Day 3 - damn those brownies

While my activity has been fairly good so far this week, 3 days in a row hasn't happened in a while, my tracking has been less then stellar. I did write everything down just didn't add it up.

Today I had a noon meeting that I knew was catered so I didn't pack a lunch in the morning. That was a bad decision I should have packed. There where these brownies well more cake like that were amazing. They were small and that would have been fine if I had one. I had 5. What the heck?

I know it was emotionally fueled. You see today there was a work Stampede party I really wanted to go to and I wasn't allowed to. Ok I sort of get it. It's Wednesday so that's 2 days away from site. I did say I'd fly back on Thursday but still no.

Now the part that annoyed me a little. The person who said I couldn't go went to the party.

Yeah

Well I do have Friday to look forward to as that's when I'll head to the grounds and take in the chuckwagon races and the Grandstand show.

Tonight was run night and thanks to those brownies I ran out of steam at the 30 min mark. I stayed on the treadmill for another 30 min though. I was supposed to do a 45 min run/walk.

My Nike sensor wasn't working and I actually find Nike + iPod app not very accurate at any rate. For a data junkie like me I need consistent data.

So the other day I ordered a new Garmin. I don't know why but I trust Garmin more. I also ordered a new water bladder for my hydration pack. It's funny for Tinkerbell I had to train in winter. For Wine and Dine in the crazy heat of the summer so I decided to make use of the hydration pack I used for the Honolulu marathon a bizillion years ago.

So home day tomorrow. Hope you had a great Wednesday.

Day 2

Ok I'll admit when you've been off plan for a few weeks it's a wee struggle to get back on plan. I had an altercation with potato chips today. Oh well the important part is to keep going in the right direction.

This morning my left foot/ankle was mega sore. I was hobbling in my camp room. By the end of the day I was walking normally with just a wee bit of soreness. I do wonder if my love affair with Mizuno Wave Alchemy runners is over. Yet it's only my left foot that has issues lately Tomorrow is another run day and I brought the Wave Inspire pair with me so we'll see how it goes.

I am very intrigued by the Nike Lunarglide 4 +, almost bought a pair online last night but held off for going the traditional route like going to a store and trying them on.

Tonight I did yoga for the first time in a long time. I put in my go to yoga DVD - Namaste Yoga by Kate Potter. It was a television series so the dvd is divided into episodes I did the warm up and 12 min flow of Exalted Warrior then the warm up , 12 min flow and savasana of Sun Moon.

I was happy with how much I remembered but I definitely lost some of my yoga mojo. We shall see how I feel tomorrow.

Still wearing the Nike Fuelband and will write a review by this weekend.

Hope you had a great Tuesday.

Hugs!!!

Day 1 Half Marathon Training

I'll admit I was a little nervous about today - back to training and that I've pretty much done nothing consistent since training for Tinkerbell in January.

This time around I'm using Jeff Galloway's training as he designs training for RunDisney.

Tonight was 45 min. I decided to try 2 min walk / 90 sec run which is C25K week 2. It felt fantastic. I don't know if it was because I listened to my country play list as I've been obsessed with country music thanks to Stampede.

I grew up with country but traditionally run with more dance/ pop music. Well 45 min flew by.

I'm following the plan for those who've done a half marathon before. I thought I might even be ambitious with that as the last run was in January.

My plan is to do the 2 more runs this week with the same walk/ run ratio and then increase the run by 30 sec or reduce the walk by 30 sec. In order to follow C25K it should be decrease the walk by 30 sec before increasing the running.

Tomorrow my cross training will be yoga.

Now to focus on Day 2. Hope you had a great Monday!

Hugs

Yahoo weekend

Let me back track to Friday, Jersey Boys was spectacular and a whole lot of fun.

I was surprised how many Four Seasons songs I knew. Of course my brain retains millions of irrelevant pieces of information that every once in awhile come in handy.

Let me back track a little before the show. I did go to weigh in and I have to say I really enjoy the Friday noon leader, there was hardly anyone there but that was expected as it was the first day of the Calgary Stampede

I was up 1.2 over 2 weeks. I deserve it as I discussed in recent post.

