Storm

Wow we had a really bad storm again last night!! I swear i have never seen as much rain and wind as i have seen this year.
Thankfully i managed to get out on my walk before the weather turned bad, but it was really muggy out there! I did manage to take a couple of photo's on my walk ;) I swear ice cream is calling my name ;)

Today i'm doing weights and focusing on my back and biceps. I love working my biceps and they are really becoming more defined!!
As for the new recipe tonight it didn't turn out as well as i had hoped, but i plan on trying again and doing some tweaking :) If anyone has a recipe for a chicken recipe on taco's or pita i'd love to hear from you.
As for tonight it's back to work 3-11 and i'm going to eat at work for a change, i looked up online the nutrition for different things and decided on vegetable soup with a whole wheat bun, yogurt and berries and i'm going to take some nuts ;) All for 9 pts. I'll post a picture of it after work tonight.
Oh and i've managed to not weigh myself so far this week! I'm hoping to not do so until my official weigh in day which is sunday.
Now if only the muggy weather would stop my week would simply rock!!!

choices and planning

I ended up having a great day yesterday. I had an opportunity to buy and eat an ice cream bar however i stopped myself and decided it wasn't the best thing for me ;) For me that is huge!

I also sat down and planned my menu for the next week which helped me feel a lot less stressed. I feel i have a back up plan to help me with my choices for the next week. So now i know what i need to buy at the grocery store. I know what things i need to take out of the freezer for the next day. It saves me a lot of headaches ;)

My plan for today is a nice long walk on the new route i found, as long as the rain stays away. If it rains i'll simply go on a different route that doesn't get as messy ;)

I'm doing day 2 of week 3 of the 100 push up challenge.

And to top it off i'm trying a new recipe for dinner tonight. Mojo chicken, with homemade pico de gallo!

I have to say that having this blog plus my food blog has really been good for my accountability and being able to read all the great blogs that i've found out there has given me a lot of encouragement and support! Thanks guys ;)

new find

I found this last night when i had to go to the grocery store again ;) Oh and it's 60 cals!! It's not too bad, but not great!
Had a great day yesterday and it only got better after watching a movie with hubby ;) And having daughter home to share dinner with!
Today is my day to do weights so i'm going to work on chest and triceps i may even try to do what mizfit showed yesterday! Anyone with any great chest/tricip exercises please tell me ;)

For Katschi (Victoria Park)

Hope you like these:

Today so far....

Well today has been awesome so far ;) I went to my walking group, i shared my sandwich with a rather pesky squirrel, i walked around Victoria park, i did week 3 day 1 of the push up challenge and the wonderful lady that co-ordinates the walking group says to me on my way out "wow you look like you've lost weight" :) Can the day get any better?? Here's my pictures:

A non scale victory

Now this may seem like a little thing to most, but for those of us who are chained to the scale it was a big thing ;)
I woke up this morning feeling great ;) I'm in the bathroom and this is when i'm weighing myself. This is also where my day can start with a bang or a fizzle depending on what the scale says to me!
So i'm debating should or shouldn't i weigh myself this morning. And i came to the conclusion (which is amazing for me at that time of the morning) that no matter what the scale said i was going to have a great day. I was going to stick to plan, and i'm going to get all my exercise in today!
So this morning my scale sits unused by me ;) I don't know how many days this will last, because yes i love weighing in daily, but for today i'm not chained to it!!

