Discipline - Semper Fidelis

I swear the last few days where 48hrs each. Maybe it was because of the full moon.

When I worked in a staffing agency full moons always brought out the rather unusual applicants and scenarios.

At any rate this week has been 4 days of 13hr to 14hr hour days due to a series of late meetings which played havoc with my training schedule. Food wise hasn't been horrendous so that's a plus as I'm dangerous when I'm tired.

Every day ended with me wiped and heading straight to bed, on Wednesday I thought I might be coming down with something but that passed - thankfully.

This morning I was reading my blog roll and I follow a website called Coach Your Mind, subtitle Strength Training for a Mental Game. Today there was a link to a YouTube video put out by SB Nation titled the Core of Sports. Each video features an athlete who encompasses the tenets of the Marine Corp, you know Semper Fi (always faithful). This series focuses more on discipline, mental and physical strength. The most recent in the series features a lacrosse player which I thought was kind of cool. I played lacrosse in high school. There's also one with a professional soccer player and of course a football player.



Watching a few these just reminded me that discipline and strength are an important part of weight loss/ fitness journey. No one is going to do this for me, it's all about what I put in. The important part that still goes along with the Marine theme is support in this case. Support myself with positive thoughts, positive self talk, learn from mistakes and be better.

One learning from this week is I need to book my workouts like meetings. I never miss a meeting and organize my day with my outlook calendar. I need to look at the calendar and also plan the workouts. It's funny I do book my lunch hour in my calendar so I guarantee a break in the day. When I have late meetings, that means a workout in the am. The plan is simple make it work.

This weekend the plan is simple - I need to get organized, like organize my closet, defrost my mini freezer do things that support organization in my life and not bring more chaos. I went to Walmart today and got some closet organizer to tame the jungle of my closet. My downstairs mini fridge needs a serious defrosting and then I can focus on filling it with healthy frozen options which seriously helps my only being home for 3 days.

I even started a FitBloggin pack list and things to do list as I need to have everything ready and sorted. I will not have a lot of time between work and flying to Baltimore.

I hope you all have a pretty fantastic Friday.

Hugs!!

The right fuel

I'm going to call this a duh moment as opposed to an aha moment as I should really have figured this out earlier. My runs are directly impacted by what fuel I put in my body...duh.

I had the BBQ on Friday which was completely off plan then yesterday had another get together with friends and yet again completely off plan so today's run was definitely meh. I more or less put gas in diesel engine. In fact after 3 run intervals my body was not into it so I walked the rest of the way. I am a fast walker.

I was committed to completing the mileage goal no matter the time. Today was 5 miles/ 8 KM.

In total: 5.26 miles, 1:16:13, 656 calories burned, Avg pace 14:29, Avg HR 155, Max HR 176

Funny how today's pace smoked my run/walk pace on the treadmill when I was using the Nike Sports Watch. Today I used the Garmin 601 (satellite). Mind you I have realized I run faster outside then on the treadmill.

During those 5 miles I did have another self talking to about how I will get what I put in. This week will be focused on what I put in from nutrition to training. Last week was rough I'd like to blame hormones as that time of month is always snackapalooza, however I always had a choice.

I can't believe FitBloggin is in less then a month.

Lately my mind has been drifting to the Halloween Howl on Oct 20, mainly because I don't know what to wear. I perused pictures from 2011 and some people dress up, and some don't. I want to dress up because I love Halloween. Once again due to my work schedule I'll miss out on handing out the candy to the kids, mind you I find less and less kids do the traditional trick and treating, so this run is my chance to embrace Halloween.

I'm considering a princess theme with run tutu. I just think that'd be easier to put together. I did see an awesome costume on Pinterest. It was R2D2 made up with a bustier, tutu and little hat - probably better for warmer weather.

I should sign off and get to laundry, but like I said this week is focusing on what I put in.

Hope you have a great Sunday.

Hugs!!!

Look what came

They're here....

