Much better day

Thankfully today is a polar opposite of yesterday. I don't like cranky days. Today the sun is mostly shining, my eye isn't watering, I feel substantially healthier and people just don't seem quite as stupid as they did yesterday (hahahahha).

If you knew me in real life you would know that I am obsessed with my holidays. And I'll be the first to admit that I'm probably annoyingly obsessed as I don't stop talking about anything pending.

For some people a holiday is something they get to do maybe every 5 years (or more if they're rich and/or lucky) and it involves a fancy resort on a sandy beach. For me ... it's just getting away for an extended time - anywhere! For almost every year in the last 8 years or so "anywhere" has been the Oregon Coast. We take our RV, we don't eat out or do tourist type stuff, we just enjoy our time away. Usually we go with my husband's parents, one of our nieces, our friends and their kid(s) and for the last few years my kids have brought along a friend each.

We are SUPER active while away and I just love it. We ride our bikes almost every day. Take hours long walks along the beach almost every day. We hike. We play volleyball, soccer, football, throw frisbees. Sometimes we ride our bikes into the nearest town to do some window shopping. Ahhh it's wonderful - and .... we leave in 6 weeks!!! I'm also determined to be down at least another 3.6 lbs before we leave.

My daughter editted this photo last night. This is our absolutely most FAVOURITE spot on the whole coast.

Here was today's menu:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (2)
Lunch - 1 c. chili, 2 c. watermelon, cucumber & Red Peppers (7)

Snack - cornbread, rye bread with 2 sl. proscuitto (5)
Dinner - 1 poached egg, 1/2 english muffin, cornbread (8)

Total - 22 points

Exercise - 60 min bootcamp

Oh cranky day!!!!!!

I got up at 6am this morning and the day hasn't improved from there. I'm still a bit stuffed up from my cold, but the worst part is my right eye has been running non-stop all day. I'm cranky as all hang and can't count the number of people I have thought are morons - though I'm sure it's mostly me, or maybe my tolerance level is just really, really low today.

Also got an e-mail this morning from my son's soccer coach saying they are doing tryouts in 2 days. Gee, thanks for the notice. There's only going to be one team in his age group, plus they already decided what division they're playing in anyway. So it's completely useless. He's outgrown his men's size 12 cleats that he was wearing 2 months ago, so this means we have to go today to buy new cleats. There's another $200 or so I wasn't expecting. If he outgrows the 13's between now and the fall I will chop off his toes. The stupidity of it all amazes me.

Here was today's menu:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (2)
Snack - 2 c. watermelon & cornbread (5)
Lunch - Subway Chicken Breast Sandwich, Red & Orange Peppers (7)
Dinner - cornbread & watermelon (8)


Total - 22 points

Exercise - nothing, missed bootcamp and fell asleep on the couch, going to bed now at 8:45pm

Cheap Shopping!!!

Years ago I used to do the majority of my shoppint at Value Village. I didn't have alot of extra money, I hated shopping, and I didn't like how I looked in most clothes anyway. So I figured I may as well get them cheap.

It became a pretty nasty habit. On my lunch hours, I was bored, I'd go shop. I ended up with bags upon bags of clothing, most of which I never wore. I was constantly buying a "target" outfit, which I would never fit into. Looking back, I would have been better off spending that time getting some exercise.

Then I got to a stage where I realized I was worthy. I became pickier with my clothes and bought less - this was much better! And I still value a well fitting, quality item over quantity.

But with summer coming I really need quite a few items in my closet. Over the last years I've done several clean-ups and it's getting pretty bare in there. I had just 2 pairs of shorts left and really they're too big. I have to cinch up a belt to keep them on and they balloon out on the hips making me look bigger than I am.

To buy everything I need, I don't have enough spare cash. Plus, I'm losing weight again and don't anticipate being my current size for long.

Re-enter my long lost love affair with Value Village!!!!

Today they had a 50% off sale, so really how could I resist. (really???) I bought a pair of capris (almost too big but will do for now), 3 pairs shorts, 1 jean skirt, and 2 pretty tank tops - all for $18!!! Taxes in. Can you believe that??

I even took some pics!!!

Here's the two tanks. The purple one was 75 cents!! The other was $2

.............

This is the capris. After taking this pic I'm not in love with them and they may find themselves back on the VV boutique shelves before long. And beside that is the jean skirt. It is about 5 lbs too tight. I could wear it, but not comfortably. It's snug.

..........

And two of the pairs of shorts. I have one more pair but my camera battery died before I got a pic of them. The other one's are brown and almost knee length.

.........

Here was today's menu:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (2)
Lunch - Vegetable Beef Soup at Hand, Pear, tangerine, All Bran Bar (4)

Snack - 6 Almonds & 1/3 c. cheese crackers (3)
Dinner - Chili, cornbread (12)

Not nearly enough veggies today and way too much cornbread (but oh it was good!!)

Total - 21 points

Exercise - none, had to drive my son to work. I could workout tonight but honestly I'm bagged and I think I need a bit more sleep tonight.

I printed off a 20 week half marathon training program this weekend. Yesterday was supposed to be a 10K run, but I did 13 instead just because that was the length of the trail :). Tomorrow is a 30 min run. I don't know if I'll actually do a half this fall, but I want to train as if I am. I want to know that I can do that distance and I want to train for it safely.

