Hot Chocolate and Nachos :/

One of my favourite places to dine before my decision to change my life back in August last year was any type of ‘all you can eat’ place. There is nothing better than a good Smorgersboard. The place where mixing roast meats with calamari rings, fried rice and perhaps a piece of garlic bread is acceptable as is eating your desert prior to having your main. I can’t remember many times when I have been to an all you can eat without stuffing myself silly. Some of my faviourites in the past have been Smorgys, Pizza Hut, The Manhatten Hotel in Mitcham (Victoria, guys!), Melba (a bit posh in Melbourne – that place was AWESOME), The Roxy (hmmm, those prawns were to die for) and Watergardens Hotel. I have been to 4 all you can eats since August last year, all of which I have conquered not only because I didn’t overeat, it’s because I didn’t eat at all and due to that, I didn’t pay due to the fact that I wasn’t eating!



We went to the Watergardens Hotel last night for Callum’s 10th birthday. I actually don’t mind the fact that I can’t eat anything there. It means that there is always an available adult to take the twins to the toilet or to go and replenish hungry Children’s plates. It means that there is always someone to have a conversation with as they don’t have a mouth full of food. It also helps me realise that I am not actually hungry – I only eat because I need to fuel my body.


Today I spent the day in the city with Callum. Things I wouldn’t have been able to do before, I am now able to do. I didn’t realise how much effort it took to do things. To walk all the way down the Platform at the train station required a lot of effort and energy 8 months ago. At one stage, I even had the phone number for the little van that comes and picks up the disabled people in my phone so that I didn’t have to walk up the platform if it happened that they’d parked all the way at the end. Walking 2 blocks of the city used to kill me. Today, I did it with ease (plus some). One of the places we went to was the old Melbourne Gaol. There were stairs in there to get up the different floors. To be honest, 8 months ago, there would be no way I would have climbed up those stairs. I would have suggested to Callum that he go on his own or we go somewhere else but, today, I climbed up them. Both flights.

On the way back from the Gaol, I took a photo of my work. The building doesn’t look as tall as what it is in the photo. I KNOW that I can accomplish my mission of climbing it. And when I find it hard, I have a lot of reasons to keep going. I’ve already raised $90 so far. If you wish to make a donation (big or small), please head here…


http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=342014&langPref=en-CA


I also have a Facebook event page up and running. You can find that here…


http://www.facebook.com/stephanie.lowdell#!/event.php?eid=205688702802531

Speaking of causes (and inspirations), I have recently met a lovely girl who is raising money for genetic cancer research.  There is an event being held in Collingwood at the Bendigo Hotel this Thursday night.  It's an open Facebook event.  Here is the link...

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118385578241967

Am trying to find out if there is a way to donate some money without attending as I think I'll be at my Mum and Dad's that night but, I'd love to support this great cause any way I can.  I encourage you to do the same :)

I’ve got some episodes of ‘Big – extreme make over’ on TiVo which I plan on watching tonight. I need something to inspire me. I am not able to go to the gym to have a swim tonight because of my burns on my stomach. I have my PT session tomorrow so, I’ll make sure that I get there a bit early so I can do some stuff before ‘death by PT’. I REALLY want to have a run tomorrow. Even if it’s just for a minute or so, I’d like to see how I go. I did about 10 jogging steps last night when running across the road. I’d like to see how I go doing the real thing. I am not going to message this to Michael tonight just in case I no longer feel like this tomorrow! I have to put in some hard work tomorrow…


My eating has been going really well over the past few days. I did have a hot chocolate today with Callum (something I REALLY didn’t need to have) but, in saying that, I have resisted so many things today as well. The hot chocolate was SO GOOD. I am happy I only have them once in a while (can’t remember the last time I had one). They are so nice when you don’t have them all the time! I had some nachos for lunch today. I ate more of the healthy things than the unhealthy things. The lettuce, the avocado, the tomato and the tabouli were the first things to go and then I managed to nibble on a few corn chips with cheese sauce. They are going to be making margaritas there soon. Look out…