Balance 'N' Beans

Today, I Went for a Walk

2012-01-05T21:25:00.003-05:00

As far back as I can remember, I've made New Year's Resolutions. Today I realized it's January 5, and I haven't made any formal resolutions for 2012.

Would I like to fit back into my smaller clothing? Of course. Do I want to eat better? Most definitely. But 2012 crept up on me during a very stressful holiday season and I just haven't been in the mood to set any specific goals.

I loved my first semester of teacher's college, and my five-week practicum was amazing. My healthy habits definitely slipped by the wayside (when you're staying up planning lessons past midnight and getting up at 5:30 for school, it's hard to squeeze in a workout), but I'm trying not to dwell on that. I'm also not in the mood to dwell on any numbers right now. I don't want to think about the best workout plan, or the best eating plan, or losing a certain number of pounds by a certain date.

I want to focus on feeling good today. I want to exercise so I can clear my head and feel energetic. I want to eat less junk food so I don't feel sick to my stomach. I want to go to bed on time so it's slightly less painful getting up for an 8:30 seminar on Friday mornings. I don't want to worry about fitting into my jeans (although that would be nice) or being able to run for 5k without stopping again (although that would also be nice).

Doing something--anything--is better than doing nothing. And when I think too much about the "perfect" exercise routine or eating plan, I often end up doing nothing at all.

Today, I went for a walk. And I'm satisfied with that.

Busy but Happy!

2011-09-13T08:19:00.000-04:00

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.

My First Week

2011-09-05T17:55:00.000-04:00

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!

Set up for Success

2011-08-27T17:39:00.000-04:00

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?

Settling in.

2011-08-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

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? ;)

Summertime Blues

2011-08-20T01:16:00.000-04:00

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. :)

Yoga at the Ritz.

2011-06-02T15:47:00.001-04:00

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? ;)

Exciting Times

2011-05-31T10:47:00.000-04:00

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! :)

Busy Bee

2011-05-29T14:01:00.000-04:00

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?

Turn it around

2011-04-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

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!

Resolutions Revisited.

2011-04-02T22:27:00.001-04:00

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?

Ottawa Recap

2011-03-10T16:22:00.000-05:00

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...

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Conclusions.

2011-03-03T21:02:00.001-05:00

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.

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

2011-03-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

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. :)

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twenty

2011-03-01T19:53:00.000-05:00

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.

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Nineteen

2011-02-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

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?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eighteen

2011-02-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

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!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Sixteen

2011-02-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

I can barely keep my eyes open while I write this post, so I'll keep it to the point!

Breakfast:

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

At-work snack:

Probiotic yogurt with a banana (I didn't end up eating the sunflower seeds).

Lunch:

The last of the leftover Chickpea Curry! Yum.

This afternoon, I headed to the gym to get an assessment. Before Christmas, I won a session with a personal trainer (which I don't think I ever mentioned on the blog... because I wasn't blogging much at the time). I couldn't afford to buy more sessions, but I've been going back about once a month to meet with the trainer to measure my progress and discuss my workouts (which is free!). It's been great.

Today, my resting heart rate was lower than it's been in the past. In fact, the first time I met with the trainer, it was in the "below average" range, and now, it's in the "excellent" range for my age group!

It's really exciting to find out that something so directly related to my health has improved. I wonder how much is because of the exercise I've been getting, and how much is from the lack of coffee!!

I also held a plank for 1 minute 50 seconds, which is an improvement for me as well! But then she corrected my form slightly and I collapsed after about 10 seconds. Grrr.

As soon as I got home I devoured this bowl of rice puffs and soy milk.

... and then maybe another one.

Then I dozed off on the couch! I roused myself just long enough to get into bed for a proper nap. Last night I hardly slept at all, and it finally hit me. I slept for about an hour and a half, then forced my groggy self out of bed to have some dins. I ended up with kind of a hodge-podge:

Leftover sesame vegetables from yesterday, the last of the roast chicken I bought a few days ago, and some crackers with hummus. It did the trick!

My weigh-in is tomorrow morning, so I will try to keep myself from snacking on crackers & hummus all night... not enough sleep always puts me in a snacking mood.

Tomorrow night I'm attending a party. I really really wish I could drink, but I can't wreck the detox so close to the end! I've warned my friends that I can't drink, and I also volunteered to bring veggies & hummus. I will report back to you sharing tales of my steely willpower, I'm sure! Probably not until Sunday though. ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fifteen

2011-02-24T19:52:00.006-05:00

Down another 2.8 lbs from last Thursday! (On my home scale, that is.) That makes 8.8 pounds total since beginning the detox.

I'm actually looking forward to my weigh-in on Saturday! That's a nice change. :)

I started my day with some hot water and lemon.

For breakfast, I tried something new (well, something I've only tried once before): quinoa flakes!

I used soy milk instead of water. (You cook them just like oatmeal.) I didn't love them, so I added some almond butter and honey... still didn't love it. Oh well!

Then I headed out because I needed a blood test... ugh. It wasn't that bad though, and I'm glad it's over with!

I tried something new for lunch, too. I cooked sole for the first time ever! I very rarely cook fish, and when I do it's usually salmon.

I baked the sole in foil with some Bragg's (gluten-free, preservative-free soy sauce replacement) and sesame oil sprinkled on. I also stir fried some veggies with garlic, ginger, Bragg's, sesame oil, and sesame seeds and had some leftover baked brown rice. Pretty solid lunch!

Tried a new detox snack: honey on a plain rice cake (with pomegranate green tea). Not bad!

Later, I had some sesame rice crackers with hummus.

I liked these rice crackers a little too much. I went a bit over board... to the tune of 9 Points Plus values... and then some! Yikes.

In continuing with the carbs/rice theme, I made some brown rice penne for dinner. In an attempt to be somewhat balanced, I also heated some leftover chicken from the whole roast chicken I bought from the Big Carrot the other day, and I steamed some frozen veggies.

Delicious!

I'm going to do some reading (The Hunger Games), and probably get to bed early. Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fourteen

2011-02-23T22:38:00.002-05:00

Two weeks down!!

And I am exhausted.

Breakfast was my standard fare - scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach and yeast-free spelt bread with non-dairy margarine.

Detox or no detox, egg whites are a pretty typical breakfast for me. Except I usually don't have them with veggies, I have them with cheese. Hopefully the spinach & onions will stick, post-Joshi!

Today was a great day: I debuted my new haircut at work, I was wearing an outfit that made me feel very put-together, and my make-up looked unusually good for some unknown reason (I'm not exactly a pro with that sort of thing). Plus, you know, I've got this detox glow about me. ;)

I tried to take a picture this morning of how awesome I looked to show you all (um, vain much?) but I was running late.

At work, I got quite a few compliments! One man whom I nod to when I see him in the office, but whose name I don't actually know, simply said "You look... hi!" which I thought was pretty funny. And some of my students mentioned my haircut too, which was really sweet. There's nothing like a new hairdo (and I was long overdue) to boost the old confidence.

But it couldn't have just been the hair - as Joshi says to those completing the maintenance program,

"You may even be tiring of your friends telling you how fabulous you look and how slim and sexy you are!"

I laughed when I read that, because of its utter ridiculousness... but who knows, in a few weeks, I might be at that point...

Anyway, lunch was prepped last night, as usual.

Leftover chickpea curry, carrot sticks, Mary's Crackers, hummus, yogurt with a banana, and sunflower seeds that I never ended up eating.

As soon as I got home, I put together a giant salad. Spinach, some shredded cabbage, leftover roast chicken from The Big Carrot, avocado, and ... goat cheese.

I was worried about putting the avocado and the goat cheese together, but you only live once, right? Turned out well, I think!

I ate the salad quickly because I had to run out... to the gym! I made it to Body Combat tonight! I haven't been in AGES, and it's one of my favourite classes. Lots of kicking and punching. The only problem is, it's a very popular class, so you have to be careful not to kick and punch all the people in your immediate vicinity. (Even the ones who side shuffle in the wrong direction and get all up in your personal roundhouse-kicking space.)

I devoured this as soon as I was home and showered:

Am I abusing the detox by having so much almond butter and honey?? If that's wrong, then I don't wanna be right. I also had some pomegranate green tea. Remember those days (um, two weeks ago) when I was a coffee addict?

My stomach was like a bottomless pit after Body Combat, so there may have been massive amounts of rice puffs and soymilk that were eaten before they could be captured on film. Oops.

I am beyond tired. Good news is, I get to sleep in tomorrow! (You can be jealous.)

Good night, all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Thirteen

2011-02-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

Maybe I should call it Day 14 instead, in case I have any superstitious readers... or, you know, so I can finish that much sooner. ;)

Almost two-thirds of the way through! One thing that would really help me with this detox is some kind of maidservant. I feel like all of my free time is spent chopping, cooking, packing lunches, and washing dishes. All in the name of health, I suppose!

Breakfast was yummy. Plain yogurt with a banana and honey, and a big mug of blueberry green tea.

Pre-lunch snack:

For lunch, I had leftover chickpea curry. Yum! (Warning: this will probably be tomorrow's lunch as well...)

It seems that I've developed a dangerous habit. Whenever I am passing Chester station on the subway (which is fairly frequently), I feel a need to stop in at the Big Carrot. Today was no exception.

I picked up a roasted chicken, which I will rationalize as being an easy, convenient way to add protein to a meal - I'm thinking lots of salad possibilities here! And yes, on top of the yogurt there is something from the deli... I just couldn't help myself. I also grabbed quinoa flakes to try and attempt granola again in the next few days.

Dinner:

Lemony brown rice penne & some chicken from the Big Carrot, and a spinach salad with avocado and sunflower seeds.

Even though I'm following this detox, I still don't think I'm eating enough veggies. I had a bunch of carrot sticks cut up and ready to eat today, but I never got around to it. Maybe tonight... along with something else...

Can you guess what my nighttime snack is going to be?

I have an early day tomorrow, so I'll keep this short and sweet! Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twelve

2011-02-21T22:06:00.003-05:00

Good evening!

It was very lovely not having to wake up pre-6 am this morning for my 8:30 class. I woke up at a much more civilized hour, and enjoyed some delicious toast with almond butter and honey:

With pomegranate green tea.

Then it was time to fulfill the vow I made yesterday - spinning class! Yes, I made it! And I also did an upper body workout... despite having to lift weights in a very crowded, somewhat intimidating area. Go me!

Workout: Completed. Hair: Sweaty.

Upon returning home, I needed some lunch. It was a microwaved affair.

Leftover sweet potato fries & goat cheese-stuffed chicken thighs from yesterday, and some microwaved veggies. Yummmmmmm.

I didn't really have any snacks today, I'm noticing now. Just three sizable meals.

Since I had some free time, I decided to try making a big batch of brown rice to use all week. Every time I make rice, it turns out horribly (does anyone else find rice really hard to cook??). Today, I used this baked rice recipe to see if my luck changed (I used dairy-free margarine instead of butter, and vegetable stock instead of water).

It was a success! The top was maybe slightly crunchy in areas, but overall, definitely the best rice I've ever made. I decided to abandon my original dinner plan (a quinoa dish) and focus on my delectable brown rice instead.

I opened up this can of Eden Organics Caribbean Black Beans that I'd bought ages and ages ago to mix in with the rice.

I tried it and... I wasn't a huge fan. They weren't bad, but I just wasn't in the mood. I racked my brain trying to think of some kind of protein to have with my rice, and finally I came up with: Chickpea Curry! I based it largely on this Red Lentil Curry recipe (that I've used many times in the past, as written. It's yummy!)

I started off by sauteing some diced onion in a frying pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, I mixed together about 2 tablespoons of curry paste, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 - 1 tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, and some fresh ginger.

Note the spilled chili powder in the top left corner.

I threw that in the frying pan with the onions, stirred it for a couple of minutes, and then added a can of (rinsed) chickpeas.

I threw in 2 cups of cooked rice, and it was done!

Oh wait, I lied. Before I served it, I added some chopped up green onion.

According to my calculations, if you divide this into 4 servings, each serving is 9 Points Plus values.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was a little spicy, but it wasn't overpowering.

I think I will have one snack this evening - my daily banana (which is unfortunately quite bruised). Have a good night, all! :)

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eleven

2011-02-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, 11 days in! More than halfway. :)

I want to thank everyone for all the really supportive comments I've gotten. They're really motivating me to see this through to the end of the 21 days. It definitely helps to know that someone is actually reading about it...

Breakfast was scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach... along with some leftover roasted root veggies (not including potatoes, a deadly nightshade) from the Big Carrot. (I was trying to recreate a greasy diner-style breakfast of eggs and homefries. Didn't quite hit the mark.)

Hot water with lemon also made an appearance.

Then, I went to Zumba class with my Mom! It was super fun, as usual. I realized, however, that I haven't worked out since Zumba last Sunday... must improve gym attendance this week.

I hereby vow to go to spinning class (for the first time in AGES) tomorrow morning. I trust you will hold me accountable.

Post-gym snack of rice puffs with soy milk:

I decided today was the day to make some gluten-free, sugar-free granola, using detox-friendly ingredients only. I kind of made up my own recipe that included quinoa flakes, coconut, puffed millet, almond butter, and honey.

I was so excited.

Unfortunately, I burned it slightly. I was going to post the recipe and everything, except it didn't really turn out. Maybe in a few days I'll try again!

I still ate some of the granola (it's only a bit burnt...), mixed into my plain yogurt and banana. Yum!

Before I even got a chance to think about lunch, it was time for dinner (that often happens to me on Sundays...)

Oh. Em. Gee.

I made sweet potato fries (using pre-cut sweet potatoes...) along with chicken thighs stuffed with goat cheese and spinach. I am a happy girl right now. And what makes me even happier is that there are leftovers in my fridge for tomorrow.

Not going to lie though, I made two (very large) portions of sweet potato fries, but I kept picking at them, so tomorrow's portion is much smaller than today's was.

