Tag Archives: Lake Ginninderra

My week in Instagram and I won $50 of meat. Shout out @2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

It’s been a good week. I won a $50 gift voucher from Elite Meats Canberra

Radio station 2CC (Capital Radio Talking Canberra) has been running a “best of Canberra” competition for the last few weeks. This Tuesday they ran a “best public art in Canberra” competition. I nominated The Owl Statue on the T-Junction of Benjamin Way and Belconnen Way at Google Maps

View Larger Map

I have posted to instagram numerous images of the Owl Statue

He is meant to be a Powerful owl and the connection with Canberra relates to the collective noun for owls, viz., a parliament of owls which fits given Australia’s parliament meets in Canberra.

Thank you 2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

Chicken and salad

More chicken and salad

I bought one of these coffee makers for work.

An iced coffee banana smoothie for breakfast

My first brew

A Lindt cafe salted caramel macaron

A salmon and capers quiche

Raspberry and blueberry slushie

Chicken and salad

Clouds near sunset over Lake Ginninderra

More clouds

Mmm…chocolate covered ginger from Haigh’s chocolates

Breakfast at the airport on Wednesday on my way to a meeting in Melbourne

A work mate’s birthday cupcakes

My morning tea

Chocolate noodle spider

This morning’s Mavi breakfast wrap

Ruchi Belconnen Southern Indian dining for a #CBRTweetUp Shout out @Sister_Ratched (garydavidlum.com)
Dear Canberra (a love letter, of sorts) (inthetaratory.wordpress.com)
{Wordless Wednesday} Canberra Sleeps As The Sun Rises. (mumchic.com)
A Love Letter (inexplicablewanderlust.com)
Malamay in the Burbury Hotel (inthetaratory.wordpress.com)

A happy ending and the end of a good little break | Ping @ColouredPurple

13 Replies

On Wednesday evening I vented my frustration about a bad taxicab driver and a lost bag. I don’t really like to vent. I prefer to be more positive and upbeat. I was coming down from the high of being with my daughters and having such a good time. I was surprised how annoyed and upset it made me feel, after all I’ve had my bags mishandled five times in the last twelve months by Qantas and United Airlines. The good news is my bag caught up with me sixteen hours after I returned to Canberra. The relief was palpable. I’m just grateful it didn’t happen on the way to Brisbane given that bag contained presents for my kids and parents.

So coming back to Canberra means coming back to the same old routine.

Ice coffee banana smoothie for breakfast

———-

I received a call from Qantas at about 0900 AEDT saying my bag had been found. This is despite the website stating the bag couldn’t be located and they were still tracing. Given it had arrived in Canberra at 0900 AEDT, it’s hard to believe it just appeared on that flight. I shouldn’t complain further, I have my bag. What it meant though was I had to hang around and delay my day’s plans for it to arrive.

My bag with the offending Qantas QTAG.

———-

Routine means tinned red salmon and tomato on toasted multigrain Vienna loaf

———-

Thursday evening saw dire warnings across southern Australia of an impending heatwave. There were predictions of temperatures in some areas in the mid to high 40s (degrees Celsius).

I wasn’t feeling that warm but wanted a light dinner suitable for warm weather. Mangoes and cucumbers are cooling.

———-

Dessert. Dark chocolate covering ginger from my girls.

———-

You need refreshing drinks on warm evenings.

Crushed ice and pineapple pieces with lemon lime and bitters cordial blended with Coles sparkling mineral water. So refreshing and I forgot the mint.

———-

Even though we’re past 2012/12/21 (day with longest daylight time) it was still light until late.

Last light over Lake Ginninderra

———-

As predicted on Friday we started seeing extreme temperatures across southern Australia (with attendant bush fires destroying homes and causing injuries). I did what most people do if they don’t have air conditioning and aren’t at work, I went to the local shopping mall and watched a movie. It’s been a few months since I’ve been to a movie. I chose Skyfall, as in James Bond 007. I enjoyed it. It was longer than I was expecting. The ending was cool. I’d rate it 7.5 or maybe 8 out of 10. If you’re a James Bond fan it’s worthwhile although a little tedious in parts.