Saturday was a crazy 3 malls in the same day in search of Western Wear, I was hanging out with 3 friends all who I met at work and I'm totally blessed to have met them. They are super funny and a delightful group of ladies. We were talking about my blog and I told them I don't really mention names of people and if I do it's just the first initial. Well they created blog identities for themselves. So here's a shout out to Mitzi, Lucky and Lola and I can't wait to chill with you ladies again.

I picked up everything that I had on my list so it was a successful shopping trip. I stopped in at the Running Room in Cross Iron Mills mall and asked about my recent issues with my Mizuno Wave Alchemy runners. Now I had already asked the guy at Sport Chek a few weeks ago and Mizuno Wave Inspire was recommended but I'm not enjoying them. So far I've only done a 30min run/walk on a treadmill with them so perhaps I'm speaking too soon. The Running Room guy said the same thing to try the Wave Inspire now I didn't tell him I already had them.

Next weekend I'm might wander down to a different Running Room and not tell them what I used before to see what they recommend. I've been considering Nike Lunarglide +3, the theory is that it adapts to your foot. I'll need to try them on see what's what. I know I don't want do the bulk of my half training in my current Wave Alchemy 10. I have the 9 version at work is cool for the treadmill and my last favourite runners. I don't know what happened with version 10 but they don't feel the same and I've been wearing them a lot so they're thoroughly tested. I've been wearing Mizuno Wave Alchemy since version 5.

Today was all about mowing the jungle lawn as it was guaranteed not to rain today. That was a good chunk of exercise as there was a portion of back lawn and behind my back fence that was almost 2 feet high due to all the rain.

I also weeded the flower beds and watered the flowers as it's going to +30C for the next few days that's 86F for you imperial followers.

I've worn the Nike Fuelband for the whole week and will post a more thorough review shortly. I wanted to wear it for a good chunk of time before giving my complete two cents.

Now it's laundry and taking it easy as I fly out tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is day 1 of Disney Wine and Dine training and I will blog all about that as you guys hold me accountable.

Alright hope you're having a delightful Saturday!!!

Crazy trip home and time for a reckoning

Wild flight home yesterday, not the flight itself but on the approach into Calgary this what we saw.

I don't think I've ever seen a thunder storm cell from the air before, I've certainly landed during them before.

You looked a little over the left and saw clear skies and where our plane actually was it wasn't raining at all. However we were headed straight for that dark cloud.

Then we landed and were told we couldn't get off the plane due to a lightening risk so we had to stay on the plane till the risk was over. A few minutes later it absolutely started to pour and then hail. There there was more hail and it was bouncing off the plane and we were all a little grateful that we're outside. We sat on the plane for almost an hour before we could get off.

Then wham the hail stopped and in the sky appeared a rather nice rainbow. When we were walking to the car it was like night and day all of a sudden it was back to sunny and warm but you could pick up the hail and make snowballs out of them.

So this week I actually hit the treadmill twice but there was hardly any running as I wound up going both times after dinner. Not a good idea. Tracking was so so but at least I actually wrote something down.

My lovely work friends gave me a ride home yesterday as we decided to go for dinner as one of things about working a fly in fly out schedule groceries are scarce as I'm away for 4 days a week.

We went Dairy Queen as it was on the way to my house and we were ridiculously hungry due our delay, yeah not the wisest choice.  Even worse I contemplated not going to weigh in today as I'm positive there'll be a gain. I have to go today as tomorrow I can't make the meeting. Don't worry I'm going. It's time to face the scale. So that's not till noon, so right now I'm watching the Calgary Stampede Parade on TV.

Half marathon training starts Monday and it's bang on focus from that point on. I think I might start over with the C25K and add it to the half marathon training. My training consists of 2 days running/walking for 45min, then a 3rd day is for the long distances. I want to add 2 cross training days in there plus a rest day. I know one cross training day will Iron Reps and Zumba at the gym. The other one I'll need to figure out in camp.

