Registered for the Sun Run

Finally, I got myself (and my husband and son) registered for the Sun Run. Now my sister doesn't have to kill me. I'm still very apprehensive about being in a crowd with that many people, but the actually running part doesn't worry me at all. I'd like us all to carry a cell phone so we can find each other afterwards.

Had my last local trail run today for a while as next weekend I'll be at my parents doing a 10K race. Then the following weekend is Easter and we are probably going to be away (...somewhere). I'll still run, but I have no idea where. Then the following weekend is the Sun Run. I'm looking forward to seeing my sister, even if it is only for a few days.

Today's run was great. My husband went with me, and I always enjoy when he comes along. We ran by ourselves most of the time and I'm guessing we did about 12 Km of running and another 2 Km of walking. Kept it at a nice, casual pace and ran the whole thing except for a bathroom/stretch break at the halfway mark.

RECIPE REVIEW: Twice now I've made Sticky Chicken from the ESBM cookbook. The first time I got mixed reviews and it was pretty much the same this time. My husband said it was good (though he didn't rave about it so I know it's not outstanding). I thought it was not bad, though not my favourite thing. My son said it was OK, as in it's edible but he'd prefer something else. My daughter said it was disgusting (she's normally not the fussy one). So I think that one will be retired from the collection. It may be that there was too much fresh ginger in it, or perhaps the wine vinegar was to much. Everyone agreed that it does NOT smell good while cooking.

Also made a black bean & corn salad. Kind of followed a recipe and kind of did my own thing. I didn't love the dressing, I thought it was too much lime. But I fussed with it for a bit and it seemed to turn out OK. The dressing ended up being 1/2 c. lime juice, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1 tsp cayenne, sea salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tblspn ketchup, 2 tsp chopped garlic (I didn't have fresh on hand, just from the jar - I think fresh would have made a world of difference). Shook that in a container and added: 1 can black beans, 1 can corn, 6 roma tomatoes, very thinly sliced red onion & a good handful of chopped cilantro. The dressing was a bit too acidic - I added the sugar afterwards and that should make it better. But I do think fresh minced garlic would have balanced it out better too. It made a HUGE bowl of salad that should last us for a few days.

Tonight is Schnitzel with either roast or mashed potatoes and the leftover black bean & corn salad.

Some new finds

Managed to maintain damage control fairly well yesterday. I did have a half cup of ice cream last night, but still stayed within my calorie range. My kids have taken to using the KitchenAid mixer to "soften" their ice cream. I swear it tastes just like the commercial soft serve - mmmm. My son mixed in vanilla extract with his vanilla ice cream last night and it was heaven. I'm not usually much of an ice cream fan (my son is fanatic about it) but this was sooo good. Sadly I found myself thinking of the cotton candy flavouring I've spotted at the local cake decorating shop and wondering how that would taste in this concoction. And I'm about a week awak from TOM which is major craving time for me. It seems better this month and I'm trying to keep it in check.

I've been using the LIVESTRONG website to track calories this week. Go to The Daily Plate to record your meals. At first it took me a while to figure it out and enter stuff, but I'm getting faster each day. It keeps a list of foods you've entered before and which one's you use most frequently. Also does the same with your exercises, which you can record pretty much anything. I'm pretty impressed with this site - oh, and it's FREE - gotta love that price. Not only does it track your calories but it tracks everything and you can analyze to your hearts content. So far I've been entering what I plan to eat for the day, then making adjustments based upon the totals - and if I make any changes I just update them at the end of the day. Very neat!!

Another new find, that I don't think I mentioned ... Almond Butter .... MmmMmmMmmm! I've wanted to try it for some time now and the other day they had it as a sample at the grocery store. Now, it's NOT peanut butter - not even close. And it's just straight almonds - no sugar, no salt, nothing. So the taste is rather different. But what a great source of protein and healthy fats - and I quite enjoy it. I've been spreading it on RYVITA SUNFLOWER SEEDS & OATS CRACKERS and celery. In comparison to regular peanut butter it's quite expensive, so once this jar is gone I may give a shot at making my own in the food processor. It's supposed to be quite simple.

Damage Control

Stayed up too late last night and attempted to get up early. I say "attempted" because I set my alarm for 6:00 with the intention of doing a run this morning. However, I'm not a morning person anymore and I kept pushing that snooze button until it became apparent that not only was I not getting up early ... I was now going to be late. GRRR

Luckily I had showered before bed, but I didn't have enough time to prepare breakfast ... or lunch - not even a cup of tea. I realized this problem as I was driving my son to school.

