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Saturday night made me think a little. After getting a late notice invite to come out and then crashing someone elses drinks for the hell of it. It was good. I proved to myself i can go out, not drink and still have a good time (been a long time). But I have noticed that the Bar Culture in Brisbane is slowly evolving.

I mean when I first started going out way back in the days of the dinosaurs, it was all big ass pubs like The Victory etc. Now on Saturday night I headed out to the valley. And look at all the new bars etc there. I mean yeah you do have the Mega Clubs/Venues like Family & Cloudland but then you have tiny itty bitty bars like Mana.

Mana is like my favourite place. It may be tiny, but its awesome. Where else can you play video games on a night out with a drink in your hand. AWESOME. And you don’t have to hide being a geek. Even Better!

Then if like me, you dont mind a good well made cocktail, then somewhere like Bowery would be the place. A very small bar, long and thin, you could walk past it and not even know it was there. The windows are covered with curtins so you cant really see it from outside, but once your in. You don’t want to leave. A good well made cocktail, made with passion and finesse is a wonderful thing. The kind of thing your not really worried about paying $15 or so for.

But now I have a problem. I need to go out with my friends and scout out where to have my birthday this year. I want somewhere good that I can go and enjoy myself thats not some more than usual blah blah pub.

any ideas?

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So 6 months ago i made the first post about how my life was going to change. And change it has. I will run through some stats in a bit but my life has really changed. I feel better. Even though I always feel tired, i know that i can accomplish more than what I did when i started. I feel better in the morning after a work out and the same in the evening. I can walk & run however I want and i dont have a problem (although we wont go into hills right now) with feeling like I am going to die after the first 10 seconds.

Don’t get me wrong, this has not been an easy 6 months. I started this journey with a Groin Injury, and I have had niggles in my legs and knees and joints ever since. But I continue to follow the motto that keeps me going. I am pretty sure I have posted it here before, but when Navy Seals go through their training they are told time and time again. “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.” It pretty much means that yesterday was only easy because it is over. Each and every Day is a new challenge that I need to work through and get past so that I can continue on in life.

I have met some amazing new people who I never thought I would meat. They help me every day in getting through all of this and I have to thank them as without their help, I wouldn’t be here. I know a lot of people come up to me every day and say how good I look, and it is reassuring to know that all of this hard work I am putting in is working.

But day in and day out, I just have to keep myself going. I test myself all the time with little things to keep myself going (and this is apparently a good thing). But as this weight loss challenge starts to come towards its end, a new challenge begins. And thats keeping it off. Its going to be a whole new challenge with a whole new way of thinking. I need to be able to manage it all, I am sure I can do it, I know you will all be there to help me to.

Now for some stats.

Weight:
6 Months ago i weighed 172kg. On Monday at the last weigh in, I weighed 117.5kg Thats around a 55kg loss in 6 months. Thats a LOT. There is a backpack at the gym that is full of weights, it couldnt fit anymore at 45kg. Probably need another one to get the rest of it in. I still have that remaining 17.5kg to lose but thats a challenge I know i can do. I have had my ups and I have had my downs. Ive had weeks of 3kgs of loss and I have had a week of a 300g gain and that really affected me. I have had to try and get my mind around not getting on the scales every day and then beating myself up over every little thing. Its all in your head!

Fitness:
6 months ago when I first started. My trainers took me on a 2k walk and timed it to see how long it would take. Took me about 30 minutes. Thats pretty slow. These days, my 2k PB is 15m 30s This is still not as fast as people I know but this is a good improvement for me. 6 months ive knocked that time in half. I couldnt walk that far when I started. 2k was killing me, I have more and more gone up and up in my distances. I started doing 2k on the treadmill every evening. then up to 2.5k, then 3k, then 3.5k. Its now up to 4k in around 43mins. I have started to walk longer distances, Around christmas time I did a 5k walk in the morning and it took about an hour. I didnt even realise I had walked that far it was my trainers way of introducing me to distances. Then I started walking 7.5ks, then 10ks, then 11k, then 12.5k and I have done one 15k walk. I am now on average walking 10k in around 1hr 34min. I have walked on my own a lot but a few people have come with me and I really thank them for this. You guys know who you are and when you walk with me, it takes my mind off the usual things I do when i walk and thats beat myself up over everything.

