Friday, July 31, 2009

Back to basics

Another long day done and more to look forward to tomorrow. It's been a long time since I worked a Saturday but I found out today I get to re-do all the work that I've spent the last 3 days....fun! Actually I'm looking forward to in that I'll have a day of things to do. What would kill me is if I had to wait around all day.

Today I rejoined WW online. While I adore the daily plate I think they can work together. It also helps that WW won their diet face off and this year they're pitching WW against Bob Greene's program. When it comes right down to it the most successful I've ever been with weight loss has been with WW and I can still recall points - not to mention this blog is named WW For Life. I'm hesitant to go back to meetings for a few reasons and one is cost. Online is cheaper and I have multiple versions of the printed materials to complement that.

My eating has been pure crap for the week. Eating lunch out every day and out to dinner twice this week. Healthy options have not been on the top of my list. My goal for next week is to pack my lunch and hit the gym every day even it's just for 30min on a treadmill. Another reason for going to back to WW is I find it easier to count points then calories.

I'm starting back at the beginning with a clean slate.

Hugs!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Alternate plans

Hello long time no blog.

This project I'm on is going to suck up a lot of time. So far the average is 10hrs - 11hrs a day at work. My plan to make two training sessions a week are sinking fast so alternate plans need to happen.

I emailed my trainer to give him a heads up that due to the volume of work my ability to make a 4:30pm session might be tricky as so far I haven't left any earlier than 5pm. Today he emails me and asks if I'm coming on Thursday. I won't know until Thursday as the stuff I'm working on is totally deadline driven and involves waiting on info from other people. Knowing that volume is looming I said it's doubtful.

So he emails me back and says "It's important for your health". Duh..I didn't appreciate this comment as I had already explained what was going on. I don't like missing sessions either as I can't give him 24hrs notice I forfeit the session. This work is important and having the news declare that the unemployment rate in Alberta has gone drastically up and knowing people who do what I do are having a difficult time finding work, doing your job well is more important than ever. I've been put on this project for a reason.

What this does fuel me to do is show him up. Work hard around my erratic work schedule and when I can make a session show that I know what I'm doing.

One of my challenges is getting home after a long day and having to make dinner with no energy. So my organic order is filled with easy to heat up options to get through these crazy weeks.

Life happens and you can't hide under the covers. Things change you make alternate plans.

Enough said.

Later

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Aha moments

OMG it's going to be hot today, it's hot now. 29 degrees celsius is expected...yuck.

I headed out at a little after 9 to the grocery store to pick up some stuff my grocery delivery didn't have plus cupcake ingredients and it felt hot. I did walk home with all the groceries, put them away and then plopped myself down in front of the fan.

Was up a lb this morning which didn't make me happy but I know what went wrong. This week will be interesting because it's been a few months since I've had to fend for myself food wise 24/7.

I was thinking a bit more about goals as I walked this morning. While my end goal is a new wardrobe, there are things I covet that could fall into the goal arena such as the Lulumon gym tote that looks more like a shopping bag and a wireless printer.

I think my new work areas is going to be a snack fest so I must plan myself carefully as I'll most likely be sitting there for the next month and a half - a lot of damage can happen in that time.. Most importantly I need to bring lunch and snacks and another important thing is water. My water intact has suffered greatly.

While I love tracking on daily plate there are technical issues that can make it a little frustrating plus I won't be able to add things during the day so more traditional tracking must come back in play.

I have so much house stuff to do this weekend that a gym visit will be challenging but I am bringing bym clothes to work on Monday even if I'm hauling 36 cupcakes.

Alright that's all I got.

Hugs!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

What a week...

Hellooo

Extended absence this week as my visit to site was extended a day. I had two days of clothes for a 3 day stay, thank goodness that shower gel can sometimes double as laundry detergent. We do have full washers and dryers at site but it felt wrong to stick four articles of clothing in.

Much has happened this week, I don't need to go to site for the next few weeks as I've been put on a project at home. It was bitter sweet on Wednesday while happy to not have to get up so early for planes I will definitely miss my peeps. However I do feel this break will be better for my waist line as I'm in control of food.

