Cup of Tea?

Just made a cup of this tea, Cranberry, Raspberry & Strawberry! Its got the most delightful fragrance, smells delicious. Not usually a flavoured tea fan, usually stick to good ole' Black with milk and sugar, but sometimes I fancy something different so I bought this instead. Might be a winner... (and because I DO love a pink drink, it is handily a beautiful warm reddish-pink colour)

Shitty nights sleep and more coffee shop capers

Welcome to my 600th post.
Yay!

I slept SO badly last night. M was sleeping on his back, just slightly encroaching on my side, and I was hyper aware of it all night. I kept tossing and turning and grabbing doona. He was clearly oblivious to my discomfort however, laughing at me when I exploded onto his side of the bed as soon as he'd vacated it.
My fitful night led to some intense, very weird dreams, but I can't remember them now. Should have written a few key words down. Something about a ravine...


Monday night is chocka block at the gym. I don't normally get to go on a Monday, we have dinner at my mother-in-laws normally on Monday nights. I do think its a great way to kick off the week however.
I've increased my tea and coffee consumption through the work week I've noticed. Since I gained access to a plunger at work, I normally have at least one coffee, and one cup of tea. I would have said before now, that average tea/coffee consumption was only one macch, first thing in the morning. Occasionally I would mosey over to the cafe for another coffee, or a hot chocolate, but these instances were few and far between.
I'm wondering if the added milk and sugar are affecting me, even though I only ever have skim + 1.

Coffee Lady accidentally made an enemy last week. She asked me to "have a quiet word" with my boss about the fact that he'd forgotten to pay for his coffee and toast as he was chatting with a friend while he was in the cafe. I instantly forgot of course, so when she asked me the next day what his response had been (as he didn't come in to settle the matter), I smacked my forehead and proclaimed I would "go straight back" and discuss it.
When I mentioned it to him however, he blew up, saying he did pay, and starting spouting some righteous indignation that he'd been so good to her, helping her in her personal life, not taking the free coffees that the loyalty cards are for. He gave me the money to pay her, vowing not to take his patronage there again however.
And I guess yes, when I think about it, she's essentially saying she thinks he's the sort of guy who would just walk out without paying, happy to fleece her.

She recently put her prices up, and my coffee went up by 10c. Prices increased Monday, but as I'd had an appointment, I trundled over none-the-wiser on Tuesday morning, short the 10c when I went to pay. So instead of saying "no don't worry about it, just pay the increased amount from tomorrow" she added me to a long list of 10c here, 20c there "payments owed" on the wall.

She's a funny bird, for someone who has the shop littered with "good Karma" concepts and life and love giving mantras; she's tight as a ducks asshole.

Soup Diet

The Hubs and I are doing the Sacred Heart Memorial Diet. This is one name for it anyway. Mum was given it by her cardiologist so it can't be all bad really. (this is M's idea also btw)
Made the soup last night, and how satsifying is chopping vegies! So much precision! So much fun!
Ok thats mad, I know, but I actually quite enojyed it. The knives were sharp and watching my pot of soup grow, I felt a bit like the guy that created Frankenstein, but without the human robot crazy factor.

• Day 1 - Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.
• Day 2 -All vegetables. Eat until you are full with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn. Eat veggies along with the soup. A baked potato and dinner time with butter. Don’t eat any fruits through today.
• Day 3- Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato.
• Day 4 -Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup.
• Day 5-Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.
• Day 6 -Beef and veggies, eat to your heart’s content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.
• Day 7 Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, until full (and eat the soup). You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.

Only Drinks Allowed

• Unsweetened juices
• Tea (also herbal)
• Coffee
• Cranberry juice
• Skim milk
• Lots of water

So its not going to be easy toward the end. M won't find it as difficult as me though as he's got a work lunch today (Day 1) and a work thing next Wednesday (Day 6). Bah
I quite like soups like this, hope I'm not too sick of it at the end.
Here's the finished product -I normally like Cranberry Juice (its an ingredient in Ponipolitans) and I bought some from the greengrocer near work, a brand I haven't had before, and its mixed with Grape Juice. Not a fan. Back to Ocean Spray methinks.
I'll let you know how we go, the paperwork says you can lose between 10-17 lbs on it, which I think is between 4-8 Kgs. *shrug*
Wish us luck. Or thinness.

Are Lemons the answer?

Stumbled upon an article today "Lose weight with Lemons". Ok I'm thinking -Fad Diet. But I will read it anyway, I'm not picky. I've done Cabbage Soup.

I listen to a radio station that has "The Lemon Detox Diet" as one of its sponsors (And I am SO over listening to Tania Zaetta-when was she on TV? Six years ago? How is that a relevant celebrity endorsement? Give me Cate Blanchett and SK-II or Jessica Simpson and Pro-Activ Solution any day) so I thought I would have a quick look to see if it was simply Activspruiking that diet.
Interestingly it wasn't, it's a different one.

Essential differences between The Lemon Juice Diet (hereafter Juice diet) and The Lemon Detox Diet (hereafter Detox Diet)

• Juice Diet you drink Lemon Juice and water before breakfast to "stimulate your digestive system"
  
• Have you seen what you're meant to drink on the Detox Diet? See below (I love the way the photo makes it look like you're in a resort drinking this)
• See below points for recipe for Detox Diet recipe
• One is an eating program with a weird fad thrown in (which is essentially why it will work)
• The other is a fad with no actual food.
  

So the recipe for the Lemon Detox Diet drink seen in the picture above is as follows

To make one glass of Natural Tree Syrup and Lemon Drink mix

• Two small tablespoons (or 20 ml) of Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup™.

• Two tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about half a lemon). Use fresh lemons, not lemon drink or concentrate.

• Half a pinch of cayenne pepper (adjust to taste).

Mix the ingredients and dilute with at least 250ml of water.

Umm, tree sap? Oh sorry, Syrup. Still ew. And Pepper? This stuff sounds revolting, and you're ideally meant to drink 6-8 glasses, or whenever you're hungry.
Ummm, and a "Laxative Tea"(!!!!) and "Sea Salt Water" In the morning.
GROSS

Comparatively the Juice Diet you drink your juice in the morning mixed with water (ok still kind of yuk but hey we're trying to lose weight here without having to become Tri-athletes or Gym Princesses/Hunks-its slightly lazy, yes) and then try to add Lemon to as much of your food as you can.
They try to fluff it out a bit, I mean they're trying to sell a whole book on the idea, but that's it in a nutshell. The "7 Principles" are "Drink Lemon juice and water, eat good and move more"
Clearly I am paraphrasing or they would have a post-it, not a book.

So I'm giving it a go. Hehehe maybe we can fill our fruit bowl with healthy looking lemons, instead of what it currently contains, chocolate.

When Life gives you Lemons, grab the tequila! (Lemonade is simply no fun without vodka)

Tea bag business

And they all bowed down and chanted "Hail, Queen of Lipton!!"

This seriously reminds me so much of the dancing scene in the King and I. Yul Brenner version. Eliza run! Poor Eliza! Eliza Run! This dress is made entirely of Tea bags and comes from lovely hah. Apparently, she even used the jiggly string for thread!