A piggy day brings surprising results…

Posted on November 24, 2013 by JenniferHansen

I didn’t post an update for the FIT FIX Diet Plan yesterday, as if was my scheduled ‘day off’ from counting calories and having any food restrictions. So I was pleasantly shocked this morning when I stepped on the scales and saw that despite a day of unhealthy indulgences, I’d still lost weight!

Ronnie’s cake

It’s surprising given how much I ate. The day started off with thick cafe-style raisin toast with lashings of butter and a cup of tea.

Then for morning tea, I went all out. For days, I’ve been yearning for a slice of a heavenly cake my daughter baked, so yesterday was the day to tuck in – and I did it in style with two big scoops of cookies and cream ice-cream on top.

For lunch, the kids wanted cheesymite scrolls from Baker’s Delight, so naturally, I had one too.

Two large pieces of dark chocolate for afternoon tea, followed by a night out at a Japanese restaurant with bucket loads of wine followed, so it only seemed logical that I’d face the music on the scales this morning.

But no. Joy, oh joy, the number dropped to 68.4kg. This time last week I was 71.4kg. I can only imagine it’s the result of the cumulative effect of being ‘good’ all week and exercising pretty hard with daily spin classes. (And that wine is very good for you.) Today, I’m back on the program and sticking to my guns. See Friday’s post for today’s food list if you are wanting to follow suit.

The pineapple, mint zest juice is my favourite!

Tomorrow, I’m back on a one-day JUICE FAST and looking forward to it. And very grateful there’s a store like PRESSED JUICES to do all the hard prep work for me. Will keep you posted on the rest of the week’s dietary plan tomorrow.

Getting Neighbourly with ocean guardians, Sea Shepherd

Posted on November 23, 2013 by JenniferHansen

Feel like saving the planet this weekend? Okay, that sounds like I’m asking you to be a super hero, but I’m not. You really can contribute just by visiting the Sea Shepherd ships which are dockside in Melbourne at Williamstown and open to the public for tours this weekend.

Three ships dockside at Wlliamstown will be open to the public

A stall for souvenirs

Donating helps too. Not just money – long-life food stocks that Sea Shepherd can take on its missions are greatly appreciated because it’s an organisation that relies completely on the generosity of supporters. There’s also a stall where you can buy Sea Shepherd t-shirts and souvenirs.

Fletch and I finding our sea legs…

We went along for a tour of the ships last weekend and it was a real eye opener. Fletch’s fellow Neighbours actor Saskia Hempele and her partner, TV presenter Kayne Tremills also joined us.

Just in case you haven’t heard about Sea Shepherd, these guys put their lives on the line trying to prevent the illegal poaching of protected whales and dolphins. We were also shown a couple of videos of clashes with Japanese whaling ships and I can only imagine how terrifying it would be to be caught on one of their smaller boats, being deliberately rammed by these massive vessels.

The Bob Barker being rammed by Japanese ships in February this year.

We were given a tour of the Bob Barker by Quarter Master Ben Harris who explained Sea Shepherd’s background. ‘It was founded in 1977 by Paul Watson,’ he said. ‘Watson was one of the original founders of Greenpeace but left Greenpeace to found Sea Shepherd because he wanted a much more direct action organisation. We’re a marine conservation organisation but we use direct action tactics to directly intervene in the poaching of whales.’

This ‘direct action’ is heavy stuff. The Australian arm of Sea Shepherd makes an annual pilgrimage to the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary every year. ‘That’s been a whale sanctuary since 1994 and whaling has been banned since 1986,’ explained Ben. ‘But the Japanese whaling fleet continues to whale illegally – under a legal loophole which allows them to whale under the guise of scientific research. They go after either Humpbacks, Fin whales and Minkes which are endangered or close to being endangered.

TV presenter Kayne Tremills with Neighbours actors Saskia Hempele and Alan Fletcher hear about the serious business of saving whales

The Bob Barker played a huge role in the last campaign. ‘We used this ships as a wedge,’ said Ben, ‘because they were refuelling inside the whale sanctuary which is breaking another whole load of rules. But we put this ship between the Japanese factory ship and the refuelling ship. The factory ship is 5000 tonnes and our boat is 500 tonnes. We were nearly squashed but we stopped them from refuelling.’

It was this bravery that made February’s intervention the most successful Sea Shepherd campaign yet. ‘We saved 932 whales,’ said Ben. ‘They had a quota of 1135 whales but because they couldn’t refuel, they cut their season short.’

