Outback Expat – Page 2

Brisbane Park Run Tour – New Farm

April 7, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

Of all of the Park Runs I have tried so far I would say that New Farm is my favourite. Me, Naomi and the Aussie have visited a few times so far and I plan to go back again.

1. Course

The course is lovely, it runs along the river which is one of my favourite places to visit in the city, and back again.

2. Accessibility / Manoeuvrability

The course has nice wide paths so it is easy to go past the other participants and people also enjoying the river on foot/scooter/bikes. Another plus is that it is mainly flat and there are markets nearby which you can enjoy after your run.

3. Volunteers

The volunteers are lovely, very helpful and informative. They are also very encouraging as you go past.

4. Photography

So far I have liked the photos which they publish after the event. They usually take them by the finish line when I try and get that last minute burst of energy to run!

5. Ambience

The best thing about Park Run is the ambience. Everyone is very supportive and positive and it really doesn’t matter if you run it in under 20 minutes or walk it in an hour. The main thing is that you are there giving it a go and getting better every week.

Mount Coot Tha Botanical Gardens

March 31, 2019 by Vicky 1 Comment

The Aussie and I live so close, about 10 minutes away, from Mount Coot Tha and the Botanical Gardens and we have lived in Brisbane since June 2017 so it really was about time that we visited the Gardens!

We have both been working long hours including during the weekends so we set aside our Sunday so we could spend some lovely time together and also explore the gardens.

The gardens themselves are 56 hectares in size and we only touched the surface but it is such a lovely and tranquil space to have a wander, take a seat in a shady spot and watch the world go by.

There are lots of different areas including Lagoons, a Rainforest Walk, a Bonsai Garden and a Japanese Garden as well as some longer walking tracks.

There was also plenty of wildlife around the gardens including lizards, ducks and a LOT of spiders!!! The spiders webs were everywhere including between the plants that is an absolute nightmare for me!

We took a walk around the outside of the Gardens which was lovely albeit it a bit warm as the sun was blazing. Luckily there are plenty of shady spots under trees or a shade cloth if you need to escape the sunshine.

I really enjoyed our time, especially the Greenhouse area and also spending some time sitting in the Japanese Garden.

I look forward to getting back there again soon to explore some more.

Take a tour around the Gardens

Food Shopping & Meal Prep Essentials

March 24, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

I meal prep my own meals and then plan and cook meals for the Aussie each week. There are certain things which I buy week in week out.

Recently I have been putting together a proposed meal plan based upon my macros and then Felicity will review them and make suggestions which has been both fun and interesting because sometimes it feels like a real juggling act to get it right. I feel like I am learning so much about food and how all the macros interact to make sure I eat whole healthy foods and don’t get hungry.

Sometimes I hit my protein macros when I am planning but then find that I don’t have enough carbs or fat so then have to go back and adjust. It is not easy especially when you want variety so you don’t get bored of your meals.

Green veggies – I can almost always guarantee that I will include green veggies including broccoli, green beans and peas in one or more of my meals each day because they really help fill me up. Also I generally don’t count them towards my calories. I used to buy everything fresh but as frozen vegetables are pretty good quality because they are snap frozen I now usually just buy the frozen green vegetables pack from Coles, they take a few minutes to cook and taste delicious.
Alternative or as well as green veggies I will have a green salad made up of spinach, kale, lettuce, cucumber, celery and throw in some red onion as well.
Protein (of course) – My protein choices vary between eggs, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, salmon and white fish. We like to mix it around so there is variety because I have the same meals for 7 days at a time. Protein is great because it helps reduce hunger and helps boost your metabolism.
Carbs – For carbs we swap between oats, basmati rice, jasmine rice, quinoa, white potatoes and sweet potatoes. We have found that my body reacts pretty well to carbs and I enjoy eating all of those (especially oats for my breakfast!).
Fats – we do not work on a low fat diet and I understand that this is actually not very helpful when you are trying to loose weight. My fats choices include olive oil, avocado, flaxseed oil, avocado oil. I have tended to lean towards avocado and olive oil but I am trying to mix in other oils.
Others – we also include foods like peanut butter (yum with oats and chocolate protein powder), almond butter, tahini, sauerkraut, herbs and spices which are all delicious additions.

The Unexpected Side of Weight Loss

March 17, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

I would say that 99% of the time my weight loss is fantastic but I have noticed a few “side effects” of weight loss so I thought I would share a bit about that side of my “journey”.

Being cold – I used to have a whole lot of insulation so now when the temperature drops I feel it! A plus side of that side effect is also that when it is hot I don’t feel the heat quite so badly!
Perception – this goes in hand with number 5 below a bit. I know I am “smaller” and weigh less but I still get a surprise when I see how I look sometimes.
Weight plateaus – these are very frustrating. You are working hard, eating well, exercising had and yet you aren’t loosing weight. I had this for a while before starting to work with Felicity Neale and with her hard work and assistance I got through that one. Now we take everything on a week by week basis and adjust as and when required. We have also discovered that stress, lack or not enough sleep all plays a big impact on my weight losses/gains and so now I work hard to keep them in check.
Loose skin – this is probably the biggest side effect of them all! I have lost a lot of weight and probably have toned up as much as I can / will but there is still obvious loose skin on my arms, legs, stomach and back. I am working on having surgery to remove the excess skin but I am still quite conscious of it and how it looks to me at least and trying to hide it so it isn’t obvious. I have seen some people say that if they knew about the loose skin, they may not have lost weight. I never would say that. The benefits outweigh this “problem” and I can work on fixing the problem with weight loss surgery which is on the agenda.
Shopping – you would think that shopping now would be great and on the most part it is. Before I lost weight I would be able to shop in only a few shops and even if I went to buy clothes I would have to go to a small section of the shop and would have very few options so would buy what was available and not necessarily what I liked. Now when I go shopping I can pretty much shop everywhere and know that as long as the clothes are in my current size they will fit and probably look ok and that is actually a bit overwhelming! I have gone in to shops before and had to walk out quite quickly because of the variety. I am sure I will get over it but it is a very strange feeling!

As I said at the start, I wouldn’t change the fact that I have lost weight but I think that it is good to reflect upon the unexpected side effects.