For the remainder of the day I chilled and watched a DVD or two. One of them was The Dictator. I love the quote about Crocs (footwear). “The universal symbol of a man who has given up hope.”

———-

Dinner had been in my head since Thursday evening. I watched an episode of How to Cook like Heston. It was the first episode in the series and it was dedicated to beef. In this episode Heston describes the myths around steak and his technique. I didn’t follow his method exactly because I didn’t have two days to age my piece of Scotch rib fillet. That night I unwrapped the steak and put it in the refrigerator uncovered and let it dry out. On Friday night I got a pan smoking hot and seasoned the steak with some salt. I then applied the steak to the pan and turned it every 20 seconds for a total of three minutes. I then let the meat rest for a full five minutes. I had prepared a salad with some lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage with some lemon juice. I sliced the steak thinly and added it to the salad.

Scotch fillet cooked Heston style with lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage salad with some lemon juice. I was pretty happy with the comments I received on Instagram

———-

On Thursday evening a Twitter friend @ColouredPurple mentioned after I posted my tropical drink that she had come across a nice Italian sparkling mineral water from Aldi. On Friday night I made my drink with it.

It was pretty good. Better than the $0.80 bottles from Coles.

———-

This morning I woke up a little later than normal and went for a walk.

The sun rising over Lake Ginninderra.

As the sun rose the Owl Statue looked all shiny and golden.

My view as I walked down Benjamin Way.

Another view of the lake.

———-

After watching part of the test match from Sydney I had this delicious lunch.

I’d bought the Gorgonzola cheese, and Maggie Beer pâté and Maggie Beer quince paste earlier today.

Unfortunately while biting through the toast I lost part of an upper right side molar.

That’s the bit next to an Australian five cent piece.

———-

Okay so it’s a little warm today.

Why can we just have low 30s and 95% humidity? That would be perfect.

———-

Despite a broken tooth I’m determined to keep cooking and eating. Tonight I had a raw beetroot and grated it into the salad. There’s also grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus cucumber, celery, nectarine, spring onion, lettuce and tomato.

Nothing like a light salad as the rain falls to cool down the day and increase the humidity.

Catch you later.

Things mentioned in this post

Skyfall
Website http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/
IMBD http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/

The Dictator
Website http://www.thedictatormovie.com.au/
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645170/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

How to cook like Heston
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-cook-like-heston
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/how-to-cook-like-heston-recipes
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/hestons-perfect-steak

Aldi
Website http://aldi.com.au/

Coles
Website http://www.coles.com.au/

Change in jobs (garydavidlum.com)
She Makes Hats On Instagram! (shemakeshats.com)
Why Heston Blumenthal deserves the Turner prize (guardian.co.uk)
Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck – part 3 (carolynchan.wordpress.com)
How Blind People Use Instagram (gizmodo.com.au)
How to use Instagram (slideshare.net)
How Blind People Use Instagram (gizmodo.co.uk)
Instagram says users’ photos won’t appear in ads (newsobserver.com)

Change in jobs

22 Replies

It’s been an interesting week. Nothing much has happened with that piece of public art that I’ve posting about on Instagram. The weather has improved out of sight. It’s finally warming up in Canberra and while there have been some hot and dry days, the humidity hasn’t been as low as in past years. I know it’s only early but I really hope we have a warm and moist Summer in Canberra. Unlikely I know in Canberra but I live in hope.

=====

This image was captured on Monday morning. Since then nothing much has happened. I noticed some cabling so I assume there will be lighting at night for the piece.

=====

On Friday it was announced that I would change roles. From Monday I will be the Specialist Medical Adviser in Health Emergency Management in the Office of Health Protection. I will then no longer be the Assistant Secretary of the Health Emergency Management Branch.

My areas of interest and activities will continue to align with my specialist medical and healthcare management experience in pathogen security, CBRN medical countermeasures, the health aspects of national security, and health emergency management. This should be a good move for me. I get to focus on the areas I am best suited for. I will miss managing people but the best thing is I still work my same work mates.