Was anyone hurt in this campaign? ‘No, we’re aggressive but not physically violent. We’re not out to harm anyone. They’ve never lost anyone and we’ve never lost anyone. The only injuries that have been caused happened when some of our crew was pelted with large nuts and bolts from the whalers. They also swung a grappling hook at us,’ he said.

Next stop was a tour of the dining quarters. If you want to volunteer to be part of a Sea Shepherd campaign, make sure you’re happy to go vegan. After hearing about the horrific slaughter of whales and dolphins all day, it’s something I’m going to have to seriously consider.

Checking out the dining quarters

Ben says that less and less of the Japanese population eat whale meat now, as awareness about the plight of the whales grows. ‘People have gone off the idea. They’re also aware there’s a lot of mercury in the meat, so they’re getting better educated, but the industry keeps pushing it, trying to get the next generation to eat it but putting it in school dinners. But now less than 4% of their population actually eat it.’

Worldwide support for Sea Shepherd is growing rapidly. It was fascinating to hear how so much has been donated by the US celebrity set. The Bob Barker ship, for instance, is named after the US games show host from The Price is Right, who donated a whopping FIVE MILLION DOLLARS to not only buy the ship, but a helicopter as well. Actor Pierce Brosnan is on the board of directors.

And I loved the story about how Sea Shepherd purchased its latest boat, the Sam Continue reading “Getting Neighbourly with ocean guardians, Sea Shepherd” »

FIT FIX Diet Plan update – Keeping it simple

Posted on November 22, 2013 by JenniferHansen

A helpful mantra during life’s busier moments…

Life’s so busy I barely have time to write this FIT FIX Diet Plan update, which just reinforces to me how important it is to keep the food simple. This probably won’t work for those of you who want to go the ‘all natural, all organic’ route, but for me, it’s trying to balance the hectic with the healthy.

So yes, I do buy some processed foods and commercial brands as well as organic juices and fresh vegetables. It’s all a matter of combining the two, to provide the healthiest, fastest eating options.

Some of you may also find this a bit too basic and repetitive, but the less time you spend thinking about food the better.

DAY FOUR – reviewing Thursday

The outline of yesterday’s eating plan was detailed in the last blog, so let’s take a look at what happened after that report.

I always struggle when cooking, not to sample the ingredients, which again reminds me how important it is to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN with this diet. Imagine how many more calories you’d consume if you ate half the cake mix when baking but didn’t count it as part of your food plan?

A bit of sampling went on last night while whipping up the Bolognaise sauce, but I made sure to write the bits down, which included a piece of carrot and five Kalamata olives. Not a problem, given I was under my calories quota.

But I did exceed my two glasses of wine… Well, red wine goes into the Bolognaise sauce so I HAD to have a glass while cooking. Which meant another glass during dinner and another later in the evening while watching TV. So I broke a rule, but I still got in under the calories quota and the bathroom scales reading didn’t skyrocket this morning. YAY!

DAY FIVE – FOOD PLAN: Friday

Breakfast – Uncle Toby’s Quick Oats sachet with 125ml skim milk and 1/2 a cup of frozen raspberries

Keeping it simple – ham and cheese on Vita-Wheats

Snack – 2 celery sticks.

Lunch – 4 Vita-Wheat 9-grain biscuits with 2 cheese slices and ham

Snack – Earl Grey tea with 30ml skim milk

Dinner – Left-over Bolognaise sauce

SNACK TIP

Celery snack

As I said, it’s all pretty simple fare. And here’s a tip about the celery snack. It sounds pretty boring, but if you buy it in pre-prepared packs in the supermarket, it tastes MUCH fresher and crisper, making it far more enjoyable to eat. Plus it gives good crunch factor, which you need if eating a diet which focuses more on protein. Not much crunch in meat, hard-boiled eggs and yoghurts…

A WEIGHTY ISSUE

Time to own up to how much I weighed before starting the FIT FIX Diet Plan. Hmmm. Let’s put it in perspective and remember I’m 172cm tall (just under 5 foot 8). I’m not trying to make excuses it’s just that you might get a shock… About five years ago, my average weight was around 62 – 64kg.

On Monday morning, I weighed in at 71.4kg.

Then I started the 3-day JUICE CLEANSE.

By Thursday morning, I weighed in at 69.4. Which is to be expected, with such a drastic dietary change, and I know such a dramatic drop will not continue. After a day of eating ‘normal’ food, I went up slightly today.

Friday morning – 69.6kg

But still, that’s a drop of 1.8kg in five days, so it’s a great start. My ultimate goal is to get to 64kg.

PLANNING AHEAD

SATURDAY – Day off. Eat what you like!

