mja blog

  • Back to uni and work update

    It is week one for two new classes at university. The first is Introduction to Human Resource Management; the second is Entrepreneurship. I think you would be hardpressed to get two more different topics! I will probably enjoy the HRM class more than the other one. I’ve always enjoyed HR work; there are guidelines and goals, and it is concrete. The entrepreneurship class requires creative thinking, something I am in short supply of lately!

    My work situation is possibly changing again. Having given 30 days’ notice to Blessing, she approached me about taking on the company bookkeeping from Sandra, who had agreed to take on my responsibilities provided she could hand off some of her work. Bookkeeping is a better use of my skills, and I said I’d be willing if I could manage the workload with my studies. I hope to find out more about it tomorrow. I’m having a video meeting with Blessing and Sandra to go over the training and handover requirements.

    Update: The bookkeeping work is a fizzer. I am not upset, but it was a little annoying at the time. It turns out, Sandra did not really understand what Blessing was proposing. However, she has not been at the top of her form, taking strong painkillers for the past few weeks following back surgery. After our meeting, she told Blessing that she did not want to take over my responsibilities after all. Blessing asked me to extend my end date so that another person could be trained instead. I have agreed to stay longer for the time being.

    Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

  • Fast800 week two

    Doing great with this programme so far: sticking to the meal plan, doing the exercise workouts and feeling like I’m doing myself some real good. Having gone without owning a set of bathroom scales for many years, it was necessary to enter my starting weight when I began. I weighed myself again on Friday and found I’d lost 2.2kg. Although a modest amount, it is encouraging that the needle moved in the direction I wanted it to!

    The exercise workouts have not been hard, but they have been making themselves felt with some muscular aches later in the week. The weekend had a pilates session on Saturday and a gentle stretching session on Sunday, which seem to have helped put me to rights. They are only 15 minutes long at this stage, and I’ve been sure to try and fit in extra incidental exercise as well – walking, doing more work around the house etc.

    On the meal plan this week there is a good variety.

    Breakfasts: Spinach Smoothie, Coconut Chia Bircher, Banana Pancakes (no flour), Cottage Cheese with Sliced Apple/ Berries, Blueberry Yogurt

    Lunches: Cottage Cheese and Egg Salad, Zucchini Fritters, Chicken Satay Salad, and leftovers from the Dinners

    Dinners: Sticky Chicken Drumsticks, Asian Beef Salad, Chicken Stir Fry, Greek Tomato Feta Beans, Turkey Chilli with Broccoli, Salmon Salad with Vinaigrette, Parley and Parmesan Fish

    Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

  • Fast800 week one

    Week one on the programme is off to a good start. I’ve been sticking to the meal plan and doing the daily exercise, and I’m feeling pretty good. A little hungry between meals but not unbearably so and, as someone commented on the community forum, you do enjoy the meals more when you are hungry.

    Last night we had chicken stir-fry and it was crazy good. I left the chilli out this time. The preparation took time, lots of chopping and slicing – but it was quite therapeutic.

    Serves two. 240 calories per serve.
    1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    250 g skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
    2 cm root ginger, peeled and diced
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
    1 pak choi, chopped
    1 red capsicum, deseeded and sliced
    1 Tbsp tamari sauce, (see Notes)
    1 tsp fish sauce
    1 red chilli, finely sliced
    0.5 lime, juice
    fresh coriander, chopped
    sea salt
    black pepper

    Heat the olive oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the chicken strips, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.
    Add the spring onions, pak choi and capsicum and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
    Add the fish sauce, tamari and chilli and continue to cook until the chicken is white throughout and vegetables have softened. Season to taste.
    Squeeze over the lime juice, top with coriander and serve.

    Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

  • Starting the Fast800

    In an effort to get my weight down and get on the road to better health, I’m starting tomorrow on a 12-week programme of calorie-controlled diet and exercise.

    After looking at a couple of different programmes, I settled on the Fast800 because I like the way it works. The online portal includes a meal planner with recipes that I can plan and print out for the week ahead. There are exercise videos and mindfulness exercises, as well as an online forum to talk to diet coaches and other people on the programme.

    Even though I’ve opted for three meals a day (I could have skipped breakfast) it is a fasting diet because the daily calorie intake is limited to 800 per day, for twelve weeks. It is a Mediterranean-based diet with no carbs. This will ‘kick-start’ my metabolism apparently.

    Good news, I can have as much as I want of the following vegetables: artichoke, alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, bean sprouts, bok choy, broccoli / broccolini, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, courgette (zucchini), cucumber, fennel, green beans, kale, leeks, mange tout (snow peas), okra, pak choi, radishes, rocket, spinach, spring onions, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, watercress. Other vegetables are ok too, but require calorie counting.

