The road to stronger, fitter and faster

So today I made a decision to get serious about my road to getting stronger and fitter. Or as my fiance would say – shredding. With our wedding only 214 days away I guess there’s no better time to start my fitness regime then today. I decided to write about my fitness journey I guess to make myself more accountable.

The last few days I started to monitor my calorie intake with a pretty nifty app called my fitness pal. Each day I am inputting my daily consumption of food and then can see how I’m tracking in terms of controlling my calories. Pretty effective app, let’s see how long can I manage it.

I’ve also taken some measurements of various parts of my body so I can monitor how I’m going as I think it’ll give me a better indication of my progress as opposed to just jumping on the scales.

In terms of physical activity, I’m starting to go to the gym and running on alternative days.

My goals are:

1. To lose 10kgs

2. To bench press 20kgs

3. To run 5km in under 30 minutes

Day 1 began today. It’s time to get serious!

Love, Kimmie xx

Missing in action… But I’m back!

So it’s been fairly quiet on the blogging front.. however a lot has happened since my last post.

First things first, my partner and I have managed to purchase our first property. We are still in the process of settling the place but in roughly 19 days (who’s counting) we will be able to have a place we can call our home. So for the past month or so, I’ve been trawling through websites and watching House Rules and The Block for ideas and inspiration on decorating our very first place.

 

Secondly, the other big news for me is that my boyfriend recently proposed to me! We were walking going for a walk in our favourite forest at Emerald Lake when it started to rain which meant we decided to get some shelter under a big pine tree. It was here where he popped the question, so very excited!!!!

So the next 12 months or so will be so jam packed with renovations and furniture shopping with bridal shows, dress shopping and wedding planning that I won’t know what to do with myself once it’s over but I am looking forward to the journey ahead.

KT xx

How un-Australian are we?

On Sunday night, as I was eagerly watching the Men’s final against Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka I witnessed a moment in the match that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Nadal had just ran back onto the court after a medical time out to the crowd boo-ing and jeering. I was disgusted in how the crowd had reacted given that they don’t know the full extent of the injury but perhaps were more worried that they had spent almost $400 on a ticket and demanded a jaw – dropping match?

So that got me thinking, why do fans boo at sportspeople? A majority of the time, it happens when their superstar changes club for money, putting themselves first before their fans or for the love of the game. I must admit, that I myself have booed at the sportsperson before. As a Melbourne Heart (MHFC) fan, I was excited to hear that Lucas Neill was intending to play for my team and given that we were somewhat struggling at the time, having a Socceroos star on our team sheet must certainly mean that our team would benefit from that. But during the weekend where contracts were meant to be signed and sealed, it was all for the wrong club – Neill had decided to sign on with Sydney FC as the offer was higher than what MHFC offered. I felt robbed and thus would boo Neill whenever I saw him on tv or at the match.

However, to boo at someone who was clearly injured and yet still playing on just displays how demanding we are as spectators and how quickly we jump to conclusions and judge.

Never have I felt ashamed and embarrassed to be Australian, especially on Australia day after witnessing the treatment that Nadal received but most certainly did not deserve.

He had that much respect for the game, the crowd and his team that he played the whole match so hats off to Nadal for being a true champion.

P.S  Also, taking nothing away from Wawrinka, he was a deserving winner – he had played an amazing tournament and was the first man to knocked out both the number 1 and number 2 seeded players.

Image taken from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-26/wawrinka-beats-injured-nadal-to-win-australian-open/5219850

 

My sweet addiction

I am addict. There you have it. I have finally succumb to my denial and have taken the first steps to accept that I do indeed have an addiction.

I get my fix whenever I can, it consumes most of my day and well into the night. I’m constantly thinking about it, thinking of ways to get my fix but limitations and boundaries stop me from getting it all the time. The adrenalin that goes through my bloodstream is indescribable, something only true addicts will understand. Each fix can bring me to higher levels but there’s no denying that it always leave me wanting more with a hint of frustration.

Racing heart beat, elevated happiness, trembling hands, strained eyes and a complete sense of euphoria – the list of emotions and feelings are endless. Like any addict, I hid my addiction from my bf and friends, fear of embarrassment, judgmental looks and hisses of disapproval. I was in my own world with nowhere to turn. My ears would prick every time the addiction becomes a topic of conversation and eagerly I would join in, feeling a sense of belonging –  addicts who understand what it is that I’m experiencing.

Yes I am proud to admit that I am a candy crush addict.

Don’t scuff until you’ve tried. 🙂

 

We have a long way to go…

Racism is well and truly alive in Australia. The recent activities that occurred in an Australian Football League (AFL) match has caused huge uproar in the media and also been the topic of many conversations around workplaces and at home.

During the match, Aboriginal star Adam Goodes was subjected to a racist comment by a 13 year old girl.

Many of the comments that I’ve overheard and also have read on social media and newspapers have indicated that perhaps Adam Goodes was being a little “precious” about being called an ape. To me this shows just how ignorant our society really is, and that Australia has a long way to go in terms of multiculturalism.

To add insult to injury, Eddie McGuire made a terrible “joke” on the radio about bringing down Goodes to promote the new “King Kong” movie just two days after he was called an ape by  the 13 year old Collingwood supporter. Given what had just happened regarding the ape incident, you would have thought that McGuire wouldn’t approach the already sensitive area.