=====

My weight has been much the same for the last week. I haven’t been losing any weight although I’ve maintained the walking and trying to avoid snacking. Snacking though is a perennial problem when surrounded by amazing work friends who bring in treats and have special morning and afternoon tea sessions.

I’ve also been receiving encouragement from some Twitter friends who have been reminding me that my diet lacks vegetables and has too much processed food in it.

=====

Toasted tomato sandwich on quinoa and flaxseed bread. No cheese and no processed meat

=====

A work friend has a house mate who works in a bakery and we were blessed with free pastries. This is a chocolate filled butter-rich pastry.

=====

Last week I blogged about my favourite beverage, Bundaberg ginger beer. Here it is as a long neck or tallie.

=====

It tasted good with some ice and mint crushed in the Magic Bullet®

=====

On Monday night I had some minced chicken breast meat and made a chicken burger.

=====

For dessert I had a couple of Neenish tarts topped with whipped cream from a can (used for the whipped cream dare from last week).

=====

As I said above, the weather has been improving and we’ve been getting some nice rain.

=====

To celebrate the rain I had salmon and potato gems.

=====

More celebration food. Neenish tarts and cream. This is it. No more Neenish tarts.

=====

Wednesday was really busy and a long day at work. I didn’t feel like cooking so I got takeaway from the local shops in the Jamison Plaza.

=====

I love battered fish and potato scallops that have been hand made like these were.

=====

We had a full moon this week. I need to cut back on the light and use a faster shutter speed.

=====

On Thursday a work friend brought in morning tea. I had a chocolate caramel fudge brownie and a Queensland nut shortbread biscuit.

=====

At lunch time I went to the local shops with a friend and bought some Pâté, bread and butter. Then three of us shared this for lunch. The Pâté was by Maggie Beer, I bought two types, viz., duck, sherry, and green peppercorn and duck, vino cotto, and star anise. The butter was from Tasmania. The bread was fresh and it all tasted delicious.

We’re thinking of doing it again and getting quince paste too.

=====

That night I only wanted a light dinner. Floured chicken thigh and potato gems.

=====

The moon over Lake Ginninderra. I need to cut back on the light and use a faster shutter speed.

=====

Friday lunch started out as toasted pumpkin seed bread and tomato.

=====

But then I got told about my job change and thought I needed more food This is a cheesy bacon pie and lime quench. The pie was really nice. The beef is chunky and very tender. These are made in the Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

=====

For dinner to make up for the lack of vegetables this week I made some coleslaw and cooked a piece of salmon with it.

=====

This morning I went for a walk in shorts and T-shirt. It was lovely and warm. The sky was full of dark clouds. The leaves on the trees are so green.

=====

The Owl statue, known to me as Mr Owl, looked spooky with the swirling clouds behind him.

=====

Today for lunch I had some toasted light rye sourdough bread topped with a mixture of avocado, tomato, Tabasco sauce, chilli flakes and pepper corns.

It looks disgusting but it tasted good.

=====

I opened my Instacanvas recently. I don’t know why. I just did it for the sake of it I think.

=====

In terms of the CPAP business I visited the CPAP technician and had my last three weeks analysed through the software associated with the machine. While I still feel worse than before and always tired it appears I get a good seal, the pressures are good and I don’t need to change from nasal pillows or add a chin strap.

So I hope you had a good week. Let me know about it, write a comment below. Eat well, sleep well and be nice to everyone.

=====

Another week in Instagram and schoolies week (garydavidlum.com)
Wanton Wonton Wonderfulness (garydavidlum.com)
Instagram: Not Just for Smartphones Anymore (hispanicbusiness.com)
Instagram on the Web (iphonelife.com)
Integrate Instagram with WordPress: 6 Plugins (wpjedi.com)
CATO – CBRN crisis management: Architecture, Technologies and Operational Procedures (sunnyromy.wordpress.com)

My weekend in food was good

11 Replies

This weekend I completed my income taxation return and caught up on some work. I also spent some time with Bron and managed to enjoy some delicious meals. If you follow me on instagram you can see how I ate this weekend as well as some of my other activities.