Tonight, I have some schoolwork I want to do, and there may be some kind of midnight snack in store... I have most of the roasted harvest vegetable salad from the Big Carrot burning a hole in my fridge, so I just might have to finish it off. After all, it could go bad, right?!

Everyone who has a holiday tomorrow - enjoy! I know I will.

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Ten (and Liver Flush)

2011-02-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

Wow, 10 days down! Almost halfway there. :)

First thing this morning, I headed out to my Weight Watchers meeting, led by the lovely Ashley...

I was down 4.6 lbs! I'll take it!

Funnily enough, my weight this morning (201.8 lbs), was my starting weight when I started going to meetings in November 2009. I lost 20 lbs to reach my 10%, and then slowly gained it back (and then some). I've been fluctuating around this point for awhile.

I think I will take this weight as a fresh start. No more gaining. This detox is a great healthy beginning, and a great motivator to focus in and just do this.

I will start posting my weigh-ins in the sidebar, starting with today's. Note that I reserve the right to quietly take them down without advance warning if it starts to mess with my head though. ;)

Breakfast was small - rice puffs with soy milk.

For lunch, I finished the rest of Friday's Chicken Tikka. I kind of want to eat this every day?

I ate it with a spinach and avocado salad. Yummers!

I decided that today should be a "Me" day. I haven't had a day of fun and relaxing just for me for awhile!

The Me Time began with a haircut and an eyebrow threading. Is it just me, or does getting your eyebrows threaded kind of feel like a bunch of tiny razor blades in your eye region? The results were great though, I think.

Before:

After:

One thing I thought was pretty funny - the hairdresser asked if I was in high school! She thought I was 16 or 17 (I'm 25). To be fair, I was literally crying at the time from the eyebrow threading, which probably did bring out my younger side.

I couldn't resist picking up a treat for dinner (various roasted vegetables) from The Big Carrot's deli counter on my way home, because I knew what I had planned for this evening: Joshi's required liver flush, consisting of the following ingredients:

First I had a yummy snack though. Toast with almond butter and honey! With pomegranate green tea.

Sigh. Those moments before the liver flush were a simpler time.

The good thing about the liver flush is that it required me to dig out what was given to me a week ago. Yes, the item from the bag that I teased you about last weekend! Behold:

A juicer!!! My very kind coworker had a spare juicer sitting around that she brought in for me to use! I have big plans for this thing.

Sadly, its first use was for something that would turn out to be so, so wretched. The dreaded liver cleanse.

I juiced about 300 mL of grapefruit and lemon. Then I threw some ginger and one clove of garlic in. I added the 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Not ready at all for what's to come.

I took one sip, almost gagged, then remembered I forgot to dilute it with 200 mL of water. Surely that would fix it?!

Still recovering from the first sip, but willing to try again:

Blech. I only made it halfway through. Any more and I surely would have been sick.

Sorry, Joshi. I love your Detox and I'm sure your liver flush is very healthy and my liver would love it, but I will not be repeating this two more times (the detox calls for one a week). At least I tried, right?!

For dinner, I had some of the roasted veggies I got at the Carrot, along with some brown rice pasta with goat cheese.

Maybe not the most balanced meal (I don't see much protein there...), but cut me some slack! I had to cleanse my liver today, after all...

My Saturday night will consist of knitting and television. I may look like a 16-year-old, but I definitely act more like a 70-year-old. Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Nine

2011-02-19T11:08:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to post this last night... sorry!

And before we get to Friday's food, I need to mention a comment I received on this post:

Well done!! Planning ahead with meal will allow you to have food ready when you need it fast. keep some almonds and a banana in your bag all the time. if you are not suffering from bloating or need to lose weight, then have more ripened fruit in your diet as snacks. Keep the variety going so you don't get bored.
Joshi

Could it be the Joshi?! If so... wow! I am flabbergasted! I'm amazed he found my blog in the first place, let alone took the time to comment. And he said "well done"! And gave me some good advice!

If it was the real Joshi (which I'm choosing to believe... I also looked at my blog stats and I think the commenter was somewhere near London, United Kingdom, where Joshi's clinic is) - Thank you, Dr. Joshi, for your wonderful comment! The detox is having a drastic (and very good) impact on my life already. My cravings have diminished, I've lost weight, and I've been receiving comments about how my skin looks better, my teeth look whiter (I don't even know if that would be possible from one week without coffee?), and my mood is more stable.

Amidst all of that excitement yesterday, I did eat some food. For breakie, I mixed things up with 2 fried eggs on some wheat-free spelt toast with vegan margarine.

I had packed a lunch the night before, originally consisting of lentil pilaf, yogurt, carrots & hummus, Mary's Crackers, and a banana:

Then after I cooked the Chicken Tikka I decided to swap out the lentil pilaf and bring leftover chicken instead:

I mixed it into a spinach salad with avocado. Yum!

After work, I met up with a friend to go to the movies. We saw The Roommate, not really expecting it to be good (and we were right). During the movie, I snacked on my carrots & hummus, Mary's Crackers, and some roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds. It was delightful!

We went out for dinner at Moxie's, which does not have a very detox-friendly menu. I ordered the roasted beet and arugula salad, and added some grilled chicken. It was mostly delicious (especially the goat cheese that came on it), but it also reaffirmed that I'm not really a beet fan.

Of course, I forgot I wanted to take a picture until I'd already eaten some.

When I got home that evening, I was hungry again (that salad was not the most filling dinner a girl could have), so I had some honey vanilla chamomile tea alongside some toast with honey (which was crumbly but good).

Stay tuned later today for Saturday's eats & my official weigh-in results!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eight

2011-02-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

So, I weighed myself this morning to see how Week 1 manifested itself on the scale.

6 pounds down! Craaaaazy. That definitely gave my motivation another boost. :)

I'll see what happens at my meeting Saturday morning for my "official" weigh-in...

Breakie was my now-standard egg whites scrambled with spinach and onion alongside some yeast-free spelt toast with vegan margarine.

After breakfast, I headed downtown to meet my Mom and sister to volunteer with Second Harvest. Today was their annual Lunch Money Day, where volunteers asked people to donate part of their lunch money to help feed Toronto's hungry. We weren't in a super-busy location, but we were able to collect quite a bit! The volunteering was my mom's idea, and I'm glad she thought of it. It was fun and felt good!

After volunteering, my sister and I went to Fresh on Spadina for lunch. I had neglected to bring my camera (bad food blogger!), so I have no picture. I ordered the macro greens bowl on brown rice, which included steamed kale, bok choy, swiss chard, and broccoli, and grilled sweet potato. I also ordered tofu steaks on top, and chipotle avocado dressing on the side. It was certainly green and veggie-packed! I quite enjoyed it.

On my way home, I stopped and got a few groceries:

While deciding what to make for dinner, I had a few snacks, including some rice puffs and soy milk (big surprise...)

and some plain yogurt with a banana and honey (an even bigger surprise....).

For dinner, I made Chicken Tikka for the first time, using this recipe. It was a miracle: I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, AND it was detox-friendly. I didn't make skewers though, or the onion relish. I just prepped the marinade as written:

I marinated four chicken thighs for about an hour, and grilled them on my Foreman grill. I paired it with brown rice penne with melted goat cheese mixed in. I realized my dinner was lacking veggies, so I microwaved some frozen ones. All together:

This was delicious! I'm not really a huge goat cheese fan, but it wasn't bad. The penne was great, and the chicken was outstanding! I was really pleased with myself.

I'm up too late again! Dexter & bed is calling...

Happy Friday tomorrow! Anyone else excited for the long weekend (if you're getting one)?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Seven

2011-02-16T21:57:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe it. One week down! In the end, it went by much quicker than I thought it would.

I feel really good. Despite not getting many hours of sleep last night, I had lots of energy this morning. I turned down an offer from someone to grab me a coffee AND I turned down free sandwiches that were sitting in our communal kitchen at work. Go me!

Just a short time ago, my thoughts were consumed with when or what I would eat next, trying to talk myself out of eating junk food, wondering how much I could "cheat" and get away with, etc, etc. It's funny: even though I am eating a fairly strict diet during the detox, I'm thinking about food MUCH less. Since I can really only eat foods I've already planned, most of the thinking and decision-making are out of the picture.

While my cravings have definitely decreased, not everyone is having the same success. I may or may not have just received a text from my boyfriend stating "I want choco more than world peace." If he manages to resist, I'll be impressed!

This morning, I had a delicious breakfast consisting of scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach on yeast-free spelt bread with vegan margarine, and a hot water with lemon.

I had packed my lunch up last night, like some kind of very organized grown-up type person:

Leftover fried rice, plain yogurt, sunflower seeds that I didn't end up eating, carrots & hummus, Mary's Crackers, and a banana. I also brought my portable ~~coffee~~ tea mug and some ginger peach green tea.

I thought my post-school pre-dinner snack was a good opportunity to get some veggies in.

The last of the green soup!

For dinner, all I wanted was some (wheat- and yeast-free) toast with almond butter and honey.

So that's what I had. Mmmmmmm.

Now, as some of you may be aware, the detox recommends making a liver flush drink consisting of ginger, olive oil, grapefruit juice, lemon, and garlic once a week. Since this is the end of week 1, I suppose I should have had that today. But I didn't get my act together and I didn't have the time/ingredients required today! Maybe tomorrow?

I think I may go watch Dexter in bed and get to sleep early. Ciao!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Six

2011-02-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

Wow, almost one week down! If I keep taking it one day at a time, I think I can actually do this. Instead of worrying about making it through three weeks, I'm just focusing on making it through today.

Breakkie was supposed to be plain yogurt with a banana and sunflower seeds... but there were no bananas to be found! Boo.

The yogurt was saved when I remembered that I can have honey! It was so delicious, I felt like I was cheating. :)

Pomegranate green tea. Word.

Lunch was leftover fried rice from Sunday. It tasted slightly less bland today, I think?

While watching some Californication (did I mention I don't have to teach on Tuesdays? It's divine), I nibbled on some walnuts, carrots, Mary's Crackers, and hummus. Along with more green tea, blueberry this time.

Another staple of mine during this detox: rice puffs with soy milk. Yum!

Eaten balanced on my knees in front of my laptop...

On Sunday, my mom bought a bread maker, which she's been wanting for a long time. After trying the brown rice bread I'd been eating, she felt so bad for me that she decided to bake her first loaf for me!

Yeast-free spelt bread! I know spelt flour does contain some gluten, but I don't think it's much. Also, in one of the testimonials in the Detox book, spelt bread is mentioned... so I think it's safe enough!

I made another trip to The Big Carrot this evening. I picked up a couple of treats from their deli counter for dinner: brown rice pasta with garlic and lemon, and some roasted veggies. I ate it with my new spelt bread with vegan margarine.

Maybe the best meal I've had on the detox so far?

I picked up some almond butter at The Carrot as well, so my upcoming evening snack may or may not include this morning's missing banana with some almond butter...

In the meantime, I need to prep my lesson for 8:30 tomorrow morning. Yikes!

'Til tomorrow! :)

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Five

2011-02-15T19:14:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Mine started off with the detox-endorsed hot water and lemon.

I enjoy these much more than I thought I would!

For breakfast, I had scrambled egg whites with spinach and onions on brown rice toast with vegan margarine. Yummy!

I had packed my lunch up on Sunday night:

Sorry for the weird cut-off picture. I brought lentil pilaf, carrots and hummus, plain yogurt, sunflower seeds, and a banana. I had a long meeting that cut into my lunch break, so I scarfed it all down minutes before my afternoon class.

When I got home from work, I weighed out some walnuts to tide me over until dinner.

I went out for dinner again last night, and again I ordered grilled salmon with veggies! It was delicious and I felt virtuous. ;) I didn't get a picture, though!

I have to say, I think my cravings are pretty much gone. True, when I think about going more than two more weeks without cheese and bread, I get a bit freaked out, but I'm not getting the near-uncontrollable urges I was just last week. That's progress, right?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Four

2011-02-13T20:09:00.005-05:00

After my post last night, I got hungry again. So I ate what I had pre-arranged for today's breakfast - plain yogurt with a banana and sunflower seeds.

Yes, I cheated on the detox...

Two bananas in the same day! (What, did you think those Swedish Berries were mine?)

I started today not with a hot water and lemon (maybe tomorrow I'll get back to that?), but with an egg white omelette with onions and spinach. I paired it with brown rice toast with vegan margarine.

Joshi says not to eat eggs more than 3 or 4 times a week, but he also says that the yolks are acidic and the whites are alkaline. So I've decided to try and limit my whole egg consumption, but not worry about whites.

I wolfed down breakfast and rushed off with my Mom to Zumba class! It was great. If I didn't have a buddy, I definitely wouldn't have forced myself out the door to the gym today.

After the workout, I had a quick snack of rice puffs and soy milk.

I didn't really have a proper lunch today. My breakfast was around 11 am, and I just kind of ate here and there all afternoon (as you'll see).

I made my mom some brown rice toast, but she wasn't a fan (I don't blame her). I was happy to take it off her hands.

Soon after, I decided I should get some more veggies in mah belly. Green soup!

I may or may not have had a few Mary's Crackers to go with it.

Around 4 pm, I decided it was time to get my lecture notes ready for my class at 8:30 am tomorrow. I sipped on some honey vanilla chamomile tea while I worked.

For dinner, I wanted something new. Something... fried rice-esque.

It consisted of sesame oil, ginger, garlic, onion, broccoli, spinach, kale, chicken, rice, and a scrambled egg. It turned out a little bland, but pretty good overall. While I cooked dinner, I also did laundry, prepped my lunch for tomorrow, and did a mountain of dishes. It's nice to feel productive!

Now I'm planning to have a hot bath and then paint my nails. I've got carrot sticks, hummus, and walnuts waiting to be my bedtime snack.

