The first birthday and the next thing

Tomorrow we are having the first birthday in the house. 

Tonight my job was to wrap presents and assemble a cake. In the olden days I made cakes but these days the kids favourite cake is assembled.

It is a sponge cake, with jam, marshmallows, chocolate drizzle and whipped cream. The jam this time is marmalade. As a nod to health (yes I AM joking) I have included mandarin slices between the layers.
There is left over chocolate drizzle just in case some one needs just a little more.

But all this brings me to my next adventure!

In the last 5 years I have been doing a massive yoyo.

Weight wise.

After Michael's accident, I went into crusade mode and lost 26kgs. Since then I have found them all and a couple to spare.

How?
It's simple calorie intake exceeds calorie expenditure.

Why?
Less simple.

• The antidepressants I take have been linked to weight gain. That is a nice cop out.

And?
I love crunching. It may seem daft, but more than anything I like crunchy food. Cheese is fine, put it on a biscuit and it is great. Sandwiches are nice but you won't see me getting passionate about them- but I can eat toasted sandwiches every day-twice a day.
I like but don't adore chocolate but salty things are very very delicious.
And Spicy? Rich thick spicy gravies soaked into rice? mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Oh! and spicy noodles........ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
As you can see I have some food passions and me and my obsessive button find dealing with food passions very difficult.

• So lets add obsessive compulsive to the list of why.

And?

• Change of job

When I ran Hobbysew, I RAN! There was always too much to do. I would fly up two flight of stairs in the mall to do the banking and back down again. Dash for phones, throw boxes and stock around. If I came home exhausted and dirty I had been having a good day. The new job? Well I run back and forth to the photocopier and it just does not substitute.

• Part time to full time work.

In 2010 I joined a gym and had a ball. I loved it. I very quickly got very fit and for a while that disguised some of the changes and problems but when I went to full time work, I just didn't have the time any more. And boy oh boy, did the weight start to pile on. I can feel I have lost my fitness and my bones are aching from carrying the weight.

Decision?
Drastic diet time again.

Reason to hope for a better outcome this time?
This is the big question in reality, isn't it?

Well this time I am in the driver's seat of my life. There is no one to give me 3kgs of chocolate for Christmas.
With the kids away 50% of the time, there will be lots of nights I can eat very lightly without having to hear all the complaining.

And?
Well I am hoping that Mark, my no.1 supporter and one-eyed loyal fan, will keep me on track once I have lost the weight. I am hoping he is going to take me out for walks, find things for us to do, join me in the garden... stuff like that. He says he doesn't mind the weight issue but I know he cares how I feel. As he knows I want this weight off, he is behind me 100%!

And the cake shown above?
Well I told you already I don't have a sweet tooth and already after licking the spoon I have had my fill!