Weekly update!

I was very happy with my progress this week.

I stayed within my point goal. I exercised 6 days this week. I ran further and easier than last week. I feel good about myself.

I've been blogging regularly, sometimes too much :)

I did a lot of planning for food etc. and it really does work for me!

I dyed my hair.

I received a parcel this week that made me smile even though i've had a rough time lately.

I ordered a dehydrator, can't wait to try it.

Well i'm off to work early today! Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone

And Snuffy says have a Happy Halloween or else :)

Oh my!!

Went to work tonight and avoided all the baked goodies!
1/2 an hour before i went home a fellow workers daughter came in and gave me a container wrapped up. She said it was because i always help her mom :)

Get home and guess what it is?? Baklava!!!

Yummo, and yes i'm not having any. The hubs enjoyed a piece though.

Oh and this is what it's made of: a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey

Freezing....

Absolutely freezing when i went out for a walk/run!! Had to wear gloves :(  But i had a really good walk/run.

Today i work 2-10pm then it's back to work at 8 am-2pm tomorrow!! Oh yeah i'm going to be tired. But i've never been home for Halloween, i always end up working. So this year i asked for the day shift.

For Halloween we bought a box (still unopened) of cheeto's. Give them out and if there are any leftover i'll probably take them to work for the kids. They won't stay here long :)

Mmmm....

Couldn't think of a title today!

Thanks Kati for giving me an award. I know i'm the worst person to give them to because i don't follow the rules ;) I just can't pick out certain people to pass it along to. I would feel bad if i offended anyone.

Exercise for today was weights and squats and pushups and a plank!! Just some of each, not going too crazy.

I'm hoping to soon figure out a schedule for exercising! Anyone with any suggestions?? I'm going to try and get some biking in this week before the mmm.... (white stuff) gets here.

I'll have to take a picture of me in my Halloween get up. Oh and i also need to take a picture of the new hair colour. However right now i'm looking like Phyllis Diller so no pic!!

One things i'm finding this week is that the more comfortable i become in my journey the less i judge others! Don't know what that's all about. At work when people are buying donuts left and right i just smile and know they are not for me!

I also really "get" that my journey depends upon my choices! Good or bad they are the choices that i have made.

Went for a walk....

First of all it was cold this morning, second it was drizzling. So i dressed warm, grabbed my camera and headed off for a walk.

Well...... when i got to the place where i've been running and pushing to go a bit further each time i ran :) The engine is primed there's no holding it back!!! Didn't run for speed or distance just enjoyed myself. Probably did that about 3 or 4 times. Loving it.

What's this?? The bench i stopped and did some tricep dips on :)

Then it was home to eat lunch while i was dying my hair, a little brighter red this time. All in all a productive day before i go to work! Do you see the ducks??

Top 20 foods!

Gp posted her top 20 foods in her house yesterday and i just had to do it as well!!

1. oats
2. almond breeze
3. peanut butter
4. bananas
5. cherry tomatoes
6. mini peppers
7. squirrelly bread
8. peaches
9. rainbow trout
10. egg substitute
11. olive oil
12. cheese
13. laughing cow light cheese
14. ww tortillas
15. chicken breast
16. cocoa nibs
17. canadian bacon eh!
18. broccoli
19. pumpkin (i'd better not leave this out)
20. turkey bacon

I could definitely keep going!!

What are your favorite foods?? Feel free to steal this idea and post your 20 favorite foods in your kitchen!

A new bounce in my step :)

Today i picked up some new running shoes :) Oh and a snazzy pear of sport sunglasses!! I credit the shoes with having a great walk/run today.

Today every time i'd say to myself i'll run from here to there i managed to go past it! And today for the first time when i was running i wasn't saying, i'm not going to make it, i'm not going to make it, i was looking at the beauty around me and smiling.

