This Little Planner of Mine

My name is Paula and I am a planner / Stationary addict

I like the idea of being organized tho many thing in my home are not. The one thing I like to use to stay organised is my planner or as i like to call it "My Bible"

My Bible is a large Kikki -K Mint planner (A5 size planner), It has 7 dividers split as below

(Not sure why but it looks Blue in this pick)

Front of the Planner - I know this isn't really a divider but this is where I house Business card holders, plastic pockets, Emergency Information Page, Physician Contacts, Year Overview, Special Dates, Annual Appointments, Annual Renewals

Calendar - This section is self exploratory - I have my weekly planner in this section which is a 1 week over two pages.  This is a vertical layout starting on a Monday.  I found these on a website called Calvin was Right and the planner is called The Pretty Pretty Planner the box's in the vertical layout are 4cm x 4.9cm so the perfect size for all those Erin Condren sized stickers out there and best of all its a free download.





To Do's  - This section holds my Bucket List, To Do's, Things to make, Recipes to try, Notes, Books to Read & Buy, Movies to See & Buy and lastly my Password Tracker







Well-being - In here it's all about Health and Fitness, the pages in here are my Step Into Life timetable, Goal Tracking, Weight Loss Tracker, Measurement Tracker, Run/Walk Tracker and a Fitness Tracker




Finance - Show me the MONEY!, We have a Bank Information page, Budget, Bill Payment Checklist, Account Register for each of my accounts






Cakes By Paula - This is my fantasy business, This holds Pages like a price list from my local cake
decorator supply shop. Gift/Giveaway / Discount Tracker, Order/Profit Tracker, Monthly Expense Tracker, Yearly Expense Tracker and a Mileage Tracker





Seasonal - I think I need a better name for this section.  This section is where i am keeping pages that i may not need all year round. At the moment i have Job Application Tracker in it but i may also use it for things like Christmas Trackers or Notes for an upcoming event.

School - As I went back to school last year I am using this section to keep my  timetable and a map of the school. I am sure there is a lot more i could do with it just not sure what.  (feel free to offer some suggestions)

Most of my inserts are from ThePolkaDotPosie on Etsy (unless otherwise stated), I have a mix of a couple of planners from this store in my Bible including Direct Sale's Planner, Budget Planner and Health & Fitness Planner.  Jennifer also made me a custom cover, She also has a website and if you head over there you will find some awesome ideas and some free printable's like a 4th of July Treat Tags, Outdoor Scavenger Hunt, Christmas Printable's (I have these, just not in my planner at the moment), Thanksgiving Printable's, Halloween Treat Tags and lots more. I also have more of her planners on my Etsy Wish list.



I have  not gotten into the full decorating of my planner however I do like using stickers in my planner. I have two main Etsy stores I like to order from, The first one is HipDigiChick this was the first shop I ever purchased from and  I fell in love with the range straight away. My must have's from this store were the Washing Machine, Weight Scales, Cleaning Bucket, Go Walk Running Shoe, Yoga Frog Vacuum Cleaner and Workout Bottle.  When my order arrived they kindly added in some extra stickers which of course have now ended up on my Etsy Wish list.




My Second Sticker Store is Lime & Mortar, This is an Australian store so postage is much cheaper for me, and the customer server is the best I have ever had (online or in store) I have ordered lots of stickers from Leanne and she has even made custom stickers from me too including forklifts, Tupperware blows, Weeks of the year and Girl Guide logos.  I have also purchased some of her sets which if i order the "Short" size fit nicely in my planner and as you may guess yes i have a lot of Lime & Mortars range in my wishlist too.

Hello Again Friends

Hi All,

I know its been a long time and for that I am sorry. So much has been going on good & bad, and to be honest like a lot of first time Bloggers I had no idea how much time, planning and commitment  went into a Blog.

First thing I would like to say is I did not succeed as much I hopped I would of at the 100 Day Challenge. I had some issues with my foot  which did not allow me to exercise, I aggravated the new joins in my foot and was put back on rest for a week and after that week I found it very hard to be motivated to do anything. I also stopped doing a food plan and weight loss journal and therefore I stopped writing my Blog.

In regards to the 100 Day Challenge I found that 20 things to change was WAY to many to start off with straight away. I was finding that I was forgetting half of the challenges were.  The only one i would remember to do consistently was "Save $1 a day" I know that 100 Days are up and
I did not get to achieve everything I set out to do, in fact I have even picked up some of my old bad habits including drinking soft drink, eating junk food and not having a regular sleeping pattern but that dose not mean i can't get back on the bike again (metaphysically speaking) I plan to set myself another 100 Day Challenge this year with more achievable goals.