I hit the treadmill on Monday and on Tuesday a co-worker and I went for a walk outside. That lasted until I was being followed by 3 wasps. Then we headed inside and played ping pong for half an hour. OMG I was laughing so hard at the ping pong as it took awhile until we found our groove. A lot of time was spent chasing the ping pong ball including when it landed on the neighbouring pool table while a game was being played.

I cancelled my training session tonight as I was in a meeting all day that I thought would run late. It didn't but I didn't have gym clothes with me. I'm not sure what the weeks ahead will hold for scheduling as I'm expecting the project to be crazy busy.

I did manage to walk around a bit outside but my lord it was hot and uncomfortably so. I find this weather good for my diet as I don't want to eat when it's uber hot. The moment I got home I found a fan. Dinner was quick nachos in the microwave as I couldn't bear turning on anything that gave off heat.

I have promised my coworkers cupcakes on Monday as I no longer have the excuse that I have to get on plane for awhile.

The Wednesday workout will not happen until the weekend that's for sure.

In terms of long and short term goals, I know my long term goal for when I hit goal weight is a new wardrobe. The shorter goals are tough for me. I think I'll go with 5lbs at a time sort of thing as to what will need thought.

That's all I got for today.

Hugs

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Weekend is over :(

My attempt to sleep in today resulted in waking up at 6am, I literally said heck no to that so I managed to snooze for awhile longer.

Breakfast was two pieces of organic cinnamon raisin toast with a teaspoon of Olivina margarine on each slice and a glass of milk.

Stepped on the scale and briefly wished I had made Sundays my weigh in day as there was a loss.

Then I had to head downtown to Origins to pick up a Peace of Mind On The Spot for a co-worker at site. She had a headache one day and I always have one these in my bag so just rub it on earlobes, temples and the back of your neck and shazaam. I remember when I first tried it, they were sampling it at The Bay and I did have a headache and in 10min it felt much better. Well she asked me to pick some up for her as she lives in Fort Mac.

I came right back home again but by then my eating pattern was thrown off. I find this a challenge on the weekends. At work I have very scheduled meal times which makes it easier to plan and I find if that gets tossed off it messes me up. For example I usually have lunch around 11:30ish, today I didn't have lunch until 1:45pm so it turns into a bit of snackfest (today an incident with Ben&Jerry's Chunky Monkey) because I'm indecisive about what to eat. Then the snackfest effects supper because I'm not really hungry. This doesn't happen the whole weekend but usually at least one day on the weekend.

I just need to schedule mealtimes on weekends too.

This whole weightloss journey can be a funny thing. You need to know what you're doing. I was talking to another co-worker at site last week. She's new and we were in the take-out kitchen (where one can pack lunch or snacks as the main kitchen shuts down at 8am, opens again 12-1:30 and closes until 5pm). As we're walking along picking up fruit she tells me she's sort of following weightwatchers. I told her I'm fluent in points. First she asks me if popcorn is 0pts. I tell her it depends on how much you have and what type but it's not usually 0pts. So she's telling me her friend said it was 0 and about this microwave stuff she has that's super low.

Later in the day she shows it to me and it's regular butter 12g of fat in half a bag popcorn. Then she tells me she's following WW on the fly - not signed up for meeting and not doing it online. Whoa, she then tells me she's been having a bag a night because she thought it was 0pts.

Even though I've taken a break from WW, I'm a strong believer in following it correctly so I told her if she's not going to sign up try Daily Plate.

It was funny I was coming back from the grocery store yesterday and I saw people going into my old meeting, it made me feel a bit of a twinge. Going back is definitely in the back of my head.

Alright so I'm off to site again this week and have a very early wake up time. I'm going to repeat last week and make sure to get a workout in while there. Trainer returns this week and I'm committed to two additional trips to the gym when back in Calgary.

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Hugs!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Whew!



Weigh in this morning resulted in staying exactly the same as last week, I guess I'm blessed on that front as Wed and Thur were rough foodwise, my clean Friday certainly helped.