I must have put in a decent effort today since sweat is dripping off of my nose :)

While the hubs and i were out shopping earlier we decided to stop for a drink. I grabbed a coffee because i chug water all day and i don't like to pay for it, and the hubs got a water :) Anyway, he also grabbed a cranberry muffin, a HUGE cranberry muffin. Asked if i'd like some and i automatically said no thanks, didn't even have to argue with myself. That is an awesome NSV for me.

I made the chicken pot pie tonight and it was awesome, special thanks goes to this blogger, thank you! I'll definitely be making this again :)

Question Day!

Thanks you for all your comments of support! I appreciated each and every one of them :)

For anyone new to my blog, Wednesday is the day i love to ask questions and then i enjoy reading the answers! I learn so much from all of you. Have fun:

1. What vegetable do you not like?

2. What made you smile this week?

3. Favorite tea/coffee??

4. Do you have trigger foods that you simply can't have in the house?? Which ones?

5. What is your favorite colour??

Not perfect but i'm happy!

Well i went to a board meeting and they always provide dinner. I never know what they're going to serve so i try to leave lots of points/calories so that i'm covered!

Tonight i had 9 pts left for dinner. My choices were cabbage rolls, rice, cheese, orange slices, apple slices, grapes, broccoli, and mini cupcakes with not a lot of icing on them.

I chose one medium sized cabbage roll, a couple of small cubes of cheese, a cup or so of broccoli, an apple slice, an orange slice and a mini cupcake. I drank 3 cups of water and a large green tea. I'm happy with my choices, i feel satisfied but not stuffed and i know i stayed on plan :)

Random bits of info :)

I stole this from Karla, feel free to steal it from me!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9 am i worked afternoon shift yesterday :)

2. How do you like your steak? med/rare closer to rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Honestly can't remember

4. What is your favorite TV show? I really don't watch t.v

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? ?? I'd love to go back to England but i love where i am

6. What did you have for breakfast? pumpkin/cranberry muffin with a protein pumpkin shake

7. What is your favorite cuisine? There isn't one favorite unless of course it's my own cooking!

8. What foods do you dislike? Egg salad is the only thing i can think of

9. Favorite Place to Eat? The hubs favorite is a chinese buffet and since i've been able to eat healthy there i've grown to really enjoy it as well

10. Favorite dressing? Caesar

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? No car

12. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans and a nice top


 14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Always 1/2 full

15. Where would you want to retire? Doesn't matter where as long as i have my family near

16. Favorite time of day? Evening

17. Where were you born? Bournemouth, England

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Boxing :)

19. How many siblings? I have one step sister that i really have only met once. I was brought up as an only child

20. Favorite pastime/hobby? walking/reading/photography

22. Bird watcher? no

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely a night person, i work the afternoon shift

24. Do you have any pets? One cat that rules the house, Mr. Snuffalufagus

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Not right this minute

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A mommy :)

27. What is your best childhood memory? We had this storage area underneath the stairs and i set up house their with a table, dolls, tea set etc.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Actually i love both of them

29. Are you married? Nope but we've been together going on 20 years

30. Always wear your seat belt? Always

31. Been in a car accident? i've totalled two cars but neither were my fault!

32. Any pet peeves? Rude people and people with no manners

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? cheese

34. Favorite Flower? Pink roses

35. Favorite ice cream? Ummm...... Rum and raisin or banana

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Actually the only fast food we have every now and then would be pizza??

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? I got mine the first time!

38. From whom did you get your last email? Lori because she's a fellow pumpkin lover

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Actually we don't have a credit cards but i love to shop anywhere

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Well i give out hugs spontaneously, at least i did today :)

41. Like your job? Most of the time i do but it does have it's moments

42. Broccoli? Love it

43. What was your favorite vacation? British Virgin Islands


44. Last person you went out to dinner with? The hubby

45. What are you listening to right now? The computer humming

46. What is your favorite color? ???? Right now?? Purple

47. How many tattoos do you have? I have one which is a cross with roses that says in memory of Chris. Chris was my cousin that i absolutely adored. He was gay and was beaten to death.