I found a new route ;)

Here's what i came across on my walk today....

putting this week behind me

I have to decided to not focus too much on this last week! It's over and i'm going to put it behind me. It was definitely not my finest hour ;(
For the record my weigh in was 142.4 which is up +.6

These were my goals for last week:
1. walk at least 4 times again!!-walked 2 times
2. get two weight routines in and plan them in advance.-yes i actually managed to do this, i also did my 3 days of push up challenges ;)
3. drink my water because it's really hot.-drank my water 5 days this week
4. once again keep track of my eating, enjoy it and don't sweat the small stuff!-i missed some days journaling, i know i ate out of control a couple of times, and i could have stopped doing this a lot earlier than i finally did
5. Take time to smell the roses ;)-most days i did but i'd like to do it more often ;)


However, today is the beginning of a new week and yes i'm kicking this ass into high gear ;) So this is my plan for this week:

1. keep track and journal no matter what, the good the bad or the ugly.
2. drink my water
3. do my weights as i'm really enjoying them ;)
4. stay with the push up challenge
5. walk 4 days this week and explore new routes.
6. And yes, stop and smell the roses along the way. And don't forget to give myself a pat on the back when i do need it ;)

planning

I'm a little annoyed with myself this morning! You see i like to plan my menus so that i know what i'm eating and when. So that when i go grocery shopping i have a list and as long as i don't forget anything on that list i'm good to go for the week.
It also helps me to eat healthier, as i can see in advance if i'm having a low protein day, i try to put some extra protein in to help me out ;) etc.
Anyway this morning was grocery day and for some reason i haven't planned my menus.
So while i'm in the grocery store i really felt quite lost, i wasn't sure what we were low on, i wasn't sure what i was having next week. I'm really not used to this feeling and i just shook my head and hopefully picked up what would carry me through.
I'm sure by monday i'll be back in the grocery store picking up things i've forgotten ;(
So guess what my plan is for Monday? I'm sitting down with pen and paper and planning the next couple of weeks. Then i can relax and let the week go by smoothly ;)

And the verdict is...

Well when i went to the dr he wasn't as worried about the calve as he was about my foot as it kind of goes tingly and numb when i'm walking! Anyway he couldn't find a pulse in my right foot which he says is extremely unusual for my age and he's worried that i have a blocked "vein"? i think he said in my arch. So i'm waiting to get an appointment with a vascular lab and then onto a vascular surgeon!! So it's a wait and see thing!!
But the good news is he told me to keep on walking ;)

Today....

Today i have an appointment with my Dr. regarding my right calve, so that should be interesting.
Today i work 3-11 ;( and i will not eat any junk at work
Today i will walk to the dr and take the long way home ;)
Today i am on plan!!
Today i feel strong.
Today i could conquer the world!
Today i'm at peace with my journey in life ;)

A confession to make

Before i come clean i want to say what a wonderful bbq we had last night and i believe fun was had by all. Somehow the nice picture of my greek salad has gone missing ;) Here's a few pictures:

























I'm pretty sure i've mention before that i binge. And when i binge it's not pretty. It doesn't last long but it's something i've been trying to work on.
Well last night was the first time in a long time that i had one. It started small and ended big. The stupid thing is that i wasn't hungry!! And i could have stopped it after eating a couple of unplanned things but did i?? No. Did i do this in front of other people?? No. The only saving grace, if you want to call it that, is that i don't keep junk food in the house so at least it was somewhat healthy.
Yesterday i had 32 flex pts left to work with this week. Today i have 8.
This morning i'm back on my plan. I will definitely not give up. I just wish i could stop this behaviour.

How far i've come

I can't believe how far i've come physically in a short time. Yesterday after doing my 5 km walk in 47 minutes i was really hot, really sweaty and you wouldn't want to get too close to me as i probably stunk pretty good, but after a few stretches i was able to pick up my backpack and walk the several block back to where i pick up the bus. When i got home i still needed to walk across the road to the big supermarket where i need to walk all over the place to pick up a couple of things. Oh and i'd already done the push up challenge in the morning ;)
How does this compare to the way i was a short time ago??
Well i can remember going to the grocery store and on the way home being that winded and sore that i would pray the traffic light would turn red so that i could get a few minutes of rest in before i had to cross the street. Now you have to remember that i have arthritis and when i'm eating junk and i'm not moving it acts up something nasty!
I remember not wanting to tie up my lace up shoes because my stomach would be pinch when i was trying to do so.
There are many other things and i'm sure i'm not the only one who has gone through them.
All i can say is that i never want to go there again if it can help it!! I still have a lot of work to do but seeing these results definitely gives me the push i need sometimes ;)