Sunday - May 24th

Not sure what happened to my post yesterday. Must be missing in cyber space - hahhaha.

Yesterday I ran 13Km with my friends AND my hubby!!!! I sure love it when he comes along, even if he did run ahead for the first part. We start off too slow for his liking.

Sure was hungry. Even through the night, I was stuffed up from my cold which woke me up, but then I had such intense hunger pains. I drank a big glass of water but still couldn't shake it so grabbed a small handful of cereal and then was able to get to sleep. Haven't had that in years! Then throughout the day I bounced between being absolutely starving with stomach pains, then I'd have something small and feel completely stuffed. It was a weird day for sure.

Here was yesterday's menu:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal with Mixed berries (3)
Snack - 2 sl. toast with 1 tblspn. peanut butter (5)
Lunch - Sm. La Tortilla Factory wrap with 1 tblspn. Amond Butter & 1 tsp. Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (4)
Snack - Pear (1)
Dinner - Homemade Split Pea Soup, 1 small roll, 4 saltine crackers, 2 tsp. butter (9)
Dessert - White Grape Cider, 2 sm. cranberry almond biscotti (7)

Total - 29 points

Exercise - 90 min running and a bunch of yardwork

Temptations not an issue

Had a fun day. Took my daughter shopping where we met with 3 of her friends and one of their Mom's. I had met this Mom briefly before and she seemed nice. We ended up having a really nice day. I'm not one for shopping, but this was a good group of girls and I really enjoyed everyone's company. We spent 6 hours in the mall!! ACK - that's gotta be a record for me.

I almost caved to the food court offerings. I eyed the greasy chinese stand, then considered taco bell. Finally settled on a small sub sandwich on a heavy multigrain roll. I could have had salad but I knew it wouldn't satisfy me as I was quite hungry. Almost got a zero calorie iced tea too, but ... instead made the better choice and got water. Later on we hit up a Starbucks (or Fivebucks as my sister calls it - hahha) and I talked myself out of a Chai Tea Latte and instead just got black tea which I thoroughly enjoyed.

After shopping the girls caught a movie and I went and did some much needed grocery shopping. But, I was getting pretty hungry and I knew grocery shopping would be dangerous if I went in there starving. So I went to Tim Horton's and got a soup and a whole wheat roll with another cup of tea. I LOVE their English Toffee Cappucino but it's so sweet and high in calories.

I did cave a bit and end up with a few swedish berries (my evil candy of choice), but I made sure to get a very small amount and I waited until I'd picked up my daughter again so we could share.

My husband said he wants to go running tomorrow morning. He'll leave me in the dust I'm sure, but it will still be fun to go together. I love it when he comes along.

Down 1.2 lbs!!!

Yay!!!! I'm down 1.2 lbs this morning. I was thinking it would be 0.8 so I was happy for that little extra. Not a huge loss, but I rarely ever get those and I'm very happy with this. 3 losses in a row and I feel awesome and in control.

Rode my bike to a Weight Watchers meeting this morning (20km round trip) to get my monthly weigh in done. Sure is a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, very little breeze, warm. This is the type of day I love. Had a Fibre 1 bar on the ride home to give me energy to get up the hills. :)

I think I'm taking my daughter shopping today for her Grade 7 grad dress. She's going with 3 friends but I'm not sure which parent(s) are going or to which mall.

I'll update the menu throughout the day:

Snack - during bike ride - Fibre 1 Oats & Peanut Butter bar (2)
Breakfast - Red River Cereal with Mixed berries (3)
Lunch - Mr Sub small chicken breast sandwich (7)
Dinner - Tim Horton's Italian Wedding Soup & whole wheat roll (7)
Dessert - Swedish Berries (not a good choice, but I did limit them) (3)

Total - 22 points

Exercise - 65 min biking

I finally got my camera figured out last night. Had been havig problems getting the pictures to load onto the computer. So soon this blog should have more pictures!!!!!

Other than being sick it was a good day!

The dentist went pretty good. For the first hour she wouldn't get in the chair, but she actually shared quite a bit of information with the dental assistant - which is huge - normally she ignores them quite well. After an hour the assistant asked if she could "help" her into the chair. She neither accepted or rejected, so the woman picked her up and placed her in the chair, then she accepted the nitrous and they got down to business. Unfortunately for her, they found she had 2 adult teeth coming down and from the xrays they could tell that the baby teeth would have to be pulled, they would not fall out. But I was surprised that afterwards she wasn't mad about that. In total we were there 2 1/2 hours, but for 1/2 of that they were working on her, or she was in some state with the nitrous. Progress!

As for me, the scale budged this morning!!! :) Tomorrow is my official weigh in so I'll wait and see how that goes and report then. I'm thinking of riding my bike to a meeting tomorrow morning as I have to do a meeting WI for the month too.