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 7:04pm

50. Coffee Drinker?  I have started having one in the morning since i've been using my french press. But i'm usually a tea or water drinker.

What a blast!

The bowling/pizza party i was volunteering at today was for people with mental health issues.  I do a lot of volunteering for them. I love the people i meet and i love seeing them have a great time.

I asked people if i could take their picture and they had no problem with that so i thought you might enjoy them too.

Todays a good day!

I started today with a pumpkin muffin and a protein pumpkin shake :)

That gave me the energy to go out on a 55 minute walk with my camera! Not sunny but fun anyway.

Did you lose something??

Then it was back home to make lunch before hopping on my bike to the pizza/bowling party.

Which brings me to something i've been thinking a lot about lately. Choices. We all have choices. My choices for today were to have an awesome brekkie, a great lunch, go on a walk, get on my bike to go to a bowling/pizza party and choose not to eat pizza while i was there. I also chose to drink water. Then it was home for a delicious chili that's been in the crockpot all day and with it i had a glass of wine.

I could have had bread with chili but i chose to have wine because i really enjoy that more than bread :)

So what did my choices do for me today??

• I stayed within my planned points/calories
• 
  
• I actually got more exercise in today because i had planned for it
• 
  
• I really enjoyed my food but i chose to eat to live not live to eat
• 
  
• I feel really good about myself, it has been hard lately and i really do need to take care of myself 
• 
  
• I'm feeling stronger about my decisions the more i do them

What choices did you make today??

Another review from CSN stores!!

I'm really happy to be asked do another review for CSN stores!!

CSN stores have so many products it's amazing!!  They have over 200 stores and a great selection of everything including wardrobes, toys, kitchen wares, and furniture and fitness equipment.

As you know i've really enjoyed dehydrating apples and kale chips lately but i'd love to try dehydrating other fruits/veggies with a real dehydrator.  Thanks to CSN i'll have the chance.

I really love CSN's customer service and their shipping is fast and everything i've ever received from them has been delivered on time and with no damage!

Look for my review coming soon :)

Oh my!!

On Saturday i picked up my weights and did a bit of everything :) Squats (regular, plie and step), shoulder press, chest press, front raises, side raises, bicep curls, tricep extensions etc. One set of each since i hadn't done them in a while.

Today i went for my walk/run (which is getting better).

Today we were incredibly busy and i did some major running around as the supervisor!! All i have to say is that every time i had to lift a coffee pot i could feel my triceps and my legs feel like noodles :)

I think tomorrow will be an easy walk with my camera, that is if the rain isn't too bad. Tomorrow afternoon we're hoping to bike to a bowling alley for a bowling/pizza party (no pizza for me). Once again as long as it's not thundering and lightening and pouring buckets. Hopefully the legs will hold up for me.

Back tomorrow for an update!

Weekly update...and goals!

This past week has been one of the best and one of the worst weeks i've had in a while. Food was bang on, exercise was great. I started to run :) How much better can it get than that?

I didn't eat after dinner, this was pretty easy as i really prefer 3 meals a day no snacks.

I drank at least 8 cups of water a day.

I've stuck with my colon cleansing from Dr. Natura with the colonix. It's going great and i'm going to do a post on that soon!

As you know i did have a lot of tragedy this week and i am dealing with it day by day, it's the best i can do.

I made Kale chips which are awesome!

I made Apple chips which are also awesome :)

I made pear butter I did make less, used less sugar and substituted some sugar with splenda, i also upped the ginger because i love the ginger/pear combination.

Hey maybe i'll make homemade fruit leather or maybe pumpkin spiced almond butter?

Mmmmm.... think maybe i should investigate a dehydrator?

This morning i went out on another run/walk. Loved it. I have a question for other beginners. Since i'm not running very far or fast (honestly i don't) should i still have a rest day in between?? I'm trying to figure how to do the walking/running, the weights, and still fit it some walks just for fun? Any help would be appreciated.