Basil chilli tuna salad

SUNDAY Breakfast – 1 cup scrambled eggs and 2 rashes of bacon

Snack – celery or carrot

Lunch – Sirena chilli and basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion salad

Snack – Tamara berry yoghurt (small tub)

Dinner – Steak and broccoli

MONDAY – Juice Fast Day

LOOKING AHEAD

I’ve stuck to the diet plan for today and am planning another AFD. Tomorrow is Saturday – my day off! It will be interesting to see how the scales tip after that… I may still pop my food intake into the My Net Diary App, because I’m on a roll, and you may be curious to hear how I piggy I really was. I’m also giving myself permission to eat chocolate but right now, don’t even feel like it. We will see…

The FIT FIX Diet Plan

Posted on November 21, 2013 by JenniferHansen

So far, I’m pretty happy with my FIT FIX Diet Plan. The three-day JUICE CLEANSE has worked well as a kick-starter and now I’m very much ready to move on to the next phase of this experiment – eating REAL food!

DAY THREE – reviewing Wednesday

Yes, I got weary during the second and third days of the JUICE CLEANSE at certain times, but at others, I felt energised and fabulous. The ‘tired’ part is to be expected, given I wasn’t getting any caffeine. It did help that I reduced my coffee intake drastically over the last month and am now more likely to have an Earl Grey tea than a coffee on most days. At least I was spared a splitting headache, which usually happens with the detoxing process.

My juice selection for Day One

But three days of juice is DEFINITELY enough. Although I didn’t quite do the FULL three days. As I said yesterday, I planned to eat dinner last night at my Mum’s anyway which I did, and managed to eat only a very small portion of her delicious roast with gravy and said ‘no’ to roast potatoes. AND sweetcorn. AND Yorkshire pudding… I even said NO to Mum’s homemade apple crumble… Heart-breaking but essential if this plan is to succeed.

I also declined the red wine on offer, so I can happily say I’ve kick-started the week with three consecutive AFDs. (That’s alcohol -free days in case you were wondering) I am now very much looking forward to a glass or two tomorrow night. But part of this plan is to also reduce my alcohol intake, so I will be monitoring ‘how much’. (sigh…)

WEEKLY FOOD PLAN

The Fit Fix Diet Plan is designed to be extremely flexible to fit a variety of lifestyles. So many of our plans change so quickly on a daily basis, that we all need something that’s adaptable. Having said that, I also believe planning ahead is essential.

Food shopping the LEAST amount of times possible is a biggie for me too. Life’s too busy to be heading to the supermarket on a daily basis. Twice a week is plenty!

My current favourite

Picking components from various diets and mashing them together also appeals to me, so here’s how this diet will work.

As well as THE RULES I spelt out yesterday, I’m aiming for one juice fast day a week, (MONDAY) and one day with a very low calorie intake. (THURSDAY) This will be in accordance with the 2-5 diet which has a lot of evidence backing it to suggest that by almost fasting two days a week, we can eat what we like on the other five. I tried this, but the ‘eating what you like’ on the other days just meant I pigged out ridiculously. Which is why I’ve decided to create my own plan.

Yes, I’ll still have 2 days which are low calorie, but I’m only allowing ONE day which is a free-for-all. And yes, that’s the day you can have CHOCOLATE and don’t have to count calories. For me, that’s preferably a SATURDAY.

The first week of the FIT FIX Diet Plan differs from the following weeks, because of the 3-day juice cleanse, but as of next Monday, I’ll be aiming to stick to a pretty regular eating schedule. So usually today would be one of the ‘almost fasting days’ but after coming off the three-day JUICE CLEANSE, that’s not happening this week.

As well, I can safely say it’s highly likely social commitments will probably force changes to my plans, but then I can explain how I adapt and hopefully this will help you too.

DAY FOUR – FOOD PLAN: Thursday

Here’s the plan I laid out for today:

The Muesli – 97% sugar free

Breakfast: The Muesli (50 grams) with skim milk, (100ml), Greek yogurt (50g) and frozen berries (25g).

Snack – celery sticks

Lunch – can of Sirena basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion

Snack – Tamara Yoghurt tub with berries

Dinner – Bolognaisse sauce – NO PASTA, plus two glasses of red wine

Using the My Net Diary App, the total calorie amount would add up to 1409. This is just under my daily allowance of 1430, so well on target. Especially as I put in a good effort with exercise this morning, doing both a half-hour abdominal class, followed by 45-minutes of a seriously sweaty spin class. According to the My Net Diary App, I burned off 593 calories, which means I still have 614 in the bank. Maybe this means I can have more wine tonight??