The Moo Mini Cards arrived. I ordered them for FitBloggin as that just seemed like a good idea. What's not incredibly clear in this picture is there are little file folders - mine & theirs so that's cool a place to keep cards of others.

 I ordered 400 of them as that was the best deal so not sure how many to bring to FitBloggin but probably lots. I'm new at blogger conferences.

Here is the key design, I'm delighted. As I mentioned before the key spoke to me as my goal is to hit goal at Weight Watchers and receive the gold key plus I intend to buy myself a Tiffany Key to mark the occasion.

Here's the other side, that avatar is on this blog, plus my twitter account. I stuck to my real name, where I'm from, blog address, twitter name and an email account.

I got the purple carrying case but it doesn't hold that many cards so we'll see how that goes. I bought a a little Hello Kitty tin when I was in Vegas and that might work better.

It came with a deal for my friends, hopefully you can read this but the code is 4SEMBT to get free shipping on your first order. I'm pretty sure that is US only as I did order them from the US but my fellow Canadians could probably try it.  

Before FitBloggin I do intend to write an introductory post and maybe even make it a vlog. Not sure at this time.

No drive by weigh in today as my meeting ran late. Tomorrow is looking sketchy as well.

I didn't run today as I had to work. This morning was pouring rain add in people coming down with flu like symptoms around me I didn't want to chance it. 5 miles on tap for either tomorrow or Sunday.

I had a good time at my co-workers BBQ today until the smoke from the smokers outside started to waft indoors. I'm wicked sensitive to smoke so I made my exit.

I did have a wee bit too much to drink...Bacardi Breezer...drink of the devil.

Alas I'm to bed soon. Tomorrow I must bake at a friends house as she has a freezer full of raspberries.

Hope you had a fantastic Friday.

Hugs!!

Sometimes you need a self talking to

Today is a run day.

Yesterday I talked about how today would be a run day.

Today I didn't feel like running so when I got back to camp I had dinner. My original plan was to grab something to go - intending to run first.

Then on my long walk to my wing I gave myself a mental talking to. I have a half marathon in November, the FitBloggin 5k in September and the Halloween Howl 5K in October. I got to my room, changed and hit the treadmill.

The stats are courtesy of the Nike Sports Watch and foot pod.

56:20
3.62 miles
15:35/mi (not sure if the calibration is right but speed was not my priority)
558 calories burned
Avg HR 157

Masterchef was my entertainment during the workout. All in all it felt good.

Next run day is Friday, normally my day off but I have meetings so I need to be organized. My plan now run early as first meeting is at 10am. I have a BBQ Friday afternoon. I'm thinking about doing a drive by weigh in on Friday.

We shall see.

Hope your Tuesday rocked!!

Hugs!

Dusting off the cobwebs

That would be the cobwebs of activity.

On Friday I resurrected my half marathon training as it needed to be resurrected. I had thought about going to the gym but realized soon enough that will be a necessity when snow starts so why not enjoy the weather. I decided to go with my new Mizuno Wave Alchemy shoes.

3.14 miles, 43:43, 13:56/mi, 408 calories burned, Avg HR 167, Max HR 187. When I started out I did the walk/run ratio of 1:30-1:30 which is week 3 of the C25K app I have. I did that 4 times and realized it was too tough so I backed up to week 1 - 1 min run and 2 min walk. When I got home I consulted the app and it even suggested I start back at the beginning.

Saturday was off to weigh in and I was down 3.2, whoo hoo and it wasn't a perfect week either. Not that perfect weeks are entirely realistic I could have been a bit more diligent.

My friend was knocked out by the flu so I didn't go to Taste of Calgary instead I reintroduced myself to the gym. Looks like all the renos are done and it's quite nice. I went to Zumba and Iron Reps for the first time in months. I started walking on the treadmill as I waited for Zumba to start. Zumba was ridiculously fun and I once again found myself smiling all the way through, mostly because I was laughing at myself.