For those of you that follow my other blog in case your wondering why i take a meal replacement or protein shake for dinner it's just so much easier for me and less time consuming. I also find that since i work in a coffee/donut shop (yes and Tim's) when i have a shake it leaves me with no cravings for food at work. I have no problem with it. When i was taking a regular dinner i would crave something sweet after! When i'm not working i eat a nice healthy dinner at home:)

Simple, quick and tasty :)

You don't need to have complicated recipes, or loads of time. Make things ahead of time and freeze them and with a snap of the fingers a meal is ready :)

Lunch today was some leftover bbq'd salmon that i'd bought on sale with a wedge of lemon, some kale chips i'd made on my day off, a few small peppers, a blueberry scone (still tweaking this recipe, trying to use up what i made first), and a cheese portion.

I absolutely enjoyed the simplicity and the taste of lunch today :)

Now to go get ready to work in a coffee/donut shop!

Hope your having a good weekend.

I'm it!

Summer tagged me so i'm it :)  These are the questions she asked:

1. What was your favorite TV show or character when you were a kid?
I honestly don't remember, being brought up by my grandparents they watched a lot of church shows and coronation street :) 

2. Do you have siblings or are you an only child?
An only child with my grandparents

3. What is your favorite book and why?
Any book by Janet Evanovich because i laugh out loud with each of her books! Hubs loves when i'm reading them. I read so many though it's hard to pick one favorite.

4. Coffee or tea and do you have a favorite mug?
Tea is my favorite but i've started to have a french press coffee every morning and i'm loving it :) Favorite mug is a clear glass one or the one that says Suzie :)

5. What is your favorite winter (non-holiday) activity? 
I LOVE hiking through the woods in the winter!! Seriously i'm out there until my toes are frozen :)

6. What is your favorite saying (funny or serious)?
What goes around, comes around!

7. Cell phones, hate them or love them? and why?

Don't hate or love.  I have one i sometimes use but i can go weeks without using it.


I ask questions every week that you answer so i won't tag anyone but i'll tag all of you :) Feel free to answer the questions above if you'd like!

This is not a good week!

We found out last night that Ralph's brother-in-law passed away yesterday morning! He had been bravely battling cancer but is definitely in peace now.

So much tragedy in one week.

I'm kind of living in automatic if you know what i mean. I'm just doing what i usually do but i'm in kind of a haze.

I have not dived into food this week which surprises me because with all the stress that is what i would normally do! And this morning i tied up my laces and went out on a walk/run. It is a big help for me stress wise.
And believe it or not i ran longer than i have before.

Hang on!

Don't think they're coming back for this

Back to work!

Yesterday after the Chinese buffet and before dinner Ralph and i went on a 50 minute bike ride. After we got back i rested for about 15 minutes and then went on a 55 minute walk/run. O.k i may have overdone it a bit :)
I didn't run as much as yesterday but i think that's because my legs were tired!

So today's plan before work was to go for a nice walk. Well i woke up with severe cramps and aunt Flo visiting!! So i made a tactical decision to just go back to bed :) I have to stand on my feet for 8 hours today and i  really think the rest did me good. Sometimes you have to do what's best for you.

Hope your having a great day!!

I went to a Chinese buffet and won :)

Yes dear friends of ours took us out to a Chinese buffet for lunch today! Now normally i do not want to hop on the scale for a couple of days afterwards. Today i ate the healthiest things i could find and i'm feeling satisfied but no where near stuffed. I'm actually looking forward to going next time :) Good food great friends!!

Knowing that i wasn't sure what i'd find for lunch today i made sure i ate a healthy breakfast of oats and had a protein drink before i went because i find that helps with my cravings and my appetite. Supper tonight is in the slow cooker, i've made the butternut squash soup again and i have a whole grain baguette to go with it, no butter.

All in all a great healthy food day.

Now Ralph and i are off on the bikes for a nice long ride and we'll stop and have a coffee halfway. Then it's home and i'm hoping to go on another walk/run. I'll let you know how it goes.