THE ALCOHOL ISSUE

Speaking of alcohol, the 3-day JUICE CLEANSE reinforced to me how important it is to have at least three days a week without grog if you want to lose weight. I KNOW once I’ve had a couple of wines, I’m far more likely to grab a handful or two (or 5) of cashews from the cupboard, or to hoe into a cheese and crackers session at 10pm.

Even a couple of glasses will drastically reduce your willpower. Which is why this rule is a MUST.

HOW TODAY REALLY WENT (so far…)

It’s gone to plan except that I decided to substitute my two snacks with a bottle of green juice, left over from the stash I bought for the 3-day cleanse. Which adds up to roughly the same amount so I’m doing fine.

Let’s see what happens tonight after that red wine. I’ll report back tomorrow and also discuss how my weight is going – which is embarrassing but important for you to know as evidence as to whether this FIT FIX Diet Plan really will work. Stay tuned!

What it feels like to do a JUICE CLEANSE

Posted on November 20, 2013 by JenniferHansen

Some of my daily juice quota

So now I’m into DAY THREE of my Juice Cleanse and I’ve stuck to it solidly. Here’s how yesterday panned out and what’s happening today:

DAY TWO

Day Two started off swimmingly, but my enthusiasm started to wane by late afternoon. It wasn’t that I was getting tired of juice – I was starting to feel rag-doll tired.

Pressed Juices at 25 Carpenter Street, Brighton

I really should have listened to the advice from the Pressed Juices staff who recommend taking it easy on the days you’re ‘cleansing’. I thought I was doing well skipping a spin class at the gym and going for a power walk instead, but in the afternoon, I had quite a bit of running around to do with appointments and errands in the city and Chadstone shopping centre, so by day’s end, I felt completely drained.

I still enjoyed the juices with a fantastic selection of flavours. My favourite was the Zest Juice in the afternoon made up of pineapple, ginger, mint and pear – yum.

Challenges included watching my daughter eat sushi at Chadstone from our favourite store and suddenly missing the action of ‘chewing’ myself. Then she baked some delicious smelling biscuits when we got home which was horribly tempting, but I stuck to my guns.

DAY THREE SO FAR…

You might think I’m a piker, but I’ve decided to eat a ‘proper’ meal tonight, cutting back my 3-day JUICE CLEANSE to two and three-quarter days. I can justify this quite admirably though. You see, I REALLY want to get back to the gym tomorrow morning and without a bit of protein in the tummy tonight, that just won’t be possible.

Plus we’re going to a family dinner tonight and how can you say NO to your Mum’s home-cooked roast??? I won’t have potatoes though. Or dessert. And maybe I’ll have to ditch the gravy as well. NOOoooo. I’ve changed my mind. I’m having gravy.

But I have stuck to the Juice Cleanse for all of today so far and I’m feeling fine. In fact, most of the time (apart from yesterday, late afternoon) you feel fabulous! For exercise, I put in a good forty minutes on the treadmill, walking at a fast pace, so I can tick my exercise box too.

Now it’s time to get down to the RULES of the diet I’m going to design for myself. Let’s call it the FIT FIX DIET for the sake of having a reference name.

FIT FIX DIET RULES:

1. Things you can’t eat: potato, rice, bread and products with more than 5% sugar content. (the sugar rule doesn’t apply to wine or the one day you are allowed chocolate!)

2. You must write down everything you eat and count calories. (sounds boring but I have an easy solution for this!)

3. You must exercise every day for a minimum of between 45 minutes and an hour. I am going to aim for spin classes four days a week, plus two lots of abdominal classes and two sessions of body toning or weights workouts. If you don’t go to a gym, you can ride a bike, run and do toning exercises at home.

4. You must weigh yourself every day.

5. You must have three alcohol-free days a week. I calculate my week starting on a Sunday.

6. You can have one day off the regime per week where you eat what you like and ditch the calorie counting.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED:

1. Scales to weigh yourself.

2. Scales to weigh the food you eat.

My Net Diary I-Phone App

3. An I-phone or device that can use the My Net Diary App. This is my secret weapon in the fight against flab!

It means you can easily put in all your measurements and target weight and it will calculate how much you should safely eat per day in order to lose weight.

Calculating calories made easy

You might think it sounds terribly boring to type in everything you eat, but the bonus here is that once you pop the food item into the system, the App will recall all the details and the information will come up automatically. Given I don’t vary my food intake THAT much, it isn’t too hard. And believe me, I’m no tech-genius, so if I can do it, you can!