I might not get a chance to post tomorrow - so expect two days' worth on Tuesday!

I hope you all have a good Valentine's Day tomorrow! Ta!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Three

2011-02-12T22:22:00.000-05:00

Three days down, 18 to go!

That's kind of depressing. Let's move on. And I'll just keep taking this one day at a time. :)

I ate a light breakfast before my Weight Watchers meeting: rice puffs with soy milk! Yummy.

At my meeting, I was down 1.6 lbs! That was over 2 weeks, since I missed last week's meeting. And I'm still up overall... but it was nice to be down! And I anticipate being down again next week if I keep this up.

During the meeting, I ate some yogurt with a banana. I forgot to take a picture, but it looks exactly like the yogurt with a banana I ate yesterday. And exactly like the yogurt and banana I plan to eat tomorrow.

Then, it was off to Spring Rolls with some of my fellow GTA bloggers! I really didn't know how I would do eating out, but somehow I managed to order something that sticks pretty closely to the detox rules: grilled salmon with brown rice and no sauce. Delicious!

Unfortunately, I started picking at it before I remembered to take a picture, so it doesn't look as nice as it did originally. My apologies!

I find it next to impossible to order healthy food when I'm at a restaurant. It's like I think every time I eat out is my last opportunity to eat french fries. It felt really good to order something healthy and yummy, and not feel overly stuffed or guilty afterwards.

When I got home, I snacked on some delicious carrot sticks with some storebought hummus. It was delish!

For dinner, I attempted to make some creamy avocado salad dressing. I followed a recipe that called for cumin and cayenne, which was fine, but it turned out way too spicy for me. I added some plain yogurt to try and balance it out, which helped a little.

I had the dressing on a spinach salad with 2 eggs, fried in olive oil, on brown rice toast with vegan becel.

I realized today that I've really been slacking on the required morning hot-water-with-lemon. Maybe I'll try to squeeze one in at some point tomorrow... I have been drinking a lot of tea though! Today I had a green tea and a vanilla rooibos tea.

I'm off to watch a movie (Scott Pilgrim). Toodles!

P.S. I didn't have time to open the box from yesterday yet, but Chezjulie's guess was very close...

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Two

2011-02-11T20:55:00.001-05:00

Good evening friends!

I'm extremely exhausted, so this may be a short post. And since I ate a lot of the same foods I ate yesterday, it may also be a boring post.

I had an early start to my day and rushed out the door at 6 am. My first stop was Tim Hortons. Not for coffee, but a large green tea! Apparently 6 am Katie has willpower of steel! :D

By the time I got to school, I was ready for another green tea. That stuff is pretty tasty! I ate the breakfast I had packed up the night before:

Bananas and yogurt! Boring but delicious. I psyched myself up to face another coffee-free day, taught a couple of classes, and then rushed home for my possible phone interview (which still hadn't been confirmed).

Somewhere in there I ate some Mary's crackers and hummus (another repeat from yesterday...)

The phone interview DID happen, after much nervous waiting on my part. I think it went alright? I was pretty sleepy by the time it rolled around (er... 3:15?), and I didn't have as much time to prepare as I would have liked, but I did the best I could!

Then I had to run some errands, so I stopped at the Big Carrot for reinforcements:

Then it was time for some dinner.

What's that peeking out from the casserole dish my mother made me? Why, it's green soup! And where have we seen that before?

Yes, yesterday.

Ditto the lumpy-looking (but yummy) lentil pilaf.

But there's also something new - some wheat free, yeast free, gluten free brown rice bread with vegan margarine! I'm undecided as to how I feel about this bread. The crust was pretty good, but the centre was kind of... not so good. I will maybe toast it more next time and see how it goes.

Now I'm curled up in bed finishing off some sleepytime tea.

Looking back, I can see I didn't eat very much today at all! I guess that's what happens when you're exhausted and on the go! (Although usually, those are my prime reasons for eating a pile of crap). I probably need more food, and I might have another snack, but I might also just fall asleep immediately after hitting "publish." We'll see!

Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with some of the lovely GTA bloggers at Spring Rolls. I will peruse the online menu beforehand to see what my options are.

That's all I have for tonight! But I will warn you to stay tuned over the weekend for the contents of this bag:

It was given to me by a teacher-friend today. Let's just say I'm excited to use what's in that big box. Any guesses?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day One

2011-02-10T19:59:00.005-05:00

This morning, I had a nice long sleep-in before arising to...

...check my pH levels (chezjulie was looking forward to that picture, by the way!) . I would call my results slightly inconclusive. I think it's somewhere between a 6 and 7? I know it's impossible to tell from this picture... I'll measure again after the detox to compare, obviously.

I had the kettle boiling while attending to the pH strips, and began my day with some warm water and lemon.

It was rather enjoyable!

For breakfast, I had puffed rice cereal with soy milk.

When my sister and I were little, she was allergic to all kinds of things (including dairy). We would often have soy milk with rice puffs or rice krispies, so eating it now is like a nice childhood memory.

Then, I forced myself out the door and to the gym! I did 20 minutes of intervals on the stationary bike, then some lower body and abs exercises. Booyah!

To tide me over until lunch, I had some probiotic yogurt with a banana.

Then I had the brilliant idea to add some slivered almonds!

Delicious!

For lunch, I decided to try making some green soup. Green because of all the veggies, of course!

I softened a chopped onion, some garlic, about 10 chopped baby carrots, and one stalk of celery, in one tablespoon of olive oil. Then I added some kale, spinach, broccoli, and frozen peas. I threw in some chicken stock and brought it to a boil before letting it simmer a little while.

Then I blended it all with my wonderful immersion blender. I have to admit, I was frightened. This soup smelled maybe a little too vegetable-y for my tastes...

I made some hummus (sans tahini) to eat with Mary's Crackers and the (hopefully edible) soup.

The soup ended up being pretty tasty! Success!

After lunch, I checked my e-mail only to find that I have a phone interview! I applied for a full-time position last week, and I'm very surprised they got to me so quickly (and at all!) I think the interview might end up being tomorrow afternoon, so wish me luck. I hope I don't have to resort to coffee to avoid falling asleep during it...

For dinner, I tried a recipe from the Detox book: lentil pilaf.

It consisted of lentils, brown & wild rice, slivered almonds, green onions, and chicken broth.

While it was cooking, I tried some chamomile honey vanilla tea. Can you believe I've never had chamomile tea before?!

It was okay. Not as good as coffee. ;)

The lentil pilaf, on the other hand, was pretty darn tasty! Didn't look it though, I know.

All in all, I would call my first day a total success! No headaches really, but I was dragging all afternoon. And I'm feeling pretty anxious and stressed, but I think that might just be nerves about the interview. Honestly, if I'm dragging this much tomorrow, I might have a coffee so I can focus for that... but I'll try to avoid it!

I have to get ready for bed now so I'm at the top of my game tomorrow! Good night all!

Detox Prep

2011-02-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

I had a bit of a headache this afternoon. I think my body was anticipating tomorrow's lack of coffee.

I did some grocery shopping on my way home from work to prepare for the detox. I started off at my fave bulk store, Better Bulk (at Danforth & Woodbine). I picked up some wild and brown rice, Mary's Organic Crackers, chicken broth, slivered almonds (stay tuned for their appearance in tomorrow's lentil pilaf!) and cardamom.

Not pictured: the chocolate-covered coffee
beans I am snacking on while I write this post.

Then I went to the normal grocery store to get a few more things.

Look how happy my fruit bowl is!

I'm actually really excited to get this show on the road! But I can't help but wonder how excited I'll be when my morning coffee is replaced by my morning warm-water-with-lemon.

Tomorrow: Day one of the detox, including an attempt to measure the acidity of my saliva (using pH test trips). I can hardly wait, can you?

Experiment.

2011-02-08T20:45:00.002-05:00

Hello bloggies!

This semester has been off to a busy start, which is my excuse for my lack of posts. Do you forgive me?

I've been proud of my activity levels since the new year, but my eating habits still leave a lot to be desired. My tracking has been sporadic, and my weigh-ins have reflected that.

It's time for something radical.

When I read about Kerry's experiences with Joshi's Holistic Detox over at Skinny Me Coming Soon (she describes the detox in this post), I remember being very intrigued. Last week, I went back and re-read her entries, and decided to pick the book up. I read the book over the weekend (in between grading about a billion math tests), and decided to give it a try.

Now, I'm not a fan of extreme diets, but I think this detox is mostly sensible. The main things I will be eliminating over a 21-day period (starting this Thursday) are:

red meat
dairy (except Greek yogurt or Bio yogurt)
fruit (except bananas)
wheat, gluten, and yeast
alcohol
coffee and tea (except herbal tea and green tea)
sugar

The main goal of the detox, to my understanding, is to reduce the acidity of the body and make it more alkaline.

I personally do not think it's absolutely necessary to eliminate all these foods to be healthy or get rid of "toxins." I am trying the detox for the following reasons:

Eliminate cravings. Over the past few months, my relationship with food has felt like an addiction. I feel compulsions to eat certain foods to excess, and my cravings often feel uncontrollable. If I cut out these foods (mainly sugar and refined carbs), I think my cravings will eventually go away.
Increase my motivation. I have hardly been cooking at all. I don't feel that old excitement to make a new, healthy dish or plan out my meals. I've been eating out WAY too often and haven't been tracking regularly at all.
Try new foods. If I follow this detox, I won't be able to eat the way I have been lately (which has consisted of a lot of convenience foods and take-out). This will force me to cook and discover new healthy foods and meals that I can incorporate into my everyday life after the detox is over.
Yes, lose weight. I'm still around 20 lbs higher than my lowest weight. If I stick to healthy eating for the 21 days of the detox, I will likely lose a few pounds. This will hopefully make me feel more like myself, help my clothes fit a little better, and motivate me to continue tracking.

I am planning to track my Weight Watchers Points Plus values throughout the detox. It's not going to be a crash diet or anything like that - I will make sure that I'm not eating too much or too little.

In order to keep me on track, I have borrowed a camera from my parents that is much nicer than my own. I will try to photograph as much as my food as possible to share with you all.

I am also receiving lots of support from my boyfriend. He has offered to give up chocolate while I'm on the detox (and he loves his chocolate!). Since I'm going to be blogging as often as possible to tell you how I'm doing, he's challenging himself to blog every day, too. Not only that, it was all his idea! I'm one lucky lady. :)

I don't want to let him down, or let you down. I'm afraid I will go out in a blaze of caffeinated glory around day 2, but I won't let that stop me from trying. Publicly. Because I really just don't want to let myself down anymore.

In the groove?

2011-01-16T20:13:00.001-05:00

The past few months, I've had many frustrating moments just trying to get dressed in the morning. I feel very discouraged because my clothes aren't fitting the way they used to (obviously - I've regained 20 pounds!). Sometimes, I go through a ridiculous number of outfits before I find one I feel comfortable enough in to wear in front of a classroom.

Thankfully, the past couple of weeks, I've been doing a better job of focusing on the positive. Instead of being discouraged by snug clothing that used to be too loose, I am using it to motivate me to stay on track and reach my goals. After all, this clothing is proof that I can do it! I've done it before, after all. :)

I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm back in the swing of things. Even though last week wasn't "perfect" (I had a couple of evenings where I didn't track everything I ate), it was still pretty good, and I worked out four times. At my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, I was down 2.2 lbs! I still haven't gotten to where I was before Christmas, but at least I'm going in the right direction again.

This week is off to a great start. I made it to the gym yesterday and today, and I've tracked all my eats thus far. I've also been sticking with one of the strategies I discussed in my new year's resolution post - drinking enough water. I've been tracking my water pretty faithfully and have definitely increased my intake.

Today's workout was extra-fun: I took my mom to a Zumba class! She liked it so much, that she wants us to start going regularly! I'm really excited about this, because I'm much more likely to stick to a workout if I have a buddy.

Before I go unwind and get ready for bed, I need to share with you some very rude yoga behaviour I witnessed yesterday:

I was trying a yoga class at my gym for the first time. There were three girls sitting up at the front beside me. Before the class started, one of the girl's cell phones went off. She reached for it, and I assumed she was turning it off... nope! It continued to go off repeatedly (at least 4 times) throughout the class. I think she may have actually been texting at one point.

Not only that, all three girls were constantly whispering, chatting, and giggling at everything. It made it super difficult to actually focus and try to meditate. Towards the end, when we were lying on our backs and trying to clear our minds, they very noisily gathered up their stuff and left.

Those same girls were at Zumba today, but that's a much different environment. Hopefully they stay away from yoga in the future!

That's all I have to report today - I hope you all have a great week!

In 2011.

2011-01-01T23:06:00.001-05:00

In 2011, I will reach my Weight Watchers goal weight and become a lifetime member.

No more messing around. I know I can do this! This is my most important resolution for 2011.

How will I do it?

Well, tracking, going to my Weight Watchers meetings, and exercising regularly are definitely part of the plan. I'm also going to choose one or two healthy habits to focus on each month.

For the month of January, I will focus on the following:

drinking enough water each day and tracking it
finding time each day to meditate, even if only for 1 minute (inspired by one of Angela's "Eleven in 2011")

These are simple things, but I think they will make a huge difference.

To help curb night-time eating out of boredom (I hope!), I plan to spend more time on activities that de-stress me and make me happy. Which brings me to my second resolution:

In 2011, I will knit a sweater.

I love knitting, and I love starting projects (including sweaters)... the problem is finishing them! I don't want to think about how many times I've started a knitting project and not followed through. I think it will be totally rad to have a sweater that I've made all by myself! I'm pretty sure I'll tackle this one.

And my last resolution, which is hopefully not too vague:

In 2011, I will get organized.

I love my apartment, but right now it looks like a tornado swept through it. I plan to set up some new shelving and have a place for everything!

