Summer time

The count down is on for getting ready for summer time. Most people think of "getting ready for summer" as working out for the three months leading up to beach weather so they they can feel comfortable in their beach wear.
This is all well and good, whatever it takes people to focus on their health and wellness , so be it.

What I REALLY wish people would focus on more when getting ready for summer is their feet!!!

Seriously people! The feet are the most used and under appreciated part of the body. And I say this as someone who hates feet in general. Hating feet is no excuse to walk around with gross dry crazy heels and unpainted toe nails. If you see going to force the world to be exposed to your feet, the least you can do is pretty it up a little.

I am not saying run out and get expensive pedicures on a regular basis. That is completely unnecessary. I am a frugal girl at heart limit myself to one pedi a year, but in between I take care of my feet on my own

I have to confess that I probably spend as much time on foot care as I do on the care of the rest of my body. Cardio is for my heart and lungs, weights are for strong muscles and bones and I use these products for soft, smooth, summer ready feet!

A cool tingly foot mask. Not the greatest smelling but it does leave your feet feeling amazing!

This fun little pumice stone breaks off into pieces so you can get multiple use out of it. The smell is completely awesome...but I love the smell of lemon...if you do then you will LOVE this:

The fair trade foot lotion is my favorite foot lotion ever! It smells of chocolate peppermint and leaves my feet silky smooth!

Legs

I need a new legs routine. I have been doing the same routine for the past two years and it is feeling old. I am mostly happy with my legs except for around the top of the upper thigh. I think this is the part of the legs that every woman struggles with and I am not entirely sure how to fix this perfectly. I know a large part of the problem is food related. I am continuing with my goal of clean eating though this last week has involved way too many cheats.

In my search for a new legs routine I have found this :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i5nbFRUa79Q

My new plan is to do this legs routine at least twice a week in addition to my regular legs routine at the gym. This is something I can play on my laptop while also watching TV and I can get the exercises done in 15 min while also watching my beloved Outlander. I <3 Jamie!!

running..a story of legs and noses..

I am so proud of my sister. We ran our first 5k together this weekend. This was my second 5k and her first ever. She has only started training this winter and I am so impressed with her time of under 34 minutes!!

On the down side, we have both come down with major head colds and have another 5 k to run this weekend.

Sunday we both woke complaining of sore throats. I'm not sure where we picked up the bug but we had been out shopping, out for dinner and then a movie the night before, so really it could have come from anywhere. Those didn't stop us from trying our best during this run. The cold air gave quite the lung burn during the race, but again, it didn't hold us back.

Currently, however , it's all I can do to get my backside off the sofa. My head is throbbing and my nose is running and the sneezes are endless. I'm a hot mess.

It's okay to run with a box of kleenex,

right??

its all so fragile

40 is not old. Yet it feels like people all around me, young women in their 40's are experiencing major health issues.

In the last year two of my friends have experienced blood clots resulting in impacts on the brain. From what I have found online, this is no longer as isolated as we might want to believe.

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/the-scary-new-health-risk-in-your-20s-30s-and-40s

https://www.mylifestages.org/health/stroke/system2_stroke.page

The experiences of my friends have made me take pause and think about just how fragile life is. These were healthy women. These women are non-smokers, not over weight, healthy eaters. They did not have a lifestyle that would put them in a high risk category. Yet the unimaginable happened. Thankfully these women are strong, they are fighters and they are inspiring in their ability to push forward.

I really do believe that growing old is a privilege. It is this belief that keeps me working hard to keep my body in shape and my lifestyle active. You never know what is going to happen but it's important to me to listen to my body and make choices that will lead to longevity.  This also includes valuing my friendships and being grateful for all the extra days you get with them.

Last month I went on a walking food tour in Toronto. It was good fun and some yummy food. We came across this sign and I found it both amusing and disturbing.

I am an emotional eater. I gauge how I am doing emotionally by what I am craving. When I am feeling sad I tend to crave sweets. Choclate bars are my favorite. This week has been a particularly emotional week for me and it's been a really bad week food wise. The choclate bars at work have been plenty and I have struggled to control myself.

Fortunately I am attempting to look at things a bit differently and there is a new week starting. Time to get back to my better habits. 

Get your run on...

 

Running outside is MUCH more difficult than running on a treadmill. Over the past winter I had to run on the treadmill as it was too cold for me outside (I'm delicate!) and frankly I was mostly afraid of slipping and falling on the ice...I'm just that klutzy.

