Last week I was traveling for work and was visiting a client in Northern Ontario, roughly 3 hours North of Cochrane. When I arrived at Timmins airport and stepped outside the plane, I
breathed in and my nasal hairs froze instantly. Oh boy. From then on I
breathed through my scarf. The outside temperature was -40C every morning, warming up to about -28C in the afternoon. Add wind chill to that and you're at -50C. Fun stuff.
That meant that everywhere I went there was heat blasting; in the trucks, in the buildings, in the "dorm" rooms. Upon arrival, the ambient temperature in my room was 25C. Holy shit. That got lowered right away to a more comfortable 23C.
In fear of an asthma attack while up North for the week, I armed myself with a new Bricanyl inhaler, the type that I'd used for many years, but haven't had the need to use for over a year now. I didn't need it once. I firmly believe that eating properly has just about eliminated my asthma, though I do still experience minor wheezing at times. It's not nearly bad enough to treat with the inhaler, anyway.
So, here I was, in awful conditions for skin and lungs. To battle the incessant blowing/electric heat and hopefully prevent my skin from drying out, I applied some serious lotion (St. Ives Intensive Relief) to my body, morning and night. I found it really helped and I only scratched the hell out of my skin the first night.
On the Thursday, I took my second dose of silicea as directed. Now that I'm back home in "normal" winter weather (between -3C and -10C), I've eased up on the lotion application so we'll see whether the silicea helps with skin ailments as much as it's rumoured to. I have my hopes up! :)
I noticed yesterday that for the first time in memory I was not itchy. Anywhere. I've always had some spot on my being needing a scratch, like as if I had fucking fleas, but suddenly there was no itch. Could it be??! Will see how it goes in the next couple of days since I've virtually stopped applying the lotion.
In other good news, the corn on my left foot is gone! The last bit of hardened skin came off during my trip and I can finally walk with a normal stride. I'd forgotten how good that feels - why the hell did I resist this treatment so long?! Avoiding chemicals, that's why. At times they do good things, okay? :)
Hubby and I went for a hike through a section of our closest conservation area today, and it was so nice to walk normally, even when there were tree roots and rocks underfoot. I gave my (left!) ankle a slight twist while jogging down a hill, but other than that it was fantastic. Yay!!
Oh! And, as expected, I did wheeze a bit after running up and down a couple hills in the cold air, but it wasn't severe enough to use the inhaler. I'll always make sure I have it on me just in case anyway.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Monday, December 31, 2012
What's in store for 2013?
Apologies for my hiatus there...this blogging thing got real boring real quick. Let's see if I can think of something more meaningful to say, shall we?
2012 was a year of change for me; after being in the same job for 7 years I was finally able to change to a new one, still with the same company, thankfully. With this change I decided to take the opportunity to spruce myself up some, specifically by colouring my hair to hide the grey. In an instant, people would insinuate once again that I was fresh out of school. It's amazing what a little hair colour can do, eh?!
My new position also involves quite a bit of travel. My first outing took me to sunny Houston, TX for two days, which was a nice escape from the start of our Canadian winter. Next, after a couple of local assignments, I flew to Calgary, Alberta for a week, came home on the Friday evening, and flew to Halifax on the next Sunday afternoon, to spend a week there. Both cities had such delicious food, it was hard...no, impossible, to eat primally. So, I enjoyed myself and ate as much seafood as possible. (If you're ever in downtown Halifax, go to Salty's, to their upper level restaurant. The lobster bisque, butter-poached halibut and crab risotto were to DIE for. Also, go to the middle level of The Lower Deck and enjoy their lobster chowder. OMFG.)
Ahem...anyway, the food in Halifax was amazing. The sales taxes sucked.
Now we're into the Christmas season (I don't practice any religion and neither does my family, yet we do the Christmas thing...for some reason) and I've been pretty good in my eating, though I've pretty much fallen off the primal wagon for the latter part of this year. I have a new goal for 2013, which I'll get into in a moment, but it's time to whip this wet noodle back into shape.
In September 2013 hubby and I (along with whoever of my friends and family wish to participate) will be attempting to complete a Tough Mudder course here in the Toronto area. It's a huge stretch for me/us, I know, but I also didn't think that shy little me would ever be a product trainer for my employer, either. We're going to do it and have some fun, dammit!
