Working in a cupcake bakery and losing weight? Yes, it can happen.

Happy new year everyone! Or more recently Happy New Lunar Year! I know it's been a while and one of my new year's resolutions was to blog a lot more and share more experiences with you all - there's still time...it's only February, already! Ok I promise to keep you all more updated on the happenings of Cupcake Central this year. For now, I want to put business talk aside and talk about something that is just as important, which is health and wellbeing.

- Come smell how delicious this cupcake is Tin...smoosh. World War III occurs when I need to elicit the help of my boyfriend in the kitchen. He is amazing at all the business stuff, but baking? Not so much -

So let's get down to business.. what's this about losing weight? Weight is such a touchy topic and I'm sure that 80% of ladies, if not more, have had a time in their life when they've thought about going on a diet and losing a couple of kilos. I think throughout my whole life I have pretty much been a chubby kid. I never felt as though I hated myself or my body though, I would've liked being skinnier but I never hated myself, I've always quite liked the proportion of my body. Anyhow, ever since I started working in my cupcake store I thought 'Yes, this is my chance to get skinnier' since I thought I'd be running around, being stressed out and all those kilos would fall off.

- Passionfruit cupcake. Tin was once asked by a customer how many calories was in a cupcake, he responded with "as many calories you want it to have, *wink*" lol -

I was wrong. Somehow waking up at 4am and relying on a soy latte as a means of breakfast has severely effed up my metabolism followed by 1 or 2 large high-carb meals during the day, such as the deliciously evil white crusty bread deli rolls filled with prosciutto, brie and basil pesto, several cupcakes (for tasting purposes), junk food (due to lack of preparation) and goodness knows what has made me put on 5-6 kilos! FML.

Since my store opened I had neglected my own health and wellbeing as I was busily working on the business making sure everything was doing well. I had neglected sleep, stopped going to the gym, eating unhealthily and ended up getting stressed out. So after the Christmas & New Year break I started getting this uncomfortable feeling every time I sat down. I realised that it was due to the rolls of flab *gag* I had for a stomach, I felt...utterly disgusted. I had to do something about it. I felt like s.h.i.t. there's no other way of describing it. So a week before I was going to be filmed for a TV segment on Channel 7's Coxy's Big Break, I ran out and bought The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss from Borders.

- On camera for Coxy's Big Break, I get to show you guys how to make Red Velvet cupcakes! -

As you know, I LOVE self-help books and I loved the 4-hour Work Week. I had stopped reading for a while and it's been difficult for me to start reading again and break my bad habit of watching YouTube clips at night. But once I started the book I couldn't stop. The excitement of putting everything the book said to work was amazing, the next morning I started the Slow Carb diet straight away, not on a Monday but on a Thursday!

Anyway, in short, I've lost about 4kgs in 30 days BUT it's much more than that, I definitely know that I've put on muscle and I've lost centimetres off my stomach, thighs & arms. I took before and after photos and the results are so visible...but the most amazing part is that I didn't starve myself nor did I have to exercise 2 hours a day. I think I've probably done 5-6 hours of exercise all up in the 30 days. Oh and I've also been able to pig out on Saturdays but I think my body is doing something weird and is no longer really craving for sugar and junk - just this Saturday past I was sure I wanted pancakes or something carby for breakfast but I ended up at High Tech Burrito and got a high protein steak, egg & bean burrito instead but then I ate frozen yoghurt afterwards.

So how the hell did I stay away from cupcakes whilst on this Slow Carb diet? Besides from knowing I was going to be on TV...

- Channel 7 Presenter, Mel Hetherington. Sitting with her cupcake tower at our store. Did I mention she also has an amazing to-die-for toned & petite figure? She did get to eat quite a few our cupcakes and loved them, she's also been to Magnolia bakery a couples months before visiting out store and definitely knew what she was talking about when it came to cupcakes -

I made sure I prepared what I had to eat for the week (eggs, tuna, fish, lentils, beans, beans and more beans) and I had to taste test cupcakes using the good old wine tasting method (a la swirl in mouth and spit). Even with a bite of a cupcake multiplied by 12 means I'm consuming a lot of wasted calories, I mean it's different when you eat a cupcake for enjoyment. Taste testing is wasted as it's part of a job...? I'm too focused on the texture, the sweetness and flavour to savour the moment, I guess. But don't you worry on my cheat-days I got my fix of cupcakes alright, I think it made me enjoy it all the more actually. Also when you're on a high protein diet, you start to feel as though you're eating so your body is getting fueled properly. Your energy levels will change and you won't feel bloated, I never even knew what it really truly meant to feel not bloated because I was always bloated!! I do sometimes crave for sugar and I've had a few lapses and ate banana chips or grapes but seriously I'm surprised how long I've been able to follow this diet and with such ease. I do want to lose another 5 kilos...of fat though and gain some kilos in lean muscle and have more definition.

I know I'm not fat or overweight but I'm aiming to be fit because I believe the healthier my body is going to be, the better I will be at running my business and achieving my goals a lot quicker. Without energy and vitality, it'll be harder to get to where you want to go whether it be mentally or physically.

- Presenter, Mel Hetherington and I after all the filming. She was so bubbly, friendly and gorgeous! She can really bake as well. This was only a week into my Slow Carb diet thus the flowy dress and still rounded face -

And yes, I KNOW that this is quite contradicting for someone that bakes and sells cupcakes for a living to be going on about health, weight loss and diets. But I still do believe that moderation is key. Food is there to be enjoyed and I think what I've learnt most from the Slow Carb diet is by being able to say to yourself that you want to fuel your body with the right foods, there will be days where you will need to fuel it with cupcakes! Cupcakes may not be too great for the hips but it's good for the soul.

