Not so fab week

Hey everyone,

So things were going great....I was having a lovely weekend last week..and feeling all fab with myself... then Sunday evening, I started to feel ill...(possibly it was just the fear of Monday)..
I used that as an excuse to stop exercising and watching what I eat...normally, food makes me feel better but this time, it wasn't working...I was eating my fave snacks without discretion, taking energy drinks and toxic concentrations of coffee, but nothing made me feel better...everyone noticed I was dull at work, my tummy ulcer which I'd had under control started acting up again, and i was an emotional wreck...

On Friday morning, after I said my prayers, I decided that I'd had enough of feeling down and out, I was tired of feeling sorry for myself.. I was like: so what if I closed late everyday of the week and had to wake up early everyday? so what if my tummy ulcer was getting worse again?? so what if no one appreciates my efforts at work?? That was no reason to keep eating all the junk I had given up on..so I got out of bed and decided to weigh myself...I was not surprised to see I had gained the 2 kg I had lost over the past couple weeks..
That was a major blow to my already fragile self esteem...but I was determined not to give up!!
I decided to exercise but since I wasn't up for jumping, I brought out my purple cutesy yoga mat and got busy... after 10 mins my arms and thighs were burning and yet I still managed to squeeze in 100 jumps...wow!!!

Afterwards, I took a cold shower, had breakfast (eggs, cheese and coffee) and I was ready for a great day...and a great day I had. I achieved so much at work and in a short time too!!! Did my ward rounds in a jiffy and closed early (before 12noon early!!!!!!) , got home had a short nap...(I do have a huge sleep debt that needs to be paid off soon) and when I woke up, I did my laundry and cleaned my room and bathroom (since this weekend I'll be on duty)...#feelinglikesuperwoman

The essence of this post folks is to emphasize the power of positive thinking....I know it sounds cliche but its true...who knows, maybe my week would not have been so crappy if I had maintained an uberfab outlook...I can't say for sure..but what I do know is that, when I decided to stop feeling like crap, things turned around for the better...I probably would have still closed later than usual everyday, but I would have felt great doing it..
I also learned that even though I felt ill I should not have stopped exercising entirely. I should have just toned it down a notch or two..because this beautiful body God has given me knows and wants what is good for it..and immediately I resumed exercising and eating healthier, I felt great and my energy levels shot up immediately (with the help of coffee of course #wink)

I hope I have inspired you to maintain a positive outlook this week and always..being called back to work..lols..in the meantime just keep being fab!!

P.s: took a break from the E.R to write this post and to wish my uncle and my bff happy birthday! (luv you guys)

Easy peasy 10 minute salad

Hey everyone, Im so excited today because it's my first weekend off duty in a long while...I did have to go to work for a bit though but I got off before noon and in my books that qualifies as a day off..Lols 

As I write this blog post, I'm at a friend's house eating fufu, playing video games and just having a good time...(proud to say that I resisted the temptation of having a fizzy drink...#dancingazonto)...

Anyways back to the topic...my easy salad..but a little background history first..I wasn't always a salad person...I just didn't get why I should eat vegetables when I could eat sugary confectionaries and get a sugar high...Lols...but part of being fab is being healthy from the inside out and that was why I started looking for vegetables which I liked and could eat raw!!! 

I soon noticed that vegetables actually tasted really good when fresh and that has been my source of motivation...I've had to modify my salad recipe to make sure it's a stress free process without sacrificing taste..

Ingredients include: carrots, green bell peppers, cucumber, lettuce, sweet corn, avocado

(the lettuce is usually optional because I find that lettuce tastes bitter when it's not fresh)

I wash the vegetables in vinegar and/or salt depending on how dirty they look and how I feel..

I actually soak them for about 10 mins then rinse in clean water...then proceed to peel the carrots (my swivel potato peeler does it effortlessly) and half the green bell peppers to remove the seeds and rinse them again...

When I wash lettuce I make sure I wash each leaf individually and keep them upside down to drain in a colander...

I did not find fresh lettuce this time and I already had the carrots and bell peppers in my fridge so I had to make this salad or risk them going bad.

The veggies in this picture are already cleaned and dripping dry..

When the veggies are dry, I grate the carrots using the larger teeth of my grater, then I chop up the rest of the veggies into separate bowls.

I usually like the carrots looking long and stringy and I achieve this look by grating in one direction only..

I usually get impatient waiting for the veggies to get dry so I pat them with a kitchen tissue to save time...Lols...

I cut up the vegetables as quickly as I can...the size doesn't matter but they do look nicer when the size is uniform!!!

When I'm done with all that, I strain the water out of the sweet corn...and then it's time to put them all together in layers...