I really didn't do a whole lot, exercise-wise, this past year. I'm very soft and have gained back just a few pounds of the 20 that I had lost and kept off for almost 2 years. Food preparation in our house got really tiring and I was bored of eating the same dishes that we'd cook. Frankly, I got bored of cooking, too. I'd come home from work, lounge around, force myself to do some school work, and hope that hubby would be in the mood to put something on the table, which I'd be happy to eat as long as I didn't have to make it. It got really bad. Even grocery shopping was a chore.
I'm back to having my daily bag of plantain crack, but it's not the insane addiction like it was before. I usually have them as my breakfast if I'm not in a position to have bacon and eggs. They are certainly better then having a muffin or bagel (barf!).
Both hubby and I want to bring more veggies into our diet; our problem is figuring out what to do with them in order to not get bored. We're going through a bit of a lazy phase, so I think it might be reasonable to rely on canned or frozen veggies through the winter, and hopefully by spring we'll be happy to spend the energy on prep/cooking time again.
The Tough Mudder is going to be a huge challenge for us, but I'm determined to do it. Let's see what progress we can make by next September.
Here's to a year of positive change and facing our fears. *Raises glass*
2012 was a year of change for me; after being in the same job for 7 years I was finally able to change to a new one, still with the same company, thankfully. With this change I decided to take the opportunity to spruce myself up some, specifically by colouring my hair to hide the grey. In an instant, people would insinuate once again that I was fresh out of school. It's amazing what a little hair colour can do, eh?!
My new position also involves quite a bit of travel. My first outing took me to sunny Houston, TX for two days, which was a nice escape from the start of our Canadian winter. Next, after a couple of local assignments, I flew to Calgary, Alberta for a week, came home on the Friday evening, and flew to Halifax on the next Sunday afternoon, to spend a week there. Both cities had such delicious food, it was hard...no, impossible, to eat primally. So, I enjoyed myself and ate as much seafood as possible. (If you're ever in downtown Halifax, go to Salty's, to their upper level restaurant. The lobster bisque, butter-poached halibut and crab risotto were to DIE for. Also, go to the middle level of The Lower Deck and enjoy their lobster chowder. OMFG.)
Ahem...anyway, the food in Halifax was amazing. The sales taxes sucked.
Now we're into the Christmas season (I don't practice any religion and neither does my family, yet we do the Christmas thing...for some reason) and I've been pretty good in my eating, though I've pretty much fallen off the primal wagon for the latter part of this year. I have a new goal for 2013, which I'll get into in a moment, but it's time to whip this wet noodle back into shape.
In September 2013 hubby and I (along with whoever of my friends and family wish to participate) will be attempting to complete a Tough Mudder course here in the Toronto area. It's a huge stretch for me/us, I know, but I also didn't think that shy little me would ever be a product trainer for my employer, either. We're going to do it and have some fun, dammit!
I really didn't do a whole lot, exercise-wise, this past year. I'm very soft and have gained back just a few pounds of the 20 that I had lost and kept off for almost 2 years. Food preparation in our house got really tiring and I was bored of eating the same dishes that we'd cook. Frankly, I got bored of cooking, too. I'd come home from work, lounge around, force myself to do some school work, and hope that hubby would be in the mood to put something on the table, which I'd be happy to eat as long as I didn't have to make it. It got really bad. Even grocery shopping was a chore.
I'm back to having my daily bag of plantain crack, but it's not the insane addiction like it was before. I usually have them as my breakfast if I'm not in a position to have bacon and eggs. They are certainly better then having a muffin or bagel (barf!).
Both hubby and I want to bring more veggies into our diet; our problem is figuring out what to do with them in order to not get bored. We're going through a bit of a lazy phase, so I think it might be reasonable to rely on canned or frozen veggies through the winter, and hopefully by spring we'll be happy to spend the energy on prep/cooking time again.
The Tough Mudder is going to be a huge challenge for us, but I'm determined to do it. Let's see what progress we can make by next September.
Here's to a year of positive change and facing our fears. *Raises glass*
Monday, January 2, 2012
One! One pull-up! Ah ah ah!