Today's eating was a bit unplanned, but it worked out:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal with Mixed berries (YUM) (3)
Snack - Fresh juice of apple, celery, carrot & beet (the idea courtesy of Eat, Live, Run - thank you!) It was very, very good and I will make this again. Have never used an uncanned beet before. I could eat a raw one as a snack even. (2?)
Late Lunch - vegetable soup, La Tortilla Wrap with hummus (6)
Dinner - 1/4 thin crust Ristorante Spinach Pizza, assorted fruit (7)
Snack - Plain air popped popcorn with becel butter spray (2)

Total - 20 points

Exercise - Nothing, other than wandering around the mall for 2 hours and watering the gardens (we do have a rather large garden and it involved trekking a number of hoses back and forth)

I find it's getting easier to stay around my points target now. I haven't been having those 30-40+ occassional days. And I'm making sure to record every bite, even if it's not what I think is ideal. If it goes in it counts right?!!!

Still feeling pretty sick. I should probably be in bed right now and will head there in a moment. Had a brief nap on the couch this evening, but not nearly long enough as I had to get out to the gardens.

Achy! Sick! Yuck! and worried about tomorrow

I've been pretty lucky so far this year. There has been a number of really bad colds/flus that have gone around my area and I haven't caught any of them. But last night I got a sudden attack of a killer sore throat and it's not any better today. :(

Last night & this morning I sucked on some Zinc Lozenges with echinacea and Vitamin C. Often that turns it around quickly but I'm not so sure this time. My nose is a teensy bit stuffy and I'm hoping it doesn't get worse because I can get killer sinus infections. My daughter had a bit of a bug the other day, though she didn't complain of a sore throat. She said she felt dizzy (which I have a little bit) and just felt kind of sick. Though she's never been great at explaining exactly what her symptoms are.

Anyhow, hopefully it doesn't last long. I'm taking today as a rest day from exercise. I'm tired and achy anyway, but I've also had a number of consecutive days where I've worked out quite hard and my body could probably use a break.

Had bootcamp again last night with the substitute instructor. She really does put on a good class. My foot was bugging me a bit again so I wasn't able to do the sprints, but I did run still. She also gave me some things to work on that might help my foot. She seems to think I need to strengthen the muscles in my foot (and she's not the first to suggest that).

The scale hasn't been budging this week. I'm hoping that it's either in relation to my heavy exercises and/or this cold I've caught. I know that it's not due to overeating or lack of exercise or water so I'm know I'm doing what I can. I do feel a bit firmer this week so maybe a loss is coming. My husband came in last night and said I looked skinnier. He is expert at noticing when I've dropped, and especially when I've put on, a couple pounds.

All I know is it better move soon. I told my family that I am not going on holidays unless I weigh under 150 lbs! That's totally feasible because I've got 7 weeks to do it in.

My son was shocked to learn that I weigh more than him. He's 5'9"ish, Size 13 feet, weighs 143 lbs. and is quite muscular and bigger boned. I told him this summer we need to exchange weights :) I want to be his weight and he wants to be mine - hahaha.

Here's my food plan for the day:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal with 1 cup mixed berries (this is SOOO good, never had berries with it) (3)
Lunch - Red & Orange Peppers, Cucumber, 2 tblspn homemade hummus, 2 sl Rye Bread, 3 sl. Chicken Breast (5)
Afternoon Snack - Asian Pear, 1/2 c. yoghurt (3)
Dinner - BBQ pork tenderloin, baked red potato with Becel Butter Spray, Spinach Salad with red peppers, mandarins and light creamy poppyseed dressing (8)
Dessert - Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich or All Bran Bar (2)

Liquid - 2 black tea, 1-2 peppermint tea, 8 c. plain water

Exercise - Rest Day

Total Points - 21

Tomorrow will be a tough day. My daughter has an immense fear of dentists and tomorrow morning she has a standard bi-annual check up. This has in the past kept us at the dentist office for up to 9 hours! (no kidding) It started when she was quite little and for no apparent reason, our dentist was amazing and all she'd had up to that point were the appointments where the dentist just looks in their mouth and runs his finger around. Then, when she was 6 she HAD to have some teeth removed. For most kids this would be a simple procedure at the dentist office, but for her we had to take her into Children's Hospital and she had to be put under. There was no other safe way to do it. Thankfully, they also capped all her teeth while they had her under so she hasn't had to undergo any fillings over the years.

For the next 5-6 years we went to a dentist where every 6 months we went in and we'd basically hold her down while they did a quick 5 min look in her mouth. The idea was that over time she would adjust and cooperate - but that never happened. She kicked, she screamed (in a sound proof room), she bit, she spit, and she cried buckets.

Finally about 2 years ago I decided that she really needed to have a cleaning and a proper check up. The place we had been going wasn't willing to do it, so we went to a new pediatric dentist.

That first time we brought her in fairly early and she was given an oral sedative to take the edge off. They said they would not physically force her to do anything but she is very feisty and they hoped the sedative would help her to be more reasonable. After a number of hours she still refused to get into the chair willingly. They didn't force her in, but they also wouldn't allow her to sit down anywhere else. I love this concept because that is how I parent. So she leaned against the wall, almost asleep, for the better part of the day. The office closed for the day and we were still there and she still hadn't budged. But her dentist is at least as strong willed as her and she wasn't willing to walk away. Finally she told her enough is enough get in the chair and let's get this done. Once in the chair she let them give her a dose of sleeping gas and they were able to do the work quickly.

