Tassie Weekend

Last weekend AJ and I went on a long weekend to Tasmania. I had always wanted a weekend in Tassie and bought the cheap flights to Launceston on impulse one day while I was bored at work. For those that don't know, Tassie is a small island off the south of Australia, and just a short plane trip from Melbourne. It is known for it's amazing scenery and fantastic food and wine-- what is not to like?!

We had the most amazing weekend and can quite honestly say I was grinning from ear-to-ear every moment of every day. I loved every second of our trip away, so please indulge me while I bore your with travel photos and stories!

 Flying over the Tasman to Launceston

 The obligatory in-flight photo that AJ always takes and that always brings out my lazy eye!

After we arrived we had breakfast at a lovely cafe called Stillwater and then walked along the river in Launceston

So pretty here, I wish we had time to walk along this gorge, but there were wineries to be seen!

Visiting the wineries of the Tamar Valley

Stopping in the charming town of Beaconsfield (yes, the place were the miners were trapped) 

AJ in Beaconsfield 

Me in Georgetown 

Me trying to take an artistic photo of drain pipes in Georgetown 

AJ excited to be posing in front of some monument to celebrate the settlement (invasion) of Europeans in Australia

Me excited to be eating lots of cheese and drinking wine!

Next winery was Janz for lots of bubbles

On the way to Swansea and stopping off in the bush somewhere so I could go to the bathroom (no I don't have a photo of that!)

The park I violated by using it as a bathroom

Arriving at our accommodation in Swansea and jumping into the spa fully clothed

Hiking through Freycinet early the next morning

So freaking steep!

Stopping for a photo opportunity... and to get our breath back...

Finally at the top of one hill where I collapse

The view kept us going...

Finally we made it to Wineglass Bay... where the fuck is the wine?

Wineglass Bay, I only wish I had a good camera and knew stuff about photography because this was the most amazing beach I have ever seen

AJ refueling on a muesli bar before we hiked back

Watching the waves crash on Wineglass Bay

It's freezing cold in Tassie and I am getting my sweat on climbing up those rocks 

The views over the beach at the Lighthouse where we took a picnic lunch

Watching the waves crash on the rocks 

Me feeling that bitter cold wind off the water while eating lunch

Walking along Friendly Beaches

Our terrible attempt at an Inukshuk on the beach

Our even worse attempt at drawing a map of Tassie on the beach

Back to the cottage at the Piermont in Swansea

Walking along the beach in front of our cottage

AJ pretending he can hear the ocean in a shell

The restaurant at the hotel

  

The view from our balcony

The lounge area and the view in our cottage

The view of the water from the spa

Me getting ready for dinner

AJ pretending to know stuff about wine at dinner

Me drinking wine by the fire

The delicious dessert, well I think it was delicious, I was probably a bit drunk by the time it came out

AJ: "Are your as drunk as me?"

ME: "Even drunker!!!"

Watching the sunrise on the balcony

The view of the frost and sunrise from the balcony

The seagulls on the pier in Swansea

Walking along the beach in Swansea

The beach in Swansea before we froze and had to leave

Kate's Berry Farm

Scones with jam and cream for breakfast

Me enjoying breakfast in the sun

Stopping for a break on the way to Cradle Mountain

Beautiful Campbell Town

AJ in front of the river at Campbell Town

Stopping for lunch in Westbury

AJ pretending to be in shackles in the Village Green of Westbury

The Village Green of Westbury

A cute cafe in Deloraine

A 50's cafe in Deloraine

Me enjoying a milkshake in the 50's cafe. I only wish I was hungry enough for a burger too!

AJ trying to work out where the hell we are

Stopping to admire the view while on the road to Cradle Mountain

A cute little paddymelon at our lodge in Cradle Mountain

Me excited to see snow at Cradle Mountain

Me at Cradle Mountain

Enchanted walk at Cradle Mountain

Enchanted Walk at Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain Lodge

Cradle Mountain Lodge

Me playing with a paddymelon

Enjoying a hot chocolate (with a shot of Bailey's) at the lodge

Cute wombat outside our cabin

Wombat playing in the snow

Warming up in front of the fire of our cabin

AJ drinking wine at the restaurant of the lodge

Me enjoying the amazing Tassie seafood 

I always have room for dessert!

A night isn't complete without wine by the fire!

Shaking off the hangover with a bowl of porridge

The lovely view from our breakfast table

Our hike for the morning, Dove Lake Canyon

AJ on our hike

Me thinking this was funny, little did I know how hairy this icy walk would get!

Me on the track around Dove Lake, this isn't so funny anymore...

Trying to enjoy the view, but mostly petrified of slipping on the ice!

Me falling as I walk on the track, please just let this be over soon...

Finally the icy walk is over and we are eating delicious cheese at Ashgrove

Me with my cheese to take home and the local cow

I need an apron with the slogan on it!