Monday night was my third run outside this spring. Although I could run on 10k on the treadmill in about 1 hour 5 min...doing so outside is just not happening anytime soon. It is my goal to continue running outside so long as the weather allows me and complete my goal of a 5k or obstacle event every month from April to October.

One person who is helping me stay motivated is my sister. While I started running a year ago, she is newer to running and comes with a history of knee pain and only a limited desire to run. Over the winter she has found the internal drive to give running a real chance and she is doing amazing! I am inspired by her dedication and drive and I am so happy that I have this activity to share with her. Monday we ran together outside, her first outdoor attempt ever, and she did amazing. I know she wished she could run faster, and run longer between needing to walk, but truly she was awesome.

Our goal together is to try and run every Monday evening and improve our pace and stamina. We will be running a 5k together in two and a half weeks. It likely won't be our best...but a week later we will be in our second 5k together...followed by our third near the end of June! I'm pretty certain we will be pro by then. Well, pro for a couple of newbie runners hot chicks in their 40's.  :)

This would come as a big "DUH..obviously!!!" to anyone who knows me...but for the longest time I really had no clue how to cook.

Life is hectic and with having Josh on my own...I could make basic things. Meat. Potato's. Frozen veggies. I went through a pork chop phase where I just LOVED pork chops. I think Josh was under 1..so he was just eating baby food still or basic meat and potato's ( I cannot remember what I even fed the poor kid!). I remember cooking myself a pork chop at 10 PM...once Josh was soundly asleep. I just needed a pork chop desperately at that time of night. My eating habits were a tad off.

I have always loved the idea of cooking  though...I love the searching for different recipes, I love food. I just cannot seem to find the time to make all these new meals I am finding happen. I guess for the longest time I just never found, or made, the time to make good food happen.

When I first started my fitness journey I was determined that I was not wanting to change my eating habits. I was going to continue my weekly (sometimes 2 or 3 times a week) lunch run to McDonalds. I was going to continue eating cake and chocolate and was basically going to continue drinking pop and iced tea if I damn well felt like it. The food we were eating at home was really no better. Way too much processed food lived in our kitchen. Eating was all about convenience and little about health.

Anyone who lasted in fitness longer than the "new years resolution" phase knows that in time your diet changes, whether you think you will want it to or not. As I saw my body changing and the weight dropping, I was thinking about what I was putting into my mouth. I stopped craving the McDonalds and now actually feel ill if I make a "short on time" stop at McD's for a quick bite. I think I now eat at Mcdonald's (willingly) three times a year at most.  I drink pop 1-2 times a year and I am seriously needing to stop drinking it at all. I get this "addicted" feeling when I even have one, so I take to ordering water or chocolate milk whenever I go out.

Chocolate is my forever love. Let's just say I am still working on that.

One HUGE change for me in the last year is in my desire to eat clean and cook from scratch. I started wanting to eat clean in January 2013. I even wrote about it in a note on FB...yet I failed that year. This year I am doing much better. I make a mean butter chicken....I love my own taco seasoning and not relying a packet for that. I am so pleased that my kids are in love with my Mac 'n Cheese from scratch. My goal is to get rid of every boxed food item in my house and know how to recreate it all on my own.

Tonight we are having burgers. The frozen premade meat patty was so hard for me to give up because honestly, Sobey's makes this amazing Angus Burger. So yummy. But I needed to make my own. So we make it with essentially the same ingredients we do our meat loaf and it actually tastes like a tiny meat loaf. Which is freaking good. Even the kids had loved it (they are our most honest taste-testers).

I am also starting to get a teeny bit more adventurous in the kitchen. I normally obsess about following the recipes to the letter, especially the first time. Tonight I am making my own seasoned bread crumbs from gluten free bread as I need them for the burgers. I realize this is not a big deal, this is not impressive at all but for me its a big deal (sad!!) because I am a researcher. I like to search out recipes and find the best way to do something and then follow it step by step. I do not leave room for error. Tonight I am going all free-style with these bread crumbs and just adding what I think might taste okay. I'm totally going rogue; this might be the start of something crazy. Or just bread crumbs. Might just be bread crumbs.

Seriously!!

How completely awesome is this!?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/avocado-toppings#.vn18jEPg4g

I came across that link via FB when I was thinking of the two ripe avocado's sitting in my fridge and craving them. Love the options!

 

I am so excited!!!

It's here!! It's here!!

I am so super stoked that my essential oils have arrived! I am excited to see if they can help me with my issue with my hands, as this Raynaud's is a complete drag!

