Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Busy but Happy!

Hey folks!

I don't have time to write a proper post, but I wanted to check in.

I am STILL tracking everything! My weigh-in on Saturday morning was also a success! The scale I used kept giving me different readings, but I think I lost around 2 pounds or so.

It's probably because I went to the gym with Tiffany 4 times last week, including
a super cool Anti-Gravity Yoga class! We also managed to get our butts out of bed for a 6 am Cycle 'N' Sculpt class last Thursday. It sure is motivating having a friend pick you up and drive you to the gym. ;)

I have not worked out thus far this week, but I hope to squeeze one in somewhere. I am crazy busy with school - lots of papers, readings, reflections, and presentations. However, even though I am spending all of my time doing homework, I feel really happy where I am right now. I am very confident that this is what I'm supposed to be doing at this point in my life, and I'm so grateful that I ended up here.

Monday, September 5, 2011

My First Week

Hello! This post is arriving much later than I'd hoped. My apologies!

I finished my first week of classes on Friday. It was a total success! I liked my profs, and my classmates were all very friendly, too. I do think this year will be a lot of work though (which I was expecting!).

I've taken a few photos around my picturesque campus:

We have a lake on our campus!


And a community garden:


I've seen deer 3 times on my way to school. Finally, yesterday, I had my camera with me! The building in the background is the one that I have all of my classes in.



In between schoolwork , I managed to track 6/7 days last week and I fulfilled my goal of exercising once.

Unfortunately, the school gym leaves a lot to be desired. It's a small room of cardio machines in a basement. The machines have a 20-minute limit (which will only be an issue if the gym gets crowded, which I imagine it will, as it's not very big). I went with a new friend from school, and we decided to forgo the weights (which were in a separate room occupied by intimidating male jock types).

I've also been spending time with my blogging & weight-watching friend Tiffany! On Saturday, we went out to dinner and a movie. It was so great chatting with her about motivation and strategy, and she's inspired me to really get on track while I'm here in Thunder Bay. It was great that I tracked 6/7 days last week, but when I found out how amazing she's been doing (5 weeks straight and counting!), I decided I really want to commit to tracking everything. If I can track every day from now until my practicum begins, that would be 8 whole weeks!

Tiffany also lent me the use of a scale while I'm here. I had originally decided to not weigh myself until I'm back home, but I think I will go back to weekly weigh-ins to measure my progress. I weighed in yesterday morning, and the number was lower than I anticipated! I'm eager to see where I'll be next week if I keep up the tracking and exercising.

Having Tiffany around is also great because I have a workout buddy! I got a free one week trial membership at her gym. We went yesterday and today (I'm super sore, by the way), and have plans to go at least once or twice more this week (including a possible 6 am class!).

Here I am, sweaty and sore after this morning's 20/20/20 class (which included step, strength, and abs).


All in all, I'm feeling super motivated and really excited at the progress I can make while I'm here. Hopefully the busy-ness of school doesn't get in the way too much!

I will leave you with an unattractive food photo. I had a delicious salad for lunch.


It consisted of greens, perfectly hardboiled eggs (if I do say so myself), sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and honey dijon dressing. Yum!

Have a great week all!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Set up for Success

Hello, all! I'm a happy gal because I finally have groceries. I managed to coast along without any food for a couple of days--surviving off of a lone box of Cheerios I picked up at a nearby convenience store, the kindness of my new roommates, and the orientation barbecue I attended yesterday--but last night around 6 pm, I set out to find food.

I wandered around my new neighbourhood, starving, when suddenly a small food store appeared. I ventured in, and it turned out to be a vegetarian take-out place that also sells some specialty food items! The store is called Bonobo's Foods. I bought some Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery Squirrelly bread (which I've been meaning to try for awhile) and I got a veggie burger with a salad for dinner.


This was maybe the BEST veggie burger I've ever eaten. The salad was also delish! I really lucked out finding this place. :)

This morning, the lovely Tiffany took me to get the rest of my groceries. I was a bit shellshocked by the amount of money I spent today, but I was really starting from scratch. Not only was I buying food, I had to buy laundry detergent, toiletries, some food containers, and other things that I couldn't bring with me on the bus. I won't need anything else for awhile!

I am really excited about doing some cooking, making healthy lunches to bring to school, and all that jazz. It's honestly been AGES since I cooked anything.

And what's this I see?!