Hunnybun installed the doorway chin-up bar this morning, and after testing it out with a couple of half-assed (I mean, leg-assisted!) chin-up attempts earlier, I finally did one chin-up tonight! Ok, it wasn't pure form, but hell, I managed to pull my ass up off the floor! :D
2012 has to be the year that I incorporate more movement and lifting of heavy things into my lifestyle, which will compliment the diet changes I've already made (and continue to make). Progress needs to continue!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Non-Exercise Types and More Ramblings
Non-exercise types. Yes, I am one of them. I've never been that much into exercise and while I'd like to blame my lack of motivation on diet/weight/lifestyle/whatever, I really don't know why I don't feel like getting out of this chair more often.
I can't blame diet right now anyway, since I'm eating very clean and have been for over a year now, with just a few cheats here and there. ("Birthday season" in my family starts in September and I just can't resist my step-mom's homemade chocolate cake.) Heck, this "lifestyle" (it's not just a DIET!) of eating "primally" is enough on it's own to drop some excess weight and KEEP IT OFF for over a year and counting. This is without regular exercise AND while working an office job.
Think about that.
Now think about your friends, your co-workers, the general population that is overweight and fluffy. You hear "whoever" constantly complaining that they want to lose a few pounds...when they see themselves in the mirror they whine about their acne or the size of their ass...they say they're going to join a gym (AGAIN, and since they threw away their money before you want to say "just give the money to me, since you won't go anyway!).
I used to be like this...heck, I still comment on my tummy or whatnot, BUT, making this change to my diet alone was the first crucial step in changing myself. Without forcing myself to run on a treadmill or get out my old workout DVD I lost 20 pounds and it has STAYED OFF.
The general population is always looking for a simple (lazy, half-assed, don't want to break a sweat or get off the couch) way to lose weight. Diet pills and surgery are the laziest options in my humble opinion, they're dangerous (for example, some diet pills are no longer "on the market" due to health risks yet some desperados still source them out!), and these people almost always re-gain the weight back soon after.
The easiest change to make is to change what you stuff into your piehole (I love that word hehe)! The only caveat (and deal-breaker for many) is that *gasp!* you need to cook your own meals using *gasp!* real foooooood! This requirement of preparing and cooking meals is what people dread. They have no idea how to cook meals using real food and goddamnit, it's easier and faster to throw that frozen dinner box into the microwave! They don't want to spend an hour prepping and cooking! And then the CLEANUP...who the hell wants to spend 10 minutes washing pots and pans! The HORROR!
I used to be that person too. I had no interest in cooking when I was growing up, I didn't have the same palette as my mother (and didn't like what she'd make), and with all the fast food restaurants around and frozen meals available, why the hell would I waste my valuable time cooking??! I didn't even own a proper cookware set!
When I gained weight from eating these so-called "healthy" frozen dinners and was still hungry, that was it for me. The salt content in these things is CRAZY. I later learned, through reading about Paleo and Primal), how much of these "meals" were man-made and my eyes were opened. For good.
Even though I didn't know how to cook I started buying REAL FOOD and cooking it, experimenting and phoning family members for help. Sure I ruined a few roasts (I still do LOL) but there were some great-tasting meals starting to develop. Best of all, the weight started dropping. I was excited to learn more, and with all the resources out there (Mark's Daily Apple, etc.) there's a SHITLOAD of easy Paleo and Primal recipes to be found. Ribs in the slow cooker all day with just a few simple seasonings are TO DIE FOR. So simple even a caveman could do it (har!). ;)
Anyway, my point is that one can easily get started on the path to better health by simply changing their eating habits, even if they aren't the "exercising type". The only way to lose weight is to change something, and this is the best (tastiest!) way out there. You have to start somewhere, and why not give your body what it needs as a starting point??
I can't blame diet right now anyway, since I'm eating very clean and have been for over a year now, with just a few cheats here and there. ("Birthday season" in my family starts in September and I just can't resist my step-mom's homemade chocolate cake.) Heck, this "lifestyle" (it's not just a DIET!) of eating "primally" is enough on it's own to drop some excess weight and KEEP IT OFF for over a year and counting. This is without regular exercise AND while working an office job.
