Currently.

I have been semi-not regularly writing a Currently blogpost on my other site (Pet Photography by Tara Sutherland) for the last 6 or so years. Although I write another very non regular gastric bypass update here, I do love the format of Currently and thought it might fit in here quite nicely! I’ve decided I will use the same prompts each and every time – as some of them pertain quite nicely to this blog’s context (recipes, health and journal post gastric bypass)

It is Sunday afternoon here in New Zealand and I have lit the fire and am doing a wee bit of work. I’ve just started the pilot episode of Reign. I do have 3 or 4 other shows on the go but apparently now we (me and him) have to watch them together.

Eating.
I am still carefully watching my protein levels each day but I’ve recently been paying a lot more attention to my fibre. I let my inner health get away from me and I paid the price with my number 2’s – or lack thereof! Broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts are my go to vegetables right now and the other thing that I’m doing in terms of my eating is keeping up my Food Diary and watching any snacking that might be occurring. Snackscidents I call them.
Along with some other Instagram friends, we have been doing #accountableaugust, getting back to basics and concentrating on maintaining healthy habits. I like the idea of accountability and also of being able to support online friends all over the world going through the same thing that I am.

Drinking.
I am now, thanks to my friend Mel, a huge huge fan of tea. And buckets of it. I was never really all that keen on tea however these days, coffee doesn’t do me a lot of favours so I try and keep it to the minimum – the minimum level to maintain my sanity that is!
Mel introduced me to T2, which is a little dangerous, as there isn’t a store in Hamilton but you can buy it online. I have tea at work, at home and even found a little taster packet in the pocket of my gillet when we went to the movies yesterday!

Exercising.
The last couple of weeks I’ve made a real effort to get up and move. My Fitbit has a “Reminder to Move’ so if I haven’t done 250 steps every hour, I get a wee vibrating reminder. Combine that with heading to the gym 3-4 nights a week and I’m hitting, or almost hitting 9,000 -12,000 steps per day. I have split my weights workout in arms/back and legs and am using almost every piece of equipment that our little gym has. I’m also falling asleep on the couch about 9pm!
Yesterday a few of the girls from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty WLS Support Group and I went for a walk along the river. We did about 8km in total – felt so good cracking out my 10,000 steps before 9am … even though I came away with a blister. Bugger it.

Listening.
I’m cruising Spotify and trying to find my groove with some new music that suits my fast walking/jogging sessions and then my weights workouts. I downloaded the C25K app for my iPhone to start training for the Tauranga 12km City to Surf in September and on the first session I decided my current gym playlist bored me. I’ve since found a Spotify one called Electro Workout and I’m quite enjoying the speed of it.

Planning.
While I write this, I have my Meal Planner out for the week and I’m making some notes on what we have planned – which makes deciding what to have for dinner each night so much easier. A few people have asked me to help them with their planning, oh and to just go and cook for them each night, would it help if I published my meal plans each week??

Loving.
A little bit of alone time. Everyone needs some right?
The house is empty right now – well its just me and Nix and the fireplace so I’m now going to go and finish my food list, make some pumpkin soup and chill for a bit.

Take care of you, t X