Thai salmon cakes

Bron’s fish cakes were really nice.

Sticky date pudding with homemade custard and butterscotch sauce

Bron makes the best sticky date pudding. Her homemade custard and butterscotch sauce are to die for.

Spring in Canberra

The deciduous trees are blooming and my allergic rhinitis is getting worse. I must be snoring like a train because every morning I wake up with a sore throat like razor blades are cutting it.

Lake Ginninderra

Before breakfast I went for a walk and captured some images. We had breakfast at Black Pepper which is on the corner on the left of the image.

View Larger Map

Dead carp

Fishing is popular in Canberra waterways. The lakes are full of carp. They are a pest and regarded as feral. If a carp is caught it is not allowed to be thrown back into the water. From what I’ve seen people go fishing, catch carp and then leave them anywhere they choose.

Green eggs and ham

Bron chose green eggs and ham. The scrambled eggs have avocado in them.

Poached eggs, Kransky and hollandaise sauce

I ate poached eggs, Kransky sausage, mushrooms and hollandaise sauce.

Pan seared salmon served with a tower of potato mash, wilted spinach, pine nuts, peas and corn along with asparagus and broccolini. The mash potato was made with blue cheese.

Tonight I cooked a light meal of salmon. Click on it if you want a larger resolution view.

Oh and if you’re interested, next weekend I want to see the Melbourne Storm defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs. I also want to see the Sydney Swans defeat the Hawthorn Hawks.

Food glorious food; since Wednesday; this has included dining out and home cooked happiness (garydavidlum.com)
Brisbane high rise and food glorious food (garydavidlum.com)
Five years living in Canberra (garydavidlum.com)
Digress Restaurant and Lounge (and a language warning) (garydavidlum.com)
The London Olympic Games 2012 opening ceremony, dinner with friends and pondering one’s mortality. (garydavidlum.com)
Sleeping Better With Allergies (everydayhealth.com)
How To Bake Tender Salmon (juliannayu.wordpress.com)

Baked salmon and then a little ice cream

17 Replies

Today was a quiet one. I’ve eaten well, walked a little and spent some time thinking. I also spoke with my parents on the telephone. A pleasant quiet Sunday.

After last night’s dinner I slept in and awoke feeling a little full but not uncomfortably so. After grocery shopping and a coffee at a local café I went for a stroll along Lake Ginninderra. You can see the route here.

I’ve always thought that imitation is a valid form of flattery. I thought about Bron’s various French Toast creations and thought I’d try some. I made mine with a piece of Brioche, an egg, some milk, vanilla and sugar. I also had some blueberries and cream with maple syrup with the toast.

French toast made with Brioche, cream, maple syrup and blueberries

About mid afternoon I started feeling a little peckish and thought about a cheesy snack. I had some salami and thought a platter of salami and blue cheese would be ideal.

Salami and blue cheese

For dinner I had some Atlantic salmon in the refrigerator and some puff pastry in the freezer. Along with a sweet potato and Gruyere the decision was easy. In the sweet potato and Gruyere cheese dish I added some broccoli and green beans. In the pastry parcel I had the salmon, some cheese and a couple of asparagus spears.

A couple of friends have said I need to include images of food after the first cut. So I’ve included a shot of the pastry cracked open.

Sweet potato, beans and broccoli. An odd combination I know, but hey there are vegetables in this with cheese. CHEESE, therefore it must be good.

The salmon in puff pastry

Plated up

Cracked open, the salmon was cooked nicely and creamy.

I know I should not have but I also had ice cream for dessert.

