer before we move so now I know what to do with the ye olde bag of edamame!
   
• Skinnies for Curvies - this is an old post on You Look Fab in which stylist extraordinaire Angie declares that you shouldn't be afraid of  skinny jeans if you have curvy hips and thighs then gives some great styling tips. My sister tried to convert me to skinny jeans, especially with the knee boots, but I was traumatised by my one skinny jean trying-on experience when I couldn't get the bastards past my ankles. I have THIGHS, baby...  wide leg or flared jeans fit like normal on me. Le sigh.
  
  Anyway, I found that post via Angie's newer entry about PZI Jeans, a company that makes skinny jeans for unskinny legs (albeit limited to sizes 4-16). Overall You Look Fab is a brilliant site with realistic tips and ideas and a great community (where I lurk most stealthily), perfect if you are totally clueless about how to get dressed in the morning.
   
• The New Mom's Pantry - If you're a new Mum struggling to find time to eat healthily Debbie at Words To Eat By has a cracker of a post about how to stock your pantry for easy cookin'. Debbie's running a wee course for new parents from her Brooklyn home called Parents Need To Eat, Too to pass on the things she learned as a frazzled new Mum. What a great idea. Speaking As A Childless Lazybones, I found the post very helpful!

Housekeeping

One day in the first weeks of Year Seven, or the Seventh Grade as you say in America, my English teacher said, "Today we're going to start with housekeeping."

I remember slamming down my pen and thinking, WHAT!? I'd finally made it to the big high school and now we were just going to clean the freaking classroom? My mother was a teacher (still is) so I'd spent many afternoons sharpening her pencils, filling up glue pots, tidying cupboards, pinning student drawings to notice boards and other acts of child slavery. I was very annoyed that this sort of shit was to go down at high school too.

But turned out housekeeping just meant administrative minutiae, like telling us when our assignments were due or when parent/teacher night was on. Fair enough then.

This is my lengthy way of saying that it's time for some blog housekeeping!

• Long time visitors may recall in 2006 I started a food blog in order to procrastinate from book writing. It died in the arse a few months later, but I've now incorporated all those entries into this blog. I like chucking in a recipe now and then without the pressure of having an actual food blog. So check out the Recipes category! Note: Some are not entirely diet friendly.
   
• I accidentally deleted a Reader Gallery email! I saw it in my Spam folder and meant to move it right away but got distracted so apologies... if you're out there Gallery Person, could you please resend?
   
• I wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write or comment. Again I'm sorry for not always being able to respond in a timely manner. Replying to lovely emails could be a full time job in itself but peskily I already have one of those. However, please know that I devour every message and to help with your questions, I'm adding new bits to the Frequently Asked Questions all the time. I renamed the "Resources" link at the top of the page to the more obvious "Diet & Fitness Resources" as that page cover so many things I'm asked about.
   
• Speaking of FAQ, I have more Dietgirl By Request posts in the pipeline for the most frequent of FAQs, including the inevitable How do you stay motivated? I like to be helpful for the question-askers (?!) but it's also helpful for me to ponder these things, like the Cravings entry last week - it reminds me that I have come a long way and if I just listened to my own advice it's really not all entirely hopeless as it has felt lately. If you've got a burning question that's not been covered, feel free to leave it in the FAQ comments.
   
• If you fancy a slightly diluted Aussie accent squawking in your ears I was on the Livin' La Vida Low Carb Show last week, which was very kind of Jimmy Moore considering I'm not one to shy away from a loaf of bread. We had a great chat that covered faking a positive attitude, deciding on a goal weight and the joys and pitfalls of baring your soul online.

Scared is a feeling, not a mandate

Here's a most excellent quote to ponder while I finish off the next entry and paddle in this bottomless pit of corporate ToDo and overwhelmedness while trying to remember that panicking gets you nowhere, tra la la la!

"Everyone gets scared before they try something new. By everyone I mean me, and I’m certain you are all exactly like me. But I do hear this from other people: They are scared to come to a class, scared to try a new activity, scared of me and my crazy talk, but odds are only one of those is really going to do lasting damage. Scared is a feeling, not a mandate. Be scared, try it anyway, yeah yeah. No one wants to look like a fool or take a risk, but odds are, most people are so absorbed in what they are doing, they won’t even see you, and besides, they probably feel the same way, so let’s all get huggy and be done with it."

Five things I learned as a trainer - the always brilliant Kelly, FitnessFixation.com [via Marla]

DG by Request: Why blog?

How boring would lard-busting be without blogging? Pretty bloody dull, I tells ya. I've had emails from new folks who saw the Early Show thingo and asked how they can start blogging, and also why one would want to pick up such a nerdy habit in the first place. I thought I would answer that here!

Woohoo!

Today there's a wee interview with me on Sahar's Fat Fighter TV site - she's included me into her Weight Loss Wall of Fame! Check out that cheesy author photo.

Answering Sahar's questions made me think about my awkwardness with the Weight Loss Success Story tag. I guess because the word story implies a narrative with a neat resolution but the reality is a sprawling, never-ending Choose Your Own Adventure tale.

Weight loss is also a strange thing to congratulate somebody for. I'm more inclined to cheer about my Moonwalking or my kickboxing or writing a book. Especially because the feat of losing 175lb means you had to have 175lb extra pounds in the first place. Now that's an achievement in itself.

If you like a good Before and After be sure to check out the other Weight Loss WooHoo's on the site. Thanks for inviting me over, Sahar!

Friday Link Feast #2

I've been stockpiling links for weeks so let's get 'em oot!

• The Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon
  Now how's this for a hardcore day out in the Scottish countryside?

- Swim 1.5 kilometres across the murky depths of Loch Tay
- Run 15 miles over seven Munros
[ETA: a Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3000 ft]
- Kayak 7 miles back down Loch Tay
- Cycle 34 miles around Loch Tay
- Slice a watermelon in half with a sword then eat it to stop the clock

The Quadrathlon was featured on BBC Scotland's Adventure Show recently and my jaw gaped the whole time. I did two of those Munros and it took me all bloody day, but 200 mad bastards ran over seven plus all that swimming, kayaking and cycling and they were done before sunset.

It's not entirely serious though - there's stops along the way for cakes, hot chocolate and even fish and chips!

• Finding a Bra that Fits - Corinna talks about the importance of good scaffolding.

• The Arm Bra. Lord help us.

• What Would Buffy Do? - "In the grand scheme of things, those few days where you're unable to exercise MEAN NOTHING. Rest. Feel better. Stay positive. You don't have to put yourself at a big success/failure crossroads every time something comes up." I love Skwigg.

• The Cherry Slice Experiment - Cherry Ripes are an Australian sweet that I never ate during 24 years of Australian residency but developed a pathetic longing-for once I moved away. Fab food blog Where's The Beef tries a homemade version, four ways!

• Drop the Boy - This has nothing at all to do with health & fitness but Keris brought it to my attention that Matt and Luke Goss of Bros fame turned 40 this week. FORTY! How could they be forty already? I can't answer that.

Many happy returns, fellas. You're a man. Yes you am.

The Amazing Adventures of Mistress Julia

2 kilometre swim. 75 kilometre cycle. 20 kilometre run.

The incredible Julia, running guru extraordinaire, recently completed the Mergozzo Half Ironman in Italy. Holy crap, is all I can say. What an achievement. She is one bloody amazing, determined woman! Be sure to read all her posts as it is a wonderfully epic tale.

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV
• Part V