Exercise and motivation

If you had told me a month ago that I would be going to the gym at 6 o'clock in the morning I would've said "you're crazy". But as I'm adjusting to my new schedule with work and household duties, that's exactly what I found myself doing. I had planned on doing home workouts in the evening once my daughter went to bed but that was just too hard to get motivated to do. I found myself easily making excuses and reasoning with myself as to why it could wait until tomorrow. I also found myself really really missing the gym. I love the facility that I go to and I was really missing having all that equipment available to me for my workout. 

So since I can't always go in the evening I decided that when I couldn't go in the evening I was going to go in early morning since I was awake anyways. This is taking a little bit of extra planning on my part and I've had to set out all of my clothes the night before. 

The gym that I go to is a smaller gym, so you would think that you would end up waiting longer for machines and stuff but you totally don't. Not to mention The staff knows every single one of their members by name instead of just by looking at the screen when I check in to see who I am and then saying oh hi Kelly have a good workout. 

The past few mornings there have been the same people at the gym when I get there but for the most part there's only two or three of us. On Wednesday for most of my work out I had the gym to myself. I have actually really enjoy doing my workout in the morning. It's a great way to start your day! Plus it helps to get you in a good mind set. 

           

This is a safety device for when you are working out alone. It is connected to emergency services!

At work, I have been taking 8 flights of stairs three times a day (which I thought would get easier but hasn't yet.) as well as doing some fitness classes at lunch on the off days of the gym. My mom and I have been getting out for some walks too now that the weather is nicer. 

It has been really great pushing my body this week. And I will really enjoy some rest time this weekend. I love the slate stiffness that I get in my body when I know I've worked hard!

If you had asked me 7 years ago if I would be working out this hard and taking care of my body and my health I would have smirked and commented something like "I wish". I was way too self consious to remotely wear shorts, I lived in sweats and sweaters hiding from the world. 

As I reread that last sentance I realize that it isnt even living! The things I've being able to do that I never would have been able to do before it's incredible. 

So if you're reading this and overweight and don't know where to begin, or if you have tried and failed numerous times, or if you keep starting and stopping, or you keep saying I'll start Monday you need to take a look at what is holding you back. What excuses are you using? 

Put 1 foot in front of the other and start small. One small change is all it takes. Follow that with another small change and another small change and your whole life will be revamped. I would be lying to you if I said it was easy but if we look at all of the great things in life none of them are easy. I can for sure without a doubt 100% tell you it is worth it. It is worth feeling empowered. It is worth it to be able to keep up with your kids. It is worth it to hit your goal weight and buy new clothes in a much smaller size than you ever thought you'd be ever wearing. 

So keep pushing through and don't ever give up. When you fall get up again. When you don't want to do it anymore keep going. When you're too tired and just want 10 more minutes of sleep kick your butt out of bed and get to the gym! 

Start your healthier new you today, what small change are you going to make??

Playing in the kitchen...again

I am going to toot my own horn as I would consider yesterday a very successful day. Yesterday marked the beginning of my new week for meal plan and all that fun stuff. On Thursday I made a new menu plan that I was very pleased with and then Thursday evening we went to the grocery store and stocked up on all the healthy foods. I also included some new recipes - something I've been doing a lot more of lately!

Yesterday I tried two new recipes and they were both a huge hit so I thought I would share them all with you. I found them both on Pinterest (seriously love that site). If I had used the recipes I found on Pinterest exactly how they were I would have just linked you to them for copyright reasons, however, I changed both of the recipes as I went along to suit what I wanted to I will post them here for you.

Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus

1 can chickpeas
1 package sun dried tomatoes (I found them in the produce section of the Superstore)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water

1. Peel the skins off the chickpeas (you can do this by gently squeezing them out of their shell. It took my husband and I about 5 minutes to do the whole can and we had never done it before).

2. Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor (I used a blender which I feel was MUCH harder to do and the most time consuming part).

3. Cut up sundried tomatoes into small pieces (I used scissors since it was too tough to cut). Add them into the food processor.

4. Chop finely 1/4 c. cilantro and add to food processor.

5. Add pepper and salt to taste.

6. Add 1/3 c. oil.

7. Blend until smooth. *Up until now the items have only been sitting in the food processor, not blended already*

Now that being said: as I mentioned I used a blender since that was all I had and it wasn't going to well so I slowly added a bit of water to keep things moving. I also feel like I could have gotten away with a lot less oil and a bit more water. I really don't even like hummus but this was a big hit!!! I had it with cut up veggies. YUM! Next time I think I will add some roasted garlic to this dip!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1 head cauliflower

1/4 c. flour (you can use regular/whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour like coconut flour - I used regular white flour)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning - I just used what ever spices I had in the pantry

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp yeast

2 large eggs

1. Place cookie sheet in the oven and preheat to 475F. I used a round pizza cookie sheet.

2. Use a cheese grater or food processor to grate the cauliflower into very small pieces.

3. Place the cauliflower in a bowl and microwave for about 4 minutes on high. Remove from microwave and dump into a clean tea towel. Let cool for a few minutes. roll the cauliflower up and make sure it is in there good and secure so you won't loose any. Over the sink, squeeze the cauliflower like you are wrapping a candy (in opposite directions). I had my husband do this part for me since he is stronger and he wore the silicone oven mitts as the water was coming out was quite hot. You want to get as much water out as possible.