Think about that.
Now think about your friends, your co-workers, the general population that is overweight and fluffy. You hear "whoever" constantly complaining that they want to lose a few pounds...when they see themselves in the mirror they whine about their acne or the size of their ass...they say they're going to join a gym (AGAIN, and since they threw away their money before you want to say "just give the money to me, since you won't go anyway!).
I used to be like this...heck, I still comment on my tummy or whatnot, BUT, making this change to my diet alone was the first crucial step in changing myself. Without forcing myself to run on a treadmill or get out my old workout DVD I lost 20 pounds and it has STAYED OFF.
The general population is always looking for a simple (lazy, half-assed, don't want to break a sweat or get off the couch) way to lose weight. Diet pills and surgery are the laziest options in my humble opinion, they're dangerous (for example, some diet pills are no longer "on the market" due to health risks yet some desperados still source them out!), and these people almost always re-gain the weight back soon after.
The easiest change to make is to change what you stuff into your piehole (I love that word hehe)! The only caveat (and deal-breaker for many) is that *gasp!* you need to cook your own meals using *gasp!* real foooooood! This requirement of preparing and cooking meals is what people dread. They have no idea how to cook meals using real food and goddamnit, it's easier and faster to throw that frozen dinner box into the microwave! They don't want to spend an hour prepping and cooking! And then the CLEANUP...who the hell wants to spend 10 minutes washing pots and pans! The HORROR!
I used to be that person too. I had no interest in cooking when I was growing up, I didn't have the same palette as my mother (and didn't like what she'd make), and with all the fast food restaurants around and frozen meals available, why the hell would I waste my valuable time cooking??! I didn't even own a proper cookware set!
When I gained weight from eating these so-called "healthy" frozen dinners and was still hungry, that was it for me. The salt content in these things is CRAZY. I later learned, through reading about Paleo and Primal), how much of these "meals" were man-made and my eyes were opened. For good.
Even though I didn't know how to cook I started buying REAL FOOD and cooking it, experimenting and phoning family members for help. Sure I ruined a few roasts (I still do LOL) but there were some great-tasting meals starting to develop. Best of all, the weight started dropping. I was excited to learn more, and with all the resources out there (Mark's Daily Apple, etc.) there's a SHITLOAD of easy Paleo and Primal recipes to be found. Ribs in the slow cooker all day with just a few simple seasonings are TO DIE FOR. So simple even a caveman could do it (har!). ;)
Anyway, my point is that one can easily get started on the path to better health by simply changing their eating habits, even if they aren't the "exercising type". The only way to lose weight is to change something, and this is the best (tastiest!) way out there. You have to start somewhere, and why not give your body what it needs as a starting point??
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Tue. Oct. 5, 2010
Today was a busy day; got up at 10:30am and had to hurry to get dressed/cleaned up to go out - we were meeting my mom and sister at Mandarin for lunch. I tried to make 'better' choices at the huge buffet and I did alright. Of course I did enjoy a few small desserts, some of which were supposedly "sugar-free", though they were still sweet enough. Not sure what they used to sweeten them, but alas...
After lunch we went to my sister's house to see her new chihuahua puppy. Cute little thing!
Once we got home and relaxed for a bit we went for a walk to grab some cat food and almonds. (I had it in my mind that I'd be baking something later, trying out a primal recipe.) After the walk we went down into the basement to work out, and I completed level 1 of each the Primal Blueprint essential movements under "lift heavy things". In addition, hubby spotted me during a few bench presses. I felt really good after all that and can't wait to do it again in a couple days.
While dinner was warming up in the microwave (leftover chicken and vegetables, which was still delicious), I assembled the ingredients of Best Primal Cookies with my chosen variations. The oven was pre-heating to 350F as we started eating dinner, and after a few minutes the cookies went in. 12 minutes later we had these:
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Yum! After eating 3 of them I was stuffed. I probably should've waited a little longer after finishing dinner. Whatever. :)
After lunch we went to my sister's house to see her new chihuahua puppy. Cute little thing!