Eating & Drinking:
Last year when I was in the USA you would of seen some of the foods I had eaten. Loco Moco, Mixed Plate, Giant Cheeseburgers, Pancakes the size of dinner plates or man hole covers. I have had to move away from those foods. The foods I love. Because they would put me in a grave earlier. But eating healtheir doesn’t mean that I have had to give everything up. I can still eat (hell I feel like i eat more these days then I did before) but I have had to adjust these eating habits and just replace things. Getting hungry, have a snack of some fruit. Need something sweet after dinner, some diet jelly should do it (ps i am addicted to it now, Aeroplane Diet Jelly ftmfw). Adjusting recipes so that I can try and still have those things I love while still being healthy. I have almost given up alcohol (1 drink in 5 and a half months) and I don’t really miss it. Don’t get me wrong, there is no way I would go fully sober. But i think I will need to go back to the way I used to drink years and years ago. And that is drink for the taste, not for the alcohol. No more binge drinking. This means the return of the high end booze for me really. The more exxy the booze the less of it I am going to drink. Seems good on my brain but not good on the wallet unfortunately. But then i would only be having one or two drinks.

So there you have it guys. 6 months down and many more months to go. Thank you all for your support, god knows I have needed it!

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its such a simple question. It was put to me by my nutritionist. She asked me why do I eat. What is it inside of me that makes me eat.

I have been thinking of this a lot. I have managed to change the way i eat and i am getting used to it. but the thing that sits in the back of my mind is why cant i just have that slice of pizza, or a piece of cake, or a lovely cheeseburger.

i think the biggest reason i eat, is because i love food. I love to cook food, i like to look at food (still love watching man v food). i guess also being in travel lets me keep that love of food as i get to travel and try new and different foods.

but other than that i dont know. i know that a lot of its was convienience. A lot of it was just bad judgement. i used to skip meals, eat more than i should of, eat the wrong things (golden nugget burger comes to mind). But i know that all of these things all add up.

but i guess i dont really know the real reason. i guess i need to keep thinking about it…

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well… i have finally come to my first hurdle. It just happens to be about something that is close to me. Food.

So i saw a nutritionist on friday and she is pretty cool (she actually works with “The Biggest Loser”) but the thing is, I am starting to feel really restricted in what I can and can’t eat. I know i hear people say it all the time “but its good for you” but the thing is, it feels like im giving up so much to do this.

I know i need to eat better etc and i need to change the way I eat, but do i really need to give up the foods that I love. Im not talking chocolate or anything like that? but surely i can make a pizza out of this because that would seriously make me happy right about now? maybe ill look into it and come out successful somehow!. I dunno!

I do enjoy some of the foods that i have been able to eat, but seriously, its like the same thing over and over again. I am really starting to get bored and for me thats not a good thing!

If anyone has any REALLY healthy recipes please email them to me… i am desperate!

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Oktoberfest was on yesterday. Such an awesome invention. Lots of filling food, Lots of German beer, good company, some music, lots of chatting, and a warm spring day. Where can you go wrong. Lets just look at the list again. Music, Chatting, Food, Warmth all good so far. Beer… o no. Thats where it always goes wrong.

German Beer is awesome. But its so lethal. After pint #7 i was really fucked. I wanted more but my stomach, bladder, liver and brain were all against me. They wouldnt let me drink more… bastards. Ended up after starting around 1:30pm pretty hammered and full to the brim. So came home pretty plastered. Daniel was worse off than I was he had 10 pints and he was feeling it!

It was a good day and although I am now copping shit from other friends for not heading to a birthday party last night cause i was to chicken (and passed out at 930pm) to continue partying. Oktoberfest is good though. Mal approves.

In other news over the last few weeks just been working extremely hard trying to get every last $$$ i can get to make sure I get my goal this month. Have had the house to myself for 3 weeks now, coming up on the last week and a half. The loneliness gets to you a bit in such a big house so its nice to have friends come round for dinner. Suz, Brendan and Ross came round friday night and we played a poker game. My poker skills must really be rusty because I lost to all 3 of them and I was the only one who has played before. It has been good.

