Varla Fiona’s Comments (group member since Mar 26, 2012)

Varla Fiona’s comments from the SA Book & Challenge Lovers group.

I have read everything on your list except those nominated by Angelique and Barbara so will join in on discussions as you read them. I have also obviously read little women, so will happily discuss that. I may even reread one or two of the books but I will see as I'm still not reading lots due to other commitments.

Finished Cha

4/8

Lu - Druid Lords or Soulless
Lauren - Perdido Street Station or The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Liezel - Mad About the Boy
✔Claudia - Skulduggery Pleasant
✔Jennifer - The Negotiator
✔Angelique - Beautiful Disaster
Carolien - Castle in the Air
✔Barbara - Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Jack West Jnr
Jo March
Tiffany Aching
Septimus Heap

✔C - The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
✔H - Hidden
✔A - The Academy

Jennifer, that was my task and it sounds like it fits to me.

Big hugs to you and prayers for tomorrow that you will not be nervous and everything will go smoothly.

Not cool about having to be booked into hospital, but glad to hear you are home and feeling better. Praying that the chemo is doing its job and annihilating the cancer!

WoW, Cape Town was insane last weekend and I put on layers and layers of thick clothes and then got active. Yes, I am mad, but it was worth it. This was my third national competition and I did way better than my previous attempts. I made it through to the second round (came 13th overall) and moved up 3 places in the National Rankings so am now 30th in the country!

I am going to continue to the madness by committing to a double up workout program for the next 10 weeks (my usual program plus T25, which are 25 minute workouts 6 times a week). That gets me to the next competition and I want to do even better there. Plus I went clothes shopping yesterday and bought everything in a smaller size so I am super motivated to keep this healthy thing going.

My method of diet is to choose the healthy option the majority of the time. That means I can eat the unhealthy stuff without feeling guilty, but I strive to do it on occasion, not everyday. I'm also working on portion control lately because I discovered my fair sized potion is normally much bigger than it should be.

Exercise is coming easier because of my passion for fencing. I want to become a better fencer and I know that improving my fitness will help. My coach is great and helps me workout training programs that fit my changeable schedule, challenges me but does not overwhelm me (I tend to be over ambitious when working out my own program). We are also going to be fencing for three hour sessions twice a week instead of two hours, starting today.

I've managed to lose over 9 kgs following those steps. Still have a way to go and it goes slowly, but I don't have a deadline looming so losing slowly is ok with me. I don't want to put in all this effort and pick it up again once my diet is finished so I focused in changing my lifestyle instead.

Good luck to all trying to increase exercise or focus on eating healthy. My experience has shown me that finding a form of exercise I love doing is great inspiration and also means it is not a chore to go workout because I want to do this. Interestingly, I am less prone to snacking and eating rubbish if I workout. I actually am less hungry if I workout on a day.

Lu, beach weddings are the best. Which beach are you planning on?

Finished

Oh, these sound yummy. Lauren, I always assumed lemon or lime juice would curdle the Yogurt. must try that! I make smoothies without ice but with oatmeal and then freeze them in small plastic jars. On fencing days I toss one in my lunch box and by the end of the day it has defrosted and makes a great post workout energy drink. My latest is banana, peanut butter and coconut cream. Next time I will add cocoa to it as well. Pineapple and coconut is also in the menu.
I also have a bunch of prickly pear sorbets and frozen prickly pears in the freezers. Bought two bags at R10 each in the side of the road last week.

So I read both the books I planned. Really enjoyed them, nice light easy reading. I will definitely read more of her books

Anyone read this yet?

Ooh, I like the new cover. Just bought a copy (Yay for Crusader and the Kobo discounts!)

Looking forward to reading it...

Chrizette wrote: "*note to self*

Not ready for coffee yet . . ."

Gasp, that would be a disaster in my life!

Lauren, you would love a juicer then as you don't get any pulp in the juice. I have one but don't use it often as it is a mission to clean and I feel it is a waste to not get any of the pulp.

Hey Lisa

Thanks for the invite. Firebolt sounds amazing. Signing up now

Yes, that works great. The point was s location that really existed in the past, not created in the authors mind. The place may not exist in the same way now, or it may still exist in a more modern way.

OK, I would think it did count. Whose task was it?