Ice cream, cream and blueberries

It has been a good day

Picnic lunch and then sausage rolls (garydavidlum.com)
Crème brûlée French toast for breakfast (garydavidlum.com)
The 10 Finest French Toast Toppings (foodstaycation.com)
Hazelnut Maple-Berry Cobbler (*Gluten-free) (groovyfoody.wordpress.com)
Blueberry French Toast with a Blueberry Sauce (delynnsdelectables.com)
Simple Sundays: Maple-Glazed Salmon (strawberryginger.com)
Fabulous French Toast! (retromodernglamwoman.wordpress.com)
Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant in Weston (garydavidlum.com)
Hyvee: Old Bay Spiced Salmon (fox4kc.com)
Salmon Recipes, Smoked Salmon & Smoked Salmon Platter | Pottery Barn (potterybarn.com)
Baked Salmon w/ Loaded Baked Potato Casserole, Shellie Beans, and… (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)
Oven Baked Onion Rings (and salmon burgers that were less successful) (igoyougoblog.com)
What to do with the single piece of salmon buried in your freezer… (recipesfortheravenous.com)
Rania’s Recipes: Key Lime Meringue Pie, Deviled Eggs (pittsburgh.cbslocal.com)
Heart Healthy Grocery Shopping (massageenvy.com)
Tony’s Table: Cedar Plank Salmon (newyork.cbslocal.com)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/apr/07/lamb-easter-recipe-raan#/?picture=345579356&index=0

Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant in Weston

10 Replies

Yesterday was a slow kind of day. We started with brunch at Black Pepper in Belconnen. This is a local café that does a good breakfast and brunch on weekends. It is very popular amongst locals and especially cyclists and walkers who exercise around Lake Ginninderra.

Bron asked for Eggs Benedict on Turkish bread and I asked for the Black Pepper big breakfast with Turkish bead. Black Pepper Menu July 2012

When our meals arrived, the Eggs Benedict were sitting on a muffin. Rather than waste time and send the dish back, I shared my Turkish bread.

Beautiful eggs Benedict

The plates were cold and the bacon was also cold. The eggs were slightly over cooked. The yolks were still soft but they weren’t really runny like we like them. Otherwise, the Eggs Benedict and Black Pepper Breakfast were very nice. As you can see I also asked for a bowl of hollandaise sauce to go with my breakfast. Along with our coffees, it was a good start to the day.

The day got better with a visit to Costco. I wanted to see the optometrist, although I didn’t realise I needed an appointment. I’ll be returning next Saturday. To compensate my disappointment we went to look at the meat section. There is a whole cold section dedicated to Australian produced Wagyu beef.

Costco's Wagyu cabinet

I will blog soon about cooking Wagyu beef.

The Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant is on 13 Trenerry Street in Weston. The menu is a combination of Croatian, seafood and beef. The surf and turf/reef and beef options look amazing.

We started with baby fried calamari and then went onto a Maestral seafood platter.

Baby fried calamari

The calamari was perfectly fried. It was juicy and tender.

The Maestral seafood platter. The soft shell crab was the highlight.

The platter had a combination of oysters (natural and oysters Maestral [see menu]), scampi, prawns, fish, soft shell crab and fried potatoes.

Me smiling because I love seafood platters

I would definitely go back and try other dishes on the menu. It’s a very popular restaurant. We saw a number of familiar faces and friends there last night.

After the Maestral we thought we’d enjoy dessert at Max Brenner in Belconnen. I chose the waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Max Brenner waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream

And so finished a pretty good day.

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon & Spinach in South Beach with Julia Child’s Hollandaise Sauce (cookingwithsherlockspice.wordpress.com)

Picnic lunch and then sausage rolls

13 Replies

Today Bron invited me to a picnic lunch at Yerra Beach on Lake Ginninderra. There’s not much better than homemade sandwiches at a picnic or at the beach. To be honest, they’re always better on a sandy beach where there is surf. I’m sorry if I sound like a snob, I really do prefer surf beaches.

The weather was a little cool so I was wearing a hoodie and a pair of shorts. Bron had bought some nice crusty rolls, French onion dip, hummus, pesto, carrot sticks, brie, tasty cheddar, ham, salad leaves and tomatoes. We were able to assemble sandwiches at the Lake. After lunch we had Weston’s Wagon Wheels.