Belgian hot chocolate at House of Anvers chocolate house

The grounds of the chocolate house, just a beautiful place to sit... and eat salted caramels...

More sweets at Christmas Hills Raspberry farm

Very much enjoying my raspberry and golden syrup dumplings

Back in Launceston for a walk around the park

City park in Launceston

The sun setting and time to get to the airport and fly back to Melbourne

Bye Tassie, I can't wait to come back!!!

It's Time

Lately I have been less and less inclined to push myself to lose anymore weight. I feel like I am in a place where my current weight and fitness allows me to do everything I want in life. I don’t want to waste anymore of my life worrying about dieting and the guilt and self-criticism that comes with it. I have spent 25 years letting weight consume my life and I think the healthiest thing for me right now is to learn to love my body, rather than lose those last 10 kilos.

My original fantasy goal weight was 65 kilos (143 lbs) and it is probably quite achievable for me and it would mean I am a ‘healthy’ BMI weight. I don’t actually know how much I weigh right now (I’m not interested in the scales) but I would guess I am about 78 kilos (171.5 lbs). Ideally I would prefer to lose a few kilos and sit comfortably at 75 kilos because I feel healthier at that weight and my clothes fit better. Losing those last few kilos is something that I hope will happen naturally as I continue to do the exercises I enjoy and eat well for my body. To be honest, the only reason I am not 75 kilos now is because I continue to over-eat on chocolate and I know my weight would drop down if I had a little more self control!

I have a lot of friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances that I have watched obsess over losing the same 5 or 10 kilos. To me they seemed to be perfectly healthy, happy and gorgeous people and I wondered why they would waste so much time worrying about a few kilos. I guess I now put myself in that category and I think I am at a weight that I can realistically maintain and be fit and happy, so I think it’s best that I settle here for a while.

In saying all this, the one thing I do want to do is have my tummy tuck. I would say that the excess skin I have and the hanging apron stomach is the one thing that holds me back. It does make exercise difficult, it does make buying clothes difficult, it does make maintaining hygiene difficult, it does make me feel extremely self conscious and it does make me feel like I still weigh 130 kilos (286 lbs). I want to be someone that loves their body and I just can’t until this skin is gone.

I will get the surgery to remove the excess skin eventually. It is probably not in the cards for the next 12 months due to work and financial situations, but I intend on making it a priority after I have my work and finances sorted. It’s exciting and scary at the same time to think that I am finally in a place where I don’t have to hurt and deprive my body. After the way I have mistreated my body over the years I am ready to learn to nourish and treat it with kindness.

The 4 Stages

I seem to have 4 distinct stages of food and exercise behaviour in my life life:

STAGE 1. I eat copious amounts of junk food and I don’t exercise

STAGE 2. I eat well and I exercise at least 4 times a week

STAGE 3. I eat well but I don’t exercise

STAGE 4. I eat poorly but I keep exercising

Obviously stage 2 is the optimal stage to be at when trying to lose weight, but it is very hard to maintain the momentum when I much prefer to eat out at restaurants, drink with friends and sit on the couch eating chocolate.

I am currently in stage 4, I am doing well with my exercise and actually enjoying it for once (shocking). I am just not very focussed with my eating and I am letting bigger potions and too many snacks creep in. I think I am living fairly normally and I can easily maintain my weight this way, but I know I won’t lose weight until I cut out those delicious sugary snacks and my wine time on the weekends.

Sometimes I just get so sick of having to think so much about what I eat. Does this have enough fibre? Does this have protein? Is this low carb? Sometimes it’s nice just to eat like a normal person and eat something because it is tasty and not because of the nutritional content.

I must admit that I don’t care about my weight right now as much as I feel I should. I know I need to lose another 10 kilos and it would be good to get that done sooner rather than later, but I just figure that I’ll do it when I am ready. It’s too hard to feel deprived all the time, especially in winter when food becomes all about comfort and warmth (there is nothing comforting about salad)!

I just need to stop making muffins like these and make more muffins like these. My adapted recipe for the healthy muffins is below. These were delicious right out of the oven with a cup of tea. I guess nothing is that healthy though when you eat 4 serves of them though… whoops.

I am about to eat one right now for afternoon tea...

Banana, Pecan and Rolled Oat Muffins

Ingredients*

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 and ½ cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 cup of chopped pecans
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup full fat natural yoghurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 bananas, mashed**

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cases and spray paper cases with spray oil to make sure muffins don’t stick.
2. Sift flour, cinnamon and soda into a bowl. Add the oats, coconut, pecans and brown sugar, and stir to combine.
3. Whisk eggs, yoghurt, honey and oil together. Add mashed banana and stir to combine. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together using a wooden spoon until just combined. Mixture may be lumpy and does not have to be evenly mixed.
4. Spoon mixture into paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

* Disclaimer: I am not much into measuring quantities and just throw in what looks right, so the measurements could be slightly off…

** I bought 4 bananas and it cost me $11, fark, I forgot about the banana shortage!