Life's Whirlwind Adventures

This week wasn't my most stellar week.  I struggle with road trip snacks, when I go to Saskatchewan I always end up eating snack food that I buy at the gas station or eating at A & W. I did better this time, I didn't buy a meal from A&W I only bought one bag of chips and it took me three days to drink the bottle of pepsi I bought (I used to drink a 600ml in an hour sitting).  So there were some changes for sure, but it wasn't an amazing turn not. So Sunday we got home from Saskatchewan so there was very little to no exercise. But I did have booster juice and subway instead of fast food so that was a good choice. Monday---->Protein shake in the morning, salad at lunch, left overs for supper, left overs consisted of fries, fish and carrots.  Snacks included a protein bar and crispers.             ---->Played Soccer Tuesday ---> Protein shake, salad for lunch, I don't remember what I had for supper,  I know that I ha...

So Red Deer had a new gym open on Thursday and I joined.  I honestly joined back in March and have been impatiently waiting for it to open and now it is open and I am so happy. I went to the Grand Opening on Thursday night.  The place is huge, it's the largest facility in western Canada for Goodlife .  I have now been there every day since it's opened, I am concerned I am turning into a gym rat!! There is so much to do, so many classes to take and so many machines to work out on. My favourite class is Body Pump, I have done a class like this before when I lived in Saskatoon and I am feeling exactly like I did back then a day later.  Sore, and sore and strong.  I don't like doing weight training that is simply me doing three sets of 15 for different muscle areas that gets boring. I love doing weight training in class settings, I'm more focused and because there are other people around I push myself harder.  There are definitely some muscles I have not wo...

 In trying to stay active and healthy with exercise I made it my goal to be active to some degree every day for 30 days. I have a workout plan that I am following that is a full body Bikini workout and some yoga that I am doing as well.  But some days you need to rest your muscles to prevent injury so I need other things to do!! Enter my beautiful and active children!! One day when I was really dreading doing any kind of workout Leigham wanted to go for a bike ride. Usually he goes with his dad as I put Teddy to bed, but this night Teddy wanted Dad so I got to go on the Bike Ride!! We rode around our neighbourhood and headed to the Exercise park, which is one of Leigham's favourite parks to go to.  I was able to get a 30 minute bike ride in as well as 15 minutes of circuits on the equipment on the park.  It was a moderate workout, but for me that's all I need sometimes. Just something so I am not being lazy, and as I do these little workouts more and more it's...

More than anything else in my life that confounds my schedule is my exercising.  I want to be a morning exerciser, get up before dawn and do sun salutations as the sun rises, seriously this is a dream, like a bucket list item.  And it doesn't matter how hard I try, or how much I plan for it, it just never really happens. I don't know why it is, maybe I stay up to late watching television, or maybe I just like to sleep until the time I was born.  I was born at 7:08 am and when I don't set an alarm clock I generally wake up at this time. I have gone weeks trying to get up at 5:30 and all that's happened is I get grumpy, I really want to be a morning exerciser but it just doesn't fit my schedule then. The only time it's going to fit my schedule is going to be in the early afternoon or early evening.  Maybe in three years when my young boys are older and can be trusted alone and to get ready for school this can change, but my reality is that exercising in the ...

Yes I just made my weight loss journey a comparison to breaking down a mountain because somedays it feels like I am trying to move a mountain in doing this and seeing very little results. I am so result driven that I have to remind myself (often) that this is a journey, it won't happen over night.  It's part of my logic also to only weighing and measuring myself every two weeks.  It can be very discouraging if I were to do those every week and so very little results. For the past two weeks I have been working the big muscle groups Abs and legs with some arm work.  I was doing so well then I pulled a muscle in my back and had to slow down.  Let's look back at where I was in the beginning. Total Inches 388.25 Total pounds 220. Bicep curls 10lbs 1 set of 15 reps after two weeks 10lbs 3 sets of 15 reps Tricep Extensions 5 lbs 1 set of 15 reps after two weeks   10 lbs 3 sets of 15 Shoulder raises 5 lbs 1 set of 15 reps after two weeks   10 lbs...

Most of you know that I was not born in Canada, for those of you who were not aware of that fact, I was born in California and I hate the cold Winters of the Prairies!! I find them incredibly unmotivating to do anything besides sit in my house and be Peg Bundy, eating bonbons all day!  But I have a half marathon to prepare for and a possible 10k before that so sitting around is not an option!! I've got to get up and get moving so I have to get clothing for running outside!! In the summer I'm all decked out, I've lot's of clothes that are appropriate for running in the summertime, but winter outdoors, nope, nada.  And since I'm very new at all this I decided to go to the experts and get some advice.  I had a basic understanding of layering and all that but I also know I sweat after a little bit of running so I needed something that would breath but would also keep the wind out. I don't need frostbite from running. these are shoes I ordered on line, but they ...

At the beginning of November I contacted a friend of mine to help me set up a personal training schedule that I could do at home and that would help me train for the Seawheeze in August.  I know that I can do this half marathon, but I need to strengthen my body to be able to complete my goal and goal time.   So I know it will take a lot of work and determination and discipline. So she came over the other weekend and helped me to set up my training schedule.  We are doing 6 days a week, which after a week may be a bit of a lofty goal, but I completed it and I plan to stick with it.  (my only set back being getting strep throat on Sunday so I've had to take two unscheduled days off ) I have two leg and ab days, a day for chests and triceps, biceps and back, a shoulder day and a run day.  So we are working all the major areas, it usually takes me 30-45 minutes to complete minus my little cardio which is a run.  I'm in desperate need of a treadmill now th...

I love when I receive little gems of knowledge to take with me and apply to my own life.  I have been on that dreaded "diet" cycle for many years, I guess since I had my first son (15 years ago) and there has not been one prescribed diet that has worked, not ONE!! I've counted calories, I've kept food journals, I've eaten six small meals a day and had a maximum calorie intake, I've decreased my portion sizes and watch the portions that I eat, I've done the shakes, the supplements and still I've not gotten the results I have wanted.  There was a time 6 years ago where I had finally lost a lot of weight I was at the size I had wanted to be (my ideal) but I didn't get there by dieting.  I had gotten there by eating when I wanted to, and moving a lot, so when I was sitting at a Muffin Talk event in the park, and they suggested that one only eats when they are hungry and they stop when they are full. Now this makes sense to me, and I'm not discou...

State of the Union May 30, 2014                In                                         Out Healthy Eating                      snacking on junk food 30 Day Squat Challenge                                                  30 Day Butt Challenge              30 days of watching TV 30 Day crunch Challenge Loving my body                  focusing on the number on the scale (211) Enjoying my time with my boys      stressing about what I can't control So I have started all three of these 30 day challenges. I...