Yerra Beach. TAMS needs to come and cut the grass. The grass seeds had my allergies going.

Another view. The grass is lush.

There's playground stuff too.

And here is the sandwich. Bread smeared with French onion dip and filled with ham, brie, baby spinach, tomatoes, and cucumber.

Tonight I had some sweet potato and thought I’d do fritters again. I mentioned to Bron I still had puff pastry from last night and she suggested sausage rolls. I went and bought some pork mince, a pear and an onion. I still had some diced prunes from last night.

I made a potato and sweet potato bake with some Gruyere cheese and cream. The sausage rolls were simply the pork mince, onion, pear, prunes, some chilli flakes, pepper and an egg to bind.

Lots of ingredients to make sausage rolls and a potato bake.

The potato and sweet potato bake with Gruyere cheese.

This looks disgusting but it was full of goodness.

Sausage rolls ready for the oven.

The potato and sweet potato bake out of the oven.

Side by side. My main dishes for tonight.

Two hot logs of goodness.

Plated up.

On my dining table.

This was a pretty filling meal. I’ll have left overs tomorrow night.

Sausage Rolls (kerrysrecipes.wordpress.com)
Easy Sausage Rolls (lauralovinglife.wordpress.com)
Chalk and cheese | Onred and Central Cafe | Canberra and Queanbeyan (garydavidlum.com)
Sausage Rollups Recipe (notecook.com)
Yam Fries (daniellebenda.com)
Easy Sandwich Recipes (answers.com)
Puff Pastry Recipe, Puff Pastry Tarts (potterybarnkids.com)
My thoughts on Washington DC (garydavidlum.com)
Burrito sans tortilla at Jamison Zambrero (garydavidlum.com)

My thoughts on Washington DC

5 Replies

A couple of Twitter friends from here in Canberra asked me for my thoughts on Washington DC. To be honest, I only spent a few days there and most of that time was in a building for meetings. Whenever I got an opportunity though I walked around. A number of friends warned me about walking around the place given there is a high crime rate in certain parts of the city. I avoided anywhere I thought looked dangerous.

I was staying in a hotel on 16th Street NW in a safe part of town and my walking was mainly around there. Check out a couple of runkeeper.com recordings.
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69668430
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69691924
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69882793
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/70087336

The last record was the most extensive.

I walked past many beautiful buildings and well known institutions like the Smithsonian institutions, the Capitol Building and the White House. The Washington Monument cannot be missed on the skyline.

I was really impressed at how well planned and developed the city is. The buildings are amazing and it really feels like you’re in the capital city of a great nation. Like all major cities there is a homelessness problem and I came across many homeless men in bus shelters and there also a significant occupy movement presence, especially in the Freedom Plaza. One thing I did notice was the smell of the streets. It wasn’t just the waste product of homeless men, it was coming out of the storm water drains I think. It wasn’t foul, but it wasn’t pleasant.

The weather is similar to Canberra, although I expect in most years it would get considerably colder. Snow is a problem and while I was there there was the threat of snow, so much so, the snow ploughs were out spreading salt on the roads. On the last walk I did it was around 0 °C and I really felt it. I’ve walked around Lake Ginninderra on mornings when it was –5 °C and didn’t feel as cold as what I felt the other morning in Washington DC.

I interacted with lots of people and aside from the language problem, everyone was friendly and helpful. I spoke with a colleague who is posted in Washington and he’s really enjoying his posting and living in Washington. I noticed a Starbucks on nearly every corner, virtually no McDonalds outlets and a seemingly small number of cigarette smokers.

I think from a professional perspective I’d happily take a posting there, although that will never happen. Personally I’d like to return on a holiday and see everything properly and spend some proper time enjoying the museums, institutes and monuments. I’d really like more time to explore the place.

My early morning walk around the museums of Washington DC (garydavidlum.com)
Washington DC is a beautiful city (garydavidlum.com)

Trying hard to lose weight

5 Replies

I haven’t posted here for some days. I’ve had a lot on my mind and I’ve also taken an opportunity to focus on trying to lose some weight. I say opportunity because when I’m not at my happiest my appetite isn’t the best and it’s easier to manage smaller portion sizes.