Did Amy's 20min challenge first thing this morning (exactly 5min of running not all at once) and the picture above is my sweaty hat head. Then I walked to and from the grocery store (4K) and then I got an email from the neighbour asking if I wanted to walk the dog. Well of course I love that dog so I went and picked her up and we did just over 30min. Had a rockstar moment as two toddlers on the route went crazy for the dog. Their little squeals of "puppy" were awfully cute. The dog is hysterical, when she heard them she starts to trot down the sidewalk while looking at them- very model like. I'll take her again tomorrow.

Then I came home and wound up snoozing on the couch for two hours.




I tried the Amazing Grass chocolate today. I put a cup of milk and packet into my magic bullet to mix it well. I'm not so crazy about this on it's own. It kind of tasted like Greens with a bit of chocolate. Now that I have this I definitely think I'll be adding it to smoothies as opposed to just having it with milk.

Things I still need to do today are laundry and entering all my food into Daily Plate, I've got all this week to enter. I'm going to break out the crockpot to make my organic chili will pretty much wind up with a whole whack of veggies. Still planning in my head and I'll probably make it tomorrow. I'll post the final product.
I hope everyone is having a fantastic Saturday.
Hugs!




Friday, July 17, 2009

Pajama Day

So my great plans to sleep in wound up in me waking up at 7am today, oh well if you've had a week of 3:30am to 5:30am wake ups 7am is probably not so bad.

I had an internal battle with myself today as what to do with my friday off. Part of me wanted to head out to check out the newly opened Bath and Body Works and the other half just wanted to lay low. Lay low won as I'd probably wind up buying stuff I don't really need at Bath and Body Works. That can wait.

I thought today would be the perfect day to do the clean eating challenge as I'd be home all day and therefore in control of my food. Boy, did I feel like a bit of food stylist as I was taking pictures of everything I ate today. So here we go:

Breakfast


This was oatmeal made with almond milk, 1/2 box organic raisins, 1 Tblsp of organic walnuts and a glass of 1% milk.

Morning Snack


This was Olympic Organics vanilla yogurt with strawberries.

Lunch



This was an omelette made with two organic eggs filled with red onion, mushroom and red pepper with a roma tomatoe on the side. It's pretty brown but I can't make light fluffy omelettes.

Afternoon Snack



This is a Kettle Organic Strawberry Fruit Snack
Supper

This is whole wheat noodles with peas and plain tomato sauce, jazzed up with some Mrs Dash Southwestern spice (not sure if that's "clean" but it's good). On the side are organic green beans steamed with a bit of Renee's Wellness lemon garlic dressing - This was really yummy.
I had no clue what I was going to have for supper so I raided my pantry.
I did spend the whole day in my pajamas and had an afternoon nap. Watched a couple episodes of Being Erica online - not a bad show. My only people interruption of the day was a delivery of my Amazing Greens order. I got the chocolate sample pack. Didn't try it today but will soon and give my report.
Tomorrow is supposed to be 30 degrees, which I despise - way too hot for me. So my goal is to get everything done in the morning and that includes the workout challenge for this week.
Hope you had a groovy day.
Hugs!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Back and planning to sleep in 3 days in a row

Hello hello,

I am back from my journey to Northern Alberta. While I was fairly well behaved food wise at site all that went south in Fort Mac. Mostly because where I work you're only food option is a cafeteria and options are not so healthy.

I didn't see the food challenge this week until today but a day of clean eating sounds good to me.

Had a good time away but I'm happy to be home for awhile before I have to get on a plane again. I'm looking forward to hitting the gym tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in.

On the plane home I read the Air Canada magazine and they had an article on CrossFit training, this is the mantra my trainer follows so it was nice to learn a little more about it.

Thrilled that I have a day off tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be fantastic this weekend for all Alberta...finally.

Alright that's all I got for day as I'm a bit wiped.

Until later...

Hugs!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Pit Stop

Back in Calgary for a few short hours and a sleep in my own bed and then it's off to Fort Mac for two days.

Site was good and I watched my eating. The two days of solid rain wasn't so fun especially as it was not forecasted. I had problems with livestrong.com so I wrote everything down for when I have an opportunity to enter it.