So ... what does a healthy, fit person do? Well, probably not what I did. Yep, I succummbed to the golden arches .... got myself not only a Sausage McMuffin with egg (and don't forget the gooey, processed cheese) but also the greasy Hashbrown.

I won't lie, it tasted awesome! But 1/2 an hour later (and I think still now, 5 hours later) I feel like an awful bloated mess.

So I'm on damage control for the rest of the day. For lunch I went to subway and had a roasted chicken salad. And tonight will probably be a veggie stir fry with pasta and maybe shrimp.

I could throw the whole rest of the day away, but it's not worth it - I am worth it!

What a great, active few days I've had. Thursday my daughter's dance class was on break so I had the opportunity to take a class I normally don't. Did a Abs, Butt & Thighs class, followed by a 30 min Abs Only class. It was good and I like the instructor, but I found her quite a bit easier than the instructor I have for my other classes. After 30 min of abs I should have been near tears and I wasn't even close.

Friday I took my usual fitness class. Saturday I took my daughter to the mall to meet a friend. While there I hoofed it around the mall for a few hours ... and maybe, just maybe ducked into a couple of stores. I ended up buying a fitted blouse that's just a teensy bit tight and I can't wait to have it fit perfect. Plus I bought some cute black capris. I had bought the same style from this store last year, but in white. I grabbed a smaller size than I thought I'd need and ... they fit - really good. I tried on the size smaller but it was a big jump and I didn't want to waste money so I got the ones that fit good. Got home and compared them to the one I bought last year and WAHOO there were a size smaller - YEAH!!!! After I got home I tackled some of the stalls (way overdo and gross). That is most definitely a tough workout.

Sunday I met up with the ladies for the most beautiful run I've had in a long time. It was fairly cold, but the sun was shining and the trails were packed with active people. We're guessing we ran about 12 Km and other than stoping for about 30 seconds to tie my jacket around my waist, I ran the whole thing. One of my goals this year is to run the entire thing without stopping. Had I remembered that I wouldn't have stopped to take off my jacket. HAHHAA.

Last night I tried something new ... TILAPIA .. and I'm in LOVE ♥♥♥. I'd heard before it was good, but hadn't actually tried it. If you're not a really fishy lover this is the fish for you. I didn't even notice a fish smell and my kids didn't saw ewww while it was cooking. I topped it with a tsp of olive oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, lemon juice and about a tablespoon of cornflake crumbs. Then a bit more lemon juice upon serving. It was SO good and I plan to have it again this week.

I'm planning to do another run, a 10K, on April 5th. My parents have been down south all winter and should be back by then and this run is in their hometown - so it makes a great excuse for a visit, and keeps me on track. I'm very much looking forward to it!!!

Also entered a contest the other day and one of the conditions was to link back to her site .... so here it is RUNNING THROUGH LIFE. This is another great site that I especially like her thoughts on running and the inspiration of reading of her progress.

New challenge on the horizon....




I've joined a challenge over at ASH IS FIT which starts up this Friday:









I'm not aiming to lose 20 lbs, but my goal is to lose at least 7.4 lbs in 20 weeks. I'm seriously considering going on the lookout for a 'target outfit'. Hmmm, maybe I can get Tommy Europe from The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp to pick one out for me - heehee. But, my reward will definitely be clothing related.


This is a great, informative blog - with a link to her recipes blog which is amazing. She is way more culinary adventurous than I, but it does look very interesting.


Also, part of this challenge is to make a pledge at the POUND FOR POUND CHALLENGE . Anyone can do this and I think it's a great thing and I'm glad that Ash brought this to my attention. You may have seen this on the Biggest Loser.

Lost 2 lbs!!!

WOW I can barely believe it. I lost 2 lbs.!!!!! That is very rare for me to have a loss that big (as you can see in my WI Chart on this page). Wish I knew what it was that made the difference. Although I'm suspecting hormones changing back to normal and getting some extra sleep probably helped out. Being under 150 feels so close now I can almost taste it. I really want to be there by the end of April. The only challenge should be Easter camping, but I'm really going to try to keep things in check and ask my family for support & encouragement to keep me on track.

Lat night I had a little session on the treadmill. Ran 5K in 24 minutes, which isn't exactly accurate because I stopped the treadmill a couple times to stretch or catch my breath. Probably took me closer to 28 minutes. I just wanted to work on running at that speed and I have little head games where it works best for me if I do it that way. Somehow it convinces me that I can run it in that time and makes me work harder to do it.

