Fitness + Food = Fabulous!

For those of you who know me well – you will know that the Fitness element of this equation doesn’t really resonate with me.

I am not a natural athlete and have always had the fortune of not having to worry about it. Hence the teenage sleepovers where chocolate gateau featured in every meal and I could get away with ice cream for breakfast every now and then.

As I approach the impending W-Day and my 28^th birthday, I have come to realise that , without even noticing, that I do not have this luxury anymore.

I know that some people reading this will be surprised, so I shall enlighten you with a few fast facts:

-          Although I am not large, I put on 7 kilos in a few months without noticing.

-          At my heaviest I was 65kg.

-          I only noticed when I saw a photo of myself.

So, in a bid to overturn my life and create a long-term, sustainable healthy lifestyle – I joined a bootcamp.

Now I was always one of those people who would walk past a bootcamp (obviously in the evening as I am also not a natural morning person) and laugh at how silly everyone looked, how some of the girls were all dressed up in their best pink gear and why everyone there wasn’t fat?

Now I know. Bootcamp is not what you think it might be. It is not all full of fat people as I once mistakenly thought. It is not also full of pink gym gear (cue moi in a Primarni green tank top and $5 Big W shorts). But most importantly, it is not about paying someone to shout at you.

Whilst there is a market for these bootcamps, mine is about support. Everyone there – of various shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds, are there for their own personal reasons. Reasons that are not shared, because essentially it doesn’t matter.

There is a mutual understanding and support for the tasks completed and the effort input. Everyone is at a very different fitness level, and everyone has very different motivations.

Motivation is important when you are waking up at 5am twice a week, in the dark, to walk 30 minutes to the bootcamp, an hour of intense working out, a half hour walk back and then get into the routine for work.

My motivation? A photo of myself on a beach in the Perhinthans in Malaysia – a moment in time when I felt my most free and beautiful. A moment I would love to feel again.

However 6 weeks in, I have noticed the dramatic changes.

-          I have become a morning person and started exercising a little most days a week

-          I have already lost 1.5kilos and maintaining a healthy weight

-          I have already lost cms around the middle

-          I have started the nutirion overhaul program to keep track of my food intake

Which leads me nicely onto my next topic – Food.

I live in Melbourne and I love food. It almost sounds like an AA confession!

Melbourne has some of the most fantastic food – from a real range of cultures and for all budgets. This is in addition to the amazing coffee that sustains the city and fuels the creativity.

So it is a tough challenge for me to be on the nutritional overhaul with my bootcamp. Essentially, it is keeping a food and exercise diary to establish healthy eating patterns, to gain nutritional advice and to assess how much and what you are eating.

It is fascinating as although I have always been extremely healthy in my adult life (the cake and ice cream for breakfast episodes were in my younger days) and I enjoy making healthy choices – it does help reign in any unnecessary snacking and unhealthy habits.

For example – all those work birthdays where there is always some kind of cake/biscuit/sugary treat – where I would always say yes and take a slice and inhale it before we have even began the celebratory signing. The unforeseen situations where food is offered and to have the will power to say no thank you.

It is actually making me rethink and have the strength to do so (full well knowing that come W-Day I am going to tuck into our glorious chocolate cake!) so I can transition into the Fabulous phase.

I am starting to feel much more fabulous than flabulous now that the wibbly bits have been wobbled away in strength and cardio training. The vision I have in my mind of myself being slim, toned and tanned in my hens and honeymoon pics are well on their way.

The trick is to keep it up in the cold winter Melbourne months which are shortly on their way. No big hidey flabby jumper for me this year! (That’s how a winters trip to Prague, New York and Christmas got out of hand before coming to Australia).

So I guess this is the positive impact that Australia is having on me. Whilst I coul do this anywhere, being in a country that is much more outdoor and fitness focused, it does makes you feel less silly and more inclusive. Plus I really wouldn’t get up on a winters day in London to go outside and crawl around on the ground doing push ups and burpees at 6am. Oh no siree.

Whilst all of this is a goal towards the wedding, they are also training for life-after-wedding as well. Shock, horror! A fitness plan for a newly wed! Usually its all about the wedding day and afterwards its all about the red wine and cheese on the sofa.

The wedding is a goal and the start of my new life as a wife. I will definitely relax more after the wedding and enjoy those wine and cheese nights, but maybe low-fat cheese and just a glass of wine will do the trick. 

Muchos love as ever xoxo

Ps - I couldn't upload my plant pics for the update but the chilli is going rather well!

Politics, parties, plants and planning.

A very happy and belated New Year to everyone!