I just take a little of each veggie and spread in a thin layer turn by turn till they are all finished...

I usually make it in a plastic bowl with a lid to make storing it easy...

I call this my 10 minute salad because it takes about 10 mins to clean well and 10 mins to prepare..(I make a little each time so it takes less time to prepare and it finishes before it goes sour)

I add the avocado just before I eat it as a sort of dressing because I don't want extra calories from creamy salad dressings...sometimes when I have fresh tomatoes I add those too just before serving because if kept too long, the tomato has a way of making it go bad faster...

Other ingredients that I love in my salad include apples, almonds, spring onions, cashew nuts, seedless grapes,...etc..the list is endless..

Now i see salads as a fun way of eating healthy and they can be dressed up all fancy or dressed down to the bare minimum..it's all up to me

Any ideas on how I can further fab up my salad without increasing preparation time?

Pictures...finally

Hey there!!! I know I promised to upload pics of my cute hair (which isn't looking so cute anymore..because I sleep like a ninja!!!)...and I also know it's unfab to make excuses...however I did suffer a major setback...

My totally überfab htc one x broke!!! (fell on the roadside face down)

Well its not in pieces but the screen is pretty messed up and it makes using it so uninteresting...this baby was my camera, computer, phone and personal assistant.. It made blogging easier and more fun..I was pretty bummed out about it and suffered withdrawal symptoms for a couple days, but I'm ok now.

I'm looking for a replacement phone..(already moved on)...the major contenders are Samsung s4 and HTC one...hmmm..choices, choices, choices...

I think I also need a digital camera so I can blog with more pictures..but that would have to wait..

In the meantime, I'm blogging on my ipad and I have to use its camera to take photos...I must say it's a bit tricky trying to take a selfie with the rear camera and the resolution of the front camera leaves a lot to be desired..

Anyways enough with the rambling...here are photos of my 2week old hair!

I couldn't get the blue highlights to show up well due to the lighting (I'm a terrible photographer)

If you look hard enough, the blue is slightly visible..

(The above photos were all taken with the rear camera and I couldn't get a shot of my hair from the back)

As you can see my braids are not tight and I don't let anyone touch my baby temple hairs..though they tend to get unruly (I use aloe vera gel to gain some control..hehehe)..I'd take untidy hair over baldness anyday!!

Moving on to more pleasant topics, I got of work early on Wednesday #dancingalingo so I had some time to spare..and I got busy..

Made a salad..yummy!!

And a corned beef/vegetable sauce (it's a bit runny so that it doesn't get too dry when I microwave it subsequently)..

Recipes coming soon!

I also started this blog post but I was too tired to finish it..lols..and since I spent the whole of thursday in the theatre, that was also a bust... So here i am Friday morning taking a break from the E.R to keep my promise by completing this post..hmmm seems like this journey and documenting it is going to be a lot harder than i envisioned...

Finally, a quick update on my jump rope and eating healthy schedules: they are both going great; better than expected..I now look foward to my morning jumps and some days I even wake up before my alarm!!! (whoohoo!!!)...emphasis on SOME...lols

A quick reminder that I'm still looking for a challenge for next week/next month..(it would be nice to get some feedback)..I'm off to the E.R and taking fab with me..ciao!!

1st week enroute to Fabville

Let me first start this post with a disclaimer: "i am writing this post whilst on emergency duty..so i refuse to be responsible for any grammatical and/or spelling errors... but feel free to correct me though" lols...

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets get down to business...my first week went GREAT!!! way better than i would have expected!!!!

I was able to meet both of my goals..HURRAY!!!

The early morning jump rope sessions were a walk in the park!!! I'm really digging this whole fitness thing and in turn it has given me more stamina..I quickly grew bored with just 100 jumps...and now I'm up to 500. I was able to jump 5 days of the week and rested on Wednesday/Thursday because I was too tired to motivate myself to get out of bed early enough. The most impressive bit happened on Saturday after a really stressful night duty. I got home about midday on Sunday and i still managed to do 400 jumps after a short nap!! WOW!! I really surprised myself in a good way, like I can do anything i put my mind to! (#pattingmyselfon myback)

As for goal number two..well, it went just ok really..I barely managed to have a fruit everyday..but I still did it...I was too busy to toss a salad..(actually I closed late everyday so I couldn't buy the vegetables).. but I had an avocado about 3 times during the week..that counts as a vegetable right?? I mean its green!!! hehehe...

This week my goal is to keep up the success of last week, to keep improving on it, and maybe to try giving up sugary drinks (huge joke right??). I seem to be on track so far except for the part where I already had 4 sugary drinks and two of them were cokes!!! #hidesface..

Not to worry though, I wont stop trying!!!