Also made it the gym and did 50min on the treadmill and that included a few minutes of running...shocking as I'm not a runner.

Short post as I must go to bed for my 3:30am wakeup call.

I tried to post via email but it looks like it didn't work so I must try that again.

Alright I'm out.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Jungle lawn

That was the major thing I tackled today and I consider that a workout. I have a fairly big backyard and with all the rain we've been getting adding in the fact I didn't have a chance to mow it last week it was a jungle lawn. All in all about 50min of mowing today and I do use a power mower but I was sweating for sure.

Before I tackled the lawn I tackled laundry and had the same breakfast as yesterday - Oatmeal with 2/3 unsweetened almond milk and half a box organic raisins. That kept me full till lunch.

While mowing I twinged my left shoulder pulling the mower. I think I've worked that out but it's still sore. By lunch my mobility was a bit comprimised so I opted for Prairie Mill Organic Raisin Bread toasted. I had a green monster a little later on as I needed some sort of vegetable fruit. Today it was two handfulls of spinach, 1c unsweetened almond milk, 1c strawberries and a frozen banana.

Snack was a Kettle Valley Organic Cherry fruit bar, Yummy! I'm normally not a huge fan of fruit bars as I find them way too sweet. This one was perfect. I threw a couple in my bag for work so I have a healthy snack. I got a sample back from spud so in bag is strawberry and cranberry. I also packed a couple of granola bars.

Supper was a Money's mushroom burger on a PC burger first whole wheat bun with mustard, relish, ketchup and tzatziki chased down with a Bud Light Lime. Also very yummy.

Have you ever noticed how many food ads there are on tv, it's crazy. When I was contemplating a snack it was like they were on every few minutes.

That's two days in a row of spot on tracking. I won't forget my runners this week so I can workout Monday at site. Alright the goal is to be able to report back to you all that I've tracked for the whole week.

Posting will be random this week due to travelling but I hope you had a great weekend and have a fabulous week.

Hugs!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

He speaks russian in french

That line comes from a beer commercial that just made me laugh at loud. The narrator's voice just adds the icing on the cake.

I did sleep in today and it was awesome. Breakfast today was oatmeal, with unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 a box of organic raisins. Totally yummy and kept me full for a long time. Note to self - maybe I should do that more often.

I then went to the grocery store as I needed a few things. Walked there and back which is about 4km. Hamstring was twinging a bit but on the road to recovery. On the top of my list was spinach and the only option I had was a giant container, got some organic yogurt, organic milk and El Molino Multigrain Tortilla Chips.

When I got home I transferred the spinach into garden ziploc bags as it fit easier in my fridge. I knew spinach had to factor into a meal today so I tried to re-create the salad I had at Earl's.

I also picked up a Renee Tangerine Lime Vinagrette salad dressing (35cal/ table spoon). No champagne vinagrettes at Safeway. In the salad was spinach, 1/4 avocado, a smidgen of goat cheese, red onions, strawberries and 4 oz of chicken that I grilled on the Cuisinart griddler



I wanted to really focus on tracking today as that has been my downfall lately. I totally believe that's the key to staying on track. I love Daily Plate and I really like seeing the breakdown of the fat/carbs/protein and not just calories.

For supper I really wanted nachos, hence the El Molino purchase. Ridiculous amount of fibre in these too. This time I actually weighed the tortilla chips, 50g is a serving/ approx 20 chips. I know I normally go a little overboard with the amount of chips. I had grilled a little red pepper as I was grilling chicken earlier so I added that as well at tomatoes, red onion and mozza/cheddar with salsa on the side.