Now I did say I had some good things happen. I hosted a very successful Afternoon Tea I sadly didn't get any photos taken, I have also had some cake decorating jobs come my way from family and friends.   The best news of all is I have started Certificate IV in Patisserie at William Angliss. I have already completed 10 Subjects in term 4 of last year. Some of those subjects were Cakes, Produce Yeast Goods, Produce Cakes, Coffee Service and Methods of Cookery.

              

So whats the plan for 2016??? Well I will be continuing with school, my blog, getting back on the fitness wagon and because I thought I didn't have enough to going on, I signed up to be a leader with Girl Guides Victoria in my local area, I will be unit leader for the 14+ girls. I look forward to sharing all of this with you.

Please feel free to ask me any questions

Talk to you Soon

Miss P

Vision Board

I would like to talk to you about how i am going to try and stay motivated with my new life goals.  I am a visual person, if i don't see it i forget about it, if it's not in my planner it doesn't get done.

In order to help me keep my goals in the front of my mind I am going to use a vision board.   What is a vision board??  A vision board is somewhere to visually display your goals, The theory is if you constantly see it you will want it and achieve it (in a nut shell) it all has to do with the power of attraction.  For me its all about reminding myself why I am doing this.

This is how I made my vision board.

Things you will need:
An old pin-up board, White spray paint, Drop Sheet, Mini craft pegs, Clear push pins, Vision Bard Kit (Kikki-K), Hemp Twine and Photo's/ Internet Images/Magazine Headings & Images

First thing we need to do is to give our pin-up board a face lift. I spray painted mine white, this took 1 & 1/2 cans as there were lots of holes that needed fulling. It shouldn't take long to dry, I left it out in the sun for about an hour.

While your board is drying outside, take the time to sort out what you would like on your board, this is a completely individual thing, there is no right or wrong way to go about this. Work out what is more important to you, work out if these are your goals, if you no longer feel anything about that image to put it aside. You may also want to sort these images into category's like long term, sort term goals or maybe into Home, Work, Health and Family.
I have chosen to use Quotes and Images of short term and long term goals.

Now to arrange them on the board.

I have chosen to use the push pins, hemp twine and mini pegs to attached the images to the board, this way i can change my images as my goals change.

If you don't have any of these thing around the house you could also use card stock and glue. Here is another vision board that i made using Scrapbooking card and images from the Internet.

There are also online options like VisionBoard.Me and DreamItAlive.

The last thing you need to do is decide where to put your vision board, I have chosen to put mine on the back of my bedroom door where I will see it every morning and very night. Where will you out yours??
Let me know how you use your vision board.

Talk to you soon
Miss P

100 Day Challenge First Week Reveiw

I know I am posting this a day late and you missed out on a post on Wednesday and for that I am sorry.

My fist week has not gone to plan this week, started a course on Monday and sadly by Wednesday this week it fall through which I was devastated about, it really put me into a down would spin.  You see when i start this course i thought this was going to give me some extra qualification to help get a job and a job would bring in money and money would equal a life.  When I was told I was no longer able to continue I just saw all of that floating away.

I got home that night and did not want to do anything, no workout, no dinner, I just wanted to veg on the couch, eat chocolate and drink soft drink, lucky for me there was no chocolate in the house as i had give it all away and I did have enough will power not to go for the soft drink or maybe it was because it was cold outside and it was outside in the shed. Anyway the point is  I didn't get into old habits by turning to food.

Because I didn't  have anything to do on Thursday I decided to have a lay in bed for a while (Longer then I care to say) and did some research on the Apple App Store and had a look at the fitness apps, I already have TargetWeight which I did a rest on so I could start fresh. I also have MyFitnessPal, MapMyWalk, and the Health app that I don't use, however i wanted an app that would help me with my walking to running goal. There are a lot of apps that can help you with this but I decided to go with 5K Runner free version.
The App is designed to help you go from a couch potato to a 5K runner, when setting up this I chose all  the worst options as I am not a runner and only just walking properly.  The app set a program for you, my first week of the program is 3 days of exercise, fist day is to do a 5mins warm up, 15 mins of 1 mins runs + 1.5mins walks (6 times) and 5 mins cool down.   Easy right??? 1min is not long, I can do 1min of running, I can do this with no problems. These were the thoughts going through my head as I left for the park near my house.

As I strolled around the corner I started the app, it tell's you when to start each section.
5mins warm up walk- Easy as, time to start the running, First 1min run- Felt easy, now a walk to catch my breath, Run 2 - O Crap time to run again, it wasn't as easy as the first, I stopped just short of the 1min, aaaah the 1.5mins walk - Thank good for the walk time. I skipped the next  run for another walk. So this went on again and again the more I tried to run the less I managed to do, I never made a full 1min of running again. By the end of the 15mins I was buggered and used the 5mins cool down to walk home and collapsed on the couch.
I liked the app and it gives you encouragement along the way, you also have a option to play music while you run. To be honest with you I have not done day two as yet but I am thinking I my continue to do day one until i can do this session without any problems.