Once we got home and relaxed for a bit we went for a walk to grab some cat food and almonds. (I had it in my mind that I'd be baking something later, trying out a primal recipe.) After the walk we went down into the basement to work out, and I completed level 1 of each the Primal Blueprint essential movements under "lift heavy things". In addition, hubby spotted me during a few bench presses. I felt really good after all that and can't wait to do it again in a couple days.
While dinner was warming up in the microwave (leftover chicken and vegetables, which was still delicious), I assembled the ingredients of Best Primal Cookies with my chosen variations. The oven was pre-heating to 350F as we started eating dinner, and after a few minutes the cookies went in. 12 minutes later we had these:
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Yum! After eating 3 of them I was stuffed. I probably should've waited a little longer after finishing dinner. Whatever. :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Yeehaw!!
- I'm now taking two fish oil soft gels a day; one with lunch and one with dinner. However, they don't seem to help me with BMs at all because prior to this evening's BM I hadn't had one since Monday. :S
- Had a crap day at work today and an even crappier drive home.
- To get myself out of that post-work funk I called up the college that I'm taking a distance learning course through, and finally got my login information to begin the course (it officially started on the 10th but due to waiting for approvals at work I could only register on the 13th). I logged in and started looking around to get situated with the format and such. Ended up spending a few hours on it, also started the first lesson. Woot!
- After I ended up engrossed in the course stuff, Hubby graciously offered to cook dinner, which was delicious baked/steamed salmon with chopped spinach as a side. YUM!!
- Hubby wanted to go browse for a couple things at Home Depot so we walked over together. I wasn't planning on shopping for anything myself, but somehow we ended up in the sledgehammer section and ended up picking out a NICE 6lb one. Now I need to look up that sledgehammer workout video...
- Had a crap day at work today and an even crappier drive home.
- To get myself out of that post-work funk I called up the college that I'm taking a distance learning course through, and finally got my login information to begin the course (it officially started on the 10th but due to waiting for approvals at work I could only register on the 13th). I logged in and started looking around to get situated with the format and such. Ended up spending a few hours on it, also started the first lesson. Woot!
- After I ended up engrossed in the course stuff, Hubby graciously offered to cook dinner, which was delicious baked/steamed salmon with chopped spinach as a side. YUM!!
- Hubby wanted to go browse for a couple things at Home Depot so we walked over together. I wasn't planning on shopping for anything myself, but somehow we ended up in the sledgehammer section and ended up picking out a NICE 6lb one. Now I need to look up that sledgehammer workout video...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Insert Post Title Here
I don't know what it is, but sometimes I just can't come up with a suitable title for posts. Realistically, every post could be named 'update' or something just as boring. Enh.
Anyway, yesterday I had worked from home so in between scheduled appointments (phone calls) I had some time to make some almond milk from Nat's recipe. First time ever, and it turned out just fine. I put some in my coffee to see what it tasted like and it was very 'woody'.
Last night's dinner consisted of delicious BBQ'd steak and previously-frozen broccoli. After dinner Rabbit and I went for a nice walk and did some sprints here and there. Boy, did that feel great! I haven't run that fast in YEARS! We also stopped at the playground to see how our pull-ups would go at the monkey bars. Pffft...weaklings! Both of us! Well that will soon change...
Once we got home I started working on Nat's 'pseudo banana bread' recipe (same link above). The recipe HAD said to put the ingredients into a blender to combine them, but the stuff was so thick and dry it wouldn't blend. I damned-near burnt out the motor of the blender (and broke something else by throwing the damned thing) when hubby came down to diffuse the situation. I had added a bit of water to the concoction in hopes of getting it to blend, but it didn't work. I figured by that point that there was probably an error in the instructions (yeah, they meant to say 'food processor' instead of 'blender'), so we transferred everything to the processor and were on our merry way.
Things went a little better in the processor, but since I'd added water the stuff was way wetter than it should have been. Hubby to the rescue again: add more almonds and coconut to it. It helped, but not quite enough. My last attempt at saving it was to grab the bread baking pan and get it into the oven for a bit.
The end result, while edible, wasn't great, but it was alright. The consistency was screwed, of course, but even my co-workers tried it and said it was alright. Next time will be better.