The huge challenge this coming week will be not being able to totally control my food options. I face this every week with being on site Monday and Tuesday and that's usually when my tracking falls apart. I can access Daily Plate at work but it's not always that convenient to update like I do when I'm at home at the end of the day. Still there's no excuse as to why I stop tracking. The thing with site is I have no idea what the options will be for that day and it's a cafeteria style so everything is already prepared, you can't say no this or no that in terms of preparation, it's totally up to choosing wisely. I like what Fatbridesmaid does with the notebook. I'm not that organized to pre-enter everything that far ahead of time but I could write stuff down and add it when I have a chance.
The other challenge for me is consistent exercise in terms of covering weights, cardio and flexibility. I need to put together a training program as I've found that works in the past. Now that I've truly seen what's available at site I think I can do that better now. I'll post something about that later as I sort it out. I was flipping channels today and I found the Viva channel and show called Tosca- Flexing at 49. Tosca is the clean eating entrepreneur. I have her cook book. But holy smoke she's got a fantastic body. Very inspiring I would have to say.
I have total respect for all of you who add all the pictures of your food to you blog. I tried it today as you can see and can't see myself doing it all the time just due to the pain of moving the pictures around. So kudos to all of you.
I'm happy to say I've tracked everything today and I'm totally on plan. Here's to repeating the whole thing tomorrow.
Hugs!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday!!!

I'm so happy it's Friday, I've been tired all week and I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

When I got home from work my Spud.ca order was here. I immediately realized I forgot to put out last weeks container. Oh well they'll get it next week.
In my order was:
Mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, kiwis, cauliflower, broccoli, organic cinnamon raisin bread, and tzatziki from a local supplier.

I've also been collecting some cans of beans and tomatoes that are from Eden Foods - no BPA in the cans. I'm planning on making an organic chili for work lunch.

The moment I opened the container I put everything in bags designed to keep food fresh longer. The ziploc ones and the green ones (infomercial but available at Walmart). We'll see how that goes. The bananas were cut up, bagged and put in the freezer - ready for green monsters.

Yoga is on tap for tonight and I'm so looking forward to that to. Hamstring feels way better today so I think I'm up to a more intense workout tomorrow.

Alright that's all I got for now.

Hugs!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Noooooooooooo!!!!!!


That was my first thought today as I looked at my Ipod touch and saw the apple logo smack in the centre. Which I've learned to mean - Ipod is having a heart attack. Of course I realize all this with 3 minutes to get out of the door. So all I could do was leave it on the coffee table and grab my samsung mp3.


I was not happy. I have wireless in my house so I download stuff directly to the Ipod without using a computer, therefore it is only saved on the Ipod. When I got home the power was dead and when I recharged it was fine....whew.


My hamstring is still bugging me as I feel it with every step that I take, not very much fun going upstairs either - I discovered today. So I decided to take a day of rest. I did stop off at the library on the way home and walked home (16 blocks). I pass a liquor store on the way so I stopped in to see if they had any Bud Light Lime and I got the last box of cans. I also walked home holding 24 cans. I count that as a bit of a workout.


Tomorrow I may focus more on stretching/yoga and then do Amy's workout on Saturday.


I was a bit tired all day today and I'm so looking forward to tomorrow being Friday. I'll make an attempt to dress western tomorrow - a tradition during Stampede. I was quite surprised to see the extensive stampede wear in my building. There were very few people in normal work clothes.


The weekend will be focused on rest. This coming week I travel a lot and will almost never be home so the true test will be eating out for every meal. Taking next Friday off.


Alright, that's all I got for today.


Hugs!

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Trainer has a blog!

Hello my friends,

Site was great this week, weather was good and bugs were huge. I was sitting at my desk and this big country spider walked out from underneath. I wheeled smack into my office mate trying to avoid it. Of course he gives this look of I can't believe your afraid of a spider.

Was back at the gym today with a training with my trainer - who now has a blog and you can find it here. If you live in Calgary and like to workout downtown I highly highly recommend him. He has a great sense of humour and will push you. He completely believes in you even when you don't. He does have his irritating moments :)

While at site I had forgotton my running shoes so I would up training my co-worker. She told me she was very sore today.

Today trainer (Lincoln) introduced something called 50,40,30,20,10
Oh and I was by myself today as my group mates are on vacation and such. It's been a long time since I've trained one on one and at first I was a wee bit freaked out. There's something comforting about being tortured in a group format. It's a combination of feeling like a part of a team and knowing you can so smoke that other girl in push ups sort of thing.