Then it was Iron Reps which is super similar to Bodypump classes. You work on one muscle group per song. I really like this workout as it makes weights interesting for me. As it's been months I stuck to beginner weights. Whoa I need to work on upper body. There definitely parts where I could have done more weights like biceps and back.

Total time in the gym 1:59:01, calories burned 737, Avg HR 120, Max Hr 156. I also walked there and back so earned a total of 14 AP

My left foot was sore after this so I elevated it and cleaned off the pvr a little. I treated myself to pizza for dinner as I had no desire to cook.

Today is my long run day but as I'm resurrecting my half marathon training my plan was 4 miles today. I made sure to head out early before it got too hot.

4.41 miles (includes warm up and cool down), 1:02:41, 603 calories burned, Avg pace 14:13/mi, Avg HR 159, Max HR 181. Today I went with the Nike Lunarglide +4.

I blended the chocolate WW smoothie mix, with 1 cup skim milk and 1 TBSP peanut butter in my Vita-mix as my recovery drink/ breakfast. I had a cup of coffee pre run. It was thick and pretty good though next time I might add some water to thin it out.

I've loving the new Garmin

I forgot to mention I finally purchased Road ID.

I opted for the rubber version and extra bands were a buck so I got two extra. Purple and green are my favourite colours and black goes with everything.

The plan for the rest of the week is to keep tracking, run again on Tuesday and add cross training on Monday and Wednesday. Monday will depend on my energy level as it's fly to work day. Right now I'm thinking of walking on the treadmill. Wednesday I want to do a weight workout and I have some options I did record a couple of Iron Reps workouts on my phone, I also have the Harvey Pasternak DVDs in my camp room.

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday.

Hugs!!!!

Discipline

Felt like a long week and I realize it's only Thursday.

I flew home yesterday as I had to be in an all day meeting today.

The week started well with tracking. Monday due to flying in later I went to bed instead of the gym. Tuesday was a United Way event so my gym time was spent observing the Minute to Win It. It's so funny.

The scale was heading downward.

Then Wednesday with an hour later flight then normal I had chips on the plane, then I got home and I failed to plan what I was going to have for dinner so I snacked.

Today I had breakfast at home but these all day meetings are killer. You're trapped in a boardroom and at times you're a wee bored so why not snack on the catering. It was another long day.

I had a mini aha moment during the training. My company believes in Operational Discipline and as I looked at the key elements I realized it has more then just work benefits. I started to think of it terms of losing weight and getting fitter. So I changed it to Personal Discipline and it goes like this:

*Change a paper plan into a reality - an action program
*Achieve goals because improvement programs are implemented to their fullest
*Protect yourself from injury
*Ensure quality effort
*Focus on healthy

Tomorrow I can sleep in and then I'm off to the gym for some run/walking and rowing, and maybe the yoga class. We'll see when I get up.

We can do this.

Hugs!!

Unusual routine

Yesterday I chose to walk as opposed to walk/ run. The funny part my walk pace is faster then my run/walk pace.

In total it was 3.09 miles in 47min. Then I mowed the lawn for an hour. I scored my best Sunday yet on the Nike Fuel Band. I also tracked everything for 2 days in a row.

Today I didn't need to get up at 3:30am as I have meetings in the Calgary office today and I'm flying to site tonight.

I had it my head that meetings start at 9am, but I'm wrong it's 10am as there was some rescheduling This is fine as I'll avoid the height of rush hour. I was planning on leaving about 90min before to factor in the bus and the line up for coffee.

I was a little worried as my corporate clothes are in the back of the closet and I was really hoping my dress pants fit. They just fit... Whew. Yet another motivating factor.

My plan for lunch is Subway as I need to tango with the food court today. I knew I needed a plan or the call of the Wendy's would kick in.

I'll be at site for supper & scoped out the menu. It looks like salad for supper though I have 10pts planned.

I'm planning a walk/ run tonight on the treadmill.