This weekend I'm quite the social butterfly which so unlike me. I'm off to Jersey Boys tonight and then tomorrow it's shopping for western wear (for Stampede) and my friends are going to Magic Mike. I know reviews are saying there's not much plot but we think it will still be fun girls night thing to do.

Enjoy your day!

Hugs!!

Dear Me - I'm back

Happy Canada Day!!!! Gosh we're only 145 years young. I hope my fellow Canadians, no matter where you are, enjoys the day. 

My Canada Day is very low key as I head back to work tomorrow and that alarm is going off at 3:30am. Today is all about household chores for me. 

It's also the first day of a new month which always inspires me. Yesterday I re-read a post I wrote in April called Dear Me-Enough. Today I have a new letter from my logical self.

Dear Me,
Hello again it's your logical self. We need to talk again.

I once again need to ask you - how badly do you want this? You continue to bounce and have bounced  yourself right back into the 180s. Why are you doing this? I know you know better, remember you've done it before and got to 168. I also know you want to be successful so what's stopping you.

Once again you created grand plans remember your Birthday and Vegas, they didn't quite work out did they. I'm not here to bring you down, I'm here to remind you that you can brush yourself off and get back at it.

You're off to a good start as you wrote up your training plan for Disney Wine and Dine, plus signed up for two additional races. Your excited about Fitbloggin' which is great. Now we need to work on the follow through.

You're tracking has been non existent so get back at it. Reacquaint yourself with the gym. In fact you're not going to wait till July 10 to start training, you're starting now so you can start to establish the routine. Dig out those stickers, you like stickers and tick off each day you've done your plan.

This weekend you skipped weigh in and please your logic on that was iffy at best, that can't happen anymore. So what you're not crazy about the leader on Saturday's, if you need to weigh in on Saturday just suck it up. Remember one of the reasons you like that meeting is for the other members and hey you can also go Friday at noon. You like that leader. Yeah the noon weigh in means you have to rethink a little especially as you've scheduled your long run days for Friday's but the good thing about that is you could make adjustments pending weather and schedule.

Listen to your body with my help when it comes to food, don't listen to my emotional buddy. Hey you can bond with that side watching sappy movies or reading sappy books. In terms of your weight loss goals I'm in charge from now on. Your paper journals have also been idle for awhile, get those back into your life to get the emotions out as I know you don't always want to blog about it. Hey, when you're in a group setting remember you're priority is to take care of you. If it's not going to get you healthy don't do it.

The most important thing I have to tell you is this - I believe in you and always will.

Me

Stampede is coming

I was in Walmart today picking up a few groceries when I saw a really cute elderly couple and the husband was wearing a western shirt and a bolo tie. Ah Stampede is coming. It actually starts next Friday and goes for 10 days,  and there's sneak-a-peek on the Thursday before the parade.

More specifically The Calgary Stampede and this year is the 100th anniversary of The Largest Outdoor Show on Earth. Their tag line not mine. As a native Calgarian I've certainly gone numerous times. I do like to take a year off now and then. I also often find myself explaining it to people when I'm away and they find out I'm from Calgary.

The whole city dresses western. It's pretty funny to see guys in suits turn into cowboy's overnight in the downtown core and there's painted windows on sky scrapers depicting western scenes, hay bales on corners of downtown streets plus lots of free pancake breakfasts all over the city and lot and lots of Stampede parties at pretty much every bar in the city. Lots of companies have them as well for their employees. I can't go to my group's shindig this year as it's on a day that doesn't work for my fly in fly out schedule.

I always enjoy seeing the real cowboys, those that actually earned that shiny belt buckle, the jeans are more likely to be Wranglers then 7 for Mankind and the cowboy boots are scuffed. Yes I am a hopeless romantic.

Not uncommon to see bars full by 10:30am during Stampede, though people do generally behave themselves. In a previous job I remember the sales guys pretty much disappearing by 10am never to return during Stampede. There's loads of fun family activities too.