The next time we went in, we took the first appt in the morning and they reserved a space for her for the entire day. They decided to skip the oral sedative because they don't believe it made a difference for her. Whatever her issue is, the sedative did not change her resistance. At this point she was 12 yrs old, a good 3-4" taller than the dentist (she's a teeny little thing, but tough) and probably outweighed her by 10 lbs. I've always told her that I understand that she is very uncomfortable at the dentist, but it is something she has to do and sometimes you have to face things that you don't want to do. It's important for her health. I also told her that she had until noon to get in the chair or I was leaving. This may sound harsh, but I know my daughter and given the day she would have used it all and hoped they'd give up on her. She is extremely strong willed and sometimes you have to put your foot down firmly or she will run over you. Honestly I would NEVER leave her there, that would be cruel. But ... it worked. She still refused to get in for a long time, but she did get in and somewhat cooperate and was done just after noon. Mad as hell, didn't want to talk about it, but done.

So tomorrow is her next appointment and we're already meeting with resistment. At the mere mention of the appointment she will begin to cry. There is nothing that breaks your heart more than having your child sit beside you in the car and cry silently for the entire drive.

I can't count the number of people who have told me she is just "being bad" or that I need to make her behave. People have judged me and her. They have said that I'm way too lax with her. If they only knew! I am not a pushover parent in the least. The only people who seem to understand are those who have strong willed children. It's tough. Overall she is a very good girl, but to see her at the dentist office you'd think she's a demon child. And she can't explain to me what the issue is.

She used to also have similar issues with having her picture taken. From about age 3-4 on we have almost no photos of her, no willing photos anyway. Then when she was about 11 she began allowing her picture to be taken occassionally and now she is a picture fanatic. She now has her own camera and has 1000's of photos which she takes almost daily. Who knows, maybe one day she'll work in the dental industry :).

So here's hoping that tomorrow goes somewhat smoothly. If we can be out of there by noon I'd like to take her for a nice lunch, maybe down to the beach.

Got a Butt Kickin'!

Last night I had outdoor bootcamp. My instructor is away this week and we had another lady. She is TOUGH! We did not stop moving for the entire hour.

We'd sprint across this huge field, do 50 squats, sprint back, do 20 overhead presses - then, unless you were the last person back, you had to do high knee running or butt kicks until they got back. We also did sets of 25 walking lunges, 10 burpees, 20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups - sprint across the field - then repeat it all again. Plus she'd put 2 minutes of straight hi intensity cardio in between these other sets. My heart rate was way up there the entire time. But I love it - heheee.

I have another class with her tonight.

Here's today's meal plan:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (2)
Lunch - Orange & red peppers, Small La Tortilla Factory Hi Fibre Wrap with Almond Butter & Strawberry/Rhubarb jam, Pear (5)
Afternoon Snack - Apple, 1 oz. cheddar cheese (4)
Dinner - skinless chicken drumstick, broccoli sauted in olive oil & garlic (3)
Post-Workout - Protein Smoothie with yoghurt & frozen berries (7)

Total Points - 21

Exercise - 60 min Bootcamp class

Catch-up Time

Had a super, duper busy weekend and didn't even find time to blog. Here's a LONG post to catch it all up :)

FRIDAY

Did a 60 min Abs, Butt & Thighs class. It was pretty good and the music was awesome (for a change). Love the instructor, but generally the music sucks. In the afternoon my house & a bunch of outstanding chores were clogging up my mind so I made a massive to-do list, then started to tackle it.

My eating was a little odd. My MIL makes freshly warmed buns almost every morning, served with an assortment of deli meat, cheese, jam, etc... they called me. Then I had to go into work for longer than expected and ended up not being home in time for lunch. My husband called and asked me to bring him some lunch from Wendy's, so I ended up getting a snack wrap for myself. Not the greatest, but could have been worse. Here's how it went:

Breakfast - 2 buns, 2 sl salami, 2 sl ham, 1 tsp blackberry jam
Lunch - Wendy's Spicy Chicken Snack Wrap (yes, the crispy one, grr)
Afternoon Snack - All Bran Bar
Dinner - Small La Tortilla Factory Wrap, 2 spicy chicken strips, lettuce, tomato, red onion, hot sauce, 8 baked french fries
Evening Snack - 2 small homemade low-fat banana muffins w/margarine and 4 oz. wine

Total points 28 - less 4 AP = 24/21

SATURDAY

Saturday I did yard work ALL day! My husband is working 7 days a week 13-16 hours a day, which leaves the yard to me. My son worked with him this weekend too. So I put my daughter in charge of cleaning the house and I tackled the yard. I mowed. I trimmed bushes. I weeded. I planted about 300 plants. I raked. I swept. And at the end of the day I could barely move. I worked in the yard from 10am until after 7pm and I swear I sweated all day long.

In the morning though I decided to give my husband a nice family breakfast and made homemade waffles with strawberries & whip cream. I was very proud of myself that I only had 1/2 of a waffle with about 2 tblpsn whip cream. In the past I've eaten 1 and a half, or even 2 of these suckers! I found that 1/2 was enough. Alot of bready type foods and very few veggies. I was just too busy and wasn't prepared.

Saturday morning was also my at home weigh in. I was down 1.4 lbs from last week.