Needless to say, racism will always be a sensitive topic. The comment made by the young girl was innocent if not a little ignorant. Her attitude towards racism was probably a mixture of ignorance and misinformation imposed by her parents.

Racism is not taught, it’s bred. This statement made by Graham Goodes, the father of Adam Goodes rings true to the heart. Our attitude to racism is ingrained from our childhood years. If all our lives we grew up in a household whereby racist comments or our treatment to isolate any group of people was deemed to be acceptable, our children wouldn’t know any better. The issues of isolation and exclusion are modeled within the confines of families. Families are usually the first point of entry for young children to perceive how people see or experience the world and generally speaking this will foster firsthand the beliefs on racism.

I come from a Vietnamese background and have always been subjected to racism. I know what it’s like to be constantly subjected to racist comments whether or not the person meant it or whether they are simply making a statement. It’s always been my belief that until you have experienced racism yourself, you have no right to judge if a statement is racist or not.

What to expect when buying a house

Buying a house is a frustrating exercise. From the way people speak of it, it sounded like easy work. You go to the open inspection, like it and bob’s your uncle – you’re the proud owner of a new home. What I didn’t expect was months of looking through websites, newspapers, searching on google maps to get a feel for the surroundings and finally if it’s passes the test, attending open inspections and auctions. Six months on – I feel like I’m an expert at property inspections and yet getting no closer to actually purchasing a property.

For a majority of the population, buying property will be one of the biggest purchases in your life time and therefore requires a lot of time in researching, attending open inspections, talking to an array of people from real estate agents, mortgage brokers, accountants, family, co-workers, your best friend and sometimes even the stranger who lives down the road from the property you just walked out of.

Gone are the sleep ins, lazy mornings and having your breaky whilst reading the papers. Be prepared to politely decline the catch up brunch with friends and instead be walking around in musty smelling dingy looking places where the real estate agent has obviously photoshopped in the light filter. Don’t they realise that by enhancing the photos just gives a false sense of happiness but instead the potential buyer just walks away with bitter disappointment.

The weekend just past, my boyfriend & I began our morning ritual – check the real estate app for any potential open inspections. As we found one which would be opened in 30 minutes, we raced out of bed and were out the door in 30 minutes. Pretty impressive for people who like to take their time in the morning, slowly waking up to the world.

Given that my boyfriend was still hungover from the night before, I was the designated driver and he was left in charge to be the navigator. The first mistake he made was when he instructed me to turn right when he actually meant left. After a few u-turns and some cross words exchanged, we had arrived at our destination. Turns out that the property was “under contract”, meaning that a party has made an offer and they’re currently in the stages of negotiation. Nice of the real estate agent to update the website. However, looking closely at the property, I realised that this wasn’t the property that we were meant to go to! Another mistake by the hungover bf. As the inspection was finishing at 11:00am and we were at the wrong property at 10:57am, there was no way we were going to make it to the intended inspection.

And so off we went to a cafe to eat a nice delicious and fat laced breakfast to soak up the alcohol and fill in the time until the next property. The next property was passed in at auction the previous week so we were curious to see how the property was. Not sure what the developers were thinking when they decided to add in half a bedroom and a bench as kitchen space in the living area.

As we inspect more and more properties week by week, we have compiled a list of must haves and definitely nots. Having someone to go with you when attending an inspection is definitely a bonus as they may have some advice or see something that you have missed. I look at other couples at the inspections and often wonder if they were feeling as frustrated as we are.

Although the whole process is like finding a needle in a haystack, I’m certain that we’ll find the one place that we can call our home.

House hunting

At the thought of buying your first property, you generally feel excitement and in most cases start to envision what your “ideal” place would look like. You become your own interior designer and with the experience of decorating after watching endless episodes of reno shows such as The Block and House Rules, you think you have a pretty solid idea of what your future house would look like.

However, having gone through the experience of house hunting, I can assure you that it is a completely different scenario.

So it all began with the serious talk with my better half about taking the next step in our relationship – that is moving in and living together. Seems logical enough. The next question was if we wanted to rent or buy a place. With interest rates on the decline, the best option it seems was to buy an apartment or unit to live in for a few years before we looked for something bigger.

And so began the early mornings of open inspections and auctions. With a coffee in one hand and notepad in the other, we would enter each property with high hopes only to leave minutes later in either disgust or with our hopes and dreams all dashed.

Being a Gen Y and having the luxury of living at home with my parents, I had come to the realisation that I was naive if not ignorant when looking at properties. My boyfriend on the other hand has been living by himself for quite some time and so knew what to look for. I never knew how important a separate toilet was until he explained the pros & no cons. I’m such a naive Gen Y. It’s going to be an interesting journey once I move out!

It’s been a few months now and the list of available properties are starting to dwindle. Searching the internet constantly comes up with the same properties that we have either seen or disregard because it hasn’t fitted the criteria. Words of encouragement from friends still doesn’t help the situation especially after hearing horror stories that house hunting can take up to 12 months – something that I have not planned for.

This experience has been a big learning curve for me and a journey that I’m sure I will continue to enjoy riding until we find our little gem. Until then, happy house hunting!