A good Stepford Wife --- cooks healthy dinners

This Stepford Wife to the Wagon has, like any newly wed wife, leapt into her new lifestyle with gusto.

Exercise, Little Alcohol, Lots of Water and Wonderful Healthy Food have been major features of this weekend.

And to prove it, here's a glimpse of tonight's tea... Bread-crumbed Eggplant, Pumpkin and Tofu with a Spicy Chilli Sauce, Broccoli Timbale, Trio of Cabbages and a Chinese Broth (and rice of course).

And here's Saturday night's dinner - Rare Beef Vermicelli Salad with a light Thai Curry Coconut Cream dressing... served with rice (of course!) alongside a Hot and Sour Chinese Broth! An ideal meal to watch the All Blacks win with... well as we all know that didn't happen but at least dinner was good!

 

 Fingers crossed I can make the "honeymoon period" last!

The One Where Bridget Becomes A Stepford Wife



Oh there's my wagon... I thought I'd lost it!

It all starts again today! The wagon got seriously left behind after a party weekend in Sanctuary Cove near Brisbane http://sanctuarycove.regency.hyatt.com/

Santuary Cove is a development full of newly retired with a shitload of money. I felt very "Stepford Wives" and was constantly on edge waiting for a tap on the shoulder to be taken in for 'processing'. Perhaps it was the nerves that caused me to party on so much???

So I've come back to Blenheim a wreck - exhausted with no voice and to cap it all off I pulled my neck and shoulder on Wednesday morning. The photographer thinks it's because I'm getting too old for this kind-of carry on. I'm starting to agree...

All in all it's been 2 weeks of almost "pre wagon" living and I don't feel zingy at all. (You'll all be pleased to know I didn't stop eating breakfast!)

It's kinda got me thinking... what happened if I lived the way I "should", y'know, became a "Stepford Wife" of sorts for a while and see if its as good as its cracked up to be. I mean, I don't anyone who does live like that completely so none of us know if the "ideal" is... well ideal??

So to research the role of "Stepford Wife" to the Wagon I thought of some key public health messages, we've been drilled with since childbirth. Things like;

1. Wear Sunscreen
2. Drinking eight glasses of water a day
3. Moderate exercising for 5 hours a week / Intense exercise for 2.5 hours
4. Eating 5 serves of Fruit or Veges a day
5. No smoking
6. Follow the food pyramid and moderate serving size
7. Moderate drinking - no more than one glass of wine, beer or hard liquor a day

Can you think of any other often-quoted public health messages I can add to my list???

"Stepford Wife"
1.) Used to describe a servile, compliant, submissive, spineless wife who happily does her husband's the wagon's bidding and serves his every whim dutifully.

"On The Wagon"
1.) Abstaining from drinking any alcoholic drink, usually in the sense of having given it up (as opposed to never having partaken). By extension, maintaining a programme of self-improvement or abstinence from some other undesirable habit.

So now we know what I'm talking about - I'll become a Stepford Wife to the Wagon - for 7 weeks - which takes me to my 32nd birthday. I'll blog about what I eat and what I exercise and how I feel and we'll see whether "Stepford Wife" to the Wagon is really so ideal!

Day Something - Feeling Virtuous

I am feeling very zingy today - full of health. Did a killer Spin class last night and almost spewed! Today I am having a rest as I feel bloody tired. Yet zingy. If that makes any sense!

Oh so MUCH to say to you...

This article http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/5376793/Stopping-the-merry-go-round  and also a discussion with friends about this Hello Sunday Morning http://hellosundaymorning.com.au/  made me realise there is no such thing as a new idea! Have a read - they're interesting.

I went to dinner on Saturday night and didn't drink. It was great and much easier than I thought... and I still had a laugh! Especially at myself... I took along a bottle of Tonic water. And drank it all, all 1.5L of it and felt oh so virtuous! But right at the end of the bottle we all took a look at its contents.

WHO KNEW HOW MUCH SUGAR WAS IN TONIC WATER!!!!!! 22g per 250 mls! I drank 24 teaspoons of sugar! My virtuous feeling was very swiftly deflated on finding that out!

I have been doing pretty well keeping my resolutions, and haven't added any new ones in this week as I want to consolidate my progress.

I had a run in today with some high school boys who called something out to me across the street. As I walked away I got a feeling that I needed to tell them that yelling out to a woman was not appropriate behaviour so I tracked them to The Warehouse, where I walked up to them, demanded an apology and told them to "never ever yell out like that at a woman again" after which I spun round on my purple suede heels and strode off.

I was quite timely then as I sped away in my car that I heard this saying, mentioned in reference to the rioting happening in London at the moment... "evil can only step in, when good people step aside".

I challenge you this week to not step aside.

Week Two Resolutions

So I've added three new tasks to the list to help me on my way to achieve my New Years Resolutions, I have quit smoking, reducing how much booze I put in my system with my 5 nights no drinking rule, and I am slowly getting into the eating breakfast thing... I'll update at end of week.

I wanted to complete four sporting events this year, so far I have done two. I did the King and Queen of the Withers in January... http://www.runningcalendar.co.nz/king-and-queen-of-the-withers/ and the Saint Clair Half Marathon in May... http://vineyardhalf.com/default.asp?PageID=11922

So my next one is this. To complete a leg of The Queen Charlotte Relay. Should be goodie - looking at a team from work doing it... http://www.harriers.net.nz/Queen%20Charlote%20Relay.htm I haven't run for yonks so I will need to get out there. Nicer now the evenings are lighter.

I have also joined the gym today with a free months membership so that should tide me over until September and warmer, lighter days. My aim is to exercise 5 days a week.

Last one for the week is to make a commitment to visit my Nana once a week.

I have so many more I want to so I will update my progress and reveal Week Three's resolutions on Sunday...