The Rodeo itself is fairly lucrative for the real cowboys and cowgirls competing as it's a $100000 for each event.

The rides on the midway get bigger and better, this year a 900ft zip-line across the park, a roller-coaster named after a legendary bull named Outlaw and a Flowrider surfing simulator - something for everyone.  I don't really do the rides anymore but I do remember having lots of fun in the past. I even had a strategy, we'd go on Seniors Day in the morning and barely have to stand in line of course that was back when I was in Junior High.

Then there's the food - mini donuts (love the donuts), candy floss and multiple other questionable and truly delicious delicacies can be found on the midway plus they always find something new to deep fry - this year I think Wagon Wheels and pickle chips are new to be deep fried. Last year I enjoyed the poutine place with about 10 different versions. It is possible to eat healthy at the park maybe not as fun, though this year there's Saltspring Island Noodle Stir Fry's with no oil though I might need to check out the Red Velvet Funnel Cake.

I always try to win a vehicle with the Kinsmen charity lottery. There's always quite a few to try to win. Plus there's a show home you can try to win that they construct in the middle of the park and you can do a walk through.

It starts off on Friday with the parade which is televised across Canada. However the marching bands and floats come all over North America and a few from as far as Australia and Europe. Now watching the parade live is like preparing for a military operation. You need to be downtown hours before the parade starts to get spot where you can see something and be armed with a lawn chair and snacks/beverages. Locate the closest set of port-o-potties as well. I think an average of about 350000 people line the parade route. Last year with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attending it was closer to 425000. I've gone a few times but much prefer watching it on TV. If I ever went again I'd book a seat in advance and pay the $12 for a guaranteed spot on a bleacher. Gosh, those bleachers go up in a blink of an eye as well as they're installed only for the parade. I remember see them go up as I would be leaving from work on the Thursday and by Friday morning shazam all was constructed.

When I worked downtown it was always another military operation just to get to work on parade day. Heaven forbid you to go through the parade route itself as by 6am people are lined up and by I think 7am the streets close to traffic, the parade starts at 9am. I would have to negotiate passage across a street with the lawn chair people as they were not moving. I remember once seeing a car trying to exit the downtown but the row of lawn chair people didn't want to move as it was past the road closure time.

You get to dress western at work during the parade as well and I would think it was fun for the first few days and then I'd start running out of ideas of what to wear. Last year I got 2 short sleeved western shirts so I should be good for this year.

Don't get me wrong the parade is fun and if you ever have the chance to go I suggest you plop yourself down by where one of the television stations are set up as then the bands will stop and play as opposed to walk buy.

This year I'm going to the park on the second Friday, Friday the 13th.....my friends and I have tickets for the Grandstand show and chuckwagon races.It always ends with a spectacular fireworks show that I can actually hear from my house and I'm about 30min away from the Park. I'm very much looking forward to that.

I really like walking through the barn and seeing all the amazing horses. Plus there's always a trade show with people selling their as seen on TV wares which I find amusing. I always have fun when I go. Plus there's a multitude of free concerts in the park at the Coca Cola Stage and Nashville North that are included in the admission to the Stampede. Big names come to town that have a bigger you have to buy tickets for concert. I saw Bon Jovi one year. This year Garth Brooks is back and the tickets were $65 of course it sold out in 2 seconds. I would have really liked to see that.

I didn't really do the entire event of the Calgary Stampede justice so if you'd like to know more about Stampede go here to check out the official website. They have a really cool event planner feature on there so you can plan what you want to see as there's loads to take in.

I know I'll be working downtown again and will have to get my Western groove back on for those 10 days in July.

It's funny I didn't plan to write about Stampede but just got inspired by that bolo tie in Walmart.

Hugs!!!

Finding goals

Today I just focused on chilling, slept in, read and pretty much stayed in my PJs. I needed a rest day. Of course that allowed a lot of time to think today and I came up with a few conclusions.

To keep myself motivated I need goals. I'm good at goals when I'm training for something. When I train for something I try to think like an athlete.