I start with My Net Diary tomorrow and eating a regime of more regular food. Which I’ll detail in a food plan later.

The other aspect of this App I love is that by storing your weight every day, it produces a little chart to show how you’re progressing. It’s great when you finally see the line on the graph start to head south!

A weighty issue – which ‘diet’ works best?

Posted on November 19, 2013 by JenniferHansen

I’ve been debating whether to write about this topic or not, since it’s almost politically incorrect these days to say we’re ‘NOT happy with our bodies’ or to even mention the word DIET, because it SHOULD be about being healthy rather than how we look, right?

Not to mention the fact that there are so many more serious political issues I could be addressing rather than the trivial obsession with what we put in our mouths and whether our muffin tops have grown since last year…

But heck, it’s my Blog so I can write what I want and I want to get into shape for summer, so selfishly, it suits me. It’s also something I haven’t addressed since the beginning of the year, when I went on the SUGAR FREE DIET for six weeks. Well, I did eat some sugar products – as long as they contained less than FIVE PER CENT sugar per 100 grams. I have to say I wish I’d stuck to it, because not only did I feel great during that time, I also dropped a few kilos without too much effort at all.

Just some of my collection of ‘diet’ books…

Sadly, since then the old bod has expanded beyond what I consider to be an acceptable size. It hasn’t helped that I’ve travelled quite a bit this year, which has meant less exercise, more food and overall, less self-discipline.

Now it’s time to get motivated again. Well, that’s what I thought about two months ago and since then have been re-visiting the rather large collection of fad diet books I’ve bought over the years to try and work out what’s going to be the most effective way. Clearly, it’s taken a bit of time to come to the right decision.

Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr

At first I fell in love with Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet, with its vegan slant and wonderful array of fresh juices. Dutifully, I trotted out some amazing salads for the family, but was met with scorn and revolt at the lack of protein and abundance of healthy green stuff. (Not to mention their inability to appreciate hemp seeds.) It was also difficult finding some of the ingredients, which might be a cultural problem, but nevertheless, made the recipes all the more challenging.

My homemade green juice

Ms Carr’s power of persuasion about the health benefits of fresh juice even led me to purchase our own whiz-bang Breville juicer. A few weeks went by when the fridge was bursting at the seams with magical green juice, that again, I was the only family member to truly appreciate. What I didn’t appreciate was the time and effort to make the stuff.

My enthusiasm quickly waned and before long, the hoards of veggies I was buying with the intention of juicing, would wilt and wither in the fridge, then be tossed out before they even made it to the juicer. The problem is that this juicing caper is WAY too time-consuming. Washing, peeling, dicing and prepping the fruit and veg for the juicer takes FOREVER and then you’re faced with a mountain of dishes.

On the plus side, I have to say I did feel great when I went on a juice binge and I was the only member of the family NOT to get a cold this winter.

Regardless, I put that book to the side and decided to sign up to the Michelle Bridges 12-week Body Transformation. A friend had done the program and swore by it. But it wasn’t for me. Sure, my body transformed – I put on two kilos! I found the meal program to be heavily laden with carbs and again, if you’re a working person, too much time and effort required on the food front – especially for lunches.

The Dukan Diet has worked for me in the past, but does become boring for the taste buds. I also think it’s impossible to stick with long-term and as soon as you break the momentum, the weight goes straight back on.

Yep, it really is marvellous…

I know, I know, I can hear you shouting – but what about the simple EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE theory? Yep, you’re absolutely right. That makes total sense. BUT I like a plan. A bit of a regime to get me motivated. And to keep me away from all those temptations – like this chocolate, which is TO DIE FOR.

So I’ve decided the best solution is to come up with my OWN diet. A mixture of all the good bits from the diets I’ve been researching, smashed together into one GRAND PLAN. I’ve also realised that being accountable is a good thing. So I’m going to be accountable to YOU.

I’m going to check in with Blog reports, listing my food and exercise plan and whether I stick to it or not. I hasten to add, I am NOT a dietician so please don’t follow this unless you chat to someone with the right authority to let you know if it’s a healthy option for you. I’m just doing this for myself as an experiment. It will probably be more Bridget Jones than Michelle Bridges, but hey, let’s give it a shot and see what happens.

DAY ONE – MONDAY, November 18

Day One of a new regime is always my favourite. That’s when I’m full of positive energy and determination to succeed with my new plan. Part of my enthusiasm comes from the fact that a new store opened in our local area – PRESSED JUICES.