In other related fabnews..I put my hair in these super cute braids with blue highlights!!! They look so dope and of course uberfabulous...I've been getting compliments all week long...pics coming soon I promise..

So that was how my first week enroute to Fabville went down..I'm celebrating each day that passes by, choosing to be happy in the present and to remain optimistic about the future (wherever it leads)..what about you???

By the way, I need uberfab ideas for my next goals and targets..(p.s. I love a good challenge..so bring it on!!!)

P.S: No humans were hurt whilst i stole time away to write this post..pinkie swear! 

Baby steps

So....(#sitsdown&getsreadytoramble)

I was thinking.. I've been all about preparing for this super exciting journey but this morning it occurred to me i might never be fully prepared for whats ahead of me...after all no one has all the answers to life's questions..so i decided to start my trip today..but with baby steps...hehehehe..so excited!!

you know the saying 'the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step'..well no one said it had to be a big step right???...so on this journey im gonna start of with baby steps and slowly build up to a more confident catwalk!!!
what do i mean by baby steps????

This just means that in my quest to bring fab back, I'm not going to wake up one morning and make big lifestyle changes which might end up stressing me out further..so definitely no grand ideas like running a marathon or baking a 3 tier cake...at least not yet!
Im still a houseofficer (slave to humanity) which means my time doesn't belong to me and most days I spend between 10-12 hours in the hospital which leaves me tired ALL the time but all the same, this week, I decided to take two baby steps..
first step : Incorporate a little exercise into my already crazy routine!!! when I say little I mean little..I decided to start skipping in the mornings at least 100 times 5days a week..well I ended up jumping because I bought a pretty pink skipping rope and it turned out to be too short for me..lols so I just hold it in one hand and jump..I will continue to increase the number of jumps and maybe increase the days to everyday. I'm still researching all the benefits of skipping and it seems to be the perfect exercise..it even works on the abs and upper arms..I'm excited at the thought of toned abs and losing my flabby arm fat (christian mother arms)....hehehe..
So far 100 jumps a day hasn't left me sore so I'm not discouraged in fact I'm itching to add more jumps...but as I already said...baby steps!!!
Second step: eat fruits and or vegetables at least once daily!!this sounds pretty easy right?? wrong..since I eat commercial food three times daily its difficult to get veggies..I mean the dangers of eating an uncooked salad are real in theses areas where typhoid is endemic. so it means I have to buy my own veggies and wash in salt and vinegar before I can eat them and I just don't have the time!!! fruits are easier since I just wash and eat..so I do mostly bananas and apples since I can eat them with no cutting or preparation...I also came up with this idea to make really tiny salads with few ingredients and it seems to be working..I'll put up the recipe and pictures soon..baby steps ok!
So those are my first two baby steps..I'll be keeping in touch soon to write about how the first week went..hopefully I will still be standing..but if I fall...i'll just get back up again..after all its all about having fun for moi!

Preparing for my journey

Before the start of any journey there must be preparations...if the preparations are inadequate, the journey may end up a disaster..
I for one looooooove travelling but i hate packing and preparations so i think i know a thing or two about disasters..(i remember forgetting to pack underwear once because i packed hurriedly just a few hours before my trip..lols) but i digress..
The main issue is this i want my fab back and Im embarking on this journey to go get it back and before i start i need to prepare a few things especially my mind...
This journey is going to be full of ups and downs and i have to get ready for the downs..so that i don't give up all together...so i need determination
Secondly this journey to getting my fab back will take time..no shortcuts...I'm doing this the hard way that has been tried and tested...so i need patience
Thirdly i intend to have FUN... so i need to remember to always be chill...
I'm sure its about time i answered the obvious question of what i mean by getting my fab back:
Here's the thing...after i graduated medical school and started the torture called housejob, i sort of gave up on myself, i was always tired and stressed out...i started comfort eating at weird times of the day(and night) stopped hanging out and staying in touch with my friends (gave up on my blackberry) and almost became a recluse...and the worst part is that i blamed everything and everyone else for what and who i had become..i put on soo much weight about 20kg in less than 2 years (#shocked face) and i hated myself and everyone for what they did to me. Huh?????(crazy right?)
one day i realized i had had enough and i wanted the fun me back, the confident and outgoing fabulous diva in me wanted out..and that was how this blog was born..
i wanted to have a way of being accountable to both myself and my friends and family by documenting my goals and steps I'l be taking to get to those goals and that's the long summary of what i mean by getting my fab back..i am going to lose the extra kilos i piled on, I'm going to stop being unhappy, I'm going to get healthier from inside out, heck I'm going to grow out my hair, start caring for my nails, pray more often, learn how to bake...in short I'm going to do whatever it is i want to do to get the best version of Moi!