Here is how Saturday went on the menu front:

Breakfast - 1/2 waffle, strawberries, whip cream
Lunch/Snack - (spread out throughout the day) 2 & 1/2 banana muffins with butter, stewed rhubarb w/1 tsp whipping cream
Dinner - 2 sl Rye Bread with European Bologna, 2/3 c. broccoli soup
Evening Snack - 8 nacho chips, 4 oz. wine

Total points 24 - assuming I earned at least 8 AP

SUNDAY

Sunday morning I got up early and went for my first run of the week. Met my friends and we went on a trail I'd never done before. It was beautiful, but definitely in an area I'd only run in a group. We did 9K, fairly slow, and my foot felt great.

After I came home I once again attacked the yard with more mowing, weeding, sweeping, organizing ..... about 7 hours worth. Got a bit of a sunburn on my back too.

The menu was:

Breakfast - Red River Cereal
Post-run snack - Grocery store banana muffin
Lunch - 1 sl Rye Bread, European Bologna, pear
Dinner - 2 very thin small pieces of pizza and a large 'Mexican' salad with lettuce, black beans, tomato, red onion, salsa, teeny bit of shredded cheddar and 1 tblspn light ranch dressing mixed with Louisiana Hot Sauce with lime (mmm, so good)

MONDAY

Monday was a holiday here. My MIL was in a craft sale at our local parade. So my son & I rode our bikes down there to check it out (27Km return with some steep hills on the return). It was a grey, drizzly day, but the ride was still nice. I love getting out and doing things like that with the kids. After we got back I took both kids and a friend of each of theirs and we drove back down there again. The parade was over, but we all got a Gelato (Mmmmmm!). It ended up being a bit of a sweets day. My fridge is pretty bare and the produce store was closed for the holiday so we don't have much selection for fruits/vegetables in the house.

This was yesterday:

Breakfast - red river cereal
Morning snack - Cranberry Flax Bar (these are from my favourite 'tea house' and are SOO good)
Lunch - 2 sl. Rye bread with chicken
Afternoon Snacks - Grapefruit & Lime Gelato on a waffle cone (OMG Mmmm), oreo cookie & 2 thin german gingerbread type cookies (just a little sweetness, haha)
Dinner - 1/2 cup fettucine with pesto sauce & chicken, large salad with soy & ginger dressing, 1 bun with butter

Total points - 27 (sounds like more but I checked it twice)

TUESDAY

Breakfast - Banana loaf (it's almost gone)
Lunch - Broccoli soup at hand (they're good), flax bun, pear, satsuma orange
Afternoon Snack - more banana bread (I've told my husband to finish it, whatever is left in the morning hits the garbage
Dinner - Protein shake with yoghurt & frozen berries

Exercise - Outdoor bootcamp with the really tough instructor - I can't wait!

Total points - 22

I don't think I've been consuming enough dairy products in the last few days, nor fruits/veggies.

Tired ... Need Sleep ... Goodnight!

What a day! First I fell asleep on the couch last night around 7:30 and missed my planned workout. Then, I couldn't get up this morning when my alarm went off and I ended up sleeping in. Had an unusually hectic day at work, so hectic that I had to stay late by TWO hours! Which made me miss my afternoon snack AND my workout for today.

Had to rush home from work, cook a quick dinner (Mmmm Quesadilla!), then go to a meeting at my daughter's school. When that was over I rushed to pick her up from practice. Had to meet up with an employee to have him sign papers that need to be sent out tomorrow. Then came home to a work related message that I had to respond to.

I don't often have to do work related stuff outside office hours. Heck, I don't often have to do work related stuff during office hours - heeheee. But sometimes there's things on the go and it's my job to deal with them.

It's 10:00pm and I'm finally done, but had no workout and am very tired. I also have to go into work tomorrow for a bit to finish up what I couldn't get done today - normally I have Friday's off. Phewf!!!

The good news is that even though I've missed my workout today (and yesterday) I've eaten the right amount of points and I haven't been stress eating or even been feeling hungry. I did have a moment at Walmart tonight where I scanned the chips isle for Baked Lays. Thankfully they were sold out and before I could pick something else I reminded myself that the scale has been going down again and I do NOT want to sabotage that.

Also, I'm not going to feel guilty about missing workouts. I work out lots, and I've learned to take the downtime when my body is begging for it. If I'm feeling as exhausted as I was this morning, then my body needs the sleep and the rest. Pushing through that will only wear me down and probably lead to burnout or binge - neither of which I want!

I suppose the up side of missing my workouts is that my foot is getting some much needed rest to heal. It's feeling much better and I'm hoping that a few more days off of running will heal it completely. I checked out a couple of half marathons today, but didn't make any decisions yet. If I do do one, I want it to be a fun one, not something cheesy.

Today's menu was:

Breakfast - red river cereal (I am really loving this daily)
Lunch - raw veggies, ham & navy bean soup, saltines
Afternoon (early evening) snack - All Bran Tender Bar
Dinner - Chicken Quesadilla on a small La Tortilla Factory hi fibre wrap with 1 slice low fat processed swiss
Dessert - Stewed rhubarb (mmmm...Mmmmm...MMMmmm!!!!) & a 1/2 c vanilla ice cream

Total Points - 22

Exercise - Zilch

Yesterday I got all geared up and headed out for my bootcamp class. I was excited because for once I was going to be a bit early AND it had stopped raining (YEAH!). I got to the field and the parking lot was packed. I had to go wayyyy around back to find a parking spot.