Now with Fitbloggin' and half marathon training coming closer that sort of taken care of for the short term as I am bound and determined to beat my time at the Tinkerbell Half and thoroughly enjoy the 5K at Fitbloggin'.

The goals just can't be about weight loss or I drive myself a little bonkers. However the goal should be conducive to getting to my weight goal.

Lately I've been getting a lot of questions from my work friends on when my next race is. It's funny I went to Vegas and they all thought it was for a run. I then explained no that was for fun and the next race is in November.

I do find myself telling people that I want to do more regularly scheduled races like every few months not one in January and then one in November. With so much time between things I found myself totally dropping any type of training plan and now planning on starting again instead of maintaining.

I did up my training schedule for the Disney Wine and Dine today that starts July 10 and will take me all the way to race day on November 10th...then what.

Today I also took a look at upcoming races.

I signed up for the Halloween Howl 5K in October and the Scotiabank Calgary Half Marathon in May 2013. I'm eyeing the SeaWheeze Half in Vancouver if they do it again in August of 2013. Maybe just maybe the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in December 2013. I still think I need something between November and May but I'll wait and see what comes up as I'm open to short distances as well especially locally or close by.

As the 2 races this year are both Disney races on the plane home I was asked if I'd do the Goofy Challenge. Now if you're unfamiliar with the Goofy Challenge it's a half marathon on Saturday and then the next day you do a full marathon. If I were even going to consider that it would in January of 2014 or more likely 2015. Funny I don't think I've ever planned anything that far out but for an exercise like that 39.3 miles over 2 days would definitely need planning. Now this is at Disney World as well. That would take a great deal of thought. After I did the Honolulu Marathon I vowed to never do a marathon again...well never say never.

I have a very low key Canada Day long weekend planned as I'm going back to work on Monday anyway.

Hope you enjoyed your Friday!

Hugs!!

Grounded

I need to ground myself.

When I last blogged I talked about having to dig deep and focus. That's not what happened this week.

You know how I was talking about making a pie for my company's United Way pie auction, well I decided against that as I love pie and didn't want my house smelling like pie.

So I go to work on Monday and what do I do I bid on a pie. This wasn't just any pie but my favourite pie made by one of my leader's super talented wives. She makes the best blueberry pie I've ever had.

Now each one these pies goes for a good chunk of cash and the average is about $120 per pie, yeah it's a little crazy this auction.

Then what happens is there is now pie everywhere you go. Every single kitchen in our building had pie. Two days of pie oh and I ate pie. I can't look at a pie for awhile now.

This week was difficult with 2 days in a row of 14hr days and then today was a 2hr drive to Fort McMurray, then a 2hr meeting and then a 2hr drive back to site so we could catch our plane home.

I'm zonked, wiped, exhausted and out of steam.

On Monday I did play badminton and then attempted to run. I didn't realize I was now on week 3 of C25K so I started the app without realizing that. Well after an hour of badminton I didn't have enough energy to complete the run. I also need to factor in I've been averaging one run a week lately which isn't exactly how the program works. So it back to week 2, I'm not giving up on this.

I don't like how I feel or how my clothes are fitting, so it's time I have a time out in the corner and think about my actions.

I can't continue this if I seriously want to be fit.

So I need to turn this ship around and bring the focus back to losing weight and focusing on health. This weekend I finalize my training plan for the half marathon in November.

It's time to get serious.

Hugs!!!

Dig deep

Up 4.4lbs today, the scary thing it could have been worse. I threw WW out the window while I was in Vegas and that continued into my work trip last week.

Vacation and work travel is definitely over (for now) and now it's back to focusing on becoming fit and fabulous.

I need to learn how to deal with eating out better. It's funny in camp because I know it so well it's easier and that's technically eating out but more cafeteria style. Restaurants are not so easy for me and with all the travel requiring me to stay in hotel rooms lately it's definitely been a challenge. 

Going forward I need to take more advantage of the amenities I have access to. Like a microwave and a mini fridge in practically every hotel room in Fort McMurray, hopefully I won't need to go back for awhile so I can reset my routine before the next trip occurs. 

