Another week of 10,000 steps a day is over and here is my progress report.
The graph is for my second week and I am surprised and happy that I clocked more than 13,339 steps on average.
I did a 7km bay walk twice and I was really so happy when I got over 20,000 on Saturday thanks to the morning walk and walking so much during the Vivid Sydney. Two weeks down and two more to go 🙂
Happy exercising everyone, take care.
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Health
Tagged 10000 steps, exercise, health, pedometers, physical activity levels, progress report
Last Saturday was the last day of autumn and winter is officially here.
On Friday after work, we decided to go to eat at our local Vietnamese restaurant. I am a big fan of their rice paper rolls so we ordered that with quails and had Vietnam’s style fried rice. The food was nice and we both loved it. It was a great start of the weekend and we were relaxed walking back home. Sometimes not having to cook seems to take so much stress out of our life :).
On Saturday morning, I went for my usual run. I normally run with a my friend of mine and it is so easy to go the distance when you have company. We ran for over one and half hours and was glad that my step count reached over 11,000. That really made my morning as I am still counting my steps every day. It was drizzling at one point and I just loved the rain. I got to run in the rain after ages and it was quite refreshing. One of the reasons I love this walking track because we get a great view of the beach no matter what time of the year it is. It is always so rewarding.
After the run, we had our normal breakfast and waited for my SIL to drop off my nephew. We were babysitting for the afternoon and it was exciting for us. My nephew has grown up so much (gonna be 2 years next month) and is very cheeky. If he makes any mistake, he goes around and kisses everyone so no one will scold him. We had fun watching him, playing with him and running round with him.
In the evening, my SIL picked him up so we decided to go to city. It had been a sunny afternoon so it was the perfect evening to go and watch Vivid Sydney. I will share more pics from the day in another post.
Sunday started very slow as we had no plans. AS was still asleep and as it was cold outside so I decided to stay in bed and paint my nails. I normally do that once a week and I am learning to do it differently this each week. Here is what I ended up with.
When I was almost done, AS work up; I wanted to get out of the bed too but AS asked me to stay in bed and he will fix breakfast for us. I really like these gestures from him and having a lazy and spoiled weekend makes me feel cheerful. I reminded him that we have hardly anything left in the fridge so maybe we need to out for grocery but he assured me we are OK. Therefore, I watched an episode of Downton Abbey while he cooked breakfast. At the back of my mind I was wondering what we are having for breakfast as I knew we were out of bread.
So after almost an hour in the kitchen, AS called me and he served me this for breakfast.
Yes we had samosa and deviled eggs and tea. We also had some Jeri (sweets) to finish off the breakfast. I am very pleased as he used what we had to cook and I have to admit he is becoming better and better every day in the kitchen. In addition, he is so romantic and caring 🙂
It was raining in the afternoon so we stayed in, watched a movie and relaxed. By evening I was over with the indoors and stared to become grumpy and of course, my knight in shining armour came to the rescue again. He got a pair of socks for me and asked to put it on. The nhe started a salsa tutorial on YouTube and that was the start of our fun evening in.
AS and I had taken salsa classes before but separately so it was so much fun to learn again and practice together. As salsa dancing can be very intimate, I enjoyed it a lot. After an hour dancing I was in a happy mood as we had so much fun.
I have to admit he is a very good partner as you need male partner to lead and he was doing an excellent job.
Hope you guys had a great weekend too.
Take care,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Australia
Tagged breakfast, devil's eggs, jeri, morning run, nephew, rice paper rolls, salsha, samosa, Vivid, vivid sydney, vivid sydney 2014
For those of you who are unaware of what Chormecast is, it is the latest in Google’s recent string of TV/internet-connected devices. The Chromecast is a small thumb drive size USB stick that plugs into the back of your TV and allows you to stream video and content from your phone, tablet or computer to your television screen. The Chromecast device connects to your TV’s HDMI port and uses your Wi-Fi network to stream your videos, music, pictures etc.
AS has been reading about it for a few months now and was annoyed that it was not available in Australia. He thought it would be great for us as we use an HDMI cable to connect our TV and computer. The bad thing about the HDMI is that it has a long wire gets disconnected easily if you move your laptop around With Chromecast this can be done wirelessly.
Finally, Chormecast is available here and we got it yesterday. It is only $49 so not a big hole in our pocket. We set it up after work and it worked so well. It was so easy to set up.
To set up Chromecast, all you need is a TV with an HDMI port, a Wi-Fi connection and either a computer with Google’s Chrome browser or a mobile device with Google’s Chromecast app. Simply connect the Chromecast to your TV’s HDMI port, visit chromecast.com/setup on your PC, download the app and follow the instructions from there.
Now we can use the Chromecast with our mobile, tablets and laptop without connecting any wires and it’s available on iOS too.
Chromecast also allows us to further multitask with our digital media; for example I could be using Facebook on my tablet while streaming a video to the TV simultaneously.
I have to say it is one of the best devices we have bought and the price is just too good.
Take care,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
I have contemplated switching to iPhone from Android many times and now as my old Samsung Galaxy SII is slowly dying, it was time for me to buy a new phone and I decided on iPhone 5S. Finally I have switched to iPhone and I have to admit I am a bit lost.
As an android user the biggest adjustment to using iPhone is navigating my way through iOS. Even though I use an iPad, I find it hard to do certain things on iPhone. I am sure I will be fine with my phone after a month but for the next few days, I am going to miss these features from my Samsung Galaxy phone.
The back button
The “back” soft key which takes you one step backward. If you opened a program and want to go back to the previously opened program, you tap the right soft key. When I’m using my iPhone, I really miss the back key and I’m constantly tapping the right side wondering why nothing is happening.
I also miss a lot of functionality accessed via the left soft key.
Mini SD Card
I didn’t realise (lack of research) that iPhone doesn’t take mini SD card which I have used in my phones for the last 5 years. Every time I change phones it has been easy as I save all my music, books, and a few videos in the mini SD card but now I have to transfer everything to my phone.
Screen size
I think I got used to the screen of my Samsung Galaxy that I feel iPhone screen is too small. I am hoping it is just a phase and I will be OK with the screen size in due time.
Compulsory use of iTunes
One of the most important things I need on your computer for using your iPhone is iTunes unlike android where I could easily manage my music, podcasts, and movies without it. I feel so locked in and restricted but I know I have no choice.
On screen customization
There are so many ways to customize the way that your home screen looks in my Samsung but I couldn’t find that feature in iPhone.
Things are not all bad. I have already found out a few things in my new iPhone I like so I guess I would be OK in the long run.
Camera
I think my new iPhone has a better camera than my of Samsung SII, beautiful pictures, and great features like high dynamic range, so I am now ready to take more photos :).
iOS
The iPhone user interface is much more polished.
Accessories
I am also looking forward to using cool iPhone accessories now that I have jumped the ship. I noticed when I had Samsung that iPhone has more options in term of accessories so now I can take my pick.
I have to admit that as I have been using Android long enough to accumulate a decent number of apps and a good-sized music library, photos, contacts, and calendars, it was fairly easy to transfer everything. Glad it is almost done now and I can carry only one phone.
I have a feeling that after few months I will discover more cool features and apps in my new iPhone and I will rave about it but right now, it is a bit of a pain in the butt.
Please share any useful iPhone apps that you use for a novice iPhone user :).
Happy Friday and take care,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Technology
Tagged android, camera, Compulsory use of iTunes, iOS, iPhone, itunes, latest phone, On screen customization, samsung, The back button
I feel like I talk about periods all the times, I have talked about it in the post like “There is no such thing as a happy period” and “I hate those cycle.” Today I am coming back to it again and talking about period carving.
In the beginning I didn’t understand my urge for food especially just before the period and during it so I would get stressed as I was eating a lot of junk food at those times but with some research I managed to calm down as I found out that it is normal.
Just like other PMS symptoms, such as cramping, bloating, and moodiness, cravings are caused by fluctuations in the hormones. I believe most women and especially men are completely unaware of this thus my blog about it.
According to experts a woman’s need for magnesium, sugar, carbohydrates, salt and water increases dramatically between ovulation and menstruation. Our caloric needs fluctuates through our cycle. That means we need to eat more on some days than others. Right before we start our period, the levels of the hormones estrogen, serotonin, and cortisol in our body will shift. These hormonal changes result in cravings. The bad thing about these craving is that it leads me to binge excessively on crappy food like chips, fried food and chocolates that leaves me feeling bloated.
One common symptom of PMS is craving particular types of food. No wonder I want chocolate for snacks and samosa for tea. There are even days when I am so hungry that I feel like I can eat a whole elephant. That is the worst part as I feel that I can easily put on weight during those 7 days and I am back to square one in my weight loss plan.
I know the key to managing my cravings during this time of the month is to try to prevent myself from going overboard. So these days instead of denying myself, I indulge a bit. I go for smaller portions like these days I am enjoying Lindt dark chocolates with almond during period but just one small piece a day. I am eating whatever I want, but eat it in a mindful way. I believe that if you are mindful with the food you are craving you will feel satisfied with less, and may even realized that it is not what your body is actually asking for.
The good news is that according to the experts, this kind of moderate “indulgence” is unlikely to have much of an effect on our weight. Scientists have also demonstrated that most girls and women burn extra calories just prior to starting their periods. So, as long as you keep your chocolate “fixes” small, you should find that you can include them as part of a balanced, healthy diet.
For all the men out there, please get her what she wants to eat during this time as it is a part of the body cycle. And please do not lecture on how bad junk for the body is or how we look bloated as that it the last thing we want to hear. It will really help if there are people around who can understand us during this time.
Do you/your partner have period craving? What do you/she crave?
Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Health
Tagged bad mood, ed classes, Endometriosis, Endometriosis symptoms, food, frustrations, lower back pains, menstruation, mood swings, period, period craving, period pain, sex ed, sugar fix
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