Yesterday I ordered the mini cards for Fitbloggin. I went with a key design as the key is a recurring theme in my life. My goal is that key charm at WW to mark goal weight. I still plan on buying myself a Tiffany key pendant to mark the occasion.

My hotel and plane ticket were taken care of ages ago. Still need to get US cash and looking forward to the recommended pack list. Right now imagining a plethora of workout clothes.

Still about 5 weeks to go.

Hope all of you have a fabulous Monday!

Hugs.

Gaintaining - not anymore

I was reading my blog roll this morning and was reading Jack Sh*t's blog. A term he used totally hit home - gaintaining. That's exactly what I've been doing, not maintaining but gaintaining.

This week's weigh in struck straight to the heart - up 3.4 lbs. So that's a little over a pound per week.

Every time I go to my Dad's house I'll see some sort of gain as my routine is completely off, but in the past I just would get right back on plan when I got home. That didn't happen this time, instead I kept my "vacation mentality" rolling. In fact pretty much since Tinkerbell I haven't been 100%. Sometimes 90%, 50% or 10%. Consistency hasn't been my strong suit.

Well not anymore.

This has just proven to me that I'm dangerous on my own. The other day I actually had the thought maybe I should try online WW again. The last time I did that was a disaster and not for me. I need structure and I need to weigh in weekly on someone else's scale. The accountability of that scale at my WW meeting helps tremendously.

At the meeting yesterday I discovered the leader that I'm iffy about is not the leader anymore. There is now a leader from the U.K who I guess recently moved to Alberta. She's pretty funny which I enjoy. She is heading back to the U.K for a few weeks and iffy leader is her sub. Next week I plan to weigh in on Friday.

The meeting itself was pretty empty and I'm thinking there are a few others in vacation mode. I'm super curious if the Canadian meetings will be getting this Activelink I keep hearing about from US WW people.

Nike has a challenge going on today: Find Your Greatness. The goal to make it the most active day in Nike+ history. I'll be heading out shortly with my Nike Fuel Band and Nike Sports Watch to make my contribution. Then later it will be mowing the lawn which earns some Nike Fuel as well.

I signed up for the JumpSport fitness trampoline event at Fitbloggin', I figured this is a good opportunity to try new things.

I'm not giving up instead I will shake myself off, get back up and go forward.

Hugs!

Day of Reckoning

Weigh in tomorrow and as I've already mentioned I know I'll see a gain.

I will not let the number get me down instead it will add fuel to the fire to get back on track and put my heart and soul into following the WW plan.

I need to have my reckoning with the scale as that gives me a point to begin.

I also know I will never see that number again.

Booyah!

Changing your dna

Yes it is 2:30 am and I can't sleep so why not blog.

I just watched a few more snippets of Superbodies on CTV Olympics. When I googled it I found that the host Dr. Wells also has a book. I guess they had this feature during the Vancouver winter games too and I never stumbled across it.

 

So I ordered it last night as I'm such a huge fan of the snippets online. Kinesiology has always been something that intrigues me but I missed that boat in University. I'm fascinated how our bodies respond to exercise and specific training.

On Saturday I'm going to weigh in for the first time in 3 weeks. It won't be pretty as I've tossed the plan out the window for those 3 weeks. No one to blame but myself. To me the important thing is recognizing that and getting the train back on the tracks.

It's time for a reset, the other night I had a dream that a few of us from work formed this fitness support group and called ourselves the avengers. The purpose was to have a personal goal over the next 3 months, share it with each other and encourage each other. Nothing complicated or competitive it was just setting up support. Well I told them about it and a few are interested. I think my subconscious triggered something to keep me focused at work. A camp environment can be challenging when the food is free and there's french fries and a plethora of desserts every single day.

I've also done a poor job of prioritizing the health and the fitness when my job's responsibilities increased. Don't get me wrong I love that this happened with the job. I just to prioritize the life part not just the work part.