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ok i lie.. I probably will drink again. But zomg why do I do it! Last night had another OCAU meet and I got myself highly tanked as usual. But i swear I am never having an ABC shot again. The more commonly reffered to as a Mouthwash shot. It was a bad bad thing. Its Absynthe, Bacardi 151 and Chartreuse, all in the same shot. It is such a bad bad bad idea!

I was drunk within seconds of that thing. I had drunk a fair amount by that stage but that threw me over the line. Thankfully I didn’t repeat the christmas party by throwing up everywhere. But I was still pretty trashed and made a bad bad fool of myself.

but yes, i guess thats life, and I go back to work again tommorrow knowing that i ended up wasting a sunday trying to get over a saturday night. God i feel old all of a sudden.

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So I have been thinking about beer lately. Been trying to drink it a little more often (being a water shortage and all it means i have an excuse) but looking around i miss a few yummy brews i tried in the US but definately cant find them over here. Don’t worry neither will be Bud or Millers Genuine Draft as you can get them over here. But in the USA they are good for a swilling beer. So here is a couple of the ones i miss.

Shiner Bock – Found this one in Amarillo, actually recommended to me by Keith (IRISH!) Pretty nice beer, native to Texas, never saw it outside of texas, only really had it those few nights while I was there but a pretty nice tasting brew.

Abita – Found this one in New Orleans when I was at the cooking school. Started by a teenager in his bedroom making beer without his parents knowledge. When they found out, they apparently liked it and decided to back him brewing it properly. Turns out its a big hit in the south. Loved it, really wish i could get it over here, definately one of the beers that i could just constantly drink.

Pacifico – Another beer recommended to me, this time by kenna. First try was at the Baseball in Anaheim. Picked up a Pacifico Bomber (24oz) for $12… such a rip off but such an awesome beer. Its a mexican beer but much nicer taste than Corona in my opinion. Really popular out on the West Coast states so had it for a bit through the first part of the tour thankfully, and a bit on the east coast but not much. Very nice beer, loved it!

Blue Moon – Similar to Hoegarden White, but not as citrusy, very filling and very cloudy. Biggest memory of this beer was buying a pitcher (like 2 litres) in Raleigh and not even finishing the pitcher it was so filling!

So those are the beers from the USA i miss the most. Unfortunately all I am going to be able to get over here is Budweiser (which is not to bad but for the prices you pay over here its a rip off), and Millers. Might get the occasional corona but yeah still not the same. I saw they have just recently bough Michelbob out to Australia. Thats like the VB of the USA. It is SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

so yeah. I miss my US beers, guess ill have to go back to my Coopers Sparkling Ale and my Cascade Light.

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Food, Glorious, Food, there is nothing quite like it!

Yeah my singing sucks but food is awesome. We all know I love my food but I also love to cook. So this weekend in preparation for Christmas I have been slaving away!

Saturday I spent a very frustrating morning trying to buy from the Farmers markets at New Farm. Took me over half an hour to find a parking spot and then over 10 minutes to walk from the parking spot to the markets. Should of parked near Tennerife and gotten the ferry! But i digress.

So with food in hand I made my way home to spend the next 5 hours prepping, mixing and then boiling my first ever plum pudding. It looks HUGE! Dunno how it will taste yet as we won’t cut it till tommorrow. Also did some baking yesterday of some Bread for the food day today and also some caramel tarts for mum.

Tonight though I will be cooking up a storm once I get home of Potato Salad & Coleslaw in preparation for tommorrow, and then just before lunch on Xmas day I just have to prep the green salad and the christmas feast is ready to go!.

There will be some more photos I might throw up but there are some of the Plum Pudding up already at the below link.

Xmas Food 2007

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Yes it is that time of the year again. Its Halloween. That means that little boys and girls will try to roam the streets in the endless pursuit of their favourite friend. Sugar. Unfortunately for most kids, Halloween is more of an american thing. However most adults my age will see it as any excuse to get dressed up and get fucked up. So endless weeks of Halloween parties happen. Hell I am going to one next friday.

