I’ve spoken about my issues with control and related to control is anxiety and an inability to relax. As part of my coaching sessions I was asked to read up on the various meditation techniques and to try some of them out the following week.
Last Sunday I tried Mindfulness Meditation, which is the practice of observing your environment, thoughts and emotions but letting them pass without judgement. Just being present.
Recognising and acknowledging every experience received from all of your senses. I sat on the porch with Finn.
I greeted the wind, watched the large birds of prey soar across the valley, heard the horses whinnying, the roosters crowing, the young girl next door singing and playing her ukulele, dogs barking, motorcycle engines roaring down on Main Road all while staring at my mountains and sitting in gratitude.
I find being in my little nest so grounding and restful.
We shared a few different salads and tapas last Sunday night from Massimo’s in Hout Bay. I ordered the Laguna salad, a divine cauliflower dish called ‘Flamenco’, and a bit of seared beef carpaccio. Norm ordered a chicken Caesar salad and the eggplant parmigiana. We had far too much food but at least now we know there are low carb options at Massimo’s. I love their food and like to support various local venues. It can get boring having the same take out over and over (since I am not a big fan of cooking, especially in the heat). And getting bored is the gateway to getting a pizza.
I loved that cauliflower dish! I might try something like that in the air fryer.
On Monday neither Norm nor I had made any special plans for Valentine’s Day. It was very hot and we decided we would just get take out and I was craving sushi. I carefully chose some items without rice. I had some seared tuna sashimi, a prawn salad, prawn tempura, and a type of sushi they call ‘Butterfly’ which is cucumber and avocado, wrapped in a prawn, then wrapped in salmon then drizzled with Japanese mayo and a teriyaki sauce. The prawn tempura was battered and the prawn salad had some sort of crunchy stuff sprinkled on top, but other than that it was mostly low carb. I did not even have a drink! Usually we would go to a posh place for a tasting menu and loads of wine. Instead I had a healthy session in the pool and some tasty food at home with my darling husband. I am perfectly fine with that!
Tuesday and Wednesday we had ordered food to be delivered from Spiro & Julie at Home again. Tuesday we had chicken with a ranch, sharp cheddar cheese and bacon topping served with roasted balsamic root vegetables. It was really yummy and felt very wholesome. Whereas on Wednesday we had seared tuna tataki with an umami sesame soy sauce which was served with a salad of coleslaw, edamame beans and kale or seaweed? I wasn’t sure. Whatever it was it was all quite exotic and really tasty. It is so nice to know that dinner is catered for after a long day and there is always a variety of choices on their weekly menu.
Thursday after work I had a swim. Finn joined in of course. I cooked dinner afterwards and then that night I had my session with my coach. I cooked a roast pork loin fillet in teriyaki sauce and loads of butter, oven roasted some broccoli and steamed some cauliflower and mashed it and served it all with a bit of sauerkraut. I drizzled some of the buttery teriyaki left in the roasting pan over the top of my cauli mash.
I bought myself a few spoils this week. MAC had a buy 2 get 2 free special on and I bought 2 new colours and got 2 others thrown in for free. I love their products and if the colour does not suit me it will suit one of the girls but I have tried 2 of them so far and I love them. Number 659 ‘Natural Born Leader‘ is perfect for my skin tone. ‘Good For My Ego‘ is a coloured gloss which is a glistening gorgeous soft wine colour.
I also ordered the most stunning necklace from I Am Boho.
How sweet is the way they packaged it with the personal, hand-written note? Adorbs. Such minor touches make such a major impact and I love supporting local businesses.
Finn is loving the pool.
He spends his days splashing around while I am working. He then races around the garden and gets filthy and then comes into the house covered in mud.
We have created a monster.
I noticed something this week. He stole a coaster and took off racing around the room with me in tow until I finally thought, ‘bugger this’ and stopped. The funny thing is that when I turned and went back to my desk he followed me and sat at my feet and dropped it.
Like most men, he was only interested when I stopped chasing him. Not that I have been chasing any men! But you know what I mean.
Allegedly.
Whatever.
Friday I had to work late to accommodate a meeting with a colleague who is based in India, so a 4:30 meeting on a Friday afternoon in SA to him is no biggy as it was his Friday night. The rest of us who are based here certainly complained but we still showed up.
I swam after I finished my meeting and of course Finn had to join in.
His new trick is to jump up on top of me while I am lumbering my way into the water. Our steps are quite widely spaced and deep and he almost knocked me in to the pool out of his excitement. He got out and rolled in the dirt and then ran upstairs and jumped on our cream coloured bedding which had just been changed 2 days prior when he jumped on the bed again while filthy. Norm was not impressed and somehow I always get blamed.
Norm went down to get sushi for me again as it was so perfect for the hot weather. I ordered the prawn salad, the Butterfly sushi and prawn tempura all again, but I swapped out the tuna sashimi for the salmon as I realise I am not a huge tuna fan. I much prefer the smell and texture of salmon. The mayo is low in sugar but not sure about the sticky brown sauce. It was yummy which means it is probably full of sugar. Nevermind. I really enjoyed my food and ate every bite!
I am slowly losing again after my little blip of chaos last week. I have now lost a total of 5.5 kgs which is almost 12lbs in Yankee money. My worst habit is snacking at night, even when I am not hungry. Norm comes out of the kitchen with a glass of wine and some nuts and I want nuts too – I need to get over that feeling of needing to nibble just because Norm is eating. Food FOMO?
I am pretty much fasting each day from the time I eat at night until midday the following day. I always fast at least 12 hours but it is usually more like 16. I am having coffee with cream in the mornings and then I only have food after noon, trying to last until I actually feel hunger. I then have 3 tablespoons of full fat yogurt, 1 teaspoon of low sodium and sugar peanut butter and a sprinkling of low carb muesli. I am not that hungry in the day time when it is so hot.
Today Norm and Finn are off to puppy class, he has moved up to the ‘big puppy’ group and will get to make a new set of friends. He is just the happiest boy and that energy appeals to everyone (except my poor old Poms who just want to sleep and watch the grass grow).
Mzudumo is here painting our bright blue garden shed which looks a right mess. We chose a pale grey colour which should make it less of an eye sore.
I am having a lazy day, it is stunning and warm so I will swim this afternoon to get some movement in after I catch up on RuPaul. I still have not had confirmation that I have to go into the office next week. Hopefully I can get an exemption from going in just for the sake of being seen. I have booked my booster vaccine and do not want to venture out at all until that has had time to settle.
Have a great weekend and week ahead. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxoxo
Kitten in the City 