Tonight dinner was pork chops with a tiny bit of honey and cinnamon on them. YUM! The side was previously frozen cauliflower. Unfortunately the apple sauce that was in the fridge had somehow carbonated itself (tasted like champagne lol) so we ditched it instead of slopping it over the pork. Dammit.
After dinner we went for our walk again, with a few sprints. Stopped at the playground again with some gloves to use the monkey bars for (pathetic, failed) pull-ups and stretches.
The recipe to try tonight was batty's blueberry butter balls. These turned out alright (would've been easier if I'd had an ice cream scoop with the little ejection scraper inside it). I guess this snack is something one needs to get accustomed to, since the buttery smooth texture is entirely new to us. One each was enough for now.
Blueberry Butter Balls...mmm.
.JPG)
Anyway, yesterday I had worked from home so in between scheduled appointments (phone calls) I had some time to make some almond milk from Nat's recipe. First time ever, and it turned out just fine. I put some in my coffee to see what it tasted like and it was very 'woody'.
Last night's dinner consisted of delicious BBQ'd steak and previously-frozen broccoli. After dinner Rabbit and I went for a nice walk and did some sprints here and there. Boy, did that feel great! I haven't run that fast in YEARS! We also stopped at the playground to see how our pull-ups would go at the monkey bars. Pffft...weaklings! Both of us! Well that will soon change...
Once we got home I started working on Nat's 'pseudo banana bread' recipe (same link above). The recipe HAD said to put the ingredients into a blender to combine them, but the stuff was so thick and dry it wouldn't blend. I damned-near burnt out the motor of the blender (and broke something else by throwing the damned thing) when hubby came down to diffuse the situation. I had added a bit of water to the concoction in hopes of getting it to blend, but it didn't work. I figured by that point that there was probably an error in the instructions (yeah, they meant to say 'food processor' instead of 'blender'), so we transferred everything to the processor and were on our merry way.
Things went a little better in the processor, but since I'd added water the stuff was way wetter than it should have been. Hubby to the rescue again: add more almonds and coconut to it. It helped, but not quite enough. My last attempt at saving it was to grab the bread baking pan and get it into the oven for a bit.
The end result, while edible, wasn't great, but it was alright. The consistency was screwed, of course, but even my co-workers tried it and said it was alright. Next time will be better.
Tonight dinner was pork chops with a tiny bit of honey and cinnamon on them. YUM! The side was previously frozen cauliflower. Unfortunately the apple sauce that was in the fridge had somehow carbonated itself (tasted like champagne lol) so we ditched it instead of slopping it over the pork. Dammit.
After dinner we went for our walk again, with a few sprints. Stopped at the playground again with some gloves to use the monkey bars for (pathetic, failed) pull-ups and stretches.
The recipe to try tonight was batty's blueberry butter balls. These turned out alright (would've been easier if I'd had an ice cream scoop with the little ejection scraper inside it). I guess this snack is something one needs to get accustomed to, since the buttery smooth texture is entirely new to us. One each was enough for now.
Blueberry Butter Balls...mmm.
.JPG)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A dozen more burpees
Last night I completed 12 more burpees in proper form, but did not time myself. I believe I managed to do them in less than two minutes this time, though, because I really only took a small breather somewhere around the 10th one.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Burpees - Minding My Form
Yesterday ended up being a write-off for both exercise and healthy eating, so today is make-up day. I've never been one to bother writing down what I eat because I just don't need to keep track. I know what I've eaten and whether it's keeping me on track or not.
So, I'll write about what exercises I've done. The other day I mentioned doing 22 burpees in 2 minutes, and my form was admittedly bad. I promised myself today that when I do my burpees they will be in proper form. My DH set the 2-minute timer on his cell and I began. I managed to complete 10 in proper form before needing to stop and catch my breath. He encouraged me to complete one more, which I did, but then he mentioned 11 is an uneven number and surely I could do just one more to round it off. Hah! I managed to finish the 12th burpee just before the timer went off. *pant*
Now I'm hungry so off I go to the kitchen to heat up some delicious BBQ'd ribs. Mmmm.