My goal is to see if the oils (frankincense in particular) can help me to stop using my Adalat which is prescribed for the Raynaud's. Last summer I found that I was more sensitive to the sun. Days out on the beach and time spent on a friends boat left me with sensitive skin from the sun and that really sucked. According to the doc, the meds were leaving me more sensitive than normal and it is quite possible that I can be off the medication this summer if I can find other means to help my blood vessels from constricting. I'm planning lots of fun activities for this coming summer with the kids and plan to spend a lot of time outdoors....I don't want to hide from the sun!!!

Fingers crossed that between eating properly, going gluten free, cutting down sugars and figuring out these oils, I will be able to be my healthiest self and enjoys lots of fun times...and sunshine :)

Food Addictions

I find I go through phases of what I like to eat and I have a hard time pacing myself. Combine this with now being limited by a gluten free diet, it makes coming up with new breakfast ideas even harder.

For the longest time I was in love with my morning shakes. A normal shake would include a banana, an Activia yogurt, frozen berries of some sort (I mostly love cherries or blueberries) , spinach and kale, coconut water and whey isolate protein. I would get home from the gym in the mornings and enjoy one of these shakes. After 3 years, I just don't look forward to them the same way anymore. 

 

 

(Avacado, kale, spinach, cocnut water, frozen blueberries, chocolate flavor protein powder)

 

 

 

Two years ago I went through a scrambled egg phase. I would fry up some mushrooms, some spinach and then throw two eggs over it and scramble it up and add turmeric.  So yummy. I would have my shake at home and then bring these eggs to work to eat around 10 am. That lasted a few months until I had to stop eating the spinach. I learned at that point that eating spinach three times a day is not a good idea. I had to stay off raw spinach for a year to finally get my body to tolerate it again.

About 6 months ago I started my "eggs over easy" kick. I love dipping toast into the messy yolk...so so yummy. When I switched to gluten free choices I was so afraid that I would no longer enjoy this but it turns out there are some pretty awesome gluten free breads available! So I was able to continue with my over- easy addiction, but now, it's just blah.

A friend recently turned me onto tomatoes and avocado cut up over toast. So good. Add turmeric to it and it's freaking amazing. Right now I could eat this every day, but I know myself and I know that soon I will hate it if I over do it now, so I

 

 

 

 

I only wish I had this problem with chocolate. No one ever gets tired of chocolate.

‎

.

To Remember

I need to remember that as much as I like routine when it comes to my work outs, it is not the best to get stuck in a rut. In the last year I thought I was "changing it up" quite a bit by adding in the running. This did provide me with a much needed change, but I need more.

Going back to the 30 day Shred today reminded me that I have been in a workout rut by sticking with the same routines for the past two years. I was able to complete the video this morning, and followed along with the girl using the "advanced" moves, but boy did it get me breaking hard and sweating!! I think I am really missing my workout classes which are a great combination of weights with cardio. I had to stop the classes because they don't start until 6 am and that is just too late in the morning and leaves me feeling rushed. I think these videos will be a good addition for my days when I can't get to the gym.

Workout Vacation

To holiday or to not holiday 

I wonder how common it is to work out while away on vacation?  

I have a tendency to bring my workout clothes on every vacation, and most times I use them. Previous summers I have brought my DVD's to the cottage and worked out in the morning. Last summer I had just taken up running so I would head out for a jog every where we would go. 

I loved jogging in Niagara on the Lake. The scenery was beautiful and I would love to go back and find more routes to run of only just to further explore.‎

It was not wise to go jogging at the cottage. The first morning I tried and was stalked (and bitten) by a relentless black fly. Much of that run involved my arms flailing around my head, hoping he would give up. He didn't. I must have tasted just that good.

At home I still work out on days I have off work and could easily sleep in. Like today for example. I am home with the kids, it's 6:30 am and I'm off to do my DVD before they wake. 

Here is hoping it's quiet enough to not encourage them to wake!!

photo updates

I am trying to keep some photos for a frame of reference. The first picture is from Dec 2011 when I was already working out since May/June of that year but I had only lost 10 lbs in that time.

December 2011

 

November 2013 (40!!)

 March 2015

Get your workout on.....

I am WAY less pumped when my alarm goes off.

I'm really a horrible morning person. I function much better at night, but I can't exercise and then go to bed. It seems illogical to me. If I choose to work out at night then I end up staying up super late and I still hate waking up in the morning. I figure that if I am going to be miserable no matter what time I wake up, whether it's 4:30 am or 7 am....I might as well just haul my butt out of bed early and exercise. I always feel better for it.