Why it appears to be my Ultimate 3 Month Tracker! That's right, today I began tracking again! I have decided to stop going to Weight Watchers meetings while I'm up here to save some money, but I do have the tools to follow the program on my own for awhile.

There's just one thing missing... I have no scale up here! I think this will be a good thing, however. If I feel good and my clothes feel looser, I'll know I'm succeeding. And maybe I'll see a great number when I'm back in Toronto again!

My goals this week are to track everything, bring my lunch to school 3 days out of the 4 days I have classes, and workout once. I feel this is totally doable. My tuition fees include a gym membership, so I plan to take advantage of that.

Yesterday, I met a bunch of people from my program at orientation. Everyone was very friendly, and a few people mentioned they want to utilize the gym. Hopefully I will get some gym buddies asap!

I just love back-to-school season. Don't you?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Settling in.

This morning I stumbled off a Greyhound bus after more than 20 hours of travelling and a night of just dozing in my seat between stops. I somehow got my excess baggage into a cab, remembered my new address, and quickly arrived at my new (temporary) home in Thunder Bay.

While being driven through this new city for the first time, it struck me that I was about to live in a house I've never seen, with people I've never met, in a city I've never visited, while attending a school whose campus I've never set foot on.

Now I've met two of my roommates and a close friend of theirs, who are not only very nice, but also provided me with a delicious dinner. I've unpacked most of my things into my new bedroom. I made the short walk to campus, wandered around to find all my classrooms and even managed to buy a few textbooks. And it all felt good. The things I was most worried about have all happened now. Now that this is taken care of, I'm sure the actual school part will be fine... right? ;)

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Summertime Blues

Hi all. Where have I been all summer? Honestly, I don't know. I kept meaning to post but I never did.

Maybe I've avoided blogging because I haven't had anything particularly uplifting to say. I usually consider myself a very positive, optimistic, happy person, but I haven't felt like that lately.

This summer has been a really transitional time for me in a lot of ways. I feel like I've just been sitting around waiting for change - some of which will definitely happen (like moving to Thunder Bay and starting school next week), and some of which depends on me (eating well and losing weight again).

Another reason I feel like I'm in transition is the fact that I've been living at home temporarily. I had been living on my own for a long time, and adjusting to being in very close quarters with my parents wasn't easy.

To further complicate matters, my dad's health has not been great. I haven't mentioned this on the blog before, but my father is disabled. He is diabetic, and has had to have both of his feet amputated (the first was 9 years ago, the second was 4 years ago). He now also has congestive heart failure after his second heart attack last summer. Needless to say, this has all been very difficult for my family. We've spent more than our fair share of time in hospitals. While I'm exceedingly grateful that my dad has made it through his health difficulties with such courage and strength, and I am inspired by his attitude, it's something that I have a very hard time coping with. Lately, this has been especially difficult for various reasons.

In other news, my boyfriend and I broke up at the end of June. (I promise I'll say something happy soon so this post won't be a total downer!) Obviously that wasn't fun, but as breakups go, it was pretty amicable, so I guess that's something to be happy about... right?

I have one last piece of bad news, and then I'll finish up with some good stuff. Last week, I found out I have gallstones! I have to see a specialist before I know what happens next, but I have a feeling it might be surgery. In the meantime, I hope to somewhat overhaul my diet (and blog about it soon), and at the very least, cut out really fatty, greasy foods.

Somehow, amidst all of this drama, I actually accomplished one of my new year's resolutions! Moping around boyfriendless means a lot of nights spent with Netflix and knitting, so I was actually able to finish a sweater!


Okay, okay, it was a baby sweater (for my cousin's new baby), which wasn't exactly in the spirit of my resolution. But TECHNICALLY, I knit a sweater, so I say it counts! (I've also finished two pairs of mittens, a lace stole I started more than two years ago, a cowl, and one sock! I've been slightly obsessed...)

And finally, most exciting of all, I leave next week for Thunder Bay! I get on a bus in Toronto on Wednesday, and I arrive in Thunder Bay a mere 20 hours later. I cannot express how excited I am at putting that much distance between myself and my current situation. I have never been more in need of a change of scenery and a fresh start.

But before then, I have to figure out how to pack enough stuff for 9 weeks in a sane number of suitcases.


Oh, and mark a huge pile of final exams. I can't wait to be a student again. :)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Yoga at the Ritz.

Happy Thursday, all!