I also need to get my finances organized. I'd like to continue to pay down my insane student debt and help get a better handle on my pocketbook.

One thing I think will help is to go grocery shopping only once a week. It's not an exaggeration to say I love going to the grocery store! I'll often stop in several times a week to pick a few things up. I'm very good at only buying healthy groceries, but I find myself throwing out food that's gone bad much too often.

By planning my meals (at least partially), writing out a grocery list, and shopping once a week, I will keep my kitchen organized, save money, and help my healthy eating efforts.

So far, I think I'm off to a good start! Today, I went back to the gym after a hiatus of over two weeks, and I got a bunch of healthy groceries and cleaned out my fridge!

I'm really excited to see what I can accomplish this year. :)

Looking back on 2010

2011-01-01T19:11:00.000-05:00

I started this blog last January with a post about New Year's resolutions. I mentioned two of them on this blog - how I wanted to reach my goal weight and become a Weight Watchers Lifetime member, and how I wanted to eliminate artificial sweetener in my coffee...

One out of two ain't bad, right??

I used to take three sweeteners in my coffee.... gross!!! I can't imagine how much aspartame my poor body has had to deal with. But I'm very proud to announce that, in a relatively short amount of time, I was able to cut that number from three down to ZERO. So at least I met one health-related goal in 2010!

As for reaching my goal weight: Nope, not even close! I gained weight instead. But instead of dwelling on that fact, I will treat the new year as a fresh start (like I always do).

2010 was a year of changes, including some difficult ones. Some significant events that come to mind are:

Trying Booty Camp Fitness, joining the gym, and trying yoga. I'm still not in as much of a routine as I'd like to be, but I definitely put the tools in place to become a fitness machine!

Going through a difficult break-up & dating someone new for the first time in years.

Reaching my Weight Watchers 10% goal in May.

My father suffering a fairly serious heart attack and being diagnosed with congestive heart failure (he is also a diabetic) - on the bright side, he has quit smoking. :)

A fairly stressful job interview process for a full-time teaching job - I didn't get the job, I'm still "just" a contract teacher, but I learned a lot from the interview, and was very proud of myself for getting one in the first place.

As is evident by my weight gain, eating is definitely my number one coping mechanism for stressful situations.

Over the past couple of months, I have also been doing a lot of knitting! I don't think I've mentioned it here on the blog, but I love knitting and fancy myself pretty good. ;) In fact, for my mom's birthday (right before Christmas), I knit her a milkweed shawl that I consider my best work ever. I didn't manage to get a good picture of it yet, but here it is during blocking (I soaked it in water and pinned it in the shape I wanted it to take):

Knitting is definitely something I want to do more of in 2011 - but I will talk about my aspirations for 2011 in a post tomorrow (yes, I'm planning two posts in two days... after a hiatus of over a month...)

So stay tuned for tomorrow's 2011 post, and have a lovely Saturday evening!

Proud!

2010-11-20T20:40:00.005-05:00

Hey folks!

So, despite the fact that I was up 1.2 lbs at my meeting today, I'm feeling really good for the following reasons:

I worked out four times last week (much more than I had been in prior weeks)
I ate well and tracked for 5 days out of 7, and partially tracked the other 2
I went to Swiss Chalet for dinner tonight, and actually ordered something reasonably healthy (i.e. not french fries)! And not only that, I stopped eating before I was uncomfortably full. I actually left food on my plate. I bet I could count on one hand the number of times in my life I've done this before at a restaurant. And now I feel good, not overstuffed. :)

I think part of the reason I was up this morning is that I indulged a bit last night... mainly in some (er, quite a few) potato chips. I'm confident this week's hard work will show up on the scale next Saturday. In the mean time, I'll keep on trucking... and tracking!

I don't know what's gotten into me...

2010-11-17T20:44:00.003-05:00

But it's making me do crazy things like exercise twice in the same day! :D

I was down 4.4 lbs at my meeting on Saturday (embarrassed to say that I was still 0.2 lbs above my joining weight over a year ago...) and I really want to be down again this week. I've been gaining weight for so long and trying so hard to regain control of my eating habits that I don't want to lose this momentum.

I've had a couple of non-tracking moments so far this week (including a big potluck craft party... let's just say I did way more eating than crafting), but I've been trying to make up for it with LOTS of exercise. I went for a run on Saturday and to a Newbody class on Sunday (for the first time).

I thought I was going to have to miss my usual BodyCombat class tonight, so I went to a spinning class before work this morning... but then I ended up being free for BodyCombat! Usually I would have skipped it anyway, but my friend wanted to go, and I really want to push myself this week... so I did! So it was a double workout day for me. :)

After all that, I'm freaking exhausted, so I think I'll have a hot bath and get to bed early. Good night!

Super Early Workout!

2010-11-11T20:12:00.004-05:00

Just stopping in to inform you that I am officially back in an exercising groove.

That's the only possible explanation for my whereabouts at 5:00 this morning--the gym.

I was at the gym at 5 am, which means I got out of my warm, comfy bed at 4:40 am! Craziness!

And that's not all. This is the third time I've worked out in three days! Tuesday was BodyFlow, Wednesday was BodyCombat, and this morning I did 30 minutes on the stairmaster. Booyah!

I was out of town last weekend and missed my Weight Watchers meeting, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this Saturday. I think I'm finally starting to settle back into my old healthy ways. :)

Pad Thai Time

2010-11-03T18:43:00.004-04:00

Happy Wednesday!

I do hope to get back into the groove of frequent posts... fingers crossed! The past week has been filled with marking an endless pile of tests. Thankfully, I wrapped that up yesterday, and now I have about three weeks before I have to mark again! :D

Last Friday, a dear friend was visiting from Ottawa! She came over for dinner and I wanted to make her something special.

I chose the pad thai from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry!, which I've made once before. I prepped all the ingredients before my friend came over. I felt like I was ready to shoot my own cooking show!

After all the prep was done, the meal came together quite quickly.

It was delicious! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

I've also been rocking the stir fries lately, and I've gone back to an old standby: steel cut oats with brown sugar! I need something to keep me warm, since I try to keep the heat as low as possible.

I'm off to watch some Sex and the City on DVD and knit!

Still hanging in there

2010-10-27T08:16:00.004-04:00

I'm still here, and as you may have guessed, my eating has been far from perfect lately.

Thanksgiving threw me off, followed by my birthday (which was honestly more of a birthweek and then some), and I was definitely up at my meeting this Saturday.

But I have some good news! This is my third day in a row of tracking (it's still early in the morning, but I've pre-tracked my lunch and dinner already), and I still have been exercising (albeit not as much as I should be).

Last night, I actually cooked dinner! I haven't been in the mood for cooking for a long time. There's been a lot of microwaving, assembling, and convenience meals, but not much cooking from scratch. But yesterday, I thawed some chicken breast, and actually whipped up a pretty darn delicious stir fry with lots of veggies and brown rice. Could I be back in the cooking groove? Only time will tell. :)

Midweek Weigh-In

2010-10-06T16:48:00.003-04:00

Yesterday evening, I found myself at loose ends. Since I'm going to miss my Weight Watchers meeting this coming Saturday, I went to one last night instead.

I wasn't expecting a loss, since I usually weigh in in the mornings, and my last weigh-in was only a few days ago. But to my surprise (and delight), I was down 0.8 to 198.6 lbs! :)

I have some potentially difficult (eating-wise) events coming up - Thanksgiving and my birthday. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving weekend at the cottage with my parents, and I'm hoping that I can enjoy a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and not let it affect the rest of my week. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Great week ... finally!

2010-10-02T13:46:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait until I had some proof (for you and for myself) that I am re-committed.

For months, I've been all "action plan" this and "back on the wagon" that, but it was not leading to anything -- I pretty much just gained and gained and gained all summer.

But check this out:

That's right.

I tracked ALL WEEK. All seven days, baby. This in and of itself is a HUGE accomplishment for me.

But wait, it gets better. Not only did I track all week, but I actually STAYED WITHIN my points (exactly). It has been months, people. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a week like this. I feel great.

In addition, I worked out three times! I'm glad my gym membership is actually getting used again. I also tried playing squash recently (for the first time), which was a lot of fun! I'm not usually into sports (due to gym class related traumas in my childhood), so this was definitely a little out of my comfort zone. Plus, I didn't suck as much as I was expecting, which was a bonus.

So, did all my hard work pay off in the meeting room this morning? I'll say! I was down 7.8 pounds to 199.4! Out of the 200's! Hopefully for good this time. :)

I think one reason I was able to stick to my points was that I did very well on the weekend (my tracking week starts on Saturday). I got through Saturday and Sunday only using 1.5 of my weekly points. Usually, I use all of my weekly points (if not more) immediately, which makes the rest of the week feel impossible. My plan is to aim for a great weekend again!

OH! I also went to that wedding, in the new dress I mentioned. I think it's rather fetching! And it has pockets! I wish my feet weren't cut off in this pic because then you could see my silver shoes.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my weekend... and by "enjoy," I mean finish marking approximately 100 math tests. Yay!

Weigh-In

2010-09-14T23:09:00.005-04:00

I was up 0.8 on Saturday! I guess it could be worse, but I'm frustrated. Last week, I tried really hard (honestly), but I still went over my points (and ate an entire pizza for dinner Friday night - not a huge pizza, to be fair, but still).

Hmm, I just read what I wrote, and I really couldn't have been trying all that hard. I think I'm in a bit of denial. I am still happy to be back in my school routine, though. All it's missing is the gym! I'm working on it. :)

In other news, I bought a new dress for the wedding I'm going to on Saturday! I think I could squeeze the zipper shut on my old dress, but I wouldn't want it popping open at an inopportune time. I'll show you a picture of me all glammed up after the fact!

Sorry for the short post - I'm off to get my beauty sleep!

Back to school!

2010-09-08T08:06:00.002-04:00

And I'm loving the structure & routine already--even though my first class hasn't happened yet!

I went into school yesterday to get some prep done, and I started my day off well with a healthy breakfast (eaten at the table, not on the couch with my laptop!) and packed a healthy lunch (including homemade date coconut bars - I'll blog about them soon, hopefully!) to bring in with me. I came home and made a healthy dinner (ALSO eaten at the table) and got to bed at a somewhat decent hour.

I was teaching in the summer, but only two days a week. I'm back to four days a week, and teaching a course I've never taught before, so it will be much busier (in a good way).

My last week of holiday (I had a tiny bit of time off between the summer & fall semesters) was very relaxing and fun! I went to Ontario Place & the CNE (don't worry, I avoided the deep-fried butter... although I was very tempted), among other things.

Go Banana!

I also couldn't make it to my meeting on Saturday morning, which is why there was no weigh-in this weekend. I have a good feeling about this coming Saturday, though! I'm going to a wedding in less than two weeks, and when I tried on the dress I want to wear (pictured below), it wouldn't quite zip up.

It ALMOST fits, so I'm determined to get into it! Although I might pretend it still doesn't fit so I have an excuse to buy a new dress. ;)

I'm off to school now! Wish me luck for my first class of the term!

P.S. Sheryl (aka Bitch Cakes), one of my favourite bloggers, just got lifetime! I'm so excited for her!

Long Walk & Weigh-In

2010-08-29T17:11:00.008-04:00

On Thursday, I had big plans for a bike ride.

I rarely go for bike rides, so I was pretty excited about it.

I packed up some healthy bike snacks and I was ready to go!

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. My back tire was flat and I have a feeling it has a puncture. I moped a little about the turn of events, but then decided to walk through Taylor Creek Park instead.

Luckily, the beautiful weather cheered me up after my bike let-down.

I stopped for a picnic and to read a bit. I picked up a sub on the way for a treat!

I had a delicious peach for dessert.

On my way home, I stopped at one of my favourite bulk food stores, Better Bulk, as well as the East Lynn Farmers Market. I picked up lots of goodies, including almonds, dates, kale, raspberries, bagels, and edamame!

All my walking must have paid off, because I was FINALLY down for my weigh-in on Saturday morning. I was down 2 pounds exactly, to 200.2 pounds. Here's hoping it's the last time I'm in the 200's EVER. :)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Birthday Challenge!

2010-08-23T23:11:00.003-04:00

My 25th birthday is in about 8 weeks (October 18). This seems like the perfect opportunity to combine my action plan for getting back on track with some goal-setting!

I'd love to lose 25 pounds by my 25th birthday (and it would be so darn catchy), but 25 pounds in 8 weeks is a bit unrealistic, I think.

So, I am going to aim to lose 15 pounds by my birthday! 15 pounds in 8 weeks is totally doable, right? ESPECIALLY considering they are 15 pounds I have already lost before.

So how am I going to do this? I think I will take it one week at a time. My action plan for the rest of this week (until Friday) is:

be active every day
have a salad for one meal every day
track, track, track!

So far, so good! I've been faithfully tracking (including the, um, 5 beers, 2 shots, champagne, chips, and pizza consumed at a party on Saturday night), and I've been rocking the big salads.

Today, my friend Martina came over and we worked out at an outdoor track near my house. We were Booty Camp buddies, so we did some Booty Camp style drills that included running laps, skipping, lunges, squats, tricep dips, and more. We're also considering signing up for a 5k together!

This will be more than just big talk - I will follow through! I actually feel good enough about where I am now to declare this to all of you, rather than just fumble along hoping it happens.

Have a great week!

The ugly truth.

2010-08-21T12:19:00.003-04:00

202.2 pounds.

That's what I weighed in at this morning. This is not really surprising to me, but it's still hard to accept.

When I joined Weight Watchers meetings on November 7, 2009, I weighed 201.8 pounds. On May 1, 2010, I reached my 10% goal, and an all-time low of 181.6 pounds. So I've regained just over 20 pounds.

This has to stop. I can't let it go any further than this, and I won't.

I'll report back in the next couple of days with my action plan! It may or may not involve signing up with a friend to run a 5k.

Toodles!