4. Mix cauliflower and all other ingredients into a large bowl - then mix with your hands. I mixed for about 3 minutes since I didn't know what the "dough" was to look like. It was very sticky to my hand and I thought FOR SURE this was going to be an epic failure (but it wasn't). Then I put a piece of parchment paper on the counter and put the dough onto it and pressed it into a pizza crust formation (scraping the dough off my hands as I went as it was quite sticky).

5. Remove the hot cookie sheet from the oven and put parchment paper on it then return it to the oven to cook the crust for 8-10 minutes (or until golden brown). While crust is cooking chop and prep pizza toppings.

6. Remove crust from oven and top with your choice of pizza toppings. I used pizza sauce, green pepper, onion, mushroom, pineapple, a small amount of "light" old cheddar, and some feta. Some chicken would have really made the pizza better as well.

7. Bake until cheese is melted (about 6-8 minutes).

I was concerned that this wasn't going to turn out - but it was SO good. Granted it was a lot of work, but in my opinion it was worth it. The dough only made enough for one pizza so if you were wanting it for more people you would need to adjust the recipe to the amount of people you were making it for. I am still drooling over this and if I didn't have a yummy dinner already planned for tonight I would be strongly inclined to make it again.

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Yesterday reminded me of something very important and that is how I feel when I make healthy choices. There is not one part of me that feels bad when I make healthy food choices. I feel so strong and confident which moves into all areas of my life especially my workouts. I had a great session with my trainer yesterday and pushed myself hard (did a few next exercises I wasn't found of, but got to push myself). Granted we may have chatted a bit too much during the session to but it was fun and I definitely got a good workout done  ;). 

I also know that when I have healthy foods on my meal plan that I like and am excited for it makes it MUCH easier to stay on track and not eat unhealthy foods - for example, if there is something I really like for dinner that night and we are asked to go out to eat instead I am much more likely to say no thanks when there is something good for dinner that night. I do realize that this does take a bit of extra planning - but in the long run it is totally worth it! You are worth it!

Foam roller

Another Christmas has come and gone. Rylee's first Christmas too! We had a good day with family and enjoyed a good Christmas dinner...maybe enjoyed it a bit too much ;). Today is just a lazy day here for us, lots of pajamas, blankets, books, fire place, and relaxing! We did go out this morning to use a gift card we had gotten on a new blue ray player. We just needed a basic model so we didn't have to keep switching ours back and forth from the TV's. First world problems I know!

So it is almost 2014 - and although I am not really one for New Years resolutions I am actually going to make one this year (shhhh it was something I was going to do anyways, but might as well time it with new years to give myself a start date). But you will have to read later on this week to find out what my new years resolution actually is.

I have some lofty health and fitness goals and will be attacking them full force, no excuses. I have done it before and I KNOW I can get back there again. I am very close to my pre-pregnancy weight and then I will be losing what I had gained before getting pregnant. 

I have specific weight loss goals that I want to accomplish but I can't figure out a fitness goal. I think it would be helpful to work on them together since they go hand in hand but for the life of me I can't come up with something. I see my personal trainer three times a week but I know that I want something more -- I just don't know what.

We also have some financial goals we want to meet. We have made a debt repayment plan to be 100% consumer debt free by Dec 31, 2014. After that we will have a bit of business debt still to pay off but it will feel so good to get our consumer debt gone!

Today I made the next two weeks of meal plans and tonight I will go get the groceries after dinner. I am looking forward to stepping up the workouts, focus more on clean eating as well as point friendly foods and just continue on my weight loss journey. I do know that this is a process that I will take step by step - one day at a time! I also know that it is a journey that I will be on forever, and I am totally okay with that. On a side note: I am allergic to bananas and I am really sad that I have had to give them up. I really miss adding them to things like cereal, oatmeal, yogurt ect.

