Well, today I got my assignment results back (sort of yay!) and now know what I need to achieve as a minimum in the exam. It's rather stressful studying part time whilst working full time in a fairly mentally stimulating job as I'm finding I'm not getting enough down time. I'm not sure whether the need to have some "blank" time is an O thing or a Gatherer thing, but I need some me time.

Now, between the two, I'm not getting much but as a bonus, I've found that going to the gym helps. I think it's the fact that I'm so focused on ensuring that I'm doing the exercises properly that my brain doesn't have a chance to go over the latest issue that we've been studying or ponder some problem from work. It's nice to just have a bit of a blank period.

Other than that, I've just had some allergy testing done and tomorrow is hopefully D-Day (delivery day) for the results. My stomache has been really playing up lately and I"ve been feeling rather nauseous so it will be interesting to see if I'm reacting to anything new. I think it's time to pay a little more attention to the foods I"m eating (which are all compliant) and when I'm eating them. I have a tendency to like to eat the same foods day in, day out and that can lead to sensitivities in my hyperactive immune system. Rotation diets generally get everything back on track,thus it's time for a meal plan!

Hope you're all having a great night. I've just finished my last tutorial of semester, so it's off for a cup of Dandelion Tea and some revision

Well, the veggie garden is finally paying off. We have zucchinis that we've grown ourselves, spinach, chard, kale, beetroots and more lettuce than we know what to do with. The zucchinis are a bit of a problem though as they seem to have done really well and taken over half the plot; blocking the sunlight for the beans and peas. The beans are still valiantly climbing towards the light, however the gigantic zucchini plants (which I actually bought as they were meant to be bush varieties) are taking over the area.

Perth's interesting from a gardening perspective. Whereas the Eastern states seem to get most of their rain in the summer months, Perth appears to receive it predominantly over winter. This has been great for the plants and we hardly need to water them. The sandy soil has been a bit of a challenge, but with the addition of some compost, potash, lime and slow release organic fertilisers, it seems to be yielding well.

It could just be me, but the food tastes so much better as well. Roasted fresh beetroot has to be my favourite. The skin is still soft enough to leave it on while you eat them and leaving some of the stalks attached gives them a lovely crunch as well. When we harvested some carrots it was decadent to have steak with roasted carrots (with a little ghee and agave syrup), beetroots and walnuts.

Well, the time has come. We get a free gym membership as part of our job (and the gym is about 3 minutes away) so there's now absolutely no excuse for me to not go. Hence, the new exercise regime started yesterday morning.

Let's just say, if there's a fire drill today I will be one of the people waiting for the firemen to carry me down!! I'm in a fair bit of pain, but it's good pain. Mostly my exercise in the last couple of years has revolved around walking our boys and doing some kickboxing/martial arts. In the last few months, it's just been the walking as we've handled moving etc.

Last night the pain wasn't good, but to keep the muscles moving I was doing stretches etc. I'm dreading tomorrow when I go back for session 2. Please don't let them suggest more lunges!!!

It has taught me something really valuable though - other people can push me far harder than I can push myself. I wouldn't have pushed myself this far and having a trainer means that I need to be accountable to them. Just like from a food perspective, my body keeps me extremely accountable and I know when I've done the wrong thing.

In other news, the pumpkin pancakes were a dismal failure. I'm going to be experimenting again to try and make them edible, but don't hold too much hope!!

In my continuing procrastination (law text books vs cookbooks - guess which one's winning?) I noticed something called the "Gabriel Method" that seems to be advertised on almost every website I visited. As an aside, found some great recipes like pumpkin amaranth pancakes that will definitely be tried out this weekend.

So, the Gabriel Method seemed really interesting - basically he's advertising a diet that's based on changing how your body reacts to everyday stresses to turn off the "FAT" mentality. In the interests of finding out more, I'm currently reading the book. I have to say, it's slickly written and marketed but also has the element of being a non-diet book. It really is more about the chemical reactions that occur in your body when it's under stress and the triggers that force your body into a survival mode requiring fat to be stored. I'm thinking of implementing some of his ideas just to see what the impact is.

I'd say there's a maximum of a chapter devoted to food (which is good, because we have Dr D for food recommendations) where he actually says "There isn't one diet which fits all people". I've yet to check his website as apparently he has some links on there to products etc that he recommends and I"m interested to see if he mentions the BTD. Another good thing that he states is that people need to drink more water; something that I see everyday in the office where the guys will drink cokes and never have a water while I'm drinking a glass or two every hour.

Other than that, I think my husband is a gradual convert as he's been going to a heap of meetings this week where the food provided has been sandwiches/sausage rolls/cakes etc. He asked if the bread was preservative free at least, but then has been demanding more vegies for dinner and enjoyed being able to take his lunch today.

Recently I've been feeling like some treats and, having read the Gatherer GTD information, I"m wondering if I should be incorporating more grainy-type things into my diet. I know that I don't do well with any type of rice, so thought that I'd start off with the seed-type grains - Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet and then try some others if these turn out ok.

Following a link from the boards, I discovered some new powders that I hadn't heard of - Mesquite and Nopal for example. After reading some information about their possible healing benefits and their low GI, I decided to try some. Hence, I tried making the first biscuits that would be safe for me to eat in about 5 years. I used a recipe from the boards and reduced the amount of sweetner (Agave) because the Mesquite is meant to be quite sweet. Let me tell you, it's sooooooo nice to have a biscuit. They are slightly caramel in flavour - possibly due to the combination of mesquite and agave, but they don't seem to be upsetting my stomache. That's a major achievement. Plus, it's nice to have some crunchy, dunkable biscuits with my dandelion tea!

Other than that, it's been a fairly quiet weekend. I did a heap of baking yesterday - lasagne for hubby's lunch, quiches for his breakfast and some banana muffins for snacks for him during the week. Must admit, it's great that B's can have spelt - you can substitute that for wheat at any time. He enjoys the nuttier flavour which is good, and now you can buy more spelt products in Australia. Including Lasagne sheets and wraps.