A couple of weeks ago, I bought Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. It encourages a vegan lifestyle with lots of green drinks. I loved the book, and while I'm not going vegan (at least not any time in the near future...), I have been trying to incorporate some new habits... like lots of green juices and smoothies!

In February, my colleague gave me an extra juicer she had lying around. I used it for the first time when attempting the liver flush on Joshi's Holistic Detox. Lately, though, I've been using it for more delicious pursuits!

On Tuesday, I gathered up some produce from our fridge that was on the verge of going bad.

The mix of cucumber, romaine lettuce, celery, ginger, kale, pear, and lemon made four cups of juice!

I drank half right away, and put the rest in my new glass juice bottle, which I drank on the way to work Wednesday morning. So far my combinations have all been drinkable, although some were definitely tastier than others.


The only drawback is cleaning the juicer... ugh.


In yoga news, last week, my friend Megan and I each bought a Passport to Prana. The Passport to Prana is a $30 card that allows you to attend one drop-in yoga class at each participating Toronto location (there are TONS). For our first class, we went to a Level 1 Hatha class at yogagurl studio in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. We felt a bit out of place going into a super-fancy hotel in our yoga gear, but we were treated very well.

To our surprise, we were the only students attending the class! It meant we got a lot of personalized attention. We even did some partner work! I'm really excited about all the yoga in my future. :)

I've also been getting back to running, for the first time in AGES! I recently bought the Nike+ iPod sport kit for my iPod Nano, which I've been wanting to get for a couple of years. Today I went for my second run along the waterfront (which I live conveniently close to now).

Now, I'm off to swim in/lounge beside the outdoor pool! Jealous? ;)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Exciting Times

In my last post, I mentioned that I had some big news about this fall...

I'm going back to school!


Andrea, you were right. You win... a mention on my blog! ;)

This fall, I am going to teacher's college... in Thunder Bay! I have been teaching at the college level for a couple of years, and I've realized how much I love teaching. To increase my chances of one day getting a full-time job, I made a last-minute decision to apply to teacher's college (although I know it's not exactly easy to get a high school teaching job at this time...). There were only two Ontario schools still accepting applications in April, when all this happened, so that's how I arrived at Lakehead University way, way, way up in Thunder Bay.

I am super excited (and only slightly nervous) about this decision. I am ready for a change. The program is set up so I have 9 weeks of classes, come home to Toronto for my practicum and Christmas holidays, go back for 9 more weeks of classes, then come home for practicum again. My main concern is finding housing in Thunder Bay without actually going there to scope it out (which isn't really feasible for me this summer, moneywise and timewise).

Anyone familiar with Thunder Bay that might have some advice?

I am very motivated to use this summer to get closer to my goal. I want to be happy, healthy, and confident for this next chapter of my life! :)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Busy Bee

The past few weeks have been a bit hectic, to say the least.

The end of April brought the end of the Winter semester and exams, and my move back home. It was slightly traumatic having to sort through the contents of my beloved one-bedroom and decide what to get rid of (like my couch and TV), what to put in storage (like my collection of Sweet Valley High books), and what to bring to my parents' condo.

As I was moving home, I also had exams at school. I had to mark them VERY quickly, because immediately after exams, I had scheduled a trip to New York City with my dear friend Megan!





I had never been before, and it was AMAZING. We went to a Broadway show (Baby It's You), the Top of the Rock, saw Letterman (Betty White was on!), and did a lot of walking around and subway-riding. And if you happened to watch The Today Show on May 6, you may have seen me waving at the camera at one point. :D

Upon returning home, I had to get ready for the summer semester (and attempt to do some unpacking/organizing). Soon after I began teaching again, my boyfriend and I made the impromptu decision to take a weekend trip to Montreal! So, last weekend, off we went!




In between all this travelling, I've also been adjusting to life back at home, and planning for some major life changes coming my way in the fall (more on that soon). My dad was also in the hospital again, briefly, which brought its own batch of stress (including an awful all-nighter in the emergency room). He's home again now though, thankfully.

Living at home again isn't without its challenges, but there are also some great perks:
  • saving tons of money (I am paying some rent, but not very much), which will help with the life changes I alluded to above
  • gym IN THE BUILDING (I really have no excuses)
  • indoor and outdoor pool (again, no excuses)
  • hot tub!
  • cool downtown location (yes, my parents live in a cooler neighbourhood than I used to)
I have been doing my best to exercise and eat well, although I've honestly had so much going on that I have not been as consistent as I'd like to be. Things seem to be settling down now, though, and I am optimistic about the summer ahead. AND I was down 3.8 pounds at my meeting yesterday! (Still up overall, but let's not dwell on that...)

Stay tuned for my news about this fall. Any guesses?

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Turn it around

I have been successfully tracking since Sunday! This is big news.

Today had the potential to be a disastrous day. My first few meals consisted of mainly bread, butter, and cheese (grilled cheese, breakfast sandwich with cheese, bagel with butter and cheese). I was feeling a bit icky (I wonder why?!), but I somehow managed to get my butt out the door to the gym around 7 pm.

I ended up having a great 45-minute workout! Also, I have tracked everything, and now I'm snacking on an orange and heating up a leftover enchilada for a late dinner.

I was honestly thisclose to picking up McDonald's and a pint of ice cream instead of going to the gym, and I'm so proud that I didn't. I was able to turn this day around! Booyah!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Resolutions Revisited.

I made three main New Year's resolutions three months ago.

So how are they going?

My first resolution was to reach my goal weight with Weight Watchers and become a lifetime member. My plan was (er, is) to achieve this by tracking, attending my meetings, and exercising regularly.

For the past few weeks, I've missed my weekly meeting because of a course I'm taking on Saturdays. The course ended today, but I'm taking another one that starts immediately. I know I can find another meeting to go to, but I've been really busy and haven't gotten around to it... so I may be meeting-less for a few more weeks.

I also haven't been tracking! Some days I will start off strong, eat a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, etc, but by the end of the day, the tracking has usually gone by the wayside.

As for exercising? After a three week absence from the gym, I finally got back to it about a week ago. But it's in danger of disappearing again, I fear... I'm wondering if I need to revisit Operation: Buff, one year later?

My other plan for reaching this goal is to focus on one or two healthy habits each month. So, yeah, that didn't happen for February or March. BUT, it's a new month, and I just so happen to have a new habit I want to work on.
  • For the month of April, I will focus on getting to bed on time.
In order to do this, I'm going to try and be off the computer by 7 or 8 pm each night. Lately I've been sitting up late on my laptop, not really doing anything important. By the time I get into bed, I'm too keyed up to fall asleep.

A couple of nights ago, I got off the computer at 7, and since I wasn't on it, I ended up going for a long walk, writing in my journal, washing the dishes, and getting to bed at a really reasonable hour! It was amazing.

I really think that getting more sleep will have a huge impact on my eating habits. I always notice the correlation between my sleeping patterns and my eating patterns, but I never succeed in doing anything about it.

My second New Year's resolution was to knit a sweater. I actually have started doing this! Yay, I'm not a complete resolution failure. :)

My third New Year's resolution was to get organized. This encompasses organizing my finances and, it turns out, organizing my life. After a lot of soul-searching, I had to make a big decision.

I'm moving!

I've decided it would be best for me to move back home with my parents for at least a few months to pay off some debts. So, deciding and preparing for that is partly why I've been missing from this blog (and obviously not paying enough attention to my healthy living habits).

After I decided to move, I started to do a lot of thinking about what I want to do career-wise, and if I'm satisfied with my current prospects. I still don't know the answers to those questions, but there may be changes in the near future! Once stuff is decided, I will fill you in. ;)

How are your resolutions going?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Ottawa Recap

Hello all!

I'm a bit late with this update - but better late than never, right? I was in Ottawa all last weekend, and since I came back I've been swamped with work/errands/life/etc.

How did I do, food-wise, in Ottawa? Hmm....


We went to a restaurant called The Elgin Street Diner, which had amazing poutine. Four of us split this one (which came with bacon and onion on top). At least I didn't eat the entire thing myself...


Of course, I also ate a beaver tail while in our nation's capital! I really had no other option. ;)

The weekend also involved several beers and a great vegetarian/vegan restaurant. And, of course, lots of fun with my old university roommates. :)

In my last post, I vowed to track all weekend while in Ottawa... which didn't quite happen. I did, however, manage to at least write down what I ate (up until Sunday night), without counting it... so that's better than nothing! And for some reason, Monday & Tuesday kind of fell by the wayside... and I tracked most, but not all, of Wednesday...

In other words, I'm still trying, but obviously not hard enough. This week's weigh-in will NOT be pretty, I can already tell you that! But I'll do my best to get through the rest of this week with minimal further damage, and start fresh on Saturday, as usual...

That's all for today - I have piles and piles of tests to finish marking now. Le sigh. Stay tuned on Saturday for my (probably disappointing) weigh-in results...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Conclusions.

Three weeks ago, I started Joshi's Holistic Detox. I explained my reasoning in this post. Yesterday was my last day! I actually made it through all 21 days! So, did I accomplish what I'd set out to do?

My goals were as follows:
  • Eliminate cravings. My cravings absolutely diminished very soon after starting this detox. Prior to the detox, I was craving/thinking about food ALL THE TIME. On the detox, it was very easy to turn food down, and I hardly thought about it.
  • Increase my motivation. I am feeling super-motivated as a result of the detox! My clothes are fitting better, I have more energy, and I feel better all around. I want things to stay this way!
  • Try new foods. The restrictions of the detox forced me out of my food comfort zone. I tried new foods, like sole and millet puffs, and I even developed an affinity for goat cheese (which is lower in fat than regular cheese, I believe)!
  • Lose weight. I know what you've all been waiting for - my weigh-in results from today! Well, going by my home scale and my weight from Day 1 of the detox and this morning... I lost 12.6 pounds during the 21 days! Awww yeah!
I also went to a Weight Watchers meeting this morning, since I won't be at my usual Saturday meeting. I weighed in at 198.8 lbs, down 3.4 from last Saturday. That's the lowest weigh-in I've had (and my first time below 200) since October 6! I'd say I've definitely given myself the wake-up call I so desperately needed.

The detox has other benefits as well - I am positive my skin is better, and I've been a LOT less moody, according to some people. ;)

Andrea asked on my last post if my boyfriend held up his end of the bargain! You may recall, he decided to give up chocolate and blog every day for the duration of my detox. He didn't quite blog every day, although he did blog a lot more than he had been... and as for the chocolate? He managed to give it up completely, except when he "accidentally" drank some chocolate milk last weekend... I'll let it slide, seeing as I was technically having gluten in my spelt bread. :)

Now onto today - so what did I do with my newfound freedom from Joshi?

Shockingly enough, I didn't have any coffee!! I'm not in a rush to get hooked on it again, and I wasn't really by a coffee shop today, and I still don't have regular milk at home (which I take in my coffee), so I didn't bother with it. I am planning on using one as motivation for my 5:30 wake-up call tomorrow though...

My first treat today was fruit! It was totally delish. I also had oatmeal with peanut butter, as planned, and went out for dinner. Thankfully, I didn't go nuts and devour everything I wasn't allowed to eat on the detox. I'm finding things like fruit and tomatoes (and probably tomorrow, coffee) to be treats enough for now (along with the giant calzone I had for dinner...)

My next goal is to make it through this weekend in Ottawa with friends! I've got lots of food ready to bring with me for the weekend:


I have carrot sticks and hummus, Mary's Crackers, and a turkey & avocado sandwich on a pita for the bus ride up tomorrow evening. I'm also bringing various bars as well as little bags of nuts and seeds worth 3 Points Plus each. That way, if I need a snack throughout the weekend, or on the train ride home, I'll be set. (I'm taking the bus one way alone, and the train one way with my friends).

I am vowing now, publicly, to TRACK what I eat while I'm out of town! It might not be easy, but I will at least write everything down so I can go back and fill it into my online tracker when I get home. I will tell you how it all goes.

As for incorporating Joshi's rules into my everyday life - Chezjulie and Enz had similar suggestions: Chezjulie suggested making my regular meals more Joshi-like, and Enz suggested incorporating a few Joshi meals each week. I think these are both excellent ideas! I will definitely try to eat more veggies and have well-rounded meals to try and keep my blood sugar stable and my cravings down. I also foresee detoxing for a week or so every few months to recharge and renew my motivation.

I must be off to finish my packing! Thanks again for all of your detox support. It is very much appreciated. :)

Have a wonderful weekend, all! I will be back early next week with a post.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twenty-One... wahooo!

DONE!

Unless something crazy happens tonight after I finish posting and I ruin everything. But I think I'll be able to hold out until tomorrow morning. :)

I snuck a peek at the scale this morning - I'm 11 pounds lighter than I was on Day 1! Not bad! I can't attend my usual Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday morning, so I'm going to one tomorrow morning instead... I will report my "official" results after that!

Breakfast was my usual egg whites with onions and goat cheese... no spinach today, though!


I packed tons of snacks in my lunch:


Carrots, Mary's Crackers, hummus, yogurt & a banana, and the last of the lentil pilaf from the freezer.

Today I did something I've only done once before - during my 3 hour break between classes, I went to the gym! I usually have too much work to do to be able to go (it takes about half an hour just to get to the closest Goodlife gym from my school). I did about 20 minutes of intervals on the bike. It really energized me for the afternoon!

When I got home from school, I immediately ate some rice puffs and soy milk.


I liked this snack before the detox, and I'm sure I'll still like it after the detox. :)

I wanted to recreate one of my most delicious detox meals for my last dinner.


Sweet potato fries and goat cheese-stuffed chicken thighs! I had to scarf it down in about 5 minutes before I went to meet some friends, but I still enjoyed every bite.

I met my friends at Starbucks, where I had been planning to eat another "Natural Bar" like I had yesterday. Unfortunately, in my rush, I left it at home! I stuck with my vanilla rooibos tea, and realized I didn't even need a snack.

And that's all she wrote! I'm DONE, baby.

Detox aside, one thing I don't want to lose sight of is the simple fact that I tracked everything for the past three weeks. I would guess that I haven't tracked for three weeks straight in over a year. Just that fact is HUGE for me. I'm really proud, and I hope I keep up this momentum!

Also, you should know that I've already planned several things I'm going to eat tomorrow. Including oatmeal with White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter... and I'm being taken out for dinner... where I'm planning on eating a giant calzone. :D

Thank you so much, everyone, for all of your support during this detox! Being accountable to my blog readers was literally the only reason I was able to keep this up. I have no doubt that I would have caved very early on otherwise. I also feel back in a blogging groove! Hopefully I will keep posting regularly (although not every day).

Have a good night all! Stay tuned for tomorrow's weigh-in results, and my thoughts on the detox as a whole. :)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twenty

Omg. Is it really day twenty? Will I be done in only one more day?

I can hardly believe it! Honestly, the three weeks have gone by much more quickly than I anticipated. That being said, Thursday can't come soon enough. ;)

I realized yesterday that I ate 12 Points Plus worth of bread... yikes! So I decided to avoid it today. Breakfast was my usual egg whites, onions, spinach, and goat cheese scramble with some tea (but no toast).


Lunch was lentil dal and roasted carrots courtesy of The Big Carrot, with avocado, mixed greens, and Mary's Crackers. Yum!


Afternoon snack: rice puffs with soy milk!


Then it was time to think about dinner. I was so pleased with how the baked rice turned out last week, I made another batch to have with dinner. I foresee making a big batch every week or so in the future. :)

While it was baking away, I had some plain yogurt with a banana. Nothing new and exciting here.


I needed some protein with my brown rice for dinner, so I took out this Sesame Ginger tofu I picked up last week.


I stir-fried it with some veggies... mixed carrots, peas, and corn because that's all I had on hand. I mixed it with the brown rice (which turned out great!).


Not too shabby!

While at the Carrot earlier today, I found these "Natural Bars." The only ingredients in the almond flavour are almonds, honey, orange blossom water, and lemon juice. Could it be - a detox-friendly bar?!


Sorry for the blurry picture! I'm eating the bar as I write this. It's a nice treat! Too bad I didn't discover them until the end of the detox.

Stay tuned for the very last day of my detox... tomorrow! Have a great evening, all.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Nineteen

Good evening, folks! :)

I could NOT for the life of me sleep last night. I don't know what the problem was. Super frustrating!

At least I still had energy this morning - even without coffee. My delicious breakfast might have helped:


Egg whites, spinach, onion, and goat cheese... and yeast-free spelt bread with dairy-free margarine.

Lunch and snacks:


Lentil pilaf from Day 1 making a reappearance (I had a couple of servings left in my freezer), carrot sticks and Mary's Crackers with hummus, and plain yogurt with a banana.

After school, I forced myself to go to the gym. But first, I needed a quick snack.


Toast with almond butter and honey! Mmm, I'm addicted.

Then I went to BodyPump. I've only been once before, but I really like it. And I definitely had Jell-O legs after... I could barely make it down the stairs to the locker room. That's a good sign, right?!

I was so ready for dinner when I got home. Leftover chicken tikka and some avocado on mixed greens. Mmmmm.


The end of the detox is fast approaching... just two more days. I am very excited to eat things like fruit and wheat again (and, not going to lie, I've already bought some White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter to make some delicious oatmeal on Thursday).

I'm also nervous. I'm worried I'll have my first non-Joshi item, and a switch will flip and I'll turn into some kind of sugar monster. (Which just goes to show how much I trust myself when it comes to eating!) What if I go crazy and gorge on all the yummy things I couldn't eat during the detox?

Okay, I don't really think that will happen. I think that I'll find things like apples and skim milk lattes huge treats after Joshi. But I am visiting friends in Ottawa over this coming weekend, which makes me slightly nervous (although they read this blog and have permission to hold me accountable for tracking!). I just have to remember that being out of town doesn't mean I can't eat like I do at home! And I'll make sure to pack plenty of healthy bus snacks.

I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate aspects of this detox into my everyday life. I'm thinking I might detox (maybe with some modifications) one week every few months? And keep up the tracking, of course... any other ideas?

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eighteen

Day Eighteen! Just three more days, baby! It's in the bag. ;)

After last night's party, I slept in this morning... and skipped Zumba. Whoops!

Breakfast was not rice puffs, but millet puffs! With soy milk.


They were okay, but I much prefer rice puffs. The millet puffs were just too small for my liking...

Morning snack of plain yogurt with a banana and honey... and blueberry green tea:


I had a breakfasty kind of lunch. Egg whites with spinach and onion.... and goat cheese again. Soooo good.


I spent my afternoon cleaning. I did a lot of organizing/tidying, vacuuming, and dusting. I'm not an extremely tidy person by nature, but it felt really good to get some of that stuff out of the way.

Afternoon snack! Mary's Crackers and hummus (didn't have the energy to cut up carrot sticks amidst all my cleaning...)


I kept dinner simple too. All microwaved leftovers: chicken tikka, veggies from the Big Carrot deli picked up after my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, and brown rice.


Delicious! Now I'm watching The Oscars and doing some schoolwork. I foresee a nighttime snack of homemade yeast-free spelt bread with almond butter and honey later...

Good night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Seventeen

Yesterday morning, I pried myself out of my nice, warm bed and faced the cold to get to my Weight Watchers meeting.

Even though I had been down at home on Thursday morning, and I've been following this detox, I had a bad feeling. I just knew that it wasn't going to be a great weigh-in... and I was right.

I was up 0.4 lbs to 202.2! Sigh!!

I was very frustrated at first, and my immediate reaction was to just give up and buy a tub of ice cream or something, since the detox clearly wasn't working. But of course, that wouldn't be very productive.

I reminded myself that no matter what the scale said, I had tracked for two weeks in a row (a feat in and of itself), I worked out 4 times last week (more than usual for me lately), and that's what matters.

Now, in some ways, I feel I've been "abusing" the detox. For example, I'm allowed to have things like rice crackers, almond butter, and honey, but they probably shouldn't be staples (like they have been for me... and honestly, may continue to be). Also, I didn't get much sleep Thursday and Friday, and that always hurts my weigh-ins. Lastly, I could definitely be drinking more water.

So I'll continue on, of course, and I'm confident it will all show up on the scale next week. :)

After returning from my meeting, I made myself a yummy breakfast. Egg whites with onions, spinach and... goat cheese! Yum. I was out of bread so I needed something to make it exciting. ;)

Along with some tea.

Snack of probiotic yogurt with a sliced up banana and honey:


I decided to run out to the grocery store before making my lunch, so I had another snack to hold me over - a rice cake with almond butter.


I decided to make myself really yummy, satisfying meals because I had a party to attend at night, which would be rife with delicious food and alcohol. So, for lunch, I had some delicious veggies from the Big Carrot deli, and I tried sole again.


This time I baked it with some dill and lemon juice. Not bad!

Afternoon snack of rice puffs and soy milk:


For dinner, I made Chicken Tikka again, along with sweet potato fries and some microwaved vegetables. Yum!


Then it was time to get ready for the party!


I'm pleased to say that the party was a total success, detox-wise (and fun-wise!). I drank a lot of water, ate a lot of veggies with hummus and guacamole, and avoided the alcohol/chips/chocolate-covered peanuts. Now, the guacamole had tomato (a Joshi no-no) in it, but I dipped around the tomato (and if I accidentally got a bite of one, I don't think that's a huge disaster). Also, I had some deviled eggs because I figured they were pretty safe. Joshi allows you to eat homemade mayonnaise on the detox so... I just went with it. And they were delicious!

Now, I'm off to try and clean my apartment a bit. I'll be back tonight with Day Eighteen!