My other plan to getting back on track is to go back to what's worked in the past. For me that's letting my inner data junkie rule. When I maintain spreadsheets and get intrigued with how things work (maybe this Superbodies thing has created a spark) I get more focused.

Focus is what I've been severely lacking lately. Tomorrow I do need to head into work for a short meeting so I should probably try to get some more sleep.

Hope you all had a great Friday!

Hugs!!

Memories

On Saturday there was a sort of high school reunion. It started on Facebook as we all are in the process of turning 40. The invite was sent to me and I'll admit I was pretty surprised.

I have never been a social butterfly or had gaggles of friends. Even today I have a small group of friends but they are tried and true friends but they are all post high school friends.

I never had any intention of going to this "reunion" as I had no desire to connect with people who I haven't spoken to since high school. I didn't want to compare lives as one does at these events.

In high school I was shy, introverted, chubby and fairly low self esteem. Today I'm shy, introverted, working on the chubby and not as low self esteem. I don't gravitate to large group activities. Heck going to Fitbloggin on my own is not something I traditionally do. I'll have freak out post about that closer to the date. I'm excited to go but also nervous. Mind you going to the Tinkerbell Half by myself is also something I wouldn't do back in high school.

Those who know we really well would describe me as outgoing as once I know you and I'm comfortable I do become more outgoing and confident. Have I mentioned I'm a Gemini?

On Facebook I'm "friends" with a few high school classmates which always surprises me. I never befriend them they befriend me. What surprises me is I always felt invisible so the fact that they remember me is mind boggling.

A few people have posted pictures of the event and it's funny. Some look the same and some look so different.

I like myself better today then in high school. I'm more comfortable in my skin, a little more confident. I know I'm funny and smart. I would rather look forward then back.

Hope your Tuesday was spectacular.

Hugs!

Goosebumps

Now here's the reality of it, you don't want to be walking off with any regrets. 

Be annoyed, go cry. You're on the line between breaking point and breaking through.

In struggle you'll find strength, now GET OVER THAT LINE. Dig for that extra inch, take the best you can do and do better. 

Every second is a moment in time but this second is a moment in history. 

While waiting for my cab at 4am this morning the Olympic Powerade commercial came on and the words above were spoken with a rather inspiring musical score that gave me goosebumps. 

So with this commercial in my head I did hit the treadmill after work, however I am finding after being awake and functioning for 15 hours it's hard. Perhaps Mondays would be a better cross training day. I mostly walked on the treadmill tonight, I walk/ran for the first 15 min. 

All in 47 min, 2.95 miles, 15.57min/mile, 415 calories burned.

What further complicated my run tonight was when I got to camp I was hungry so I stopped for dinner first. Monday's are always a weird food day to plan due to the number of hours of being awake and somewhat functioning. So for the rest of the week I'm planning a run on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Tomorrow I want to go row or do the 5-Factor workout on DVD. 

I brought this thing with me this trip

This is the most genius contraption for tea that I've ever seen. You put loose tea and hot water in it, let it steep then when you're ready just place it over a mug and the tea drains into the mug. I bought one from Teavana which is the one pictured. I liked it so much I got another one for home from the now defunct Teopia (taken over by Teavana). 

Now I must go hop into the shower, then pjs as it's been a long day. 

Hope you had a great Monday.

Insert witty title

I got a little messed up on my days this weekend. For some reason I thought Saturday was Friday well what resulted was I missed weigh in as I thought I could weigh in this morning. I realized that Saturday was Saturday at 10am too late to weigh in. Duh. I think that was because I was downtown on Friday and I associate that with work.

On Saturday my friend and I were taking a road trip to central Alberta to visit a small town called Blackfalds that has a little grocery store that just happens to have the largest selection of Keurig K-cups in North America. Whoa, they carry over 400 different types. I didn't realize there was so many. They even import ones from Holland that look more like tea bags but a handy little attachments allows you to use them in the Keurig.