Pressed Juices, 25 Carpenter Street, Brighton

Now, I’ve never been into all that detoxing stuff before, but after feeling the benefits of fresh juices through the Crazy Sexy Diet plan, I do agree that a short-term ‘cleanse’ can set you on the right path for a new way of approaching food. So when Pressed Juices opened up, I was thrilled. Now I could enjoy a fantastic range of fresh juices without having to go to all the trouble of making them myself.

That’s the other drawback of having your own juicer. You can really only make one batch at a time, whereas buying them already made, you can enjoy a variety of flavours.

A fridge full of miracle juice at Pressed Juices

The Pressed Juices brochures explain in detail how it all works, so I decided to kick start my new diet with a three-day juice cleanse. There are a couple of stores dotted around Melbourne and Sydney if you’d like to do the same, and likewise, interstate or overseas, you should find that similar stores are popping up everywhere and there’s very likely to be one near you. Or bite the bullet, buy a juicer and do the work yourself.

My juice selection for Day One

I’m lazy and LOVE this option of buying my six bottles for the day and putting them in my fridge. Not only are there massive health benefits, it means NO COOKING for three days!! Just grab a bottle, crack it open and down the hatch. Not even cutlery needed. Bliss. I told the family they could fend for themselves.

Breakfast was a Green Smoothie with avocado, banana, coconut water, cucumber, lake, lime, mesclun and pineapple. Delicious! Thank God I didn’t have to make it – would have taken at least two hours.

I won’t detail ALL the juices I drank, but suffice to say they all tasted great and I didn’t feel hungry. It’s advised not to exercise TOO strenuously during a cleanse. Yesterday, I DID go to the gym and did a spin class, but I’d had a big meal the night before so was still burning that off. I felt a little more tired than usual at night, but that’s to be expected.

Today I trotted off to Pressed Juices again to restock, but ditched gym in favour of a half hour power walk. I’ll get back to the heavier gym stuff after the 3-day cleanse is done. SO now I’m half way through DAY TWO and feeling great.

Time to work out the plan of action AFTER the 3-day juice regime. How much I hope to lose, confess to how much I weigh right now etc… Stay tuned…

When is a good age to have babies?

Posted on November 13, 2013 by JenniferHansen

Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster

So Zoe Foster and Hamish Blake are having a baby! I offer my sincerest congratulations to them both – this gorgeous and much loved-up ‘IT’ couple of our local celebrity culture.

I’m sure Hamish will make an excellent dad. I can say this with some authority, as son Tom (who has just turned 16) is a HUGE ‘Hamish and Andy’ fan. This means he has spent thousands of hours over the past five years walking around our house listening to pod-casts of these guys with ear-phones glued to his head and ignoring me. Hamish, in particular, is his favourite. Which means I’ve battled to get a word in.

But I’m fine with that. I get it. Hamish is funnier, wittier, younger and a bloke. No wonder Tom would prefer to hear his banter than my nagging him to pick up the clothes from his bedroom floor. But as a result, I believe Tom has absorbed much of Hamish’s take on life and he’s turned out pretty well. (In fact, he’s close to damn perfect… ) So Hamish, if you do read this, you should recognise and take a pat on the back for the great influence you’ve had on the thousands of young men (and women) who’ve grown up listening to you and feel confident, as you await the arrival of your first born, that you WILL be a great dad.

It’s none of my business WHEN people decide to have a baby, but I do admit to feeling a tad concerned when I read more than a year ago that Zoe was in no hurry to have kids. There was a quote where she said ‘I’m only 31 and I don’t want a huge family, but we do want kids, but we’re in no rush. I want to be a fun, married couple for a while.’ Which is cool – I just hoped she wasn’t going to wait till she was forty.

Now, OF COURSE, that was probably a line for the media because why should she tell us what they are planning anyway? But it reminded me of myself when Fletch and I had been married for a few years and I’d said exactly the same thing to friends. In fact, I was having so much fun with just the two of us, that every time Fletch suggested starting a family, I’d laugh it off and say, ‘Next year, honey. Just another year.’

Then the crunch came when he sent me a card with a picture of an adorable chubby baby on the front, and he drew a word bubble out of it’s mouth where he wrote, ‘When, oh when, will you let me be born?’ Yeah, not much pressure, huh?? So I relented, thinking it would probably take a while, but in a matter of seconds I was pregnant.

Veronica at 3 months

Veronica arrived not long after my 30th birthday and I was one of the first of my friendship group to have a baby. That made it hard for the first few years when I felt like I was missing out socially, but in hindsight, I’m so glad Fletch put the squeeze on for us to start a family when we did.