So, I'll write about what exercises I've done. The other day I mentioned doing 22 burpees in 2 minutes, and my form was admittedly bad. I promised myself today that when I do my burpees they will be in proper form. My DH set the 2-minute timer on his cell and I began. I managed to complete 10 in proper form before needing to stop and catch my breath. He encouraged me to complete one more, which I did, but then he mentioned 11 is an uneven number and surely I could do just one more to round it off. Hah! I managed to finish the 12th burpee just before the timer went off. *pant*
Now I'm hungry so off I go to the kitchen to heat up some delicious BBQ'd ribs. Mmmm.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
13 Pounds and Counting
After all the "diet cheating" I'd been doing over the past few weeks (a small piece of cake here, some homemade bread there), I was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning when I stepped on the scale. 152.8! Holy crap, I'm almost into the 140s again! I don't remember the last time I was in the 140s, it was so long ago! Yeehaw!
Just over a week ago I started doing small amounts of crunches and lady push-ups during my evening stretch session on the bedroom floor. I did 5 of each for a couple days, then raised it to 10, and then 20 each. I can now do all 20 of each straight without needing any rest time.
Today is Canada Day so I have the day off and I slept til 10am. The stupid cat woke me up at that point - how annoying. I hope she isn't one of those ones that will live til 28 years old...she's already at 19 and I love her but I need a break from cats for awhile.
On another note, an update on the poo-free life! The skin on my face has never been smoother and I haven't had a huge monthly zit in a couple of months (I think I've had one since returning from our vacation). My scalp was a bit smelly (at least to me) last weekend so I did a good cleaning with diluted baking soda with the ACV rinse. Aaaaaah, much better.
Otherwise, it's going pretty well. Mark Sisson at Mark's Daily Apple posted about this "way of life" and his post has a ka-jillion comments on it (it's a fascinating topic for the masses!). Someone mentioned making a deodorant from coconut oil and baking soda so I'm trying that sporadically for now. Once my deodorant stick is finished I'll re-fill it with this new mixture.
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I haven't felt much like blogging but I'll try to post more often now that I'm getting some positive results!
Just over a week ago I started doing small amounts of crunches and lady push-ups during my evening stretch session on the bedroom floor. I did 5 of each for a couple days, then raised it to 10, and then 20 each. I can now do all 20 of each straight without needing any rest time.
Today is Canada Day so I have the day off and I slept til 10am. The stupid cat woke me up at that point - how annoying. I hope she isn't one of those ones that will live til 28 years old...she's already at 19 and I love her but I need a break from cats for awhile.
On another note, an update on the poo-free life! The skin on my face has never been smoother and I haven't had a huge monthly zit in a couple of months (I think I've had one since returning from our vacation). My scalp was a bit smelly (at least to me) last weekend so I did a good cleaning with diluted baking soda with the ACV rinse. Aaaaaah, much better.
Otherwise, it's going pretty well. Mark Sisson at Mark's Daily Apple posted about this "way of life" and his post has a ka-jillion comments on it (it's a fascinating topic for the masses!). Someone mentioned making a deodorant from coconut oil and baking soda so I'm trying that sporadically for now. Once my deodorant stick is finished I'll re-fill it with this new mixture.
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I haven't felt much like blogging but I'll try to post more often now that I'm getting some positive results!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Burn, Baby, Burn!
After eating a delectable dinner of broiled salmon and veggies, Hubby and I went for a nice walk. I was feeling pretty energetic (I've noticed I have more energy lately and no longer get sleepy at work), so after a few minutes of warming up I asked if he was into jogging to the second lamp post ahead. He said sure, so off we went at a gentle clip.
*huff, puff, we're finally there*
I am severely out of shape. Never mind the fact that we don't have proper running shoes (those Vibram Five Fingers sound intriguing, but I'm not sure if they'd be warm enough in the winter, even if the sidewalks are bare and dry) or proper posture. Regardless, we alternated the walking and jogging until we were home and it did get easier as we went.
Can't wait to do it again. :)
Today I also tried my tea with only cream in it; no sugar. It was actually drinkable, so that's it! No more sugar in my tea! Yay!
*huff, puff, we're finally there*
I am severely out of shape. Never mind the fact that we don't have proper running shoes (those Vibram Five Fingers sound intriguing, but I'm not sure if they'd be warm enough in the winter, even if the sidewalks are bare and dry) or proper posture. Regardless, we alternated the walking and jogging until we were home and it did get easier as we went.