Grocery Haul

2010-08-20T17:28:00.005-04:00

Happy Friday!

In an effort to offset the damage of 1.5 weeks of gluttony before my weigh-in tomorrow morning, I bought some healthy groceries yesterday (it's been awhile!).

I included some "treats" to help motivate me.

Yum, watermelon!

I don't have high hopes for my weigh-in tomorrow morning. I have a strong feeling I will be at least as much as (if not higher than) what I weighed when I started going to meetings in November. Yes, folks, it's that bad. I've regained about 20 pounds!

But it's never too late to get back in the swing of things! Do I spot a pink Green Smoothie in my lunch from today?

Alongside chicken & avocado on a pita and some raw cauliflower. :)

I will report my weigh-in tomorrow morning, no matter how ugly. It's time to start being accountable for my unhealthy ways!

In other news, my dad is home from the hospital! I really have NO EXCUSES to be eating junk.

Have a lovely weekend!

Back in business.

2010-08-15T22:02:00.006-04:00

I've missed you, dearest blog of mine!

I've had a few things on my mind lately that have kept me very busy.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been in the process of interviewing for a pretty exciting job. I had a phone interview, a written test, and an in-person interview (for which I had to prepare a 3 hour lesson plan).

It was all on the stressful side, but it's over now and I know I did my best. I don't know yet if I got the job (and I'm really trying not to get my hopes up), but no matter what, it was a good experience and I'll be that much more prepared the next time 'round!

Through all of that, my dad has still been in the hospital recovering from his heart attack. He had a defibrillator implanted on Friday and will hopefully be returning home soon. I've been visiting him most days.

I wish I could say that I've been 100% on-plan and exercising through all of this, but that's frankly just not true. I also missed my meeting yesterday because I was out of town. However, the week before was mostly good and I was actually down at my last meeting! I'm hoping to start fresh NOW and make up for some lost time this week, now that my life seems to be getting somewhat back in order.

It's also the end of the semester for the courses I'm currently teaching. On Friday, I taught the last class of the term, and now I have a little break until their final exam on Wednesday (which I have the joy of marking).

With my rare bit of free time, I visited with a couple of university friends this weekend in the country. The visit involved, among other things, a corn maze (that I danced through at times):

baby goats:

and Saved by the Bell:

All in all, a much-needed weekend of fun. :)

Hopefully, I will start blogging more frequently and, more importantly, taking care of myself with healthy eating and exercise. I know in my head that's a better way to deal with stress than, say, ordering Chinese food, but sometimes my actions don't reflect that.

I am relaxing now with So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Good night, all!

Hill fun!

2010-07-27T22:25:00.004-04:00

Tonight brought back painful (er, I mean fond) memories of bear-crawling up this hill multiple times:

Yes, that's right. I was back at Booty Camp. After a nightmarishly slow ride on the Bathurst streetcar, I was a few minutes late, but made it for most of the class.

Aside from bear-crawling up the hill, and running up and down it, at the end we used it to do all kinds of crunches on an incline. I can only assume this made them more effective, as I couldn't really get my feet up off of the ground like we were supposed to. I think I should stick to flatter territory for awhile, still.

I really miss Booty Camp! True, I was way too hot, and it was very tough, but it was nice to be back. But I could really tell that I have NOT been working as hard lately as I was during Operation: Buff.

Unfortunately, it's not feasible for me to be going to Booty Camp right now, grrr! I'll just have to start making better use of my gym membership. Body Combat tomorrow night?! I think so!

New Fridge!

2010-07-26T17:56:00.007-04:00

Since last September, this is what I've been dealing with in the fridge department:

But wait, it gets worse. Here's the freezer (you may want to lead small children out of the room for this one):

I know it really needs defrosting, but even when I defrost it, it frosts back up again very quickly because the door does not shut properly. Basically, I've been very limited when it comes to frozen items. This has definitely put a cramp in my cooking!

Thankfully, last Thursday, my prayers were answered and a new fridge has shown up! AND, I don't think I've mentioned that I probably don't have to move out of my apartment after all! :D

I had to put all my food out on the counter during the switch.

Behold:

I am very excited about this. Lots of new, thrilling freezer things are in my future. Frozen peas, I'm looking at you!

In other news, I've been on-track for three whole days now! I went to Zumba yesterday, and tomorrow I'm going to a Booty Camp class with a friend of mine. I'm a bit afraid about how I'll do, it's been so long!

I'm off now to do some marking and other school work. Have a great night, friends!

keep on keepin' on

2010-07-21T21:50:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I feel too grown-up for my own good.

I have my own apartment, I pay my own bills, I cook my own meals, I do my own laundry. Although no one has done any of these things for me for years, occasionally I wish I didn't have to be so responsible. While I like having complete control over my own life, and I do think that has helped me immensely with becoming healthier, sometimes I miss the days where I "didn't have" to care so much about what I ate. When times get tough, and I can cheer myself up by buying a danish with my morning coffee, then I'll invariably do that. My healthy routine is often the first thing to go.

I've had some stressors and changes in my life over the past few months, and while I don't think they are excuses for my slight weight gain of late, they are definitely factors. I started my first real job in September, and was living alone for the first time in my life. While these were both really good things for me, being solely responsible for things like rent and hydro was a big change.

I haven't mentioned on the blog that I had a difficult break-up a few months ago. This definitely took its toll on me. For several weeks, I felt I should take every opportunity to eat some delicious food. I think the last few weeks (or maybe even months) of that relationship was when my current plateau began.

Recently, I've begun seeing someone new. This has been a big change, as well. This is only the second person I've dated in my life, so it's all very new to me. And even though it doesn't feel stressful, it's shaking up my routine, and sometimes eating healthy and exercising can fall by the wayside.

On Saturday, I got the new Weight Watchers monthly pass, which includes unlimited meetings and e-tools! I was super-excited to be able to track online again (I was an online member before I started going to meetings). Saturday and Sunday, I tracked diligently. Surely, here was the ticket out of my slump! I thought.

Then, on Sunday night, my dad had a second heart attack (his first one was 10 years ago). He's doing well now, thankfully. Understandably, I've had a stressful few days. I think I've tracked one meal since then.

But am I unable to track because I'm distraught, or do I latch onto any bad thing that happens as an excuse to let everything go? Obviously, things happen, and it's important not to beat yourself up if you're not perfect all the time. But I've been consistently imperfect for months now. And I'm afraid that this is how the weight comes back: one excuse turns into another, and before you know it, you weigh more than when you started.

Ashley put it best: she told me one day that you have to be kind to yourself, but you shouldn't be a pushover!

I think I need to be a grown-up about this, too. It's time for some tough self-love.

Plateau?

2010-07-13T23:57:00.004-04:00

I never really thought of my "poor" weight-loss performance from the past little while as a plateau, because I knew exactly why I wasn't succeeding: I was eating too much and exercising too little!

But I just read a great post by Sheryl about plateaus, and how sometimes they are mental: you follow the plan just enough to maintain your weight within a few pounds, but not lose anything significant. I think this is where I've been for the past couple of months.

I could be disappointed that I weigh about the same right now as I did a year ago, or I could be happy about the fact that I've maintained a near 90-pound loss for that entire time.

I think that's definitely something to celebrate, don't you?

Slump Officially Over!?

2010-07-06T20:15:00.001-04:00

I recently posted about being back on track.

Unfortunately, I spoke too soon! It only lasted a couple of days.

But now, I'm REALLY back on track, I swear!

I know it sounds like The Girl Who Cried Back On Track, but this time it's been four full days of tracking and exercising. Hmmm, four days isn't very many, but it's more than half of a week! And I'm determined to keep it going and have a great weigh-in this Saturday!

On Sunday, I mixed things up a bit with a brand new vegetable. It was spilling out of my bag!

Can you guess what it is?

It's red swiss chard! Isn't it beautiful? I'd never had it before, so I threw it in some soup. I also tried some sauteed in chicken broth, and I still have tons left. Dare I try it in a smoothie??

I'm ALSO back on the exercising train. Folks, I don't think you realize what an exercise desert I've been in. It reached scary levels.

Each time I work out, I give myself a star on my wicked-cool Where's Waldo calendar.

And now let's look at June:

Isn't that PATHETIC?! I'm really embarrassed by that, but I've already turned things around for July. The past three days, I've been to three different classes at three different Goodlife locations (I'm really making my membership work for me)!

On Sunday, I went to an amazing Zumba class (and ran into the amazing Ashley). Yesterday, I tried my first ever Goodlife spinning class. Today, I made it out to Body Combat!

I also picked up Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth last weekend. I've wanted to read her books for a long time and I'm really excited!

But it will have to wait until I finish my current book - The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Once I get to it I'll let you know!

In other news, I am HATING the heat. I finally bought a fan today, which is helping.

I'm off to make my lunch for tomorrow now! Peace out, homies.

I love my apartment.

2010-07-02T09:57:00.000-04:00

And I just found out I have to move!

Last August, I moved into my first big-girl apartment. I was living with my parents at the time (just for the summer), and had only ever lived with roommates. I found a great one-bedroom in East York.

My apartment is the main floor of a house. I have my own little balcony, AND on-site laundry. I was able to pick paint colours, and I found a bunch of great (and cheap) furniture and such.

Anyway, my landlord sold the house fairly recently. I didn't think it would impact me much, but apparently my new landlord wants to move into my unit. I can move into the basement if I want, and he's in the process of renovating it, but I don't know.

So I'm pretty sad about that!

In other news, I am going to have a roommate for the month of July! My friend Krystal is taking a course in Toronto, and will be staying with me. We were roommates for 3 years in university (as well as being floormates for 1 year), so I know we can live together without any problems. I'm also very excited to have a workout/healthy eating buddy!

I've still been struggling with tracking/exercising (which maybe explains the lack of posting lately)... I have a big grocery shop planned for today, though, and I'm determined to go back to my healthy ways. :)

Weigh-In & Back on Track!

2010-06-21T21:02:00.004-04:00

Guess what, guys!

This girl has been TRACKING! :D

It all started on Saturday.

I haven't been mentioning my weigh-ins lately... I'm sure you can guess why! But let's come clean. On Saturday, I weighed in at 191.6 lbs, exactly 10 lbs higher than my lowest weight. On May 1, when I got my 10%, I was 181.6. I know I can drop these new 10 pounds really quickly, because I put them on quickly while eating total garbage.

Saturday's meeting topic was falling in love with your tracker! How fitting! I picked up a paper tracker to use this week (I have a 3-month tracker right now, but it has so many empty pages, it depresses me). I told Ashley, my leader, that I would give it to her next week as a little extra incentive.

Off to a good start:

I also rekindled my love affair with my Weight Watchers food scale (I swear, one of these days I'll devote a post to how wonderful it is). And have I mentioned how much I love Silver Hills Little Big Bread? These two slices (they must have been small end-slices) worked out to be 1 point total!

I've been keeping my meals pretty simple. Some PC Blue Menu Encrusted Wild Keta Salmon and a salad with tons o' avocado:

Homemade hummus, Mary's crackers, and tomato soup:

On Sunday, I even managed to sneak in a green smoothie! I'm sure my body was thanking me.

As for exercise? On Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of bed before 8 am for my first run in many weeks. I managed to go for about 25 minutes. I'm quite happy with that. I'm also planning to hit up BodyStep tomorrow morning.

It's good to be back! 100 pounds lost, here I come!

Checking In!

2010-06-17T20:22:00.005-04:00

Hey lovelies!

I'm still alive, I swear. As you may have guessed, my lack of posting means a lack of healthy living lately. But I haven't given up yet. :)

I've had some changes in my life lately and I'm still trying to find a new routine. I'm happier than I've been in awhile, even though my "weight watching" is suffering right now.

I'm rockin' some clothes from the clothing swap! I still haven't found room for them all in my closet though... not that I'm complaining!

Here's someone's (maybe Kate's?) sweater, which I wore to a wedding (the dress used to belong to my SISTER. I never imagined I would ever fit into my sister's clothes in a million years.):

And I LOVE this shirt, also Kate's! Forgive the weird pose. It's hard to get good shots of yourself when you live alone.

I'm planning another week of hard-core meal planning, a la the week I had back in March. Stay tuned! I WILL get back on the healthy living train, I promise!

New Friends & Old Problems.

2010-06-08T18:33:00.003-04:00

Hey folks!

On Friday night, I had the honour of attending a clothing swap with some of my fellow GTA bloggers! I definitely cleaned up. I ended up bringing home two full bags of clothes. Apparently I was just the right size to benefit from everyone's cast-offs! Maybe it's a good thing I've been so spotty with tracking lately, hehe...

I'll try to get some pics of the new clothes soon. Some highlights include:

a lululemon hoodie
a pair of size 12 jeans (I think they were Andrea's?) that I grabbed for future use. Um, turns out, they fit right now!
many summer skirts!

Thanks for inviting me, guys! I had a great time!

As for the old problems - I have NOT been motivated lately. On the bright side, I haven't been necessarily driven to eat tons of crap. I'm just not motivated to eat particularly well, either. I don't feel like cooking, I don't feel like chopping vegetables, and I don't feel like going grocery shopping. I have to snap out of it! Maybe I need to take small steps, like forcing myself to make a green smoothie every morning, and then build from there. Any suggestions?

I also must confess that I have not been working out lately. That changes TODAY. I'm off to take a long walk (I know it's not the most intense workout possible, but it's what I'm in the mood for).

Have a great night! :)

Operation: Buff Week 8

2010-06-07T11:58:00.003-04:00

Eek! I am a week late in reporting back on the final week of...

In April, I challenged myself to really push myself for my 8-week Booty Camp session. I wanted to complete at least one cardio workout and one Booty Camp-style workout each week in addition to my two Booty Camp classes. How did I do in Week 8? Here are my workouts:

2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Thursday)
BodyCombat class (Wednesday)
Booty Camp DVD - Advanced workout (Sunday)

Phew, just barely squeezed those workouts in!