The other challenge I face is the bulk of my social time revolves around people I work with (who are also fabulous friends) which usually means eating out and drinking, well  more drinking. Without becoming a total hermit (which I generally lean towards anyways thanks to being an introvert) I just need to have a plan and take it day by day. I do realize I don't need to match them drink for drink. The focus for me will be less alcohol more water on those days but nothing like that is scheduled anytime soon. 

Today I walked through pouring rain to get to weigh in (go me) and passed the gym on my way to Starbucks. The gym is going through mega renovations right now and when I walked by 30min before they open all the cardio equipment was pushed to the side, the floor mats were all pulled up and people were loading things in. That made me think the gym was maybe closed. I did see a sign saying they're closed Fri June 29 through to Sunday July 1 for the Canada Day holiday. 

The meeting itself was o.k. It turns out we do have a regular leader now unfortunately I'm not a fan. She's nice enough but she likes to talk like she's a nutritional expert but all she does is quote Dr. Oz. It's like one of those people who talk about things when they don't really understand what they're talking about. I watch an episode of Dr. Oz every so often but I'm less and less interested as it seems like it's going the way of supporting some iffy things. 

I'm going to switch to Friday's at noon as I really like that leader and that actually makes my life easier schedule wise for gym classes too. Right now the Sat meeting ends one hour before the gym class starts which usually has me wandering around Walmart as that's not enough time to go home and back again. 

When the Friday meeting doesn't work I'll use the Saturday morning meeting. My other option is to find another morning meeting that's accessible to me but that would involve transit. When I get transferred back to Calgary which will happen eventually there is a Thurs am meeting downtown or plenty of lunch time meetings. 

Well after the meeting I went home with the intention to do housework thinking the gym was closed. The housework never happened as grey gloomy weather makes we want to camp out on the sofa and clean off the dvr. 

The tracker is back in action though and I will have a successful week. 

Hope your Saturday was awesome.

Hugs!!!

Face the music

I must remember that when I blog on my iPad I need to use the blogger plus app and not log into blogger itself so my post doesn't wind up being one mega paragraph.

Today I conquered the jungle lawn, well most of it. The battery is good for one hour so a third of my back yard still needs to be done.

I go back to my WW meeting tomorrow after a few week hiatus. There will definitely be a gain as I took vacation from the plan as well. All that ends and tracking starts again.

I am so looking forward to getting back to a routine back.

Tomorrow I also return to the gym for Zumba and Iron Reps. I haven't been to those classes in ages. Disney Wine and Dine training starts shortly so I need to get into the training rhythm now of training days and cross training days. D

I wore the Nike Fuel band around today. I do like how it's more of a bracelet and will be fun for non running activity. Those Nike toys are fun not so accurate. For running there's not enough data for my liking so Garmin rules there. In terms of correct data like calories burned I still think HR monitor is a better bet and the Fuel band is estimating I don't necessarily want to wear an HR monitor everywhere so it could be a fun little motivator.

I had errands to run today so there was lots of walking. I went to MEC to check out the Vibram5finger KSO. At 2:30pm that place was a zoo. It felt like Christmas the line ups at the cash were crazy. I decided then to go grocery shopping instead.

On Monday it's the 2nd annual pie auction for the United Way. I said I'd bring one but don't know what to make so another grocery trip will be needed.

Now I'm already in my PJs and about to start reading.

Hope you enjoyed your Friday.

