Doing it Dukan

At the beginning of the year I embarked on a journey to get myself back into a healthier lifestyle. Not being one who enjoys working out in the least, I decided to give the Dukan Diet a try.

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law had all done this diet and were successful in losing weight - and keeping it off. They all look fantastic and I figured I would give it a try.

Turns out I really enjoy this program. If you'd like more information and details on this regime, check out Dr. Pierre Dukan's website. I'll skip over all the nitty gritty of things and let you do that on your own.

For me, it takes a lot to break my bad habits. It took me over 20 years to stop biting my nails if you're looking for an example. So I needed something that was strict, but lenient (is that even possible? It is!) if I ever slipped up. The Dukan Diet is perfect for me. The first few days were hard because I had no idea what I was doing and had no game plan. Now, six weeks in, I can think on the fly and am surprised with the results.

I have tweeked the diet a bit to my likings (I have veggies every day in an awesome smoothie in the morning, when I'm still in the phase where I should rotate such days) but nothing that would halt my progress. It's slowed down, yes, but I'm not struggling.

That was my main concern and worry. That if I struggled at any point, I would give up. Not saying there hasn't been days where I've wanted to just call it quits - oh boy have there ever - I just really want to see this through, because I feel good. About myself and about my results.

Here is a recipe for some muffins that I've made that I adore. And hey, they're good for you...

Dukan Lemon Muffins

11 g baking powder
3 eggs
Lemon juice of half a lemon
Lemon rind from one lemon
6 tbsp oat bran
200 ml skim milk
3 tbsp skim milk powder
3 tbsp sweetener of choice (I use stevia, and only 1 tbsp)

Pre-heat oven to 200'C. Mix all ingredients except for egg whites (separate from yolks) together until combined. Beat egg whites and when they form stiff peaks, fold into mixture (don't over mix). Spoon into muffin tins. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Tada! That simple, and actually really tasty.

There are also recipes for Dukan pancakes out there, so you can always be sneaky and make those healthy things for your family and they'll be none the wiser. Like my daughter this morning...

My daughter is a big ham and loves to play it up for the camera...

Just another Saturday at our place... After we did our usual routine - coffee, groceries, Walmart - we came home and she decided that she wanted to dress herself since we planned on spending the rest of the day at home. Herein lies the results of her... Individuality...

And after all this craziness the other, other, OTHER love of my life, Milton, cuddled up next to me and kept me warm.

 

Perfect Saturday with the family...

 

 

I Give a Hoot Thursday #1!

So I figured a good way to get myself back into the blogging world would be to make up some sort of "daily" blog posts. For example, one of my favourite make-up girls - xSparkage - Confessions of a Makeup Junkie - has done things such as "Wearable Wednesday"and "Fierce Friday"(check out her site RIGHT NOW because she's in the process of doing a look for every district in the Hunger Games... LOVE that series...).

I've decided to follow suit and introduce you to my first "daily" blog post here-on-out otherwise known as...

I Give a Hoot Thursday!!

Every thursday I'm going to blog about something I "give a hoot" about, whether it be something as mellow as a new recipe I tried, or some sort of vengeful rant I've been dying to say aloud.

Today is going to be mellow to start things off with - I don't want to get all crazy so soon into my blogging re-birth.

I've got two things I love right now and will be "hooting'" about. One: my current favourite essie nail polish. And two: the Hunger Games.

This past year or so I've fallen in love with nail polish. I hate to admit it, but I'm a late bloomer to this club. I used to bite my nails ALL THE TIME, and had discussing little things that I didn't like ANYONE seeing. But I grew up and decided that I needed to stop chewing the living daylights out of my nails, and start letting them grow. That took a long time because my nails were so brittle and they broke and chipped and it was horrible. But after a while of tender care, they've turned out to be an accessory that I enjoy quite much.

Seemings as I arrived late to the makeup party, I only discovered essie polish several months back. At first I avoided it like the plague because I was unable to understand how people could spend so much money on nail polish. But one day while at my local Walmart I noticed they were under 10.00... So I jumped on the bandwagon and bought myself a couple of shades.

Right now I'm wearing my favourite of the bunch: merino cool. The essie website tells me this is a great autumn color, but I like it anytime of year. This is what the color looks like on me...

Do note, the little "scratches" you see on my nails (how unprofessional of me...) are from me going to bed without letting my nails dry 100%. I know this is a big faux pas, but sometimes sleep takes over and your nails have to suffer for it. Don't judge me and my nail polish ways.

Now, for the more important of the two things...

The Hunger Games!!!

Oh my goodness I become one of those screaming boy band loving teeny boppers inside when I think of this series. It was, for a lack of a mature answer, wicked. I heard about the series from - who would believe it - my boyfriend. He had heard about them through a friend and he asked me to get them so he could read them on my iPad.

I obliged, but when he tried to explain it to me it didn't appeal to me (he didn't sell it the way it should have been). He read through the first book and half of the second and I decided I was going to steal the iPad form him and read them.

And that was the day I become a hermit.

I read the series in four days - give or take - and I couldn't put the iPad down for anything. I feel in love with the writing skills, the characters, the storyline, everything. I finished the series and yearned for more, only to find out they're making a movie and then weeks later I see the trailer and I'm practically crying at the computer.

This movie series will be my new Twilight (and luckily fill the void until Breaking Dawn Part 2 comes out). I convinced my best friend and sister to read the series, then several other people. It's so good. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it is. I finished re-reading the series a couple of weeks ago because I needed my HG fix. I'll probably do it again before the movie comes out.

Speaking of which pre-sale happens in SEVEN DAYS. Just saying...

Wow...

Re-reading this post you would never think I was a 30 year old with a 5 year old... I suddenly reverted back to my teenage years. All that's missing is my Backstreet Boys poster wall...

Let the new and improved (hopefully) blogging begin!!

Its been a while since I last blogged.

Busy? Not really.

Un-inspired? Partly.

Lazy? Most definitely.

I've been trying to figure out why I haven't been blogging more, and I think it's because I pigeon-holed my blog. Made it only about things I've made... It makes it hard to update when you lack inspiration or, like mentioned above, am riddled with a case of the lazies.

I made a conscious decision recently to just blog. Say things that are on my mind, post pictures that interest me, link to websites I frequent, talk about how ridiculously cool my daughter is. I want to think of my blog as a way to let loose the things that on a normal day, I would keep bottled up.

Look at this place as some sort of outlet for my inner musings and awesomeness (yes, I tooted my own horn. I am just THAT awesome) all rolled into one happy place. I'm in the process of linking my twitters, tumblr and pinterest accounts here. Give me some time since I haven't been in the HTML/CSS zone in a while. I'm looking to make a comeback soon though.

Not much else to say other than I hope I can keep blogging on a more regular basis here on out, and I hope I can entertain you all in the process.

Don't you know? Don't you know? Beautiful don't you know??

So I was inspired by all the glass painting I did for the order I owed (I will post pictures once those are all done), and from looking at my friend Jen's wedding pictures (and more so the song above by Chris Brown. One of those memories from the wedding...). These are glasses I am going to put up on Etsy in hopes that someone will be interested in them.

I call them (so fittingly) "The Bridesmaids":