A day at the zoo...

I bought a camera last year, with the intention of emersing myself in the art of photography, learning the tricks of the trade and actually justifying the expense of the thing. Typically, this all became another item on my to-do list.

Enter Mum.

Mum has been through a few digital cameras over the last 4 years, each time increasing her knowledge and know how, and over the last few months, taking some stunning shots. She has recently upgraded to the same camera as I - the Canon EOS 350D SLR, and has certainly made the most of her purchase.

She's also decided to get me off my butt, booking me into a day at the zoo for a 4 hour beginners photography course. What a bloody fun time I had.

Mum arrived at my place at 7am on Saturday. Yes, that is early. Then my darling boy drove us to Circular Quay to catch the boat to the zoo. After an energy laden brekky, we jumped on the boat to head across the water. We asked for directions at the bottom entry, and got given a lift to the top entry in one of the zebra striped zoo-mobiles. Kinda funny. We were running a bit late so the lift was appreciated.

The next few hours were spent learning about the basic features of the camera, what makes a good shot, and how to improvise with lighting and composition when the natural conditions are not ideal. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time. It was great fun. We walked around with the cameras for four hours, eagerly pleading with the animals to pose for us. Although that was a bit of an up hill battle, I ended up taking about 320 shots, of which 20 or so were actually good. It was a really good day.

The other fun bit was that mum and I were laughing pretty much the whole day, and one of the photographers who was instructing us wanted to take a few portrait shots. He took most of them on his camera, heaps of me on my own, but lots with mum too. He also grabbed my camera and took a few. Here are a couple of mum and I:




And here are a few of the photos I was happy with:







I'm definately going to book myself into the longer course to learn more. Thanks for getting me off my butt ma!

Have a great week everyone.

P.S
Weight is undercontrol. Hovering at about 66kgs, which I can deal with for now. Still keen to get back down to 63.5 but hey, it's only a number right?

Make it Count!

Here's a new one for you ladies (and gentlemen) - if you can't "Do it Anyway" then for any activity that you can do, "Make it Count!". Walk faster, everywhere, and if you get somewhere early, walk around the block to kill the minutes till you are supposed to arrive.

This has been the little thought at the back of my head for the last few months. I've found it really difficult to fit in proper exercise, proper eating habits and proper sleep. So I've been compensating by powerwalking to the station, running up the stairs and trying to 'beat people' everywhere. This includes picking a person at the beginning of the QVB, who looks like they are in a hurry to get to the station, and then making sure I race them to the gates. Not the most leisurely way to go through the QVB, especially for the people I displace on the way through, but if I 'win' I feel like I've achieved something!

It's interesting to come back and read a few blogs after being away for a while. I've missed being in the loop, but I know the network is always there, to 'feed' off - to absorb the good advice and celebrate with people.

My weight has been up and down for a bout 3 months now. Up to 69 when I have my period and then down to about 66 a week after. It sits there for about 4 days then starts going up again. It's a nasty loop. When the weight it up, I feel depressed and unattractive/unconfident, and then when it starts to slide down I get a glimpse of hope that I am still in control, and then it goes up again... I can't win.

I've been starting to try and settle on the knowledge that I may always been at the heavy end of my healthy BMI. I'm in two minds - I can focus on the achievement that I have lost 30kgs (34 at best) and that I haven't gained it ALL back on, or I can feel failure because I am unable to fully control my weight at the "happy Cath" level.

Here's something else I've been pondering:

I don't know about you guys but I've realised that I am ALWAYS making a choice when I put food into my mouth. I know exactly what the result will be, and I can't seem to turn the switch off, If I eat something, I have already decided if it is good or bad, if it is high kjoules, if it will effect my weight. The decision isn't necessarily wise, but it's a decision regardless. I think about food everything single day, every meal and every snack is my choice, good or bad. I can't remember if I used to have this food 'conscience' before I started this journey. I can't necessarily control the options, but I control the decision.

I'm babbling but I did have a point - there are a few changes that I made during my journey that make a difference to how I eat now: I choose skim milk, I choose not to have sugar in my coffee, I choose diet softdrink, I choose no fat on meat, I choose low fat yoghurt, I choose rice crackers over chips. I choose to have no butter or margarine. All of these choices are now part of my everyday diet, they are no longer sacrifices that I make. I wonder if the maintenance of at least the majority of my weightloss is partially due to these permanent choices I now make?

Have a great week kiddies, and remember, if only for today, make it count!