I was not feeling 100% today as I had a right hamstring issue that was irritating during the day and wowser did it hurt during my warm up and felt progressively worse.

Workout was this:

Regular warm-up: sit ups, back extentions, toe touches, samson stretch and farmer's walk with a 25lb plate (hadn't done these in awhile) - 3 rounds

Then:

50 walking lunges
50 sit ups
50 ball slams - 14lb medicine ball - I love these
50 dumbell swings 20lbs (this bothered my hamstring so I got switched to dumbell thrusters - 10lbs each hand)

Then do it again 40 times, then 30 times, then 20 times and then 10 times.

I got to the 30s round as I was moving kind of slow.

I'll be missing next weeks training session due to being in Fort McMurray, I'm going to look into the gym at the hotel though.

Tomorrow the plan is to hit the cardio at the corporate gym as I have yet to workout there. I'm thinking I'll have a fairly achy hamstring so I may just stick to the treadmill.

Not a lot more to tell today other than I am continuing to avoid stampede pancakes and any other not all that healthy stampede traditions.

Have a groovy day!
Hugs!

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Bit odd

Bit random today as that's just the way the day is going.

It's a bit weird for me not to have chapters to read or an essay to write this weekend. It's just starting to hit me that I'm done all the classes for my certificate. All I do now is wait for the final mark.

So today has been about cleaning off the dvr and laundry plus packing for site and making sure my gym bag is ready for Wednesday so no thought is required when I get back on Tuesday.

It's been raining on and off so I think it's a good day to focus on flexibility - mainly yoga.

The other day I tried the new Bud Light Lime, it's awesome and I highly recommend it as a relatively figure friendly summer drink.

I tried Gain laundry detergent today as I've been less impressed with my PC brand. OMG I think I've officially switched it cleaned better and they're not kidding about the smell. I couldn't help smelling each piece of clothing as I folded it.

Bath and Body Works has officially arrived in Calgary and opened at Chinook Mall today. I'll wait until after Stampede to pop in and take a look.

Alright that's all I got.
Hope you're having a fabulous weekend ...until later.

Hugs!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

I passed!!!!!!

Not sure if you all remember me going on about a big test that I had to write in May, this was the second time I was writing the NKE as I had just narrowly missed passing.
Well the results where due July 2, haven't got anything in the mail so out of curiosity I logged into the HRIA website and discovered I am now a CHRP candidate which means I passed the test. Whoo HOOOOOO that means I must soon start preparing for the 2nd Level test (NPPA) in October. OMG I'm so happy, I've been fixated on the number 73 lately so I wonder if I got 73% we shall see when the official results arrive in the mail.

Day with Dad has been great. Walmart was empty today as everyone is probably at Stampede. When Dad is in town it's a free day food wise so back on track tomorrow. He doesn't trust my cooking (which I find hysterically funny as I'm not sure what he thinks I survive on when I'm on my own) so he brings stuff and it's always lunch at KFC. No worries, I'm treating it like the Wendi plan - high today, low tomorrow.

At Earl's yesterday I had the spinach/berry salad, this is my new favourite and I'm going to try to make it at home. Spinach, strawberries, a little avocado, red onion, slivered almonds and a champagne vinaigrette, not sure what how to simulate the vinaigrette but I'll figure it our.

I was down 1lb today for my first challenge weigh in, while slightly disappointed it is a loss. I reminded myself it was snackapalooza week this week (hormones) so that's actually good as I'm normally up a few pounds before TOM.

Water consumption could be much better so that will be focus for the week ahead.

Talk to you later and hope you had a fantastic Saturday.
To all my American friends - Happy 4th of July.

Hugs!

Friday, July 03, 2009

And it begins....

Stampede that is, the 10 day cow folk festival that hits Calgary every year. Filled with midway rides, free pancakes all over the city daily and "goodness knows who thought of this" food options...not to mention a whole lot a beer.

I turned on the local news this morning and witnessed "Taco in a Bag" which is a small bag of doritoes opened length wise and filled with ground beef, sour cream and salsa. Also mentioned was the deep fried jelly beans - also available a deep fried oreo cookie.