On a different note here is the weeks review of the 100 day challenges I have completed.

1 - 7 days
2 - 7 days
3 - 3 days
6 - 2 days
9 - 4 days
10 - 1 day
11 - 5 days
13 - 6 days
14 - 1 day
15 - 3 days
16 - 1 day
17 - 1 day
19 - 1 day

Total Weight Loss this Week - 1.9kg
100 Day Challenge Total - 1.9kg

Let me know how you went this week

Talk to you soon
Miss P

100 Day Challenge

During the week I sat down to do some research about how to go about changing my habits, Did you know it only takes 3 Weeks to create a new habit??

So I came across a website called Motivate Me and their 100 day challenge (100 ways in 100 days).  Now  not everything in their 100 challenge is about Weight Loss / Fitness but there are some good habit that I would also like to try. I have chosen the ones listed below to try over the next 100 day's.

1) Save $1 a day for 100 days - Now as i lost my job the day before surgery last year money has be come tight. If I can save $1 each day for the next 100 days it would make life that little bit easier if an unexpected bill comes in.

2) Buy nothing new for the next 100 days - Once again as money is tight this is something I need to do to make the budget stretch, I am a sucker for a good impose buy.  This does exclude food, toiletries and other essentials.

3) Set your alarm 5 minutes earlier then normal. - At the moment I have a really bad sleeping habit.  I tend to stay up all night/morning and go to bed around 2:30am, then sleep the day away.

4) For the next 100 days keep your desk clean - Do I need to say more??? How can I do everything I need to do in the mess??

5) For 100 days don't procrastinate over what you think may be a difficult task - I am the world biggest procrastinator, it took me 7years to decide to take the first step to become a boggier.

6) Make a note of all the jobs you need to do tomorrow - I am for ever going "What was I going to do today" and end up getting nothing done because I couldn't remember what it was.



7) Read 1 chapter a day from a book that isn't related to your course of study for 100 days - So I use to love reading on the train back in the day, My favourite series of book to read is the "In Death" books by J.D Robb (AKA Nora Roberts).  I currently 18 books behind including the short story's, this is something I have been wanting to change for a long time.



8) Sleep - Turn off your electronic devices at lest half an hour before going to bed - OK so I said earlier that sometimes I don't go to sleep before 2:30am, this is because I play my iPad to all hours.  Just one more level, Just one more.





9) Sleep - Aim for 6-8 hours a night for the next 100 days - I'll say it again, my sleep is out of whack, I have started waring a Misfit Shine to track my sleeping patterns.



10) Exercise daily for 100 days - That's RAIN, HAIL and SHINE people. A little bit each day adds up.

11) Every 10 days go for a long walk of about an hour - The site suggests not to walk with music or anyone else and let your mind empty. however I find it easier to walk with music that has a beat.

12) Don't buy or eat junk food & Soft drinks for the next 100 days - I have combined two thing for this challenge as I normally buy one with the other.

13) For the next 100 days drink at least 2 Liters of water per day - As I am giving up soft drink and exercising more this shouldn't be a problem.

14) For the next 100 days eat from a smaller plate to help control portion size -  Now I like this idea. as I was growing up we were always told to eat everything on our plates. Its time to change the size of the plate.

15) Once a week have a cheat meal - I have been told this before, if we stave ourselves of the food we like then we crave it more and tend to binge eat on these foods.  If we let our self to have a "cheat meal" we tend to crave these foods less.

16) Spend sometime every day doing something that will benefit your long term future - For me this could be anything from looking for a job to working on my blog or practice my cake decorating skills.

17) For the next 14 weeks conduct a review of each week - This go's with what I was saying last week about being accountable. I will be accountable to all of you, each week I will be writing a post on how I have gone with these challenges and my weight loss journey.  If you are not accountable for your lack of action then what is going to help you stay motivated???

18) Rest only as long as you need to during the next 100 days - I am forever saying "I'll do that later" or "It can wait till tomorrow" by doing that I am not only making more work for myself but by doing it now not only am I getting organised but I am also staying active during the day.

So I have chosen 18 of their challenge items but because I like things to look nice and pretty 18 is not a good number so here are 2 more I have added on to make 20.

19) Lose 15kg by the end of the 100 day challenge - That's 33 pound or 30 tub's of margarine






20) Stay positive - Sometimes when things don't happen the way I would like then to eg: Putting on a couple of gram's after a big week like Easter or my Birthday, I tend to start thinking "Whats the point" "I'm never going to reach my target".  These are the negative thoughts I need to get out of my head.