Do you know what this means?!?!?!

I get that massage I promised myself! I've never had a massage before. And I have not yet booked it. But it's going on my to-do list!

I took before and after pictures too, but to be honest, there was not much difference. I also didn't lose weight, overall, during Booty Camp (*cough* I haven't been tracking). BUT I did lose 3.25 inches off my waist (yay!), 1 inch off my chest (boo!), 1 inch off my butt, and 3 inches off my hips. Not too shabby!

So yes, I have not been tracking. The scale has been up and down, but up overall. I AM tracking today, though (and will continue to). Please feel free to yell at me and keep me accountable. :)

What's Your Support System?

2010-05-30T21:02:00.000-04:00

It's easy to dwell on all of the "saboteurs" in your life. But what about the supporters? It's much more important to focus on them.

This is me and my friend Krystal:

We lived on the same floor in residence in first-year, and then were roommates for three years after that.

Lately, I've been really struggling food-wise. I've been following the plan for a few days, and then going crazy and overeating for a few days. On Friday night, I called Krystal and casually mentioned that I was thinking of skipping my Weight Watchers meeting the next morning. I explained that I would have to go to the early meeting, and I really needed to get some sleep, and I could get back on track the following week.

I expected Krystal to say something like "do what's best for you." Instead, she did what was actually best for me, and insisted I go to my meeting. "You always feel so much better after a meeting! You love your meetings!" she reminded me.

Did I mention that Krystal doesn't follow Weight Watchers? She doesn't necessarily "know" what I'm going through - but she supports me wholeheartedly. When she came to visit me for a weekend, she offered to track points too to help me stick to the plan. Now that is support!!

On Saturday (after my Weight Watchers meeting, which I am so glad I went to), I went with some friends (Krystal included) to visit the Elora Gorge. It was lots of fun, and also included some reminders of how far I've come.

When we were walking along the trail, we came to a somewhat rocky and steep area. My first instinct was fear: would I slip on the rocks? Would I get out of breath climbing the stairs? But then I remembered that I am not the same person I used to be.

I'm doing my best to get back to my happy-zone with food, but in the meantime, I will keep working out (Operation: Buff results are coming soon), recognize how far I've come, and not skip any Weight Watchers meetings! And when I feel the urge to run out to McDonald's, I will give Krystal a call instead.

Who are the supporters in your life?

Operation: Buff Week 7

2010-05-24T23:11:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I'm on my last week of Operation: Buff!

Week 7 was as buffalicious as weeks 1 through 6, I'm happy to say. Here are my workouts from last week:

BodyFlow class (Monday)
three Booty Camp classes (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
BodyCombat class (Sunday)

Somehow I made it through three Booty Camp classes in a row (well... three days in a row. Not three in a row on the same day).

Thursday's class involved a lot of running up and down this super-steep hill (I'll try to get a pic of it this week for you). We ran up it at least 3 times, and bear-crawled up it a few more times for good measure. The bear-crawling drills were amidst skipping and burpee intervals. I brought two large, full water bottles to class that night and finished them BOTH and then some!

Today I started off my final week of Operation: Buff with no "real" exercise, but I walked a little bit while running errands, etc. I know you are all dying to know the results of this Operation, which will be announced in approximately one week (give or take a day).

Will I make it through my final week? Will I earn my reward - a massage? Will I ever get around to finding a massage place and booking said massage? Only time will tell.

Afraid. Very afraid.

2010-05-20T12:29:00.003-04:00

... for Booty Camp class tonight!

During Tuesday's class, our instructor warned us to take it easy on Wednesday because she was going to KILL us on Tuesday. This frightened me because I was planning to do a make-up Booty Camp class on Wednesday night... and I did.

Last night, she worked us super-hard (it was one of the toughest classes I've had in a long time) and I'm pretty sore today. And so I'm pretty afraid for tonight - I know it will involve lots of running up a huge hill.

However, since next week is my last week of Booty Camp (I haven't signed up for summer), I'm really going to give it my all! I'm going to be very sad when it's over (but, to be honest, happy to have more evenings free during the week).

I'm also still in my pyjamas today... I've just been lounging around my house thus far, trying to gear up to do some work. I'd better get to it!

Weekend Wrap-Up & Operation: Buff Week 6

2010-05-17T14:38:00.006-04:00

Happy Monday!

This Saturday I had the honour of getting together with some of my fellow bloggers at Fresh restaurant. Check out Kat's blog for a recap & some pictures! It was a blast! Everyone was super nice and welcoming, and I'm so happy that I got to meet them all and make some new friends. :)

This weekend also concluded Week 6 of this session of Booty Camp, and Week 6 of Operation: Buff. I'm happy to say I'm still on the workout wagon!

Here are my workouts from last week:

20 minutes on the elliptical (Monday)
2 BodyFlow classes (Monday & Sunday)
2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Wednesday)
BodyStep (Tuesday)
BodyAttack (Sunday)

I also did some dancing while out with my friends on Friday night. Let's just say my weigh-in on Saturday was less than stellar after drinking & snacking late into the night on Friday, and chugging back water on Saturday morning BEFORE my meeting so I wouldn't be too hungover for the GTG... yeah. Up 11 pounds. My body is capable of some crazy fluctuations, as you may have noticed, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was all gone again next Saturday.

I've managed to stick to my dairy-free experiment for an entire week now! I think my sinuses are a lot clearer, but I'm not sure yet how much of an effect the no-dairy is having. I think I'll be able to tell better when I try reintroducing it. I'm using these guidelines on the World's Healthiest Foods site (one of my faves) for testing for a dairy allergy.

Now it's time to finish my homework for my class tonight! Leaving things to the last minute, as usual...

A little catching up

2010-05-13T18:54:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted in a few days, and I know you've all been DYING to know what I've been up to, so here's a recap of my week so far...

Monday

I semi-spontaneously decided to eliminate dairy for two weeks. My nose is chronically stuffed up (and has been for years), and I've been wondering lately if dairy is the culprit. I also went to a great BodyFlow class.

I started the course I'm taking - it was okay, and hopefully it won't be TOO much extra work. That night I had some bad dreams that always crop up right before a new semester starts (both as a student and a teacher). They always consist of me not having the right room number or schedule or being late or missing class altogether or not having the right notes with me... etc.

Tuesday

I shook off the bad dreams and got up early (ish) for my first BodyStep class! The class was pretty good, except I will always compare step classes to the ones I used to go to at my school gym with my favourite instructor. I miss them, and I doubt any new step classes could live up to them!

I also went to Booty Camp on Tuesday night, despite the pouring rain... it was FREEZING. I felt pretty hard-core, but it also sucked being wet & cold for the 45 minute trek home on the TTC.

I tried some Solgurt and found it DISGUSTING. I was really sad because yogurt has been my go-to snack lately. Perhaps I shouldn't have started with unsweetened solgurt?! I'll try it again soon blended with fruit... I tried some soy cheese too and did NOT like it. I've had soy cheese before that I didn't mind, but that kind has casein (a milk product) in it. Grrrrr!

Wednesday

First day of school! Of course, everything went fine and all my silly bad dreams were for nothing. I had some students that I've had before, and it made such a difference having familiar faces staring up at me at the front of the class.

Also, on the bus on the way to school, I overheard a student saying she signed up for a certain teacher's math class because she had heard from other students how good she was at explaining things... I made a mental note of what the girl looked like and, sure enough, she was in MY class! I think/hope they were talking about ME! :)

I rushed home from school on Wednesday to go to a make-up Booty Camp class. In restrospect, I don't know if this was wise. I'd worked out on Monday and TWICE on Tuesday already... Anyway, somehow I made it through the class which brings us to...

Thursday

Today has been tough! I'm feeling really worn-down and tired, confirming my thoughts that Booty Camp last night wasn't wise. In fact, I'm missing tonight's session. It's rainy out and I really tried to psych myself up to going. I got all dressed in my workout gear and left the house, but when I was about a block out, I turned around and came home. I'm feeling kind of bummed and guilty because I've never just skipped a session like this, but I really don't think I could have done it. I'm going to get to bed early and get ready for my early teaching day tomorrow instead.

Despite my blah day, I'm very excited for the GTA Blogger Get-together on Saturday! I can't wait to meet everyone! I'm also a littttle bit nervous, to be honest... I'm pretty shy! You'll all be hearing how it went, I'm sure, on my blog and various others... ;)

Have a good night & a great Friday!

P.S. I got Twitter! I don't tweet too often (yet), but feel free to follow me.

Operation: Buff Week 5

2010-05-09T21:21:00.003-04:00

I cannot BELIEVE I have already completed 5 weeks of this session of Booty Camp. It's really flown by. And I'm happy to say that I've been sticking to my goals for Operation: Buff. This week's workouts consisted of:

one Booty Camp class (Tuesday - I was out of town for Thursday's class)
at-home Booty Camp style workout for 40 minutes: I wrote down a bunch of exercises and got someone else to pick them in random order and time me (Thursday)
20-minute run (Friday)
Booty Camp DVD: Intermediate Workout and Bring the Heat Cardio (Saturday)

So even though I missed Booty Camp class, and was at the cottage for a few days (i.e. no gym), I managed to get in my workouts! True, I had to bring a whistle on my run to frighten away any possibly-lurking bears, and when I tried doing boot camp-style drills outside I was attacked by swarms of mosquitos, but I made it work!

It's a good thing I got a mini run in on Friday because on Saturday, we awoke to SNOW:

I was ill-prepared, clothing-wise.

On the drive home today, we encountered some interesting sculptures in a field around Burk's Falls, Ontario (next to a castle-like house with more stone sculptures/statues):

It was all on a very large-scale! All of those huge ghostly faces creeped me out a little bit... but it was very impressive all the same.

Tomorrow night, I will be a student again! I registered to take a college course on Monday nights in a Teacher/Trainer of Adults program. I'm looking forward to it (as long as there isn't too much group work/necessary participation/making presentations).

I also start a new teaching semester this week. I'm always extra-nervous for the first few days of a new class, so wish me luck! I'm sure all the exercise I'm planning on this week (like three booty camp classes...) will help keep my stress levels down.

I'm off to make a grocery list and maybe watch Lost! I lead a very exciting life, wouldn't you agree? ;)

First Outdoor Booty Camp!

2010-05-04T21:54:00.006-04:00

And it was super tough! We're lucky (or unlucky...) enough that the park we're in has a big-ass hill. We ran up it. Several times. Once on all fours. It was BRUTAL! Even worse than running up was running back down. It was really steep and kind of scary. But it's all about getting out of your comfort zone, right??

We also didn't have music during our class, thanks to yours truly. Yep. I stepped on the stereo cable right before class (in my defense, I was walking next to the instructor and the cord was trailing on the ground) and broke it. Oops!

I can tell the next four weeks are going to be tough. :)

In other news, I have to confess: I have not been on-plan the past couple of days. I don't want to make excuses, but I will anyway (hehe). I've been feeling emotional lately and trying to deal with various stressors that all seemed to hit me at the same time. Luckily, I'm going to the cottage tomorrow for some much needed r & r! I plan to rejuvenate (and exercise!) and get back to my cheery, motivated self. I have finished marking my exams, submitted the grades, and tied up all the loose ends (I think!).

I won't be able to make my meeting this weekend either (maybe subconsciously this was contributing to going off-track - knowing I'm not weighing in on Saturday. I would just go to another meeting, but there don't seem to be any where I'll be). This will be the very first meeting I've missed since I joined in November, and I'm sad that my perfect streak has to end!

But I will go BACK on plan. I do NOT want to "lose" the 10% milestone I worked so hard for (will the Weight Watchers police come take my key ring away???), so I will suck it up and stick with the program!

When I got my new 3-month tracker a couple of weeks ago, you may recall that I vowed to be on plan for 10 of those 12 weeks. I can still easily reach that goal!! I was feeling like a failure, but I'm picking myself back up again. Truly, the only reason I'm no longer this girl is because I will never give up, despite the inevitable setbacks:

I will have very limited internet while out of town, so I will be catching up with you all on Sunday when I return! Enjoy the rest of your week & weekend!

Operation: Buff Week 4

2010-05-02T22:03:00.004-04:00

I'm halfway through my Operation: Buff challenge! How did I do this week? Well, my goals during this challenge are to have at least one cardio & one strength workout in addition to my two booty camp classes. Here are my workouts from this week:

Body Flow class (Monday)
2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Thursday)
Body Combat class (Wednesday)
Booty Camp dvd - Advanced workout (Saturday)

Not too shabby! I've also been getting in lots of greens, through green monster smoothies & salads.

I'm having a pretty boring weekend, full of marking, so I've been having a bit too many snacks... I'm trying my hardest to conserve some weekly points for the rest of the week. I think that I'm going up to the cottage from around Wednesday or Thursday until Sunday... which means I'll miss my Saturday morning meeting (boo!), and perhaps have some trouble staying on plan. I'll also be, most likely, missing Thursday's Booty Camp class, so I will have to ensure I do an extra at-home strength workout.

But I keep reminding myself that I am always in total control of what I eat - so even though I'm not following my usual routine (classes don't start up again for another week), and I will not be in my usual environment, there is NO REASON why I can't rock this week.

Have a great week, everyone!

What's in the Box?

2010-05-01T13:31:00.005-04:00

Could it be?!

Yes!!! I reached my Weight Watchers 10% today!

On November 7, 2009, I switched from Weight Watchers online to meetings, with a starting weight of 201.8 pounds. This morning, I weighed in at 181.6! I'm down 20.2 pounds (and 94 pounds in total)!

I have had 3 weeks in a row of staying completely on plan, which is a huge deal for me. I'm not really sure what led to my recent change in mindset: I have been totally motivated, and not succumbing to crazy bouts of emotional eating. I've been focusing on staying relaxed and easing stress. I think all of the exercise of late is definitely helping, too!

