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!

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! 

My fitness goals

Like many people I have a list of goals that I want to achieve for my life. I have a list of five main goals that are very important to me. Weight and fitness is one of the goals. I'll lay out exactly what my weight/fitness goals are:

Weight:

My first weight goal is to drop 25 more pounds by March 1, 2014 by following the automatic body program and working out.

My second weight goal is to loose 56 more pounds (that includes the 25) and get back to my goal weight. I don't have a dead line for this one as I will set that on March 1st when I have reached my next 25. At this point I should be back into my size 8 clothes which is very average for my height. I have a large bin of basically new clothes waiting for me...calling my name!

My third weight goal is to maintain my goal weight. 

Fitness:

My first fitness goal is to increase my upper body strength.

My second fitness goal is to increase my flexibility.

My third is to tone everywhere in general. Since I have a lot of loose skin it will take some time, but I am confident I can do this.

I also want to pick a physical goal like doing a mini triathlon, or running a race ect. But I don't quite know what I want it to be yet.

______________________________________________________________________________

My biggest concern is to get the weight off and focus on living a healthy lifestyle. Which I have already been working on with the automatic body program, making one small change, and weight watchers and have been having good results. Now it's time to kick it up a notch!

I am SUPER excited that I am going to be starting with a personal trainer again. I know when I worked out hard before I felt great. This time will be different though for a few reasons. I am going to be working with a new trainer who has very clear goals for our sessions and what we want to accomplish. He is listening to what I want but will also put in things that he knows will help as well. He is as committed to my goals as I am and will be reliable and consistent. We are going to change up the workouts every time so that we aren't just doing the same exercises or even types of exercises week after week. 

Today we met up as an intro and did my measurements, "starting weight" (starting weight with him, although not my automatic body starting weight) and went over what my goals are and a rough plan. Monday we are going to do our first session so he can see where I am at and make a more detailed plan to follow. I'm really pumped to get started and take my weight loss and fitness goals to the next level. 

He says that we will crush my 25 pound goal -- I'll hold him to it and he'll hold me to it!

So although I really liked my old trainer, it wasn't the right fit. I'm ready to get serious, and my new trainer is ready to help me with that goal.

Follow me on my journey!

This would be the life...

It is day 3 of working on taking care of myself and it’s going pretty well so far – although tough when I am at work. My job is busy and has a very large learning curve; in fact I have been here for 10 months and am still not fully comfortable. I often think I am not doing a good job because there are so many little steps for everything and missing a little step is easy but creates problems. I know that I will get it, and my co-workers are very patient, but it does create some extra stress in my life. So the ideal situation to be able to FULLY take care of myself would be if I did not have to work…of course, this would only happen if I won the lottery!

But hypothetically if I was able to be home from work to take care of myself this is what my day would look like:

8:00 am - Get out of bed and walk the dog for 1 hour

9:00 am - Have a healthy, homemade breakfast, cup of tea, read a book or the paper

10:00 am - go to the gym, do one hour cardio, one hour personal trainer

12:00 pm - Have a healthy, homemade lunch

12:30 pm - Spend time grooming ie shave legs, pluck eye brows, moisturize, paint nails ect

1:00 pm - Hot bath or shower

1:30 pm - Walk the dog for 30 minutes

2:00 pm - have a nap

3:00 pm - play with Levi

3:30 pm - go to the market and get fresh food for dinner

4:00 pm - sit on the balcony and relax with a glass of wine and a book

5:00 pm - prepare a fresh homemade dinner

6:00 pm - enjoy that dinner with husband

7:00 pm - catch a 1 hour evening yoga class

8:30 pm - snuggle with husband and dog

9:00 pm - lights off

Sounds pretty great eh? It gives me lots of exercise but also lots of rest too! I would clean the house on the weekends and switch some things up a bit – but if my life were like this, I feel like I could fully take care of myself.

Now that being said, things have been going well so far by taking baby steps. We are well on our way to paying off our debt (all things going well our goal of March 1, 2013 will be moved sooner), I have been getting up a bit earlier to put on some make up and do my hair, I’ve been putting effort into my clothing choices, and have been focusing on healthy eating.

I hurt my back 4 weeks ago today and it has made it very tough to do much physical activity. I am able to walk but that’s about it. I have been trying to rest the injury and use the ice/heat method but it’s not helping very much. Tonight I am going to sit in the sauna at the gym and hopefully once my muscles relax and loosen I can try to stretch them out a bit.

As for the HBL challenge, I have still been taking my vitamins and having my shake(s)/tea everyday but I am still not noticing a huge difference in energy, and no difference in my pain yet, but these things take time sometimes – I’m not ready to write it off yet!

Let's drop the T's

I’m back! I’m sorry for the temporary LOA but I have returned!

I’ve been spending a lot of me time lately and doing lots of thinking, and reflecting. I’ve been working on making small but positive changes in my life, both at home and at work, you and happen to have caught me on a good day!