One of the gifts that I got is a foam roller, which will really come in handy over the next year as I get deeper into my workouts. What the heck is a foam roller you ask?! Well it is exactly how it sounds, a large roll of dense foam. It is for stretching out and massaging your muscles. It really hurts at first, especially if you are really sore but it feels SO good afterwards. One day my trainer made me do this crazy calf exercise and legit I had charlie horses in my calves for two days. It was beyond painful = not cool. We did some sessions on the foam roller and although it was painful at the time, I could literally feel the muscles relaxing. The pain relief was instant - I knew I had to get one for home! Since then I have used it on my legs a number of times and it feels so great. I am super happy my awesome hubby got me one for Christmas.

Rylee will be 10 months old on Saturday which means I only have two months left of my mat leave as I mentioned the other day. I totally plan on making the most of it!

Physical activity and the holiday season

Did you know that the average person gains between 5-8 pounds every Christmas? That is a crazy amount of extra calories consumed, but let's face it, we all know it is easy to do.

So now that you know this, are you going to be one of those people that gains 5-8lbs, stays the same, or loses weight even though it's a holiday?

If you really look at it Christmas is just one day. For most people Christmas is a SEASON. They turn it into a whole month event. Read: There is NOTHING wrong with that, as long as you are not using it as an excuse to eat what ever you want for that whole season. You can still celebrate Christmas for a whole month if you want, just don't do it with food! Sure, it is tempting, I'm not pretending for a second it's not -- but are you going to have a game plan for how to handle certain social events in regards to what you put in your mouth? Are you going to enjoy the season any less if you are mindful of what you eat and DON'T put on those extra 5-8 pounds? HECK NO! I'm proof of that. This is my favourite holiday and I LOVE all parts of Christmas, yes even the food, but I enjoy it in moderation. Instead of eating ALL of the Christmas cookies I bake, I will have one, maybe two and give the rest away.

The holidays can be a very stressful time for many people, and today I was on the borderline of a melt down. I was at my limit. We have been working really hard to finish our kitchen renovation, and the dryer broke down, and the baby has been clingy, and so many more reasons that I had just had enough.

My trainer encouraged me to get out and go for a walk. BUT I had SO much to do, when was I going to fit it in? But, I said I would go, so I did. When Rylee woke up we both bundled up and headed off. By the way -- pushing a stroller through slushy snow is quite the work out.

Within 5 minutes of starting the walk I became SO thankful that I had taken the time to go. The fresh air did a world of good and really gave me a chance to step back and think about what was stressing me out, break it down, and focus on what was important. As I was walking I was remembering that during the holidays exercise is usually the FIRST thing to go when people get too busy or stressed. They say (much like I thought today) I don't have time for that. BUT, you need to MAKE the time. Even if it is just 30 minutes a day or 3 times a week, you need to still incorporate it into your schedule through out the WHOLE holiday. 

Even if you can't make it to the gym, spend time outside with your family, take them sledding and walk up the hill, or go for a family walk, or pop in a work out DVD after the kids go to bed. And learn to say "no" sometimes. You can't do everything so maybe you will have to pick and choose what events you attend.

I am SO thankful my trainer cares about my well being and that I did take the hour to go out for a walk today because I was able to step back so I can now move forward and be far more effective than if I had kept running around on auto pilot like a chicken with my head cut off crying because...oh I don't even remember why that is how small and insignificant it was. I was able to remember what my goals are and remind myself that by keep up with my physical activity this Christmas season, not only will I be taking care of myself, but I will be better able to take care of my family. 

On a very similar note tomorrow I am taking a partial me day. Sean and I agreed that I would take one this week and he would take one next week since we have been working so hard on the kitchen and everything else going on.

I am going to sleep in (well as much as I can since I'm pretty sure I lost the ability to sleep in haha). I plan on painting my nails and having a nice long hot shower. I am also going to get my hair cut. A perfect way to spend the day (well the most of the day since I will have to take Rylee when Sean goes to work). 

SO -- to sum up what I have said, take care of yourself this season, don't become a zombie. Take that walk to clear your head, say no to a few parties to give yourself some extra time to get things done, and ENJOY the holidays.

Of course, if you are still too busy during the normal hours of a day, Anytime Fitness in London is literally open 24/7, with crazy good membership deals right now -- so what is the excuse now?! 

Have a safe and healthy holiday season!

You spent how much?

Mother nature has decided over the last few days to grace us with A LOT of snow! At least it is not wet miserable snow, but in fact the light fluffy stuff that is really pretty -- later to turn into miserable slush.

I have been doing my workouts this week as planned although my toe is really hurting. It is bruised all the way through so we have had to modify some of the exercises in order to get through the workouts. I am bent and bound to be down another 25 pounds by March 1. In the next week or so we are going to build a new menu plan for me so that my meals are more balanced. 

This may look easy but it was really hard -- my legs were shaking badly, given that I had just pumped out 20 deep squats before going right into the wall sit!