As a part of my NY obligations I have promised myself to actually dedicate some time to write and continue the blog after lots of lovely feedback that people actually missed reading it - which is always lovely to hear.

I am aiming for once a week - unless I have anything particularly exciting to report! If this doesn't happen - feel free to poke, wink, kick me or whatever it is you do these days.

So. I guess the title of the post says it all for me at the moment.

As you may or may not be aware of, my current role is particularly relevant in the Australian political space at the moment - working with asylum seekers and refugees.

So this first P is the Politics.

There was breaking news this week about a 'violent riot' on Manus Island (an offshore detention centre in Papua New Guinea of which Australia is responsible for - in theory) of which asylum seekers - seeking asylum in Australia - were responsible for starting.

The day after I spent the day editing voicemail audio clips from 2 asylum seekers calling directly from Manus Island to tell the organisation that the local PNG people broke into the detention centre with machetes and started attacking the asylum seekers.

Why you may ask?

Because just like Australia, PNG doesn't want them either. Except Australia has dumped all their responsibility and tax-payer dollars onto PNG.

Yesterday was a particularly sad day at work due to the then breaking news that 77 people had been seriously injured and 1 person actually died whilst seeking Australian protection.

Hearing the truth and information directly from the ground is particularly saddening as despite the truth being spoken by people on the island, the government has scared even the most Left-wing media into keeping neutral and not exposing the truth. Hello ABC.

So whilst as a nation we might complain that our cafe latte was supposed to be a flat white or that the pubic transport situation is dire - we must remember that at least we have the freedom to experience these 'atrocities'.

Anyway, work rant over.

The next P is more fun. Parties!

This is more in reference to organising my Hen's party with my 7 amazing bridesmaids and 1 amazing groomslady!

So - just quietly - I am quite excited. Not because I want to wear penis paraphernalia, drink shots from a necklace and pass out on a beach Ibiza style - but because it is a great opportunity to spend a few days with some of the most fabulous women on the planet.

Being so far away from most of you is not easy at the best of times - and definitely not whilst planning a wedding (Gave away the last P!). But I know that you will all pull together to 'send me off in style' or whatever that really means anyways.

It means a lot to me that anyone would even put the effort in to help us get all of this off the ground - let alone the enthusiasm and grace that has been put into sourcing all sorts of quality information.

On a completely separate and 3rd P - Plants.

This may surprise everyone that reads this that might know me fairly well - I am now a Green Thumb.

Not only of my own labelling but fully endorsed by the future Mr Murphy. (Jokes - he wouldn't change it!)

I am pleased to announce that I am now the proud grower of:

- Chilli's
- Gardenias
- Marigolds (from the seed - oh yeah!)
- Jasmine
- Variety of succulents (in case all the others actually die)
- Mint
- Basil
- Spinach (possibly on the deathbed)
- Coriander (def on the deathbed but hoping for a resurrection)

So as you can see around 85% of current growth is probably nor dying or dead.

And the jasmine plant pleases me greatly as this is the scent of Asia where my love and I fell in love. Ain't that cute.

I can keep you regularly updated on this progress as this could change.

Final P - you guessed it - Planning.

So, yes, The English Rose is getting married. Abroad. Or quite abroad from where she currently resides anyway.

Now we are in the swing of 2014 - so is the planning.

We have got the major things locked in which is good, still need to lock in some entertainment, decor, bridal party outfits, rings, food, drinks, music etc etc.

Apparently there are a lot of elements to a wedding.
But I think I had my 'bridezilla' stressy moments last year when we went back to visit the family and start the planning.

I have since calmed down and 'let go' a bit more as I have realised that planning from the other side of the world can be tricky. But having amazing family and friends back at home makes it a whole world easier.

So today I read through our ceremony details and options - which is actually quite a defining moment. The ceremony is an aspect that is often forgotten or overshadowed by all the frills and stuff you can have to make your wedding day even more special.

Reading the options and the words that we will actually say to each other is quite eye opening. It makes you imagine the moment that you say these vows to each other and makes it feel more real. It also brings a smile to your face when you imagine saying and hearing these words.

More importance needs to be emphasised on the ceremony as this is the defining moment where you become united and the legal recognition of the vows taken.

As I think about the year ahead it is an extremely exciting time. The year will go quickly, as every one does, but this year shall mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter - being a wife and becoming Mrs Currie.

I hope to enjoy every minute of it and not take it for granted.

Well I hope I have satisfied my hungry readers for now.

More on life in Melbourne, plant updates and hopefully less of the politics.

I shall leave you all with a few more P's in my life right now.

Muchos love as ever xoxox

Placebo, Parma, Parsnip Crisps, Papercut and Possums.