I still don’t think there’s enough in the media, encouraging younger women to have babies at an earlier age, because there still seems to be a common misconception that it’s all good and dandy to get pregnant in your forties. While many women do, and it works out brilliantly, there’s many more who spend years struggling to conceive and the long-awaited miracle never happens. For many, there isn’t a choice – some are still waiting to find a life-partner – but for those who do, but are like me and are hesitant – this is why I’m writing this piece.

Our second child, Tom, arrived two and a half years after Veronica when I was thirty-two. Even at that age, it was an exhausting time. Especially as I returned to reading the news when Tom was a mere five-weeks old.

Tom as a newborn. Photo by Alan Fletcher

The younger you start, the more energy you will have to cope with the incessant demands of parenting. Your body will bounce back more quickly and you are less likely to suffer from post-natal depression. I wish I’d started even younger!

As well, the earlier you start a family, the greater your chances are of becoming pregnant. After the age of 36, a women’s fertility rate declines at an alarming rate. Only two in five women over the age of 40 are able to conceive.

I know this is a sensitive and complex issue. I have another friend in her forties who is only now, considering having a baby. She says she hasn’t felt ready until now. Everyone is different and that’s all good. I’m just saying – if you’re like I was in my late 20s and think you have all the time in the world – think again. Look up the statistics and decide whether it’s really worth waiting. And to Hamish and Zoe, I’m thrilled for you both.

Catch of the Day strikes again…

Posted on October 29, 2013 by JenniferHansen

It was nearly a year ago that I posted this story – A Steamy Situation – Domestic Battles on the Homefront http://jenniferhansen.com.au/?p=1681

Fletch using the Beldray steam mop…

You’d think that would have been enough public humiliation for husband Fletch to give up his addiction to Internet shopping site Catch of the Day – but NOOooooo…

Only last week, another domestic appliance arrived to clutter up the laundry cupboard. (In case you were wondering, that was the last time he used that useless steam mop.)

THIS IS IT…

REVOLUTIONARY SPLIT ADJUSTABLE IRONING BOARD!

Not just ANY ironing board. It’s a REVOLUTIONARY SPLIT ADJUSTABLE IRONING BOARD!! Well, that’s what they called it on Catch of the Day’s website.

Apparently, having two ‘arms’ instead of just ONE plank to iron on, helps save time and energy, makes ironing an absolute joy and sends masses of endorphins pumping through your veins. I wish. Ironing would have to be my most hated domestic chore, so I would have welcomed something to ease the pain, but this device doesn’t do anything of the sort.

In fact, contrary to its claims, it’s a complete and utter piece of crap. I tried it. Shirtsleeves do not fit over the arms – like it claims – because they are too fat. The clamp in the middle takes twice as long to hold a collar in it to iron than doing the damn thing in the old-fashioned way, PLUS it’s a good metre shorter than the old faithful ironing board that we’ve had for twelve years and never had a problem with in the first place.

How to put an ugly crease in ALL your ironing…

But the ‘piece de resistance’ of this contraption, is what happens when you put the arms together for ironing. Instead of a SMOOTH plank, you have a crevice down the middle, so that anything you attempt to iron ends up looking MORE crumpled than when you began. It’s hilarious that anyone could have thought this would be a good idea in the first place.

You might think I’m being unreasonable and ungrateful, but I challenge you to try one yourself. Actually, don’t. You’d just be wasting your hard-earned cash. And I am appreciative that Fletch thinks these gadgets can in some way make life in the Fletcher household rosier, but I’m of the view that we need to start getting RID of STUFF, rather than accumulating MORE.

Like the useless Beldray steam mop, I placed the said crappy ironing board in his office for him to ‘RETURN TO SENDER’. No such luck. It’s found a home next to the steam mop, on top of the ever-growing chaos inside our laundry cupboard.

So please, Fletch, NO MORE Catch of the Day super specials. And can you book a hard rubbish collection before Christmas???

Belle Beans – how to get from the beach to the pub without changing shoes

Posted on October 24, 2013 by JenniferHansen

You wouldn’t think it, judging from Melbourne’s crappy weather right now, but yes, summer IS just around the corner. Which makes you think of heading to the beach and how to spend those lazy long hot holidays using the least amount of energy possible.

Popping in to one of my fave local shops lately, I spied a fabulously comfy looking summer shoe option – aptly named after the store that sells them – Belle and Beans.