Tonight is Biggest Loser so once again I need to get my work out in a bit earlier so I don't miss anything. Tonight will be a weights session for me as it's been a few days.

Cooking with ESBM

A while ago my friend lent me her copy of Eat, Shrink & Be Merry. I plan to buy my own copy one of these days, but in the meantime I've gone through the book and picked out about 2 dozen recipes that I consider "must tries". I can't wait to give some of them a shot. Once tried I'll report on how I like them.

I have the first 2 books from those authors and plan to go through them as well.

What a lazy weekend we had, the whole family. Went for my Sunday run yesterday but was absolutely exhausted afterwards. Had a headache and a couple of naps and was still tired before I went to bed. Must have needed the extra sleep, though we've been going to be at about 9:00 all week so I shouldn't be overtired.

Friday I went into the Running Room to look at shoes and get my feet assessed. Apparently the shoes I have are a pretty good fit for me and I can keep with them if I want. This is good because I was concerned that I might need something a bit more specialized. I have a slightly high arch and my ankles turn in (not sure how you fix that) but otherwise I have a neutral foot that only pronates slightly. I'm currently wearing Adidas Response Cusion 16, but I think for my next shoe I want the Ascics Gel Nimbus 10. They felt really snug on my foot and when comparing the 2 shoes (well the newer version of the Adidas) I felt the Ascics fit my ankle better. Now I just have to decide where to buy them from. They're $180 at the Running Room and $190 at Sportchek (but that may be buy on get one half off, I'm not sure). I think I found them online for $95, but that's US $. I'll have to decide pretty soon though.

Looking forward to Gossip Girl & One Tree Hill tonight. I don't watch a ton of regular TV, but I do like those shows. Now ... to decide what's for dinner and get in a workout before TV time ....

Ahhh Boot Camp was awesome last night! I sure love that class. With the time change it was still light out when we got there, and to top it off it was sunny - yeah! So we ventured outside and ran the full parking lot and stairs a few times. I haven't run outside in a couple weeks and it felt fantastic.

Knowing this was my last class for the next 2 weeks I really pushed it hard the entire class. At one point I thought I could do one level of the Shred when I got home, but by the end of class there was no way. I ended up going to bed early even :)

Weight seems to be coming down again this week. Must be post-TOM - finally, because nothing has really changed.

Shreddin'!

Last night I pulled out my Shred DVD (that I've only done once before) and I did Level 1. Then I felt like I had more in me so I did Level 2 as well. That was just right for me I believe, doing both levels. Some of the moves are harder. I have weak shoulders, but I can do them and will only get stronger. My aim is to do the video as often as possible now that I've got the machine set up in my room.

Tonight is my last boot camp class before the next session starts. There is a 2 week break and I'm pretty sad about that. Unfortunately there isn't a drop-in class that's even close to comparable on Wednesdays so I'll have to do my own thing.

Goals for the week

I think it's about time I set myself some goals for the week. Need to keep my focus:

**Fitness**

I've been off running for the past week andit's time to get back into it. I also will be giving the Shred video some more time this month.

♠ Tue - 30 min light run, 20 min elliptical, Shred Video
♠ Wed - 60 min Boot Camp class
♠ Thu - 45 min run/stairs, Shred Video
♠ Fri - 60 min Abs/Butt/Thighs fitness class, 30 min stationary bike
♠ Sat - Shred video, 30 min walk
♠ Sun - 90 min run with friends (YAY I've missed this!!!!)
♠ Mon - 30 min elliptical, 30 min weights, Shred video

Also, for my WW's challenge this week we will be getting points for planks, so those will be in there as well as often as possible.


**Nutrition**

♥ Prepare veggie packs for the next 3 days
♥ Have fish for dinner at least once this week
♥ Get the kids to take what they want from the leftover candy bags and throw the rest away
♥ Continue journalling & preplanning. But ... print out the preplanned menu for easier reference


**Other**

♣ Go to WI this week. I haven't gone yet this month and I don't want to forget and have to pay for a missed meeting.

♣ BUY NEW SHOES! Very necessary, see last post.

♣ Exposure therapy - take pics and/or video as often as possible. Will post about this later.

♣ Get my home computer fixed so I don't go insane without it.