How am I going to keep track of all of this I hear you asking yourself,  I am going to use/make a weight loss journal. I have used these in the past and have found they can be very helpful with the emotional rollercoaster that comes with weight loss, If you are lucky I may share this with you in a latter post.

Will you join me on this 100 day challenge??? I am starting mine from today. How many challenges do you think you can do in 100 days?? and how many days can you do them consecutively??
Let me know your thoughts.

Talk to you soon
Miss P

Let's Bake

Do you ever buy cooking magazines like Taste, Better Homes & Gardens because you where going to make what was on the front cover and just never got around to it?? Me too, I also have a stack of baking cookbook's that I am yet to open.

I have gone through some of these books & magazines and flagged the recipe i would like to try and I am going to share them with you, i will share the recipe, step by step photo's and the end result.

So of the recipes i have got on my list to make are:
Panettone stacks - Better Homes & Gardens magazine January 2013
Banana Choc-Caramel trifle - Better Homes & Gardens magazine January 2013
Triple Chocolate Mud Pie - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Rose and Vanilla Friands - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Rainbow Cookies - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Chocolate Mint Cookies - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Strawberry and Lemon-Lime Melting Moments - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Creme Brulee Cheesecake - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Baked Lemon Cheesecake - Super Food Ideas magazine August 2012
Cake in a Chocolate Box - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Banana Filo Tarts with Honey Caramel Sauce - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Profiterole Wreath - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Kahlu'a Christmas Pudding - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Coconut Maracron Kisses - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Red Velvet Cheesecake - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011
Gingerbread House - Woolworths Australia Good Taste December 2011

And much more from book such as:
The Great Australian Bake Off: Ebury Press 2013
Slices- A Fine Seclection of Sweets: Murdoch Books 2013
Traditional Afternoon Tea: Dorling Kindersley Australia 2013
Vintage Cakes By Jane Brocket: Jacqui Small Books 2012
Taste Whoopie Pies: Hinkler Books 2003
The Australian Women's Weekly All Time Favourites: Bauer Media Books

I hope you will join me as i try and make some of these amzing recipes and find out how well they turnned out or how I went wrong making them.

Talk to you Soon

Miss P

My Weight Loss Story

So here i go again, I am 37 and weigh 130kg that 286 pounds people, this is my biggest weigh ever and I am disgusted in myself if letting myself get this big.

 

I have tried on many occasions to try and lose weight sometimes it was with my hole hart into it and sometimes it was just because i knew i use to love doing it but my heart wasn't in it.  When my heart was in it I found some success and then I got to comfortable or the event I wanted to look good for had passed and slowly old and bad habit would start creeping back in, you know what i mean one Macca's meal wont hurt once and awhile right??   Then that once and awhile turns into once a week then ill just grab a Macca's breakfast on the way to work.
Now I am not saying its Macca's fault that i put my weight back on, it was my choice to turn off and go through drive thou.  It was not just food i was making bad choice in, I use to love going to training, I would go to Step Into Life at least 3 Times a week or more, I love kicking the shit out of the bag, getting all my frustrations out, it even helped me get the anger out over the loss of my mum, at the time is was the one this that was normal and where i didn't have to deal with everything else going on around me.

So here is am worse off then were I started last time I thought I would give weight loss a crack. Now for me it is all about food and staying motivated to keep eating and eating the right kind of food, you see I have a bad habit of skipping meals, I could not eat all day then at dinner time i would grab some take way which then i would be even more hungry an hour or two later.  But on the other hand I have days where i can pick all day and usually its on food like chips, chocolate, soft drink and lollies, lets take Easter for an example, from my family and friends I got 5 Easter eggs, all in all not bad, not to many and enough to have a little binge on chocolate.  Here is where i shoot myself in the foot, this Easter I had the opportunity it go shopping at a chocolate factory outlet store, the could of chocolate i came out of there with was disgraceful.  After splitting some of it up into gifts for family and friends (the best Easter they have ever seen from me) I was still left with 3 x 100g eggs, 5 packets of 125gcaramello eggs and 100 medium size eggs, that's right a bag of 100 eggs and still eating them as snacks.

Where to from here???

Step 1 - Time to get rid of the chocolate. I need to lock them away or better yet give them away, they just need to be out of my sight.

Step 2 - Work out a food plan.  I need to sit down and work out what i am going to eat each week including snacks and stick to it

Step 3 - An Exercise plan. Now this is not my favourite thing at the moment as I am some what restricted in what I can do as I am still recovering from surgery in December last year, But I have phyiso exercises I do and I have talked to my trainer about coming back to Step Into Life.

Step 4 - Be Accountable. You can not do this will will-power alone, reward your achievements and recognise when you slip up and why. Going forward I am now accountable to all of you and myself.

I will be working on these steps over the next week and check in with you next week.

Talk to you soon
Miss P