The whole thing got kicked off by the parade this morning, I'm not kidding when I say the parade has never been rained on. I caught a few minutes here and there but I wasn't all that in to watching it.

I headed to Walmart first thing this morning to get a new spray nozzle for my garden hose (walked there and back) and then picked up the neighbour's dog for a 5K walk. In a few hours I'm off to dinner at Earl's to see two friends I haven't seen in a very long time.

I ran Earl's through The Daily Plate and a lot of there stuff is in there. I've kept calories fairly low throughout today not completely blow it tonight. I have no clue what I'm having though.

Trainer and I have scheduling issues, he got back to me too late on Thursday to say there was still a session (I had already done a mega workout and had emailed him Tuesday morning to ask the question). Now this coming Thursday he's away and the Thursday after that I'm in Fort McMurray. However he did ask if any other time worked for me this week so now I'm going on Wednesday after work.

Tomorrow my Dad is coming in for a visit and then Sunday will be back to regular schedule as I need to be in a cab at 4:30am.

Can't say I accomplished a lot with these days off but that's o.k to...sometimes it's just nice to have a break.

Hugs!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Challenge homework


Kudos to Amy for all the work she's doing on the 15 week Challenge.

Her "Whittle your middle workout" was killer. One note, as I've seen some of the pictures you've all posted, make sure your butt is down during plank, it shouldn't be higher than the rest of your body. If your butt is too high your not truly working the abs to their full extent.


While I've had loads of plank practice due to my trainer workouts, side plank always kills me. Plus the vertical crunches are fairly awkward for me. I did Amy's workout after I took the neighbours dog for an hour walk.

Recipe homework (picture above):

I love quesadilla's but the restaurant version can be super ugly. They use white tortillas and gobs of cheese.

So I make mine with a whole wheat tortilla, today I used the Ezekiel 6:9 version, a spritz of Pam in frying pan. Salsa is super low in calories so you can have more of that and normally I'd have a sliced tomato on the side but I don't have any. If I'm using WW tortillas I use two, the Ezekiel one's are huge so I only used one. I use the Kraft Part Skim Shredded Tex Mex blend. It's lower in fat than the other version. I only use 1/3 of a cup, I find that's enough. Add any lean protein you like or jazz it up with black beans. Depending on what you add it clocks in around 5pts as opposed to the 10-11 of a restaurant version. I like these also because there's super fast.

Not sure if I'll get the Ezekiel tortillas again, they reminded me of birdseed or sesame snaps.

The other day I finally tried the infamous Larabar Coconut Cream Pie bar and .....I don't like it. It seemed weird to me. So H, the next I see you I'll give you my remaining 4 to you. I do have a few other types to try so I'm not writing off Larabar as a whole.
I was also planning to mow the lawn today but rain clouds are forming so maybe I'll put that off until tomorrow.
I offered to walk the neighbours dog again tomorrow. I need to make sure to do an intense workout as I have dinner out tomorrow tonight. While I'll make good choices it's still not the same as eating at home.
Alright that's all I got for today.
Hugs!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Happy Canada Day!

I am ridiculously proud to be Canadian. I am a first generation Canadian as my parents immigrated from Germany and no one else in the family moved here.

So Happy Birthday Canada and a 142 years young.

Site was great this week and I told many about the 15 week challenge, so now I'll be watched for sure at lunch to make sure I'm picking healthy options.

Monday night went for a walk after supper then stupidly watched the Bachlorette. I was up at 3:30am and watched that show until 11pm. Stupid...I was already tired and that made me really tired on Tuesday.

Plus at 4am the alarm clock went off in my room to white noise. Apparently the last person in there tried to set it to a radio station. At any rate I didn't need to be up at 4am. Note to self check the alarm in the room. I use the alarm on the blackberry.

Had my fantastic friend C over for lunch as she's home from Toronto. It's so nice to see her.

Trying to make arrangements to take the neighbours dog for a walk tomorrow.

Alright you're up to date.

Later