♣ Try exercising as soon as I get home from work on the days I don't have classes or a schedule. Alot of early mornings lately have left me very tired late at night and since the morning schedule isn't changing this week then my exercise schedule should. Besides, it will keep me out of the kitchen during "munch" time.

Need New Shoes!

Lately I've been having some trouble with my right foot. Since my last running race it's been bugging me and I at first thought maybe I had just pushed it too hard, or maybe I'd twisted my ankle a bit on some loose gravel or something. Then I began to worry that I had a bigger problem than a minor strain. The inside of my right arch was hurting, alot, and the outside of my right heel (along the achilles kind of) was feeling strained, then I felt some pain on the inside of my right knee. Hmmm, that all makes sense alignment wise. I do have a tendency to roll my feet inwards.

So I went out and bought a pair of insoles from the store with some arch support - but they felt so awkward that I took them out, I knew there was no way I could hard core workout with them in.

I was even too sore to go in another race last weekend (10Km) that I had REALLY been looking forward to.

But ... thanks to this blog .... I was looking back through some older posts (looking for my mojo) and I realized that I've had these runners for 6 months already - and they have an awful lot of miles on them. DUH! Friends had asked about my runners and while I knew I'd had them a while, I figured it was like 3, MAYBE 4 months. I'm so bad for that kind of thing. I wear my monthly disposable contacts for 3-4 months. If you're supposed to do something on a regular basis I just lose track of time and it flies by.

So, even though I shouldn't spend the money, I'm going to get a new pair of runners PDQ! I'm not willing to risk injury. I just wish they were on sale right now :(.

Inner Demons

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever like my reflection. Actually that's wrong, I know I have in the past, but some days why is it that seeing yourself in a mirror or window (or in photos) makes you want to puke.

I'd say in general I'm fairly comfortable with my looks. Sometimes I'll even be feeling really good, then WHAM, one unexpected glance and it's like - who the heck is that?

I had one of those days yesterday.

Got to my fitness class and was actually feeling better than I have in about a week. Then I caught my reflection in the window as we were jogging around the room and it hit me like a brick wall. All I could think was 'why did I leave the house wearing these clothes'. Which was stupid because I've worn the exact same thing before, at the same size, and I've thought I looked pretty good.

What is going on in my head to make me suddenly feel repulsed by my appearance? And why would I allow myself to think of me like that? I don't think of others like that. In fact it's other people who have dressed in fitted workout clothes that didn't have 100% perfect bodies that inspire me and make me feel like if they can be comfortable wearing it, so should I. I can see that people who wear fitted workout wear look better than those in sloppy, loose t-shirts. So why would I suddenly be so judgemental of myself? So eager to cover up?

I think I need to stick my head in a freezer for a few days until it starts cooperating!

No more! I'm putting my foot down, or should I say fork...

I'm all fired up today! Actually it started yesterday. I'm determined to finish this now. I haven't been as accurate with my eating as I should be and I know that is key to losing weight. I exercise alot and the intensity is there, so that's not the issue. I've always known it was food.

I started my meal planning last week and that's been good. Took a few days to really grasp it but now it's going well. I created a spreadsheet in excel and plan out the whole week. Then if there's any changes, I just make them right on the sheet. It calculates my daily totals & weekly totals, and keeps track of my APs.

I've also reverted back to the orgininal WW's plan that first worked for me - the 1*2*3 Success Plan. It had a points range (mine is 18-23) and you can bank points. So if I have 18 pts one day, I can bank 5 points to use another day. You can also bank APs too. This concept always worked for me and since the new plans came out I always struggled with the idea of a points target (mine is 21). If I didn't reach it I felt I failed (you are supposed to reach it as a minimum) and if I went over by a point or two (totally acceptable and part of plan) I still felt like I failed. It just didn't work in my head. It's really all the same idea in the end and I doubt it makes a differene other than it makes ME feel better.

Yesterday the kids and I watched a video from our holidays last year. Talk about motivation. At the time I was feeling OK about my weight (though knew I still had a ways to go). When I look back, I realize I was maybe only 3-5 lbs heavier than I am right now. And looking at that video I am NOT satisfied with how I look, how I move, how I was breathing heavy on a little climb.

Sometimes I tell myself that maybe I'm at a good weight and I should quit this battle. But this was a kick in the face and a clear sign that I am not good at this weight. I still have too much fat around my stomach which is unhealthy (if not unattractive).

So I need to say no more to non-tracking days, no more to unrecorded bits & bites, no more to guessing at points values & measurements.