My trainer is going to be away for a few weeks so I will be working with a different trainer...I am excited to see her style and keep pushing myself hard.

Okay so a bit of background on the story I'm about to tell...about 5 years ago there were a few moms at my church that had the same Lulu Lemon bag as a diaper bag. Before we were even trying to get pregnant I decided that I really liked the bag and wanted it as well. By that point the store was no longer carrying it and it became impossible to find. I have looked in every outlet Lulu Lemon I've been by and every regular store as well just on the off chance they have it. I have posted on facebook groups, bulletin boards and just about everywhere I can think of to find it with no luck. I have bought 3 cheap diaper bags trying to hold out for this one that I wanted to badly, but they break and rip so easily. I finally decided to just give up and buy a good one that wasn't the beloved Lulu Lemon one that I wanted. 

I looked everywhere -- even making a trip far side of the border to find a diaper bag that I liked, knowing I was going to spend between $100-$200 for a really good one that would last through Rylee and the next child (when ever that is, and no we are not expecting). I couldn't find one I really liked and I couldn't get my mind off of the Lulu one. I was destined to have cheap diaper bags the whole time I had decided. 

THEN, the other night when I was at the mall with my sister and walked by Lulu Lemon. They had just redone their store, so even though we weren't going to buy anything we went in to check out the new lay out. I glanced over at the "bag" wall (it's pretty much habit now when going in or near that store) and OH MY GOSH -- there was a bag that looked VERY similar to the bag I had wanted SO badly. It was not the exact same it was actually a bit smaller which works out better for me. AND it was in purple! EVEN BETTER!

I saw the price tag, even though I knew how much they cost, and was like I don't think I can spend that much on a bag (WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?). And almost walked out of the store with out it (did you catch that almost?). The lady said they reason they are so hard to find is each store only gets 3 (I don't know if that is true or not but it was enough to hook me). So I bought it. 

I haven't 100% made up my mind if I am keeping it, I have left the tags on it and it is still in the bag in case I change my mind, but after that much looking I would kick myself for years if I don't keep it. Not only that by the time I keep buy junky diaper bags for the rest of this baby and next I would spend WAY more than the cost of the bag. Lulu lemon will also repair it if it breaks or rips...BONUS!

So now you know my long story and can understand why I was SO excited the other night when I saw this bag yet so torn because of the cost. Thankfully There is more than enough $ in our "Rylee" account to cover the cost of it, which takes away some of the guilt (you know, we don't have to go without groceries because I bought this bag haha).

Today Rylee is 9 months old. I can't believe that! Where does the time go? She weighs in at 16lbs and 3oz and is 28.5 inches long. My little girl is growing up too fast, next thing I know she'll be going off to post secondary school!

Oops!

It has been just over a week since I posted. Sorry about that! Life has really gotten in the way. 

We are SO close to being done our kitchen renovation. So between that and business stuff the past week writing has really not been an option. But! Don't worry! Things at home are settling down again a bit before ramping up for the holidays so hopefully I can keep you entertained again. 

Our kitchen renovation started out SO small - honestly we just wanted a cheap make-shift floor to last us a few years until we replaced the whole kitchen but then we decided that we might as well remove the wall before we do the floor and it just snow balled. But now it is almost all done. And I'll give you a little sneak peek:

We still have to put up the curtains and paint the bottom of the island and that will be the two pops of colour. 

Speaking of the island I had a slight mishap last night. I was priming the island and part of it slid off the place I was painting and landed right on my second toe on my right foot. OW! The way it landed and where it landed has caused quite a painful experience. 

Last week was my first week with my new trainer at Anytime Fitness. So far so good! We had 3 sessions last week and I actually REALLY enjoyed them. On Saturday we even did the session together which was fun and kept me going! Even though I hurt my toe quite badly last night and probably will not be able to put my foot in a shoe yet that is not going to stop us at tonight session! We are still going to do a workout but it will be modified to upper body and core. We are going to crush this next 25lb goal - injury or not. That is totally not something I would have done before. I would have sat with my feet up and rested till I was fully better. NOW, saying that you obviously need to rest appropriately but don't let it be an excuse to do nothing. 

The training at Anytime London is really above and beyond a "big box" gym because they do such individual plans and really care about your success. Not that "big box" gyms don't -- it's just a different setting on a smaller scale and they are more invested in you so it's not "just another client". I also love how dependable they are. Anyways enough about them but if you are in London you really should check out their gym. 

On a side note: my Christmas cards are ready to go and just waiting for the 1st of the month which is also when our Christmas tree will be decorated and getting our house ready for the holiday season! 

We got a DUMPING of snow yesterday...

So we stayed inside and had grilled cheese for lunch. 

Anyways I'll write again soon - I promise!