There was a high school meet going on and they had command of the whole track, field & grandstands. Grrrrr! Usually my instructor is quite game to work around these situations, but last night she packed it in and said we'd have to cancel. I must admit I was quite disappointed. Though I did enjoy staying to watch the kids compete for a few minutes. They were doing the Junior Boys 1500M Steeplechase (which is my son's age and one of his favourite distances). The fastest boy completed in 5:30 and I think the slowest was 7:00 - that's pretty fast in my books :).

Even though my planned workout was scrapped, I didn't let the evening go to waste. I went home and had enough time to do Level 2 and half of Level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred before the Biggest Loser Finale came on.

Made a few adjustments in my eating plan yesterday (marked with a strikethrough on yesterday's post), but still stayed at 21 points (yay me!).

I keep seeing Jenna at Eat, Live, Run having her morning oatmeal with a scoop of Almond Butter. It looks so good so I thought I'd give it a try this morning with my bowl of Red River Cereal. Ehhh, yuck, not for me thanks. I like these two foods on their own, but combined it just tasted mushy and odd.

Today's planned menu....

Breakfast - Red River Cereal and Almond Butter

Lunch - Carrots & celery, Asian Noodle Salad, Vegetable Beef Soup

Afternoon Snack - All Bran Guardian Cereal and milk All Bran Oatmeal Bar

Dinner - Lasagna & Salad ... added a small bun with butter

Post Workout- Protein & fruit Smoothie was asleep, didn't work out - therefore didn't need it.

Total Points - 23 21

Exercise - Level 1 and 2 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, 30 min elliptical Fell asleep very early on the couch, must have needed the rest.

I'm taking a bit of a break from running to let my foot heal. These exercises don't seem to affect it as much, but they definitely keep my heart & muscles burning.

Let the healing begin

Tried out my new running shoes on the treadmill last night. I'm happy to report that they are very comfy and didn't feel like "new" shoes. I don't believe there should be a break in period with new shoes and these fit the bill.


However, I think the time is coming that I need to take some downtime and let my foot heal. It's getting progressively worse and while these new shoes should help the problem, I think I have to heal first. I could only run for 20 min last night and then I switched to the elliptical, which also hurt for a couple minutes but then was fine. I HATE to scale back on running. I enjoy it and really it's so convenient. I don't have to worry about weather or time or expense or anything - I just go. Swimming isn't an option, and with the rain this week I'm not interested in biking. And I really don't want to just completely take time off. I suppose I could just focus on weights for a week to at least keep active. Sigh......


Today's meal plan....

Breakfast - Red River Cereal

Lunch - Raw Veggies (Carrots, Celery & Cucumber ) & Asian Noodle Salad

Afternoon Snack - Banana & Yoghurt replaced with Almond Butter, a few pretzels, 1 oreo type cookie and 4 jube jubes

Dinner - Almond Butter and strawberries on a small La Tortilla Factory wrap (having a light dinner before bootcamp) replaced with a piece of breaded sole

Post Workout - Yoghurt & Berry Protein Smoothie

Points 21

Exercise - 60 min bootcamp (but I may walk during the beginning run to take it easy on my foot) All of Level 2 and 1/2 of Level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Had a great weekend. My baby boy turned 15 yesterday. I can't believe I have a child that is 15! I swear I'm far too young for that. LOL. He's never been into birthday parties so we didn't really do anything. He chose pizza for dinner and his number one thing he had to have for his birthday was a DQ ice cream cake. Unfortunately for me, when we went to pick it up they had a special "free sundaes" for Mom's - so I got one for me as well as my son & daughter. I must say it was VERY good. I only had one very thin slice of pizza (on multigrain crust) and some bean soup for dinner, but I did have a slice of the ice cream cake and the sundae. Went over on points, but not too horribly considering the amount of exercise I got in this weekend.


Saturday I went for a 14K run with a couple friends. We took a slightly different route than we normally do and I made one of my friends do this killer steep hill TWICE! It took everything we had to run the whole thing without stopping, but we did it. Then on the return run we did Fartleks. Those were tough and each one definitely got harder, but I can totally see how that would improve your running. We're tossing around the idea of doing a half marathon this fall and I can't believe I'm feeling kind of excited about that.


Went to a BBQ Saturday night and did a bunch of yardwork over the weekend. Today it's pissing rain again which will give me a chance to stick indoors and cath up on housework. It will also keep me on the treadmill so I can get around to trying out my new shoes. :)

Today's planned menu....

Breakfast - Red River Cereal (I didn't know this product was only available in Canada - hmmmm, finally something that is awesome and only we can brag about)

Lunch - Veggies & homemade hummus (it turned out pretty good, though I want it spicier next time - used small amounts of cumin, cayenne, crushed red pepper & black pepper), homemade Navy Bean Soup (I made a big pot and will probably have this multiple times this week)

Afternoon Snack - Banana & Yoghurt

Dinner - Tequila Lime Chicken Thighs & Asian Noodle Salad

Evening Snack - Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich (this will be instead of leftover ice cream cake, I can only justify that for one day. May as well leave the indulgent calories to my skinny mini family)

Total Points - 21

Exercise - 30 min run on the treadmill, 30-45 min weights

Tonight is TV night. I'll be checking out the Canucks game (hoping they don't lose, but not expecting any miracles) and watching One Tree Hill (my fav show), maybe Gossip Girl too if my workout is done.