Well my friend and I pretty much stocked up for the year. I find most stores don't carry a huge selection and my preference are the flavoured coffee. I have ordered online but then pay shipping.

We also went to see Total Recall on Saturday. It's a fun movie, I enjoyed it.

Today I had to run to the mall to pick up ingredients for cupcakes. I'm going to back yard barbecue on Friday so I said bring cup cakes. I will weigh in on Friday before the BBQ, I'm putting it in my iPhone so I don't forget.

Right now I'm watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. I enjoy this show. What I like is the person still needs to live their regular life while focusing on changing behaviours. They still have jobs to work and are surrounded by the same surroundings. On every single episode there comes a time where someone struggles with loss of motivation. The encouraging thing is they re-commit and get back on track. I love that.

I must head to bed soon so not sure I'll last till the end of this episode. I am working tomorrow even though it's a civic holiday as I just had a week off so figured I'd work. It should be quiet so a good day to catch up.

I did buy a planner today and wrote down the training plan for no time goal and for if you've done a half marathon before. It was 8 months ago that I did my last half so I'm not new but I didn't keep up the training either. I'm going to try using this to note how I feel with each workout. Note things that are too long to note in my WW tracker.

Hope you had a lovely Sunday.

Hugs!!!!

Re-lighting the flame of motivation

A couple of posts ago I wrote a line that went like this - training for the Olympics of life and that's been in my  head more and more this week.

What all us weight loss/ fitness bloggers are doing to get healthier is something we'll have to maintain for life.

I love the Nike ads "Find your greatness", especially this one.




How awesome is this as so many of us have done races from 5K to marathons where we were not the fastest and even just talked ourselves through it well I know I have. The important part is we all got off the couch and did it. Some think Nike is exploiting this 12 year old kid, but the way I think about it is this, if this kid inspires someone to get up and move well done Nike. The other thing I like about the "Find your greatness" is we are so often our own worst enemy. How about we turn all that negative energy we create into finding our greatness. Might just be crazy enough to work.

Still watching the Olympics whenever I get a chance and I adore a feature on the Canadian CTV broadcast called Superbodies, which breaks down what the muscles and ligaments have to do for an athlete to compete in a specific sport. They've covered things like diving, swimming, rings in gymnastics, beam in gymnastics, rowing and weight lifting. If you can check it out here, this is the Women's 8 rowing but you can see the other ones too.

I think it really is time to retire the Garmin 405CX for now and make use of the Nike Sports Watch, I discovered that Polar makes a heart rate strap that can actually talk to Nike + watch so I ordered that. This will be perfect for camp.

Today was a pretty relaxed day I woke up at 7am, had some water went back to bed and woke up at 10am. Had oatmeal with "high quality" dark chocolate chips, I put 8 chips in the oatmeal and found it to be way to chocolaty so I ate 1/3 of it.

Tonight I went out to dinner with two old team mates and it was lovely to see them.

Tomorrow I'm going run/walking in the morning. I might be heading on an adventure to a very small town near Red Deer in search of a tiny grocery store that sells the most varieties of Keurig coffee in Canada. Normally I order online as I'm a flavoured coffee kind of girl.

I foresee a movie and yet another dinner in there too.

Hope you all enjoyed your Friday!

Not Dead, just tired

Hello my friends,

Apologies for dropping off the face of blogger for the week. It was hard to adjust not being able to have a nap whenever I wanted after a week of doing just that.

Every night I was in bed by 8pm. My eating has been terrible as I was still in vacation mode. I did run on Wednesday but my Garmin 405CX decided not to cooperate so I have no data.

I found out one my friends who is roughly 10 years older than I am might have to have open heart surgery. How freaking scary is that. I've been thinking about that a lot since I found out yesterday.

It makes me realize I'm playing Russian roulette with this lackadaisical attitude I've had lately. I remember being focused at one point and that needs to come back.

So it's time to regroup, remember what's important and just do it.

Promise to blog more often.

Hugs!!