Since I was not able to go to the gym this morning I set my alarm for 5:50 AM instead of 4:30. This means I actually slept in!! Yet, when the alarm went off, it was quite a surprise (it's always a surprise to me, it doesn't matter that it's been over 3 years). I said to myself "self, this sucks, let's go back to bed"....and then I rolled out of bed anyway.

The DVD was great. I didn't have a kettle bell as I previously have loaned mine to my sister. I was able to use a dumbbell...a 10 lb one and a 5 lb one. The 5 lb one was useful for the Turkish Getup. I found that overall her instructions were very similar to my previous Kettlebell instructor and I like to see that consistency. I did find, however, that her Turkish Getup was less focused and too quick moving. My past instructor had us to this move very slow and focused, always with our eyes on our kettlebell which was always raised in the air with shoulders stacked. In class I was able to do this with a 10 lb kettlebell and then progressed to a 15. At home, since it’s been ages, I just used a 5 lb dumbbell.

I liked that she again had two people in the video with her, a beginner and a more advance. As I have been working out so long I was able to follow the advanced person with ease. A novice would truly need the beginner and then Jillian is somewhere in the middle.

Overall, I will use this video again, but likely not in the next few days. There was little focus on legs and right now that is where I really need to focus. But that's a post for another day!

Jillian Michaels

I've had a few things going on over the last few months and it has impacted my ability to get to the gym as much as I was used to and as much as I would really like.

On the days that circumstances prevent me from being able to go, my goal is to work out with a DVD at home.

I am not a big fan of those work out programs you see on infomercials. This is because I don't know if they are really worth all that money. And I am cheap frugal.

One DVD I can attest to is Jillian Michaels Shred DVD. When Ava was turning 1 and I realized I was going to need to get my fat a$$ back to work, I decided that I needed to get into shape. For six weeks I worked out to the Shred DVD. The first time I actually tried it was when Ava was only 6 months old. I worked out while Ava was napping and just before I was going to have to pick Oliver up from preschool. Big mistake. I had not exercised at all, and I was Uber lazy. This workout took everything out of me cardio-wise and as I sat in the car after, needing to get to the preschool, I debated whether it was safe to drive. I sat in the driveway, breathless and red faced, fairly certain I was going to pass out any minute. I realized then that I needed to start slower and then started with going for long walks.

I loved my walks and would regularly walk 10k, pushing Ava in the stroller. When it was snowy, we walked around an indoor track. By the time April came around and I decided to restart the Shed DVD, I was prepared.

I loved the DVD. I lost at least 20 lbs with that DVD in 6 weeks. I was down to 132 lbs when I returned to work and I felt great. Of course getting back to work, and dealing with two small kids, meant my exercise took a back seat for the next year and I put that 20lbs back ob.

Now on days when I can't get to the gym, the Shred helps me feel less lazy.

Tomorrow morning I will be trying out Jillian DVD called "Shred it with weights" which is a kettle bell based program. I am super excited!! When I started at my gym I attended a weekly kettle bell class. I LOVED it. The instructor was a very fit drill sergeant. She never let us slack. Unfortunately I was only able to attend the class for a year and a half before my RMT informed me of her damage my neck was suffering and I decided to replace that class with more stable, static, exercises.

I think this video will be great and I am so pumped about tomorrow morning!! :)

The blog was started with the intention of motivating me to get, and stay, fit as I turned 40. Although I did not keep up with the documentation piece, I did get fit and have maintained my size and weight without any issue.  Even with a three month hiatus while I recovered from surgery, my weight maintained. That is likely down to the previous year’s workout routine which increased my metabolism.

 

 

My current goal that I am desperate to work on is a goal of eating clean.

 

 

Pre-kids I like to think I ate a little better. Less processed junk, but when working and trying get dinner on the table quickly for kids and rushing off to their extra programs, it has been easier to resort to quick dishes and processed foods.

 

 

I'm making a lot of changes in my life right now and I am trying to slow things down. Pre-made food or food out of a box is no longer okay.  I am enjoying my time in the kitchen now and I love making foods from scratch. Currently I am thankful that my ‘sometimes fussy’ eaters are enjoying my homemade Mac N Cheese…no box tacos and other flavorful foods! I think the yummiest thing I have made from scratch was chicken parmesan.  Another end goal is to go gluten free…currently a work in progress.