UPDATE: I used chicken breast instead of thighs for dinner. The recipe was a little bland in my opinion. I can think of better uses of the Tequila. I didn't make the topping she suggested, so maybe that's what makes it. In my opinion this was just OK chicken, tender, but not much in the way of flavour.

I also substituted my afternoon snack with a handful of pretzels and a 1/2" slice (at the most) of ice cream cake. Not nearly as healthy, but similar in calories. Just heading down to the gym to get my workout in.

New Shoes (finally!) and a shoe and skirt review

Got myself into town today to finally get some new shoes. I was determined that one way or another I would come home with something.

A few weeks ago I tried out some shoes and was pretty sure I wanted the Asics Gel Nimbus 10. But ... they're $180 plus taxes and I wasn't quite sure I could swallow that. The Running Room does have a great return policy, but still. I tried looking for them online and across the border, but couldn't find them much cheaper.

So, I went into Sportsmart and decided to try one model down from that shoe.... the Asics Gel Cumulus 10. It was almost as comfortable in the toe as the Nimbus, and quite a bit cheaper at $139. I was pretty sure this was the shoe I was going home with. But as I walked around the store in them, my toes felt good, the cushion was nice .... but the back of them seemed awfully high and the more I walked the more it irritated me. So that choice went out the window.

I decided to suck it up and head back to the Running Room and try something else. I was going to find something in there regardless of cost. If the only shoe that happened to feel good was the most expensive, then so it would be.

I had the saleslady assess my feet again. Nice to know that she came to the same conclusion as the previous saleslady. Maybe they do know their stuff :). I told her right up front which shoe I liked, but that I really couldn't afford it and was looking for another option. We tried on a few and I settled on ....

The Mizuno Wave Nexus 3. They are the ugliest bright yellow. I'm not a fan of yellow in pretty much any shade, and certainly not bright. Thankfully when they are on they are not so bad. But they're comfy, and so far feel supportive. They come up ever so slightly higher on the sides just below the ankle ... but not in the back. I'm wearing them around the house right now to get the feel of them. I'd wanted to take them for a test run on the treadmill but I did some yard work today and it's just been a long day and I'm out of energy. They said I could try them 3 or 4 times on the treadmill (as long as I only wear them indoors) and if they aren't working I can bring them back.

While I was there I also decided to try on some running skirts. They intrigue me, what can I say. I had looked at the one's at runningskirt.com but having never worn one, I wasn't ready to order. Theirs is more like an actually skirt with a panty lining. Neat idea, but honestly I've got some pretty good sized thighs and I'm very concerned about rubbing & chafing.

At the running room I tried on two skirts that I liked. I put them on and off 4 times EACH. I could not decide which I liked.

This one is the Running Room's Pink Ribbon Skirt. It is SO pretty. I could totally see myself wearing it for many places other than running. It was quite long too - just above the knee. As a "skirt" this is a great length, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about running in it. I almost bought it just to wear as a casual skirt - I liked it that much. And SUPER comfy. There are thin shorts built in underneath and they are almost as long as the skirt. This skirt is $54.99

The other one I liked was Mondetta Performance Gear's Hurdle

Jersey Skirt. It was quite a bit shorter - mid thigh, maybe even shorter. This is more the length that I imagined a running skirt to be. Definitely more just a skirt for running ... but I suppose that IS what I'm looking for. I actually loved the way my legs looked in this skirt. But, the one thing I didn't love was that because the skirt was shorter, so too were the shorts underneath. I think the shorts could have been just an inch or so longer and they still would have been shorter than the skirt, but they would have been long enough to cover the thigh bulge. This skirt is also $54.99

In the end I could not decide between the two so I didn't buy either. If I had more money at my disposal I would have bought both and given them a trial run. I'm still determined to get a running skirt, but may have to check out the other running store in town. I'm also going to look for some reviews online. Maybe the shorter skirt would be OK if I had some Glide to prevent chafing. If anyone reading this has any experience with running skirts I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sometimes a 2nd impression makes all the difference

Last week I blogged (here) about a woman who came out with my bootcamp instructor and I did not like her. She came out to watch as there was a possiblity that she might substitute once in a while. I predicted that if she came back I was going to butt heads with her.

Well .... last night she came out. My regular instructor went on a date night with her husband for his birthday. And guess what ....

I loved the class!!!!!! She was awesome!

That first time she came out she was all hard nosed Miss Tough Girl without a heart. But last night she was fantastic. She IS tough, but she's also smart & fun. I sweated WAY more than normal and I loved every second of it.

She mixed up cardio and strength moves so fast you didn't realize which you were doing because your heart never stopped pounding. I loved it!!! The only thing I didn't love was she had us do jumping jacks between sets while we waited for the others to finish and catch up and, well..... being a Mom, jumping jacks for prolonged periods are tough (if you've had a baby you know what I mean). Also, it was really irritating my sore foot - so I just substituded with high knee runs on the spot. I think that accomplished the same thing.

I didn't 100% stick to my eating plan yesterday, made a couple minor changes, but also was quite hungry after class so I went a bit higher on points - 26.

