This girl is on FIRE

I am SO on fire. I've been tracking my food, focusing on protein, getting all my water in and feeling REALLY good about everything! I love how much better I feel when I eat healthy! Not to mention the extra energy I have.

We are in the middle of doing a kitchen reno so yesterday I went to get a price on how much the counter top was going to cost us. The Rona at the other end of the city is going out of business so they are having a big sale. We went there today to see what we could get that we still needed. We walked away with two new brooms, new threshold for our kitchen floor, a new sink, and wire to re-wire our thermostat. I was pretty pleased with what we were able to get - especially when it was all 10-40% off. We still have some things to go but it is looking good right now. 

Today is a fairly laid back day - it's quite chilly outside so I don't know if I will be getting out for a walk or not. It's a very good day to curl up with a hot cup of tea. 

HBL challenge update...

I am half way done my HBL challenge today. I have been taking my vitamins every day 3 times a day, having my shakes and my tea as promised - but I have not been doing so well in the evening regarding my food intake.

That being said I am still not noticing any difference in my energy or body. My back is feeling much better but that is because of my physio exercises. I am still feeling extremely lethargic and tired all of the time. I still feel really sluggish too. My joints aren't feeling any better and my over all health is not feeling much better too. The only thing that gives me an energy boost is the LiftOff - which is still my favourite product.

When I started taking HBL the first time I did notice a difference but not one that was massively impressive. I did try the La Bamba diet but did not succeed at that (see post about my attempts).

My doctor has made a referral for me to go see a sleep doctor but I am going to see what I can try to figure out what I can do for myself first (the first apppointment isn't until the end of Aug and that is a LONG time away when I am practically falling asleep at my desk).

I'm not going to lie I was really hoping for better results in my energy with my HBL product challenge, but I will continue as planned and stick it out to see the end results.

I am trying to summon up the energy to go back to the gym too - right now it takes all my energy to finish the stuff around the house and then haul myself to bed. Right now I am so tired that my eyes are watering heavily and it looks as if I am crying.

Tonight Sean and I are going to go to the movies, which we haven't done in a really long time, so hopefully that will be relaxing (even though I am kind wishing we could just stay home and sleep, I know that won't help me). Wednesday night I am babysitting, so weather permitting I will go for a walk with Sammy, Thursday night is soccer practice, and I am planning on the gym for Friday. Working back into it slowly of course.

I think when I get home I will take a shower, shave my legs, and get into comfy clothes for the movie.

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!

My Birthday and my 25-before-25 list

Well, today is the day! Not only is it my 24^th birthday, it’s also the start of my 25 before 25 list. Essentially I picked 25 things that I want to complete before I turn ¼ of a century old. Some of the list is complied of ideas I got from other peoples lists and some of these are unique to me. Some are simple, some are more challenging, but I have 365 days to complete them and of course write about them to share with you! I’ve been working on compiling the list for a while now (just over a month) and I’m really excited to complete it.

1. Throw a fancy dinner party

2. Get a grown up bed set

3. Try one new recipe a month

4. Spend one whole day doing nothing

5. Do something spontaneous

6. Lay in the grass and watch the stars

7. Eat a decadent dessert and be in control

8. Reconnect with an old camp friend

9. Buy $100 grocery gift card and leave it with the cashier for someone

10. Donate blood

11. Go fishing

12. Find out my credit score

13. Pick a movie series and watch them back to back

14. Go garage sailing

15. Start a retirement savings plan

16. This one is personal ;)

17. Get my belly button pierced

18. Not use my credit card for one month

19. Start, and finish editing my wedding video

20. Play in the rain

21. Go berry picking

22. Get in the car and drive with no destination planned

23. Not buy house cleaner for one year (with the exception of dish soap)

24. Pay off 100% of our debt

25. Get back to my goal weight

Today Sean made me pancakes for breakfast at my request:

That’s peanut butter and raspberry jam on them, with. They were so good! Then for lunch I had a salad, and Sean came to meet me because he has to work tonight.

After work I am going to get my hair cut, rent a movie, and then my sister is coming over for quesedillas and a home spa night (because going to a real spa is just not in the budget!).  I am quite looking forward to it!

I plan on ending the evening with a cup of tea, a mint smoothie (my favourite chocolate ever that I bought on the weekend to have on my birthday) and snuggles with my little Levi <3.