I want to share with you something that I’ve been working on lately, and that is dropping the T’s. Okay, so what does that mean? Let’s turn can’t into can, won’t into will, shouldn’t into should and so forth. So much of our lives are spent thinking about the things we “can’t, won’t shouldn’t” do. For example, I can’t accomplish this goal, I won’t make it, I shouldn’t try. So, let’s drop the T’s and move forward.

Now you’re asking…what does that look like? Well, I’m not an expert by any means, but here is what I have come up with (I will do 1 example of the few plans that I have come up with for myself and then you can fill your own goals and make your own plan!)

My plan

What do I want to accomplish? Getting back to my goal weight

Why this is important to me? So that I can live a healthy life, fit back into my clothing, so getting older isn’t as hard on my body, to be able to be an example and to show to everyone that it can be done a healthy way!

How am I going to do this? I am going to make a commitment to myself to loose 1 pound, one day at a time and not look at how much I have to loose total.

I will make my weekly meal plan, and stick to it.

I will get to the gym at least twice a week to start, and build up again from there.

I will see my trainer at least once a week, preferably twice.

I will treat myself once a day, or a minimum of every other day.

I will track everything I eat.

Now it might look like I have put a lot down for how am I going to do this, and yes I started it all at once, but for me these are small changes that I can make to sustain my weight loss/maintenance long term – which is very important to me.

I have made some other goals in terms of finances, my emotional/mental health, and house work. I used a plan for each one and made sure that I started out SMALL. I did not throw out everything in my kitchen and promise never to eat junk food again, because let’s be honest, I’d fail after a few days. I did however look at the small steps that I could take that would get me there. It might take longer than I want, but I will get there. I have also been sending a list of everything I eat to my mom, it will help to keep me accountable.

On a different topic, I have some very exciting things coming up in my near future!

Next weekend: something huge is happening (I can’t post more details right now since it is a surprise for someone, but the wait will be worth it).

May: Going to Chicago with my parents and husband for the long weekend. We are going to a business conference, but it will still be exciting. Plus it’s the same weekend as our two year anniversary!

July: I am going to BC again to see my family <3. This time my parents will be there at the same time as me so it will be extra exciting.

August: Camping!

September: Women’s retreat

Food for thought: When you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything you want

I workout...

Who doesn’t love the song by LMFAO “I’m Sexy and I know it”??? Such a good song that just makes you want to…ummm…wiggle?!

I have played soccer for many years now. I have been an assistant coach, a head coach, but more than anything a player. I did stop for a few years near the end of highschool because I was working at camp and there would have been no way I could make it to practices/games. Plus that was when I was my heaviest as well and moving a 274 pound body around a field is not easy.

When I started losing weight with weight watchers I joined back up with soccer and couldn’t get enough of it. I was playing at least two games a week and practicing when I could. I am no super star but I’m not awful. Since most of my younger years in soccer was playing goalie my footwork needs some help, but for the most part I do alright.

Two summers ago I switched clubs that I play with and have been with them ever since. I did change teams due to time commitment and personal reasons. Last year I had a blast with our team – and we did alright. We travel to places around London and overall had a great time. I am going to be going back again this year to the same team. I did want to move up a level this year, but with my time commitments it’s just not possible.

As I was losing weight I spent a lot of time at the gym. Now before I continue I want to add that I truly believe that you do not need a gym membership to lose weight. Get creative and find ways to move and you don’t need to spend the money for the membership. Sign up for classes in your spectrum (often costing a great deal less than the gym).

BUT for some people, the gym is great. I happen to be one of those people. Although I have not been as much as I should lately, I really do enjoy the gym. I used to hate the fact that the gym had mirrors everywhere, forcing myself to see what I didn’t want to see. Now when I am there I spend most of my time starring in the mirror! Checking my form, of course.

I don’t go to the gym that much in the summer because there are so many ways to be active outside, and in the winter it can be hard to stay motivated, so here are a few tips I found to keep me going:

1. My iPod. As you read in my previous post, music is very important to me. I love going to the gym when I have added new songs to my playlist to workout to. This is even great for warm up and cool down – change the pace of the songs and try to match your breathing to them.

2.  Classes. The classes at your gym are a great way to keep yourself motivated and give you new workout ideas. One of my favourite classes is Zumba. Not only do you get a good work out, you have SO much fun doing it! Go at your own pace and don’t care what others around you are doing.

3. Have a workout partner. This is something that I don’t have, but I do know that when I have worked out with people before, time goes by MUCH faster.

4. Don’t be afraid to try new machines. The big thing here though is to make sure that you learn how to use them properly. The staff at your gym should be willing to show you how to use the machine so you don’t get hurt. Most of the machines also come with written instructions and pictures on them. I cringe when I see people using the machines wrong because a) they could get really hurt and b) they are being completely ineffective.

5. Youtube. Youtube is not just for music! There are thousands of videos showing you different workouts/ activities you can do. Don’t know how to do a proper bicep curl? Look it up on youtube. That is why the mirrors are there, so you can check your form and do it right.