I'll be back with some more posts on Cupcake Central and it's happenings next week and perhaps an update on my #4HB Slow Carb diet. Till then...

Happy Valentine's Day!
Order away at www.cupcakecentral.com.au

Living the dream and more

Our cupcake display is a specially designed glass cabinet that minimises airflow to make sure that cupcakes don't dry out. I actually dreamt about how this would look for at least 3 years. I still can't believe how it's turned out more perfect than what I envisioned.

We're onto our ninth week of trading and it feels like it has just flown by, yet at the same time I feel like I've been doing this for a lot longer. It doesn't really make sense but I feel as though my sense of time is a little warped, it's most likely because every waking minute (and even in my dreams) I am consumed with my cupcake store. The last two months have been amazing, the highs, the lows and the learning curves. There's so much I want to share and I have no idea where to start.

When it has quietened down and there's a few spare seats upstairs, I normally sit in the top right corner typing away and responding to emails, orders and preparing for the next day. I love that corner. Plus, I get to sneakily hear what my customers reactions are when they eat cupcakes and drink our coffee =)

Every moment that I am working, even though I may be far beyond tired, stressed out or frustrated, I love every moment of it. I finally have that fire lit again, that driving force that makes me want to achieve more and grow. I haven't really felt like this since I was 19 and started working in the IT industry...and even though I started my online business last year, I was doing it on my own from home so I never felt like it was a truly a real company as I got to make up my own hours and slack off whenever I wanted. Now, I have others relying on me to run this company properly, to grow this business, to take great care of my customers. I can't slack off at all because as soon as I do, there are repercussions. Each mistake I make is crucial for me to learn the lesson so I don't make it again. I have to learn the skills of being able to manage people and a team of people. I need to learn how to manage my stress levels and not become overly frustrated. I need to mitigate problems and solve them quickly especially when we have 10 orders to put out in a day, 2 weddings to cater for and also be able to cater for all the customers that come into our shop.

I always knew running a business wouldn't be easy but it's hard to prepare for it until you have your own business. But one thing I am grateful I did do when I was younger was to get experience working in different businesses and companies to understand how as an employee, we should be treated. All those horrible and pleasant experiences I've had, has given me that understanding and point of view that I need to exercise as a business owner and 'boss'. I'm so grateful that I have found some very talented, fun, extremely hard-working and honest staff that are working with us. I want to make our workplace a fun environment to work in and make sure that everyone that does great work is appreciated and fairly rewarded. I believe that most people don't work just for monetary rewards, it is about being appreciated, being able to learn and grow, a sense of achievement and contribution to the business. Would you rather earn a lot of money at a job you hate or work at a job that makes you entirely happy?

Enough biz talk, lets get to some photos. It seems to be Wedding season as it starts to (slowly) warm up in Melbourne, so here are a few Weddings we've created in the past month or so. Which one is your favourite?

Super Mario Bros. Cupcake Wedding Tower. Super unique and super awesome idea. I was so hesitant creating this for a wedding as I wanted it to look stunning, simple and not too... tacky. Dave & Kathy (bride & groom) were thrilled with it and everyone that has seen it has given so many compliments so I'm so glad it turned out well.

Rowena & Chris' Wedding Cupcake Tower at a gorgeous venue, Gum Gully Farm, that had a rustic farmhouse barn. One of the best parts of wedding orders is when I get to setup the towers even though it can sometimes take hours but I get to visit stunning venues and be able to take photos of the end result after all that hard work.

One of the most intricate wedding cupcake towers I've created to date. All the cupcakes were custom designed, some with intricate cherry blossom designs and others with flowers and hearts. Brendan & Elisa have been a pleasure to deal with and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to work with their wedding tower as they had such creative ideas which in return allowed me to create this for them. The flower arrangement I created on the spur of the moment as the table turned out to be quite large and I wanted to make it stand out.

Thank you to all the lovely couples I've had the opportunity to work with to create something unique on their special day! If you're newly engaged and are looking for wedding cupcake towers, please feel free to contact me to arrange an appointment and have a complimentary cupcake tasting and to discuss your ideas - www.cupcakecentral.com.au

Back to work now but I won't be complaining. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I'm not dreaming this up because I am really living the dream. I'm excited about tomorrow..all the time, I'm excited about the future and I'm always dreaming big because I know that it can happen. I know a lot of you wonder if this could be you and I'm telling you now that it CAN. You can make up all the excuses up in your head of how it can't work but what if you started thinking about all the ways to make it work? There were so many odds against me when I started on this journey and really the only person that can make your own dream come true, is you. I know this all sounds corny and out of a Tony Robbins book but sometimes repetition is good. Keep doing it until you get good at it, stay positive and have complete belief in yourself.

Also I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before in my previous posts but on my vision board in my bedroom was this picture of Magnolia Bakery that was from a Cleo magazine many years ago. I believe my vision board works, most of the things I've pinned up there has come true...well except the Jessica Alba body but hey I'm working on that one right now. I'm going to have a butt like hers soon and I'll blog about it because I want to prove that I can defy the odds and achieve it - even when working at a cupcake store and eating so many cupcakes a day!