I started using MyFitnessPal a couple of months ago although I wasn’t serious about it and lapsed after a few weeks. I have been more conscious of my weight though. When I arrived in Canberra I was around 75 kg and even then felt uncomfortable. I feel most comfortable at 73 kg. Anyway, since moving to Canberra I’ve ballooned out to 80 kg and have had to step up my wardrobe to match. I’ve even thrown out most of my ‘best weight’ clothes.

This last week I’ve been taking a stronger antihistamine to manage my allergic rhinitis (hay fever) early every night. I’ve found that to be a better way to cope with the grogginess in the mornings so I can get out of bed at 0500 AEDT and walk for around 35 minutes. A brisk 35 minute walk should burn close to 200 calories. I’ve also reduced my carbohydrate intake significantly (although I had a blow out last night). For breakfast I’ve either poached or lightly fried a couple of eggs and had an instant coffee. The protein load keeps me sated until lunch when I can have some Don Strasburg and Coon Tasty cheese. In the evenings I’ve focused on skinless chicken thigh meat, a small amount of pumpkin and sweet potato plus a good serving of boiled cabbage.

At the end of 2002 I was 100 kg. I visited my family in Brisbane and my younger brothers teased me at the beach by making whale song noises. I determined then that I would do something about my weight. I did a lot of reading around weight loss and decided quick results would allow me to get to a comfortable weight to start exercising. I chose the Atkins way of life. I did the induction phase and promptly had my first episode of gout. It was just as I had learnt in medical school. I started drinking more water and taking allopurinal. After the induction phase I was rapidly losing weight and after three months was down to 80 kg at which point I started walking twice a day for 30 minutes. I did have one more episode of gout, but since then I’ve been gout free. Later in 2003 I got down to 71 kg but that felt too light. I started eating some carbohydrates then and learned to titrate my intake to keep me at roughly 73kg. During that time I found cabbage to be a terrific way to feel sated and yet carbohydrate and calorie poor. Likewise sweet potato and pumpkin despite being quite sweet have a low GI Index.

I’ve recorded the walking activity on RunKeeper because I find tweeting after a walk a little more motivation. I know it’s a two edged sword. It’s showing off that I’ve done something. It also demonstrates I don’t do much and I could do more.

Lake Ginninderra

Water flowing at John Knight Memorial Park

So this week, I’ve found myself more comfortable in my skin. My clothes feel better and I feel less bloated being on the protein rich diet. In fact physically I feel much better. It’s helped that it’s getting warmer and we’ve had a bit of rain which meant it was more humid when I was walking. Despite being quite melancholy I found it helped me concentrate on eating less and exercising more.

So below is a selection of meals I’ve enjoyed this week.

Atlantic salmon, pumpkin and sweet potato mash with cabbage

Salmon and avocado lunch

Bacon, eggs, spinach and Chinese gooseberry breakfast

Bacon and cheese omelette

Chicken, bacon and cabbage

Rack of lamb and cabbage

Chicken, bacon and avocado

And so that has been my week in food.

An update

I got a pingback from http://thinkaboutdis.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/10-things-to-do-to-lose-weight/ and Shilpi mentions the benefits of spices. I like using a good amount of pepper and chilli flakes because they make relatively bland food more interesting. Rather than eating a lot, a smaller amount of spiced food feels enough.

Yummy Lummy

Gary's rants and raves about food (and a little about life)

Tag Archives: Lake Ginninderra

My week in Instagram and I won $50 of meat. Shout out @2CC and Elite Meats Canberra

A happy ending and the end of a good little break | Ping @ColouredPurple

Change in jobs

My weekend in food was good

Baked salmon and then a little ice cream

Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant in Weston

Picnic lunch and then sausage rolls

My thoughts on Washington DC

Trying hard to lose weight

Sunday lamb stew

Follow “Yummy Lummy”

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Related articles

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Please feel free to share this:

Like this:

Follow “Yummy Lummy”