Today's plan:

Breakfast - Oatmeal & grapefruit
Lunch - raw veggies & hummus, ham wrap sandwich on a La Tortilla Factory hi fibre wrap, and Broccoli Soup
Snack - Yoghurt w/Vector cereal
Dinner - Crunchy Tilapia with coleslaw (homemade oil/vinegar dressing) & mashed potatoes

Total points - 22

Exercise - I'm going to give my foot a bit of a rest and do the elliptical and some weights tonight

Hummus Recipe

Jen at Priorfatgirl posted today about her love of hummus. Alot of people mentioned the ease of making it on your own. So I said I'd post a recipe. I just bought a tub of hummus but I really should just make it again.

It really is a super simple recipe to make, with SO many variations. Plus ... it's super cheap to make. Probably the biggest expense is the tahini, but you use so little so a jar will last a long time.

Store this in a tightly sealed container in the fridge. And have fun with the varieties you can make. Look to the prducts available at the grocery store for further suggestions of combinations - or just get creative. You could also take a batch and split it to make a few different combos.

HUMMUS (singing) "any way you want it ..... that's the way you need it"

1 - 19 oz. can Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas)
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from 1- 2 lemons (approx. 2-4 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper (and/or other spices) to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Drain Garbanzo beans and reserve liquid **see notes. Add beans to food processor along remainder of ingredients. Pulse until smooth. Add water (or reserved liquid) and continue to pulse until desired consistancy.

It is best once the flavours have blended for a while in the fridge (a few hours or overnight). But you can eat it right away.


NOTES:

Liquid - a lot of recipes recommend using the reserved liquid from the drained beans. However there is a lot of salt in that liquid and you may want to just use water and then adjust salt to taste.

Garlic - use as much or as little as you like. Apparently roasted garlic is a more mellow taste, but I like it zippy.

Lemon juice - You can use bottled, but fresh just seems to taste best. Again, you might want to experiment with the amount you use. Start with less and add more.

Tahini - (paste of ground sesame seeds) Usually found in the specialty (Middle Eastern) area of your grocery store. I've heard you can substitute peanut butter, but I wouldn't. I have made hummus without any tahini, but it's much better with it.

Olive Oil - do NOT leave out in an attempt to lower fat/calories. It's a healthy oil and it definitely makes hummus … hummus!

Seasonings - Add to taste. There is a ton of variety here. You can add any of the following on their own or in combination (be creative): black pepper, cumin, cayenne, crushed red pepper, hot sauce, chipotle or jalapeno pepper (SPICY!), roasted red pepper, sundried tomato, chives, cilantro, chili pepper, parsley

Well, new location but not new instructor - which is OK. I was sort of hoping for someone new just because I like variety, but how can you complain when you already like the person. We did a ton of stairs. These stairs are super long too so by the time you get to the top your heart is just begging to jump out of your chest.

Only thing was I found the class to be too short. We ran the track for warm-up. Then ran a lap of the track, then up and down all the sets of stairs (ummm, guessing about 6 full sets and 4 half sets). Then we used the rubber bands and did some chest, back and shoulder work. Then a couple minutes of plank and lower abs and we were done.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think this class should be at least an hour & a half. Though there was a ton of people in class who would strongly disagree.

Eating was not fantastic yesterday by any means: Kaiser bun w/ham, English Toffee Cappucino, 2 sticks licorice, mac & cheese, 3 cookies, pea soup, 1 pierogi, ham sandwich. That came up to 32 points and I labelled it my "Carb & Sugar day" - yuck!

Today is going better....

Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Raw carrots, celery & red peppers with spicy hummus, Ham Sandwich
Afternoon Snack (pre work-out) - yoghurt & strawberries, Small La Tortilla Factory wrap with Almond Butter
Dinner - Beef stew (with lots of veggies)

This comes out to 21 points (which is where I should be)

Temporarily on Hold

We apologize for the inconvenience, however this blog has temporarily been on hold. :)

Work is crazy right now. Life is crazy right now. Something has to give.

Normally my work is a pretty boring place, especially in recent years. However, at the moment I have to organize a shipment of a 40' container to Sweden that contains well over 100 different items. I have to look up each item individually and assign it with these stupid tariff codes for customs. It's amazing how much they can break items down - and honestly I don't believe in the end it really makes that much difference. Even when you go to the border, those guys guess half the time. But ... it has to be done. It's painfully boring and slow work.

Then at home I also have all of our company bookkeeping to do and as it's a new company it's slow going to make sure it's all set up correctly.

But ... tonight I start another new session of bootcamp. Which means I'll be going twice a week for the next 6 weeks. This is at a different location with a different instructor. There is a massive set of bleachers there so I imagine that will be a BIG part of our workout. I'm quite excited, though a bit nervous about who the instructor will be.

Sunday I got out for a really nice long run by myself. The trails were super, super busy and I had the dog with me. But now my foot is bugging me again. I probably should rest it, but I don't want to (whiny baby).

I had ventured away from tracking for a few weeks and what do you know ... I put on a couple pounds. Though that's coupled with impending TOM so I'm not too concerned. A couple days ago I brought out my trusty notebooks again and am writing everything down - no matter if it's good, bad or ugly. I've made myself spreadsheets in Excel, I've used online journals, I've posted on forums ..... but I think the thing that works for me best is the little dollar store notebooks and a pen by my bed.