    I can drink as much water as I like. I can have black tea or coffee, herbal tea, and sparkling water.

    We have been trying some of the recipes in the past week. Some of the meals have been surprisingly good. We had vegetarian lasagne tonight, and we both thought it was very tasty. While H. is not joining me on the diet programme, he has agreed to share the meals as a way to support me while I’m doing it.

    Vegetarian Lasagne (Serves 2 – 366 calories per serve)

    2 eggplants, sliced into 1cm (half inch) thick rounds
    2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    0.5 onion, peeled and finely chopped
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    0.5 x400g tin chopped tomatoes
    1 tsp apple cider vinegar
    150 g ricotta cheese
    0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
    fresh basil, chopped
    20 g parmesan cheese, grated
    sea salt
    black pepper
    0.5 tsp dried chilli flakes

    Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
    Place baking paper over a large baking tray and place eggplant slices in a single layer onto the tray. Brush the slices with half the olive oil. Turn to coat, making sure that both sides of the eggplant slices are lightly covered in oil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, flip the slices half way.
    Meanwhile, place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil, garlic and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes and apple cider vinegar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. If making only a few serves, you may need to add a splash of water. Season to taste.
    Place the ricotta cheese, nutmeg and two thirds of the basil in a bowl and mash with a fork to combine.
    Arrange a layer of eggplant at the bottom of a small, oven proof baking dish (use approximately 1/3 of the eggplant for this). Spread a third of the tomato mixture over the eggplant. Cover with half of the ricotta cheese. Repeat the eggplant/sauce/cheese layer. Top the second layer with the remaining eggplant and cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining basil leaves and parmesan cheese.
    Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve!

    Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash

  • Workmatters

    For the past couple of months, I have been doing some administrative work for B., who operates a nursing agency. I was not looking for this kind of work, so the offer came as a surprise. Because I had previously declined work from B., I felt terrible about turning her down again, so I accepted on the understanding that it was temporary. The work has not been difficult, but it has felt as though I have been working in a vacuum, with little handover help or contact from others. I also realised that doing the job effectively requires more customer service than I was willing to provide, so I gave my notice yesterday.

    I was concerned about my timing because I had previously convinced Jo and Mum to contact B.’s agency for care worker assistance. Fortunately, B. was fine with it; she said she had someone else lined up to take over for me. She admitted that I had received very little assistance with my work, but I had helped them through a rough patch. I have offered to assist with the handover to whoever succeeds me.

    Interestingly there could be another job on the horizon. A recruitment company I’d dealt with in my previous position approached me about the possibility of doing some accounts work for a local aged care facility. I said I would be interested so long as the hours were flexible. So we’ll see if anything eventuates.

    Tomorrow I am taking in a final box of records and notes to handover the voluntary secretary role to Narelle. It is a great relief to untangle myself from this one. Mum suggested it might be a little bit sad for me, given how long I had been involved. Very possibly. I’ll have no formal role but I shan’t cut ties completely. At the moment the thought of having no further responsibility there is making me feel quite happy.

    I was recently asked by another small charity in Ipswich if I would be interested in being their volunteer treasurer. On Thursday, I am having coffee with a few of the committee members. The charity provides support for people with cancer. Part of me is intrigued, but part of me is hesitant to take on another commitment. Because it is a small group, I do not anticipate much work.

    The invitation is particularly poignant at this time because my old friend Shirley has recently had an aggressive melanoma removed and is awaiting word on whether further treatment is required. The news may have a significant impact on my decision. It was heartbreaking to read what Shirley has been going through; it must have been traumatic for her. And I can not help but recall that both of my parents had cancer scares.

    Photo by Merakist on Unsplash

  • Latest video presentations

    This first video is my contribution for a group assignment in my Business Strategy class. Our case study was a company in Launceston Tasmania that runs a couple of successful restaurants. With four of us in the group we each covered one aspect of the 10 minute presentation, in which we pitched our new strategy proposal and recommendations for how it should be implemented. My part was part of the initial overview leading to the proposal. The way this subject was presented over the 12 weeks of the class made it very challenging for students, but it was great working with the three other students in my group – Olivia, Josie and Millie.

    The next video was another group assignment in another class, People and Organisations. It was a very interesting class, it had a psychological element and I learned a lot. For our assignment we had to select a particular occupation and present how we would motivate someone in this job to get the best out of them. I presented the first part with the job outline and rationale for improving job satisfaction. We had a lot of difficulty getting our presentation down to the required 15 minutes and I had to re-write and re-record my part a couple of times. I was getting rather worn down by the process and you can tell by my lacklustre presentation in the last slide!

    Photo by Paul Einerhand on Unsplash