From Vegas to Fort McMurray

Lately due to work I've been spending a lot of time in Fort Mac, more specifically hotels in Fort Mac. This week there's been 2 as Tuesday pretty much had every room in town booked. Today I moved to a different one as it's closer to where I need to be. I could write a review on all these hotels. Last night was the Quality Inn, doubt I'll stay there again. It's located closer to the airport, it's quiet but the rooms are so so. They're basic but I was surprised there was no Kleenex. Food wise is limited, there's McDonald's and the hotel restaurant and the restaurant at the Radisson across the street. Today it's the Stonebridge. Nicer room, more central, loads of restaurants around plus Tim Horton's is in the parking lot. So is the only mall in Fort Mac. Bath&Body Works in the bathroom and they have Kleenex. Now it will be less quiet due to being in the downtown of Fort Mac but the location works way better for me. Due to the volume of people here for work in Fort Mac most hotel rooms come with a mini fridge and microwave. I long for my normal schedule and routine. I kept everything to one backpack this trip so no workout clothes. I'm tired of eating out. I'm so looking forward to returning to my regular life next week. Looks like I'll weigh in on Friday. That's my first WI in 3 weeks. I know it will a gain as I decided to focus on fun. However very soon half marathon training begins. I need to think like an athlete. I'm also starting to look ahead for more races. I don't want a 10 month break in between so I a reason to maintain the conditioning. I also need to put more focus on cross training. It's time to schedule exercise and put it in my IPhone and blackberry. Friday is back to basics WW wise. Vacation is over. It's time to get to goal. Hugs!!!

Vegas Aftermath

Hello Again,

Well I arrived back in Calgary at 12:20am and managed to breeze through customs and was in a cab right away. Got home at 1:30am and quickly grabbed what I would need for later today out of my suitcase. 

I then attempted to sleep until 6am. I was then off to downtown for meetings and came home around 2:30pm. I was practically falling asleep on the bus. 

Tomorrow it's back to site so a 3:30am wake up call. I will definitely be in bed early. I so want a nap but know that would kill sleep chances so I will distract myself for as long as I can. 

Vegas was super fun and it was great to spend time with my friend P again. 

When we got I there on Thursday our room wasn't ready yet and they said they'd text me when it was ready but they never did so by 3pm I went and asked. 

I love Aria. The room was fantastic and uber high tech. A control panel controls the curtains and lights and even the tv. I had some funny moments when I accidentally put the room in total darkness when my friend was in the bathroom. 

There was shopping, much walking, gambling on my part and discovering diet Dr Pepper Cherry with vodka is fantastic. We started with a small bottle of Grey Goose vodka and then discovered the Whip Cream vodka which I don't believe is in Canada but I'm not sure. 

I got the Nike fuel band and it's charging right now. I haven't played with it too much yet but I'm going to start tomorrow. 

 I also bought myself a birthday gift of a Tiffany bracelet. 

The other popular store for us was Bath and Body Works. I love the scent of Rain Kissed Leaves and everything was on sale for $3 a shower gel sort of thing. I don't think the Canadian stores got this scent in their sale but I don't know for sure. 

I also scored at the Victoria Secret sale. 

I bought two black bikinis on sale at the Gap, I have to admit I might have been a wee inebriated when I made that purchase. 

However on Sunday we were sitting in Bellagio watching people at the pool and I was pleased to see some bigger girls totally rocking a bikini. 

I did actually go the gym once and I must say Aria has one spectacular gym. I counted at least 15 treadmills and a variety of weight equipment. For a fee they offer an indoor hike, yoga and other classes. The dressy clothes never got worn either, with all the running around we had no energy for shows. 

We never made it to the spa or pool either. 

While we waited for our planes on Sunday we decided next time there can be no list of things we want to buy and we try to embrace the pool and enjoy Vegas at a leisurely pace as opposed to the running around we normally do. 

I would definitely stay at Aria again. It had just the right pace and vibe for me. It was busy but not too busy. When I gambled I got regular service from the waitresses offering a free drink. I always tip at least $1 a drink those girls work hard. The rooms are nice and hallways quiet. A nice variety of restaurants too. 

Easy access to the Miracle Mile shops right across the street. 

Food wise I threw WW out the window and enjoyed myself, I did eat primarily vegetarian,  but now the vacation is over and the focus must get turned on. Now it's back to focusing on goal and Fitbloggin. 

Hugs!!

Ah the spa

I braved the mall again today well after my waxing appointment at Stillwater Spa at the Hyatt Calgary Downtown. I love this place and I haven't been there in ