As you can probably guess from my post title, I am feeling pretty psyched about the upcoming summer. A few things seem to be falling into place for me, I've set some good goals for myself, and I feel like I am finally "getting my life together" in some sense (not that it's been falling apart or anything... I just often don't feel like as much of a grown-up as I should). Before I get to that, perhaps I should update you on what's been going on since my last blog post, which was apparently in October.
Firstly, I travelled around Europe over Christmas with my mom and sister! We went to London, Wales, Liverpool, Venice, Nice, Paris, and Amsterdam.
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| Dinner overlooking a canal in Venice |
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| On the beach in Nice with my sister |
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| Christmas morning in Paris! |
Winter was fairly busy at work for me, but I actually kept up my running somehow. I signed up for the Toronto Yonge Street 10K back in November, and no one was more surprised than me that I actually ran it in April! Right up to the race itself, I REALLY wanted to quit. About two weeks before the race, my shins started giving me a lot of trouble. I rested a lot, and my shins felt better, but I couldn't do my last two scheduled long runs. The longest distance I'd run beforehand (and by "run", I mean "jog slowly with lots of walking breaks") was only about 8.5km. However, I had convinced my dear friend Martina to do the race with me and she was coming all the way from Ottawa! I couldn't let her down.
Of course, I didn't die during the race like I worried I might. I ran some of it, and walked some of it, and I finished in 1:24:33.7! That's actually faster than I expected.
I still can't believe I actually crossed that finish line. One of the coolest parts was when a woman came up to me after the race to tell me I'd been pacing her for the last two kilometres or so. Apparently she would run whenever I ran and I got her to the end! It was so crazy and amazing to hear that. I was helping this woman and I didn't even know it!
I have to confess, though, that I haven't run since the 10k. And, given the nature of this blog, I should also tell you that overall, my eating habits have been terrible. Just... garbage. The worst. Like, buying breakfast on my way to work several times a week. And buying lunch. And buying dinner. And just generally eating lots of junk and feeling blah. I have had no motivation to cook, for the most part. I'll buy groceries, but they'll mostly just go bad in my fridge. Sometimes I'll have a green smoothie for a few days in a row, but I haven't been consistent at all, and my weight is still at the highest it's ever been.
I don't really know the reason for this. I think I fell out of the habit of cooking, and I don't know how to get back into it. I also still read and think SO MUCH about nutrition and eating, and it's overwhelming when I try to start eating healthfully again. When I do try, it feels like this big production, because I feel like I have to do everything perfectly, or else why bother at all? Which is of course totally insane.
But something does have to change. So.... I got.... a personal trainer!
Yes, that's right, I actually got a personal trainer. Last Sunday I went for a consultation and then I bought 10 sessions to see how it goes. It was definitely expensive, but I KNOW it will force me to work out, and I think help with my eating habits as well. I've already had two sessions this week, and despite the fact that it now hurts to move at all, I am feeling really good about it.
My first session was on Tuesday at 6:45 am (it seemed like a good idea when I scheduled it...) It was embarrassingly brutal. I don't think I ate enough beforehand, and I kept having to stop and take breaks because I felt nauseous. It wasn't even that hard of a workout! My trainer was very nice though, and told me not to apologize for taking breaks. My second session was Wednesday morning at a more civilized hour. This time, I ate more for breakfast, and I didn't feel sick during the workout. I worked MUCH harder and did way more than I would have if I'd tried to exercise on my own (a big if, seeing as I haven't been exercising at all on my own lately).
My trainer also asks during my workouts what I've been eating. I think this will help keep me accountable. She suggested that I try the Fast Metabolism Diet if I am up for doing a lot of meal prep and crazy food planning. I got the book from the library, and I think it seems slightly ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated. Not the foods themselves, but rather the claims about it taking exactly 28 days to "repair" your metabolism, and cycling through certain foods on certain days of the week. It's definitely a fad diet, in my opinion, but it does consist of whole foods and is definitely much healthier than the way I've been eating now. It eliminates caffeine, dairy, and sugar, among other things, which are all things I would like to cut back on or eliminate anyway. You know I love a good strict diet to blog about, so I think I will actually give this one a try. If it gets me back to regular cooking and meal prepping, and jump starts some weight loss, then I think it will be a success. I just want someone to TELL me what to eat for awhile and not have to make any decisions myself.
My personal trainer and healthy eating plans aren't the only reasons that this is the Summer of Katie (although they are the biggest reasons). Some other things I've been up to:
- I have been practicing my driving whenever I can and hope to get my G2 this summer! I am SO TIRED of not having my licence. Last weekend I had to get to Kitchener from my friend's house in Port Elgin... let's just say the trip ended up taking ten hours by bus (it's about a two and a half hour drive). Alright, I'll admit that the bus broke down in Orangeville and we were stuck for 3 hours, but still!
- Dating! I've been on a few dates over the past few months. Luckily it hasn't been too traumatic, and I've gotten a few funny stories out of the experience. For example, I was on a date with someone, and then all of a sudden he said "there was something I have to do today... what was it... oh yes, I need to get to the grocery store before it closes so I can buy lettuce and make lunches for the week!" I was ditched for LETTUCE! So weirdly specific. Like, dude, just tell me you're not interested. But part of me thought he was telling the truth and we might be really well-suited for each other, because buying lettuce to make healthy lunches is the kind of thing I might have to do on a Sunday afternoon as well... anyway, we never spoke again.
- I have another trip planned! My friend Michelle and I are going to Nashville and Memphis in August. Afterwards, I think I will go to Chicago by myself for a couple of days (although I haven't finalized that part yet).