Coupon alert for canadians

For any other canadians out there that would like a coupon for a free 650 g (large) container of silhouette 0+ yogurt go here to print out a coupon

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x15/prue7979/001%20Fab%20Canadian%20Freebies/Blog/Silhouette.jpg

Or if this doesn't work go to canadianfreestuff.com ;)

Where i've been today.....

Well i did get my 5 km in and i did it in a new personal best time ;) 46.49 mins!! And along the way i took photos of where i stopped to eat. And i couldn't resist the squirrel!

Todays plan

Well another busy day off of work ;)
Today i meet with my walking group so i should be able to put 5 km in and hopefully i'll get my best time yet! I have a volunteer meeting this morning. This afternoon i meet with a friend for a coffee. Then it's off to the grocery store to pick up a few things i forgot.
Oh and i've done day one of the second week of the 100 push up challenge ;)
Tonight will be planning a bbq for tomorrow with my daughter, we've invited her boyfriend over! So that should be fun. And then i hope to be vegging while watching a movie ;)
I'm on my way out the door, but if i'll probably update later.....

Weekly weigh in and goal update

Well as of this morning i've lost -.6 bringing me to 141.8 :)
As far as my goals for last week:
1. keep track of my eating but enjoy it and don't sweat the small stuff-really done well with this
2. walk at least 4 times-managed to walk 5 times this week and i also did the pushup challenge 3 times ;)
3. do a weight routine at least 2 times-this week i only did one weight routine
4.enjoy this week and hopefully see a loss next week ;)-had a great week and lost -.6

So for this week here's my goals:
1. walk at least 4 times again!!
2. get two weight routines in and plan them in advance.
3. drink my water because it's really hot.
4. once again keep track of my eating, enjoy it and don't sweat the small stuff!
5. Take time to smell the roses ;)

As for my experiment it worked!! I loved the chocolate that i ate and savored every bite slowly. I didn't binge and i didn't have any cravings for more afterwards. However i did get up and the scale was down a lb from yesterday ;) So at least i got a loss in for this week.

This morning......

And now for an experiment

I wanted to give myself a small sweet treat without going on a binge and without causing major cravings for more sweets ;)
And i don't know whether everyone would understand, but trying this scares me.
So my plan for today is to have a glass of red wine and a small piece of organic chili and spice dark chocolate.
I'm looking forward to this but at the same time i'm a little nervous because i'm not good at control when anything with sugar is involved!
But i've thought this out and in order to continue living a healthy life style i need to start incorporating somethings that i enjoy, or that i may come across, while maintaining some sort of control.
Now i'm not talking brownies/ice cream at the moment because these are definite trigger foods for me (among many others) but i just want to take it one baby step at a time, and see how it goes.
So todays chocolate is organic, dark chocolate that i'm going to take one small bite of at a time and thoroughly enjoy!!
Maybe i'll make this a weekly or bi-weekly thing??? Who knows ;)

Talking to myself

I posted the other day that i was smiling to myself like a fool while on a walk, well yesterday it progressed and i'm now talking to myself (although not out loud :).
I was on my walk and i'm thinking how great this week is going, and then i'm thinking how i'd really like to be in the 130's soon, as i've worked hard for it! When i suddenly realize, girl if you ever want to be there you'd better get your butt moving faster :)
And get my butt in gear i did, all the while chuckling inside to myself!

I love when things like this happens because it means i'm making progress. I know i have to work hard if i want to get where i want to be. Sitting around and wishing for it to be so will not get me anywhere.