The good thing about these parties is usually the hottest girls will wear the least which is great for everyone! Me though. I am not quite sure what to go as this year. Part of me wants to just grab a sheet, throw it over my head, cut two eye holes and ta da.. Ghost. One part of me just wants to grab my army helmet (used it for an avis party last year and it has since been repainted and looks spiffy, although it could do with a clear coat or something like that to make it shiny) and just go with that. However another deep down part wants to go all out, however then my wallet pipes up and tells my brain to STFU and get back to work.

So at the moment unless I can find a white sheet, *edit found one* then i will just use the helmet. Halloween parties are always a good excuse to get drunk. Cause if your face is covered. no one can see who you are! Which means you can drink yourself stupid and chat up all the randoms you want!

Another good thing about halloween is all the sugar! gotta love sugar. one of my favourite things beside alcohol. I mean who doesn’t like sugar? So since we are having a food day this week, we are having a Halloween food day. So usually when I want a really good sugar rush and I want something easy to make. Rice Krispie treats to the rescue. When I was in the states in Orlando they had big Rice Krispie treats but they had them all flavoured and with stuff in them like m&ms, skittles etc. So I took my usual Rice Krispie treat recipe (which is pretty much marshmallows, butter and rice bubbles) and poured them into the tin over a layer of M&M’s. Had lots of mixture left over so made a Rice Krispie cake. I haven’t got photos of the end product yet but when I do, I will throw them on the net somewhere.

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So well you all know that I am a Pastafarian and I do enjoy a good noodle every now and then. Whether it be Ramen (a japenese noodle) some Mi Goreng (indonesian noodle) some Italian Pasta (Spaghetti and Meatballs ftw) but what remains a complete mystery to me is the random asian noodle bowl. While I was picking up some Mi Goreng on Thursday in the Valley ($10 for a box of 30 packets.. Bargain++) I found the rest of the noodle isle just perplexing. An overwhelming amount of these wonderful noodles that just boggles my mind. I mean where else can you find these big noodle bowls with no english at all on them apart from a “Translation” of the flavour. I mean where else can you buy such goodies as “Lobster Flavoured”, Scallop Flavoured, or my favourite Stewed Pork Cutlet Bone flavoured.

Where do they come up with this stuff. So i picked what i thought was going to be good and picked one that was “Spicy Beef but it was Air Dried so was “healthier” and the other was “Sichuan Beef”. So i came home and thought to myself, here goes nothing and grabbed the Sichuan Beef flavour. I thought to myself this doesn’t look to bad with a big bowl of noodles (apparently it was the SUPABOWL!) and some vegies like in the Aussie ones and some power. But then there was the foil bag. When i felt it, it had like chunky bits in it and when I tipped it out was full of red/orange stuff. I was like “omg this is going to burn i can just tell”

So after adding the bowling water and running away to not look at it for 5 minutes I came back opened it back up and found this like amazingly potent smelling broth full of noodle. I tried it and I was thinking to myself its spicy but i can deal with it. But after a few good mouthfulls I was in agony. I think i drank like a litre of water. And this was the non spicy one i thought. I am such an idiot. Today im trying the spicy beef flavour. Hopefully I will have some mouth left! But at least at work there is an endless supply of cold water!

Mi Goreng on the other hand are endlessly versatile. They are like the Rolls Royce of 2 minute noodles. They go well with “additions”. My fav so far has just been with all the 5 packets (Seasoning Powder, Dried Onion Flakes, Kecap Manis (sweet soy), Chilli Sauce and i think its called Seasoning Oil) in it and then just adding some Tuna and some been salad and a touch of Corn and Mushrooms and a tiny bit of cheese.

On news other than what is currently making me extra hungry the end of the Financial Year is just over 7 days away (thank fucking christ) and I am going to be happy its over. My trip is quickly approaching and in about 2 weeks I will post up the Itinerary etc after paying finals on this trip. I bought my new camera lens for while I’m away so everything is getting closer and closer!