Demented Dieter

I just called in to wish you all a very happy Australia Day. Sorry I failed to greet you all yesterday on Burns Night but you were, of course, in my thoughts as I addressed the haggis.

There are lots of things to love about Australia Day. The best being that it's a day off, of course. I love a lie-in. Jim was off at dawn to the beach with our guests. I just rolled over and took another nap. Visitors from UK are always delighted by the enthusiasm of Aussies for the beach especially on occasions such as Oz day or Xmas. The locals lie around toasting and toasting (sunbathing and drinking bubbly) while their kids dig holes or build castles with Aussie flags on the top. The surf guards are out and about looking cool and efficient. Even the dog walkers -who usually ignore dogless types like me - are friendly on 26th Jan.

It sure was hot today. 38 degrees when I checked but I'm sure it got hotter after that. The Fremantle Doctor (the local name for the welcome afternoon sea breeze) came in this arvo as usual but it was like standing under a hairdryer. Hot, hot hot.

All the shops are shut and I only had vanilla ice-cream on the premises but I cheered it up by crumbling a Tim Tam on the top. Recommended as an emergency fix for dull desserts.

When it got dark at 9.00 we strolled up the hill with other like-minded folk and watched the fireworks display. Nice atmosphere and lots of Ooohs and Aahs. "Why don't they do this in UK on St George's Day?" queried my friend. Good question. I imagine that it's for the same reason they don't feel the need to put their country's name on the stamps (unlike every other place on earth) because the believe they are the centre of the universe and so they don't need to advertise. Perhaps they are right, who am I to say? On Australia Dayit feels good to be an Aussie. On 1st March (Saint David's Day) it will feel good to be Welsh but let's not get too nationalistic for we Trekkies 'terran' is specific enough.

Current weight: 79.9 kg

Labels: Australia Day

A friend in UK has just told me about a weight loss plan her pal is doing well on called lighter life. Basically it is a very low calorie diet (550 calories a day). The idea is you pay a small fortune a week for two hours counselling and a pack of meal replacements. The notion being that if you are more than 3 stone overweight you are probably a food addict and so need to break the addiction before re-educating yourself. By having substitutes for meals provided, you no longer have to think about food. Hmm, I’m not sure that would work but I daresay the weight loss is phenomenal if you stick to it.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/lighter_life_diet.htm

http://www.lighterlife.com/2006v4/index.cgi

It’s not available in Oz as yet anyway but I am always two days away from starting a diet so I like to consider my options .… the idea of which allows me to eat what I like in the meantime.

By the way I was astounded to see in the supermarket today the leftover xmas chocolates being sold at half price next to the first Easter eggs of the season!

Labels: lighter life

I had a nice fish and chip lunch yesterday with friends. After lunch they all went off on a pub crawl around Freo but I had other fish to fry. A new ice cream parlour had opened in the town centre and (I justified the trip to myself) surely I owe it to my readers to check it out.

It was an attractive place with lots of room to sit around and enjoy the gelato (or surely that should be gelati - my Italian is very rusty not having been used for 35 yrs since Miss Chappell threw me out of the class muttering, "Questa ragazza e molto stupido") so I was hoping for something cold, sweet and delicious. It was certainly doing a roaring trade, a hot day, customers were three deep at the counter. I chose a standard cone of milk and cookies and I have to say that despite the $3.50 it cost me I only ate it until I had walked as far as the nearest bin and that was mostly to stop it dripping down my arm. It was like that low quality soft vanilla ice-cream you get from squirty machines in ice-cream vans and fast food restaurants with next to no cookie and some very cheap chocolate chips. A huge disappointment. I'll be going back to Il Gelato on the Cottesloe sea front or Baskin & Robbins without delay.

Current weight: 79.5 kg.