Someone (sorry i can't remember who) was talking about how they really enjoy the way the way there body feels and looks as it changes and i must admit i'm getting to that point.
I'm feeling stronger. My body will bend and do things better than it's done in a while. I have more energy. And sometimes when i go past a mirror i actually have a smirk on my face! The scale may not always show what i want it to but feeling like this is progress in my book :)

I've been tagged!!!

This is the first time i've been tagged so i've got to do it :) Here goes:

5 Things in your bag:

1. Lubriderm hand cream
2. burts beeslip balm
3. cool delight pomegranate/blueberry water bottle thingie (like crystal light)
4. camera ;)
5. weight watchers calculator

5 Things in your bedroom:

1. new mattress and boxspring
2. teddy bear hubby gave me for valentines day
3. duck lamp my son gave me for christmas
4. fan
5. candles

5 Things I have always wanted:

1. catch up to my finances
2. to be healthy
3.to be stress free
4. to see my children happy (so far, so good)
5. to tell people exactly what i think :)

5 Things i'm really into:

1. eating healthy
2. reading
3. cooking
4. vegging around the house
5. blogging ;)

5 people i'll tag: Feel free not to ;)

1. baglady
2. shanna
3. tb he may not have a bag but he may have a backpack ;)
4. cara
5. cammy
6. katschi

Hope you have fun with this!!

On my walk today...

I'm so glad i decided to go! Unfortunately i haven't seen the deer or the snakes or the beautiful woodpecker that i saw before i had a camera but they'll be there one of these days ;) And yes it was hot!!

my plan for today

Since it's looking like today is going to be a hot one i'm going to go on my walk a little early and i'm going through the woods which is a little cooler!!

This is a lot better plan than what i was thinking last night. I was in that mindset that "oh it's going to be hot so i'd better take a day off tomorrow" thought!

Right now it's beautiful, and o.k. if i have to take it a little easier i will, but it doesn't mean i will just not do anything. What happens if it rains tomorrow or suddenly gets cold, does that mean i need a day off as well???

Oh and on the one hundred push up challenge i'm on day 3 week one tomorrow :) It's going well and i can't believe i'm actually keeping up, even if i am doing girlie ones.

And thanks to cara i'm also on the 18 lbs in 18 week challenge and although i only have 17.4 left to get to goal she has graciously allowed me to join in ;) thanks cara!

All in all so far this week is going great ;)

NSV

Well it wasn't until i was half-way round my 5 km walk yesterday that i realized i was wearing shorts that i hadn't been able to wear for a couple of years!
The last time i'd tried them on they had looked awful and i threw them back in the drawer not to be tried on for another year.
I was so chuffed realizing this that i was grinning to myself like an idiot on my walk today ;)
Little things add up.
On the exercise front, today is day two of the 100 push up challenge, wish me luck!!
Also, it's back to work today. Oh well i do have to make money, don't i??

Memories

This morning i was reading about running/jogging, and it brought back some not so nice memories!
The only thing i can remember about health class/gym was climbing at least 100 stairs up a hill to a horse track above our school where we were told to run around. Now the not so nice memories are that i've never been able to run, that i was always 2nd last and waaaaayyy behind everyone else. Oh and my boobs were about the same size as they are now which is big! Therefore i was the brunt of all jokes for a long time.
Not surprisingly i hated gym. Oh i lie, i just thought of something i actually liked, volleyball :) And the funny thing is now i love doing physical things, except for running which after 30 seconds feels as though my legs will explode!! I am making an appointment with my dr to see what's up with my right calve and maybe if that get's fixed then running could be in my future once again :)
I really wish though that i'd been given the chance to fit in when i was younger. Given the right instruction (i.e. sports bra), and a little more understanding and i think it would have made a big difference to my health!

How the day is going so far ;)

Yes i did this in the middle of a meeting ;( However even with my hair sticking out in this picture all i could do was laugh ;) (i'm sure some people thought i was nuts on the bus:)
Then as i was walking with this mess accentuating my already big endowments i saw these beautiful gardens and it made me smile even more!