6. Personal trainer. I know that personal trainers at the gym are really expensive (at least at my gym), but they usually offer one session for free. Using the session will give you some ideas of workouts you can do. Another thing you can do if you have the money, is to find a PT that is not affiliated with a gym. They usually offer much cheaper rates and you get the same benefit. I had to go to a few different ones before I found the right fit – but I will talk about him more in a minute.

7. Start slow! When I was first starting my gym sessions were like 15 minutes. I did a 5 minute stretch and 10 minute cardio. Then I left. I SLOWLY built up from there. If you are starting any kind of new exercise program, talk to your doctor first. Take baby steps. Your weight did not go on in one night and it sure as heck will not come off in one night!

8. Food/drink. Make sure you drink plenty of water during your workout to stay hydrated. If you are doing a hard workout you can drink h3o to stay hydrated and replace your electrolytes without all of the additives that come in sports drinks. LiftOff, is a great way to give yourself the energy boost you need to help you reach your personal records. Eatting something small before you work out is a good idea to give you energy but be cautious to not eat too much. Your body needs the energy to be working out, not trying to digest your food. *Remember I am NOT a doctor, or dietitian, this is just what I have learned over the past few years of becoming healthy.

So that is a few of my tips for now – I’m sure I’ll have more at another time.

I’ll share a little bit about my trainer. He was training my soccer team once a week when I first met him. This was around the time that I was trying to find a personal trainer and I had some bad experiences. I found out that he also did one on one sessions, so I gave him a call to set up a first session. Ever since then I have been going there.

He does it two different places. If it’s nice (summer), we workout outside at a track, and if it’s crappy (winter) we workout inside. When I did my first session I told him that I couldn’t do push ups – literally, not even one.  So, one of the first things he makes me to…push ups! Way to open my mouth. I had to do 5 – and it took me forever to do them. I figured that when he saw that I couldn’t do them, he wouldn’t make me finish. Mistake number two. You ALWAYS have to finish, no matter what. Not even crying will get you out of finishing something; it just makes him push you harder – which is what he is paid for after all.

So I managed to do 5 extremely pathetic push ups, and we moved on with the rest of the workout. A lot of the things that we work on are quick feet and our starts. So for example – when you go to sprint in soccer, how fast you can get going. Since I have been working with him, my coaches have commented how much they notice a difference.

I do complain a lot during our sessions, which are often held in small groups, but I always feel better after the workout (even if my legs are quivering so much I can barely walk/drive). I try hard not to mention drills that I really hate because then we just do them even more. I secretly think he finds joy in making us hurt. But seriously, he pushes us all really hard, he knows when we can give more, and even when we can’t he still pushes us. He cares about each one of us and how we are doing/progressing. It would be really easy for him to just show up, run the session, and leave having no contact in between sessions, nothing – but he’s not like that. Anytime you have a question he answers it, if you’re struggling, he’s there to tell you to smarten up.

 And he’s tough, very tough, but would you want your trainer any other way?

Dead weight

Even when I was at my goal weight, I felt like a blob in the sense that I didn’t move very gracefully. I feel like I walk like a man, and not very elegantly. I am heavy in my steps and don’t have very good movement.

Why is this coming up you ask? Because the personal trainer I go to (who is great) focuses on sports training. We do a lot of foot work and quick feet, two things that I don’t have. I always dread the part of the session where we have to do foot work through the ladder.  First of all I am trying to focus on what my steps are – because each time we go through it’s something new and my coordination is not great and second trying to stay light on my feet.

I always get so frustrated because I am trying to move quickly, yet I am going so slow.  Plus trying to remember to move my arms at the same time – there is just too much going on!

After my session yesterday I asked him why I was having such a hard time moving and staying light on my feet – and it all depends on the position of your body and how tired your legs are. The more tired your legs are the harder the drills are. WELL THAT EXPLAINS IT! My legs are always sore just from the warm up! Haha. No but for real, I need to work on the position of my body and hopefully I will be able to have quicker feet. I tried it after we were done talking and I was able to move quicker, but I was also in a good mood so that probably had something to do with it as well.

I am also going to try to walk lighter on my feet too – more on the balls of my feet. One reason why I never wear heels (besides how much they hurt my feet) is I always feel clunky and clumsy walking in them. I know I am tall – but I am not that big, I should be able to be somewhat graceful.

I guess I can’t have it both ways – competitive soccer player and graceful female…or can I?

On a different topic I still need to find a new sport/activity to do. Yes I have my soccer and my trainer, but since I gave up running I want to find something new.

I used to go to the Zumba classes at my gym, which I loved, but haven’t been in quite a while. Perhaps what I’ll do is look at the schedule and pick out some gym classes to go to and try something new next week!

Tomorrow is my birthday...stay tuned for a special post!

P.S. I sprayed my clothes with laundry smelling fabreeze this morning (even though they were clean) and now I am getting this GREAT smell every time I move!