Belle & Beans, Martin Street - Gardenvale

Belle & Beans, Martin Street – Brighton

Nova Healy, Belle and Beans owner

Take out the word ‘and’, and there you have it – Belle Beans – the idea for which designer and shop owner Nova Healy says sprang from one of life’s major dilemmas. Basically, Nova loves wearing thongs (flip-flops is the term for overseas readers) to the beach, but hates having to go have and change footwear to then head to a bar or the pub. How could she solve this heinous difficulty? Where could she find something suitable to wear on her feet that would suit both beach AND the bar?

Belle Beans shoes

The solution was simple. MAKE THEM YOURSELF! ‘I wanted something for comfort and for style. Something that was fun for summer,’ she said. ‘We’ve got eight colours, including green, orange, pink, navy, black, and red and it comes in eight sizes.’

Nova says the design caters for both teenagers and more mature women. Best of all is the PVC, which is incredibly soft to wear. ‘We tested lots of plastics to find the right substance. It took a while to get it right but these are just as comfy as slipping on a pair of thongs and they don’t ‘sweat’,’ she said.

Red or navy?

Belle Beans are also affordable with the retail price being just $39.95. Already they’re being snapped up by stores across Australia. If you’d like to find out where you can pick up a pair, go to Nova’s website at www.belleandbeansshoes.com.au or pop in to her store at 142c Martin Street, Brighton, Victoria. Your feet will be glad you did!

What’s on the menu at Circa – checking out the latest in fine dining

Posted on October 18, 2013 by JenniferHansen

We all have our favourite dining spots and nothing provokes greater debate than the latest release of a TOP TEN restaurant list – especially in Melbourne, arguably host city of the country’s best quality establishments. (of course, I live here…)

Circa, at The Prince in St Kilda, has long been held in high regard and is definitely in my Top Ten. (http://www.circa.com.au/) It’s undergone a reincarnation of sorts in the past eighteen months, since it was taken over by the Melbourne Pub Group. The vibe of the venue is now more relaxed, but the standard of dining far is still first-rate.

Circa Restaurant

I was lucky enough to be invited to a special lunch this week, launching Circa’s new Spring Lunch menu. Under the guidance of MPG’s executive chef Stephen Burke, new chefs Ashly Hicks and Lyndon Tyers have produced a superb menu that’s also very affordable. This means you can enjoy lunch at one of Melbourne’s best restaurants, with two courses for $35 or three courses for $45. And yes, that includes a glass of wine.

The menu varies on the weekend, where the focus is more on seafood, so on Saturday and Sunday, the cost is $55.

Moet and Chandon champagne

The lunch on Wednesday was also sponsored by Moet and Chandon, so the bubbly was flowing freely in the courtyard before we sat down. Not many functions have free-flowing French these days, so I was in heaven before we even had a bite to eat.

Then we ventured into the restaurant where we were treated to a sample of what’s in store on the new menu. With every course, I had massive attacks of food envy, because I just wanted to eat everything in sight… Here’s how it went:

A choice of two items for entree….

Hand-picked spanner crab with avocado, lemonade fruit and wood sorrel

Robata grilled Spencer Gilf prawns with pickled cucumber, daikon and bergamot

Robata grilled Spencer Gulf prawns with pickled cucumber, daikon and bergamot

Likewise, with the mains, it was difficult to pick which would be the tastier – suckling lamb or roasted Milawa duck? For me, the duck won hands down, not only with its colourful presentation, but the intricate flavours were more appealing than the more basic styling of the lamb.

Roasted Milawa duck with tangelo, endive and blackened seasoned onion

Flinder’s Island milk fed suckling lamb with roasted gem, yuzu and coriander

But every one has different tastes and you can tell from the smiles at our table, there were happy customers all round.

The Circa Spring Lunch launch

The chefs excelled themselves with the desserts – both stunning in presentation, like works of art – and such delicate, melt-in-the-mouth flavours, it’s left me counting the days till I can return for more. (The meringue slices on the cheesecake were unbelievably light)

Valrhona ‘Manjari’ chocolate mousse with mandarin, buttermilk custard and cookie crunch

Vanilla and L’Artisan fromage blanc cheesecake with toasted oats, yuzu custard and meringue

What better way to finish off such a superb gastronomic experience than with a couple of Expresso Martinis? This is a favourite cocktail of mine and one I’m rather fussy about but Circa do it with style.

Expresso Martini

So if you’re wondering where to plan your next social catch up or business lunch, now you know where to head. A guaranteed delight. If you’d like a closer look at what’s on offer, here’s a copy of the latest lunch menu:

Circa’s new lunch menu

Circa is at 2 Acland Street, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia.
Ph – 9536 1122

The website is http://www.circa.com.au/

Opening hours are:
Mon-Sun, 12pm-Late

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