Joining Weight Watchers meetings was exactly what I needed (I only wish I had done it sooner). Last summer, I slowly gained back about 10 pounds that I'd lost, and I knew I needed to shake things up. I owe so much to my wonderful leader, Ashley, and the wonderful members at my meeting! Here I am with (the always-fashionable) Ashley this morning:

After the meeting, I went straight to Second Cup to enjoy a latte while getting some of my massive pile of exam marking out of the way.

I got hungry, and decided I needed a snack... I saw a packaged "Breakfast Cookie" that looked reasonably healthy - and only 100 calories! I bought it before I realized something... I had almost been taken in by the oldest trick in the book... the portion size on the nutrition info!

Apparently, each package contained TWO portions, not one. I would have bought it either way (and I did eat it, and enjoy it), but it was a bit irritating. Since when is half of a cookie one portion!? This is why you must be VIGILANT at all times, people! Although I must admit, I almost wish I hadn't noticed, so I would have two more points available to eat. ;)

Now I'm off to do the Booty Camp Fitness DVD... I'm going to attempt the ADVANCED workout. Yikes!

Super Sore!

2010-04-29T21:22:00.005-04:00

Man, my body has been EXHAUSTED (in a good way) this week. I've been pretty busy with various things, and I still managed to exercise the past 5 days in a row!

I was extremely stiff all day today... it was hard to say how much was from Tuesday's Booty Camp class, and how much was from yesterday's Body Combat class. It was a perfect storm of muscle aches! But I had to suck it up and go to my Booty Camp class again tonight - it was time for measurements!

I was pretty pleased with my 4-week results. Apparently I lost 2.5 inches around my waist (although I was wearing an extra layer last time I was measured, and maybe I was sucking it in this time or something), and 5 pounds! I don't take most of the measurements too seriously (I often question their accuracy), but I'm definitely calling this a success.

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a very early wake-up today (5:10 am). I had a hot bath last night to try and relax, but I still could not fall asleep when I wanted to. I think I was anxious about getting up so early - do you know the feeling? Panic that you won't get enough sleep or that you'll sleep through your alarm?

I did manage to get out of bed this morning though! My exam went very smoothly, and I promptly came home and slept for a couple of hours. Now I just have a huge pile of marking to look forward to! :)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Saturday's weigh-in! COME ON, 10%!!!!!

Fight Back

2010-04-28T20:40:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning at 8 am (meaning a 5 am wake-up time for yours truly), I have around 50 students writing an exam. Out of the goodness of my heart, I held some drop-in office hours this afternoon. Because I am incredibly kind, I bought lots of chocolates this morning for my poor, hardworking students (I envisioned a fun group-study-session-type-thing).

I think you know where this is going.

Two students showed up! Two! Leaving Katie alone with lots of chocolate for the better part of two hours. (Chocolate that went really well with the large coffee I was nursing).

Figuring it can't be that many points and I would make up for it with a tiny dinner, I ate some. I tracked it. I thought about how well I've been doing recently, and how this could be my third week in a row staying within my points.

I thought about how close I am to reaching my Weight Watchers 10% (1.2 pounds away) and how close I am to reaching 100 pounds lost (7 pounds away). I didn't want to go over my points for the week just because of some stupid chocolates. Instead of giving up on a great week, I decided to fight back and earn some activity points!

I quickly looked up class schedules at my new gym and spotted Body Combat at 6:45. I was not planning on working out tonight (did you hear I have a 5 am wake-up tomorrow?), but I rushed home after work, polished off my shiny new gym membership, and was on my way.

Body Combat was GREAT and my energy is still through the roof! I'm feeling SO PROUD that I combatted (get it?) my unplanned chocolates (and my unplanned latte and nature square from Second Cup this morning...) with an unplanned workout! And not just any workout - a new class that took me out of my comfort zone! AND I was right up in the front row, messing up the combos for all to see. :)

I'm off to try and unwind before bed! And hopefully wash my only good pair of workout pants so they can dry by Booty Camp tomorrow night...

Toodles!

Operation: Buff Week 3

2010-04-25T22:55:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe that 3 weeks of Booty Camp have already gone by! I've been sticking to Operation: Buff really well, in my opinion! :)

How did I do this week?

Well, my goals are to have 2 workouts in addition to my 2 booty camp classes, as well as have some greens every day. This week, I had a smoothie or salad every day except today (I'll make up for it tomorrow, I swear)! Here are my workouts from the past week:

15 minute run + 15 minute speedwalk on an incline (Monday)
2 Booty Camp sessions (Tuesday & Thursday)
Zumba class (Wednesday)
60-minute At-Home Booty Camp-style workout with a friend (today, described below)

I think I'm really kicking some ass with my activity! I would call this week a TOTAL success.

Today, I visited the friend that takes Booty Camp with me. We had planned to do the DVD together, but then she had the brilliant idea to design our OWN Booty Camp-style workout. It was great (and intense)!

We did a few minutes each of squats, lunges, upper body (with MANY tricep dips), butt, abs, and various cardio bits thrown in. We timed things a la Booty Camp as well. Coming up with it ourselves, and doing it together, was much more fun than doing the DVD on our own.

After our intense workout, she made a batch of cornbread and we finished the whole thing ourselves... but I'm sure it all balanced out. ;)

This week, I have plans for lots more fun activity, including some new classes at my new gym! I'll keep you all posted!

Weigh-In

2010-04-24T21:56:00.005-04:00

I was down 2.2 this morning! 183 pounds - a new low! :)

This means:

I am officially in the LOW 180's
I am only 1.2 pounds away from my 10% key ring!!

But EVEN BETTER than having a good number on the scale is the fact that I have had an amazing 2 weeks in a row on plan.

Not just tracking while still going over points.

Not just being super-careful for the last few days of the week to salvage a few days of eating too much.

But TRACKING and STAYING WITHIN MY POINTS for two weeks in a row! And I feel like I'm really in a groove. My willpower is on fire! Honestly, I was really wavering for a couple of months there. I'm worried about jinxing it by telling you, but I feel really good about my ability to stick with this lifestyle right now. I feel like I'm actually listening to my hunger signals - and guess what - I'm not always hungry! Who knew?!

I am determined. I will stay on track and reach my 10%, and then reach 100 pounds lost (7 pounds away!), and then reach my Weight Watchers goal weight. Watch out!

Old Fears & New Strengths

2010-04-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Have any of you ever played Mario Kart on Nintendo 64? That game has the option of racing yourself: after you drive a course once, you can drive it again, and race against your former performance. At some point, a ghostly version of you (I was always Toad, if possible) breaks away and repeats exactly what you did last time so you have a visual aid while trying to beat yourself.

Last night in Booty Camp, when we reached the point where we were repeating an exercise for far too long and I wanted to stop (I can't remember exactly which move it was, but it's safe to say it was probably a squat), I imagined that I was competing against my former self. I imagined a ghostly Katie (maybe Katie at the beginning of Booty Camp) who was a little less strong than I am now. Maybe she doesn't go as deep into the squat, or maybe she gives up a little sooner. I willed myself to hold the move a little bit longer than her.

Visualizing how much stronger I have become in this way was a great help to me! It inspired me to keep going, even when I didn't want to, and push harder. Rather than compare myself to other people (which can be discouraging!), I have to remember how far I've come.

When I think back further, say, to a former Katie who would have been too afraid to even TAKE a Booty Camp class, I feel even prouder.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I used to be afraid all the time. I was afraid to try new things. I was afraid to go shopping for clothes with friends because nothing would fit me. I was afraid to go swimming because everyone would see me in a bathing suit. I was afraid to go to an amusement park in case I didn't fit on a ride (which never actually happened, but sometimes it was a tight squeeze). I was afraid to go to the doctor and find out that I had diabetes or heart disease or something along those lines. I was afraid to eat too much in public. I was afraid to eat too little in public (people might think I was dieting, and then deduce that I was fat... from that). I was afraid to ask for help.

The list could go on and on. I don't have those feelings of fear anymore (for the most part). I no longer put so much value on what others think - and I've realized that people aren't actually thinking that much about how I look or what I'm doing/eating/wearing. My self-confidence is MUCH higher than it used to be (sometimes I'm downright vain!).

On a somewhat related note, I was brave enough to join the gym this week! This morning I tried my very first Zumba class. It was something different, which I think my body liked, and it was fun! Not very intense, but I've got enough intensity in my routine already.

I'm off to find some dinner and get to bed! I have an early day tomorrow. :)

Has getting healthier helped you shed any old fears? Did my Mario Kart analogy make any sense at all?!

Operation: Buff Week 2

2010-04-18T19:40:00.004-04:00

I'm back in the city! It's Sunday, which means another week of Operation: Buff has come to a close.

I killed it (again)! My goals are to do additional strength & cardio workouts (one of each), in addition to my two booty camp classes every week. Here are my workouts from the past week:

spinning class (Monday)
2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Thursday)
Booty Camp dvd, Intermediate workout (Friday)

I didn't get a chance to exercise over the weekend because I was out of town, but I still met my exercise goals because I planned ahead! I also achieved my goal of having either a green smoothie or salad every single day (yesterday I had both!).

This week, I also signed up for another 4 weeks of Booty Camp. This means, I am extending Operation: Buff until Sunday, May 30. Yikes! Can I keep up this pace?!

I mentioned yesterday that I want to stay on-plan for 10 of the next 12 weeks. This week is off to an almost-rocky start: I've already used 34 of my 35 flex points (while out for my friend's birthday dinner last night). But I keep reminding myself that I am in total control of how I do this week. If I decide to stay within my daily & activity points, then I totally can! And I will! :)

Plus, it's only 5 short days until my points reset again. ;)

I'm off to eat a very low-point dinner and perhaps watch some Lost (I'm on Season 3). Have a good night!

Quick Weigh-In Results

2010-04-17T10:16:00.003-04:00

Hello lovelies!

I was right - I TOTALLY rocked this week. Down 4.8 pounds. I'm back to my lowest weight ever - 185.2! (Let's ignore the fact that this is where I was on March 6, too).

I bought a new 3 month journal, and I need to make a commitment.

I will be on plan for at least 10 of the next 12 weeks. I don't want to say all 12 weeks (although that's what I'm aiming for), because if I have an off-week (or two), I don't want to feel like a failure. If I hit 10/12 weeks, it will be a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT over the last 12 weeks. Persistence, not perfection, right folks?

I'm off to attend a friend's birthday party - in Tiverton, Ontario! I will not be back until tomorrow night, at which point I will be catching up with all of you folks.

Have a great weekend! :)

Spinning Class & Breakfast Disappointment!

2010-04-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I received a free pass in the mail to Legacy Indoor Cycli ng. While trying to plan ahead my workouts for this week, I realized that I really needed to squeeze one in on Monday, so I went to the 6:45 am spinning class!

I knew that if I got up early and worked out, I would be more productive all day (I didn't have to go into work, but I had a lot to get done at home). I set my alarm for some ungodly hour and tried (without succeeding) to document it for you all:

I was attempting to show the free pass AND the time. I gave up trying to get a good picture pretty quickly (hey, it was before 6 am!)

After showing up a bit too early, I waited on the street (cold) for the studio to open. Finally, the instructor arrived. Only one other woman showed up for class (evening and weekend classes are apparently the more popular ones).

I did really like the studio. The class was pretty good too. I hadn't been spinning in about a year, so I was nervous. At one point during the class, the instructor said to me "You've done this before!!" which made me feel good about my performance!

The music wasn't my favourite, and I missed my old spinning instructor (at my university gym), but I got a great workout and felt good all day - AND, he gave me two more free passes so I could come back with a friend! I'm excited to go back when it's busier, and try a different instructor.

I had kind of made a deal with myself that if I managed to get up and go to this class, I would get a Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich afterwards.

I have not had a Tim's breakfast sandwich in awhile! I used to eat them far more frequently... and I would often get two (pre weight watchers). (Hmmm, when I think about habits like that, it's not too surprising I was 276 pounds.)

I walked to the closest Tim's, which turned out to be THREE subway stops away (I could have sworn it wasn't that far)!

So after my spinning, I had a fair walk to get my sandwich (I really felt I had earned it). I distinctly ordered it on a biscuit (clearly my favourite part). I hopped on the subway to get home, anticipating my wonderful breakfast awaiting me.

I got home and opened the package, only to find...

an ENGLISH MUFFIN. I was SUPER upset (I know, it's not a big deal, but I was soooo looking forward to it)! Anyway, I got over it, and decided to look on the bright side: it wasn't as many points as the biscuit would have been! But my craving has not yet been satisfied! Maybe next week...

Annnnnnd I just signed up for the May session of Booty Camp! So I am extending Operation: Buff to 8 weeks. Man, I'm really going to need a massage after all of that exercise!

I'm really excited to weigh in on Saturday morning because I KNOW I am totally rocking this week. Don't you love that feeling???

Operation: Buff Week 1

2010-04-11T22:05:00.000-04:00

Hello! Well, even though I only began this challenge on Thursday, the first week of Booty Camp is coming to an end... so also ends the first week of Operation: Buff!

How did I do? Well, I KILLED it!

My goals were to do 1 strength workout and 1 cardio workout in addition to my 2 Booty Camp classes. I also wanted to have a green smoothie or salad every day.

Here are my workouts from the week:

15 minute run + 45 minutes on the elliptical (Monday)
2 Booty Camp classes (Tuesday & Thursday)
Beginner workout from the Booty Camp dvd (Saturday)
37-minute run (today - Sunday)

So I exceeded my exercise goals for the week! I also had a green smoothie (they've been purple, actually, because I'm using blueberries lately) every day since I started the challenge on Thursday.

I'm also feeling very accomplished, exercise-wise, because today I had my best run ever. Up until now, I've always run a certain amount of time (not a certain distance). The most I'd ever run was 30 minutes without stopping (that I can recall... maybe I've done a couple minutes extra once or twice in the past).