Can't wait to do it again. :)
Today I also tried my tea with only cream in it; no sugar. It was actually drinkable, so that's it! No more sugar in my tea! Yay!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Back on Track
This past week was a busy one, but we still managed to stay on track with our meals and walks. This morning I weighed myself after using the washroom and was pleased with my readings:
I think I'll keep 4 week's worth of data on the chart going forward.
This afternoon I did a workout in the basement; more elliptical, light weights and crunches. All while watching a Peter Gabriel concert on DVD (from the Growing Up tour). He's so awesome.
Check this out:
My itch has pretty much subsided, which I could attribute to the epsom salt baths, coconut oil, and sometimes skipping a day for showering. My hair doesn't smell so much like wet dog anymore, thankfully, but there are times where the armpits are just RANCID and in need of a wipe-down.
Other than that, things are going well. :)
| Date | Weight | BF Weight | BF % | Body Water % | Bone Mass % |
| 01/30/2010 02/06/2010 02/13/2010 02/20/2010 | 163.2 160.3 162.5 161.9 | 50.7 49.6 50.9 51.1 | 31.3 31.0 31.4 31.6 | 50.0 50.3 50.0 49.9 | 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 |
I think I'll keep 4 week's worth of data on the chart going forward.
This afternoon I did a workout in the basement; more elliptical, light weights and crunches. All while watching a Peter Gabriel concert on DVD (from the Growing Up tour). He's so awesome.
Check this out:
My itch has pretty much subsided, which I could attribute to the epsom salt baths, coconut oil, and sometimes skipping a day for showering. My hair doesn't smell so much like wet dog anymore, thankfully, but there are times where the armpits are just RANCID and in need of a wipe-down.
Other than that, things are going well. :)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Gotta Start Somewhere
With all this talk about changes to diet and motivation to get healthier, it makes sense to post a starting point, right? Well, we recently cashed in some of our Air Miles in exchange for a fancy weigh scale, which does more than just give you a weight readout. It also does a body analysis to show you your (approximate) body fat weight, body fat %, body water % and bone mass %.
Here are my initial measurements as of just a few moments ago:
I know I have lots of room for improvement (my goal is to lose 20 or so pounds so I can fit into my work clothes again) and I actually started last night. I went down our "workout room" in the basement and went on the elliptical trainer for between 5-10 minutes while hubby made dinner. (Yeah, I know this isn't an optimal time to "work out" but hey, it was better than sitting there and eating chocolates while waiting!) We really need to put some sort of clock down there.
I also did some weight training with the lightest free weights I have. Note that I haven't touched these things in too many years, so I'm starting out small. I did two sets of the following:
- 8 lateral raises
- 8 front raises
- 8 bicep curls
- 8 tricep kickbacks
Then I got on the floor and did 32 stomach crunches followed by 8 (girl) push-ups, 24 more stomach crunches and 8 more push-ups.
Dinner was ready at that point (an omelet made with love) so upstairs I went to eat. Holy shit was that omelet ever tasty!
Here are my initial measurements as of just a few moments ago:
| Date | Weight | BF Weight | BF % | Body Water % | Bone Mass % |
| 01/30/2010 | 163.2 | 50.7 | 31.3 | 50.0 | 6.5 |
I know I have lots of room for improvement (my goal is to lose 20 or so pounds so I can fit into my work clothes again) and I actually started last night. I went down our "workout room" in the basement and went on the elliptical trainer for between 5-10 minutes while hubby made dinner. (Yeah, I know this isn't an optimal time to "work out" but hey, it was better than sitting there and eating chocolates while waiting!) We really need to put some sort of clock down there.
I also did some weight training with the lightest free weights I have. Note that I haven't touched these things in too many years, so I'm starting out small. I did two sets of the following:
- 8 lateral raises
- 8 front raises
- 8 bicep curls
- 8 tricep kickbacks
Then I got on the floor and did 32 stomach crunches followed by 8 (girl) push-ups, 24 more stomach crunches and 8 more push-ups.
Dinner was ready at that point (an omelet made with love) so upstairs I went to eat. Holy shit was that omelet ever tasty!
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