Today, I decided to try and run 5k without stopping and see how long it took me. I went to the track near my house and ran 13 laps! This is about 3.25 miles (if it's a standard track, which I'm assuming it is...), which is about 5.2 km!!! It took me 37 minutes.

So, not only did I run more than 5k, but I ran 7 minutes longer than I ever have before! And it was not impossible! I felt pretty good for most of it. :)

When I started this challenge, I was undecided on what my reward for completion should be. I had been thinking along the lines of a magazine subscription, but as I was walking home the other day (with sore muscles), I started fantasizing about getting a massage. I've NEVER had a massage before, and I think after 4 (or 8) weeks of Booty Camp, I'll definitely deserve one. SO, I declare my reward to be such!

I hope you all have a fabulous week! I know that I'm planning to! :)

Weigh-In

2010-04-10T23:43:00.005-04:00

So, as I expected, I was up this week... up 4.2! Yikes! I guess that's what happens when you go over your points every single day... But I have a good feeling about this week. And, really, it's all IN MY CONTROL anyway. I can choose to eat well, or not. And I will choose to eat well :)

Kate was at my meeting today, and we walked home together! It was great. She also introduced me to this great bulk store near our meeting that carries big 1-point tortillas. It's so handy knowing fellow Weight Watchers!

I had a great start to my Weight Watchers week: I did the Booty Camp dvd and I went to the movies (Shutter Island) and brought my OWN snacks, which I didn't even eat most of (there are some doubles because I brought some to share):

(I found those All-Bran Bites at the dollar store today! The entire box was a dollar!! They had tons of granola bars and such, but I restrained myself and just got these to try. And, sadly, I didn't like them all that much). Popcorn is maybe my favourite thing ever, so I'm really proud that I didn't even bat an eye at the concession tonight.

I also tried cooking dried chickpeas today for the first time, in my slow cooker. It worked really well, and I made an quick chickpea curry dish for dinner (I basically just stir-fried olive oil, onions, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, curry paste, turmeric, curry powder, cumin, ginger, and garlic... and then ate it with some avocado).

Some other eats from the past couple of days (sorry my photos aren't as nice as many of my fellow bloggers'!):

Some plain yogurt with orange and cantaloupe chunks (in a bright 'n' cheery bowl)!

Any ideas what that is?? Quinoa flakes! I tried them today for the first time... I wasn't sure about the taste at first, but I mixed in some strawberry Crofter's and it was better. I think I just have to get used to it.

I'm off to bed! Stay tuned over the next couple of days for an Operation: Buff update...

Buff It Up

2010-04-08T15:07:00.000-04:00

I started Booty Camp again on Tuesday. My friend and I went in feeling cocky: "It's only the first class, it won't be that hard." "I hope it's not too easy." We were expecting something along the lines of the first class back in January, and after being through 8 weeks of Booty Camp (and then one month off), we thought we would be fine.

Well, my friends, it was NOT too easy. It was brutal! I was beyond sweaty by the end of it. My butt and thighs are still super sore, two days later.

Our instructor reminded us that to see the results we want, we need to do the DVD once a week, as well. I started thinking about this. During my last session of Booty Camp, I did the DVD a few times, but not regularly. I usually did work out at least one extra time each week (besides Booty Camp), but not as much as I could have. So, I challenged my friend to do the third DVD workout each week with me (but not physically... our schedules don't sync up THAT well).

I want to kick it up a notch! I really need to push myself out of my comfort/lazy zone. Here is my plan:

2 Booty Camp sessions per week (Tuesday & Thursday)
1 at-home strength workout (Booty Camp DVD or 30-Day Shred), at least 40 minutes per week (Saturday or Sunday)
1 cardio workout, at least 30 minutes per week
green monster OR a big salad every day (if I get my greens in, much of my diet seems to fall into place...)

I finish this session of Booty Camp in four weeks, on April 29. I may continue for the second four weeks (I would like to), but I'm not sure yet if my schedule will permit it. So I will say, for now, that this challenge ends on Sunday, May 2. I will call it...

My rewards for completing this challenge:

probably a magazine subscription (I've never had one but always wanted one)
ultimate buffness

If you want to come up with your own Operation: Buff and join me, feel free!

Easter Run

2010-04-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

Last week, I made my first ever purchase from lululemon: the Run To Work backpack. It was on sale, and I'd been looking for a way to carry things while running... and I figured, if it was too uncomfortable to wear while running, I could use it for biking or walking instead.

I live near Taylor Creek Park, and for awhile I've been wanting to run there. I hadn't gone yet, though, because it's far enough away that I wanted to be able to bring my wallet, cell phone, and some food with me (always be prepared!). With my new backpack in hand (er, on back?), I set out on Sunday. I took the bus there (I didn't want to wear myself out walking over) and packed a lunch for afterwards.

I'm not gonna lie -- the backpack was pretty annoying to run with. But I persevered and made it through a full half hour. Some pictures:

I tried to sit at these empty benches, but discovered (too late) they were surrounded by super-marshy grass!

Stairs up to Stan Wadlow Park

Funny-looking hair!

Then, I ate my lunch in the "Big Park" (my family lived in this neighbourhood until I was 7... we had a Big Park and a Little Park nearby), better known as Stan Wadlow Park: egg white & cheese wrap, carrots, and chocolate pudding (which I didn't end up eating).

Rather than take the bus again, I walked allllll the way home (past my family's old house!). It took me a good 40 minutes!

Lots of activity points to TRY and balance out some Easter goodies later that day:

I hope you all had a nice Easter!

Weigh-In Frustration

2010-04-05T19:48:00.003-04:00

I had plans to go out dancing with some friends on Friday night (which I don't do often), so I was determined to weigh in Friday morning and avoid trying to make it to my usual Saturday morning meeting.

I had checked the Weight Watchers website and there was no mention of meetings being cancelled on Good Friday (even though several locations mentioned they were closed Easter Sunday), so I assumed meetings were on. I got up early on Friday and arrived at a meeting only to find... nothing. No meeting.

I went home, feeling pretty annoyed. I was all set to weigh in (I felt super light, too). I looked online to see if any other meetings were possible.

I will spare you all of the frustrating details, but I made a lot of phone calls (to Weight Watchers and various stores in a mall that had a Friday meeting to see if the mall was open -- this should have been easy to find out but it wasn't) and after a lot of answering machines I decided that all the meetings were probably cancelled. (I know it's probably obvious that there wouldn't be a meeting on Good Friday, but I was annoyed it wasn't listed explicitly on the website, like other holidays were--if it was, I would have gone to a meeting earlier in the week).

On Friday night, I ate some delicious homemade fish and chips. I drank some alcohol. I danced up a storm. I had some post-bar chicken shawarma at 4 am.

And I managed to get up early and get across town (I was sleeping at my friend's house in the west end) to the 10:30 am meeting at The Big Carrot. I am committed!!

I was down 0.4! I am so, so happy with this. Obviously, I did a lot of my splurging right before weighing in... but overall, it must have been a pretty good week to balance that out somewhat!

My goals for last week were:

at least 3 workouts (Check!)
measuring and tracking food accurately (Almost check! I didn't make it through all of Friday, but I did well up until then.)
drinking 4 water bottles every day (Check! I think this made a big difference.)

I will post again soon about the rest of my weekend! Right now, I'm going to unwind a bit and get to bed early. :)

Brocco-tastic!

2010-03-31T10:04:00.006-04:00

Good morning, all!

So, I know you've all been dying to know if I made it out of bed yesterday morning for a 5 am workout... I did!

My alarm went off at 4:45 (for some snooze time)... I reached my hand over to my nightstand where I'd left an apple to entice me out of bed and had a bite... and then finished it when I got up around 4:55. I knew I needed to use all sorts of tricks to psych myself up at that hour.

Then I proceeded to let Jillian kick my butt! To change things up, I did the 30 Day Shred Level 2. I hope my jumping jacks didn't wake up my basement neighbour...

The reason I decided to do a morning workout was not because I didn't have the time later in the day, but because I LOVE how great I feel afterwards. I'm much more alert and awake than usual. Plus, if I'd left it until I got home from work, I probably wouldn't have wanted to do it.

On Monday, I tried my third recipe from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! Another winner! I made the pad thai (Tongue Thai'd):

AND, last night, I actually invented my own recipe!! I never do this. And, well, to be honest, I did copy all of the delicious elements from another recipe.

I had a ton of broccoli left over in my fridge, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. Then, I remembered one of my FAVOURITE ways to cook chicken: This Indonesian Chicken recipe from the blog A Year of Slow Cooking. The reason I love it is the hot, gooey, peanut butter sauce.

I decided to try the same recipe, using broccoli instead of chicken! (Because in my opinion, whatever you throw in there is just a vehicle for the peanut butter).

Behold: Katie's Peanut Butter Broccoli!

1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I'd run out of soy sauce, so I used a couple of packets I had leftover from Chinese food)
2 chopped cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
a few dashes of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon jarred ginger
4 cups broccoli
some chicken broth that I threw in later (not sure how much)

I put everything except the chicken broth in my slow cooker on high and stirred it around as best I could. After maybe 20 minutes, it seemed to be really dry in there (I'm not really a pro... I don't think you're supposed to open your slow cooker often to stir things around/taste test/etc, but I definitely did) so I poured in some chicken broth every now and then.

I had it on high for maybe an hour and 20 minutes (my slow cooker is not very slow), and then I decided it was done. Voila:

It was so good! I ate it right away, so it had a high hotness/gooeyness factor that I really liked. It yielded 3 cups for me, and I calculated 1/4 cup to be 1 point. So, it's a bit pointy for a broccoli dish (I wanted to eat it all), but I liked it.

I really just wanted to share the original recipe with you, because I LOVE the sauce in it so much! And maybe next time I make this dish, I'll use more broccoli and chicken broth, and less peanut butter, to try and keep the points down.

What's your favourite way to eat broccoli? Do you leave apples (or other food) on your nightstand for morning?

Cookin' (and Lookin') Good!

2010-03-29T18:32:00.001-04:00

I am a proud Weight Watcher! I wore my name tag from Saturday's meeting all the way home (under my jacket...):

Do you ever forget that you live alone and buy enough groceries throughout the week to feed a small army? I do. Often. So I've been doing some cooking & baking (which means I pick recipes that necessitate me picking up a few MORE groceries, and the cycle continues...). Here are some of my eats from the past couple of days:

Loaf Potion # 9 from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! It has cranberries, walnuts, carrots, and zucchini in it. SO DELICIOUS!

I made it a double-loaf day with some banana bread.

(I know, I know... it doesn't really look like banana bread. It's a weird recipe, I think). The recipe is from The Duke Diet. I think the best part is the brown sugar and walnuts on top.

I brought some of each loaf to my parents & my sister and froze some more. As I mentioned above, I live alone (and as much as I'd like to, I probably shouldn't eat vast quantities of baked goods in short periods of time).

One of my impulse grocery buys was some fat-free ham. I hemmed and hawed over the high sodium content, but decided to treat myself (in small portions). And so the past couple of mornings I've been enjoying a healthified egg mcmuffin for breakie (with egg whites, light cheddar cheese, and a whole wheat english muffin! And the ham, of course).

And today's lunch creation:

My first time making cream of broccoli soup! It was pretty good. I got to use my immersion blender, which is always a good time. :)

I had it with some black beans, corn, and cheese on a tortilla (with greek yogourt)!

Tonight: pad thai! Seriously! More cooking!

I've also already gotten TWO workouts out of the way this week! Yesterday I went for an awesome treadmill run. I reached NEW SPEEDS (I think). I definitely had some (short) intervals that were around level 6.5. I covered 2.75 miles in 30 minutes. I don't think I've ever run that much before in that time period! It felt great!

This morning I started my day with the Intermediate workout from my Booty Camp dvd. Does anyone else find it easier than the Beginner workout, or am I just getting stronger? ;)

In other news, apparently I look great:

Last week, one of my students from last semester noticed I'd lost weight.
Today, I went to a coffee shop where I like to work sometimes, and the girl working there said I look really good and I should keep doing whatever I'm doing! I didn't even know she knew who I was!

I'm used to people who haven't seen me in a couple of years telling me I look different, but I'm not used to people who only know the "new me" noticing new changes (does that sentence make sense?).

I haven't lost much weight in the past couple of months, but I think my body composition has changed (thanks to Booty Camp!) and that must be what they're noticing. Yay! My clothes are fitting pretty well.

I have a cockeyed idea that I'm going to get up at 5 am tomorrow to squeeze a workout in before work... yeah, wish me luck with that. (Don't worry, if I can't do it, I'll work out sometime in the afternoon instead).

Have a nice night, all!

Weigh-In!

2010-03-27T12:49:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday, everyone!

So I had my wonderful Weight Watchers meeting today, with the wonderful Ashley. (Um, is it obvious how much I love my meetings?) Today's meeting was especially great - 2 members got their 10%'s, 2 members got to goal, and 2 members got LIFETIME! WOW! If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is!

I was a bit nervous about my weigh-in... I had trouble resisting food several times this week... and for some reason, decided it was a good idea to buy White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter a few days ago.

But I was down 1.8!! That means I've lost weight two weeks in a row! It has been forever since that's happened. Can I make it three??

True, I haven't lost the 4.2 I was up two weeks ago, but I don't even care. What's the rush, am I right?

What I accomplished last week:

3 "real" workouts and some extra walking. (I did the 30 Day Shred Level 3 twice, and I did the "Bring the Heat" Cardio workout from my Booty Camp dvd once.)
Despite a few bouts of emotional eating, I kept persisting and did not throw my entire week down the toilet.

Goals for this week:

at least 3 workouts.
measuring and tracking my food accurately!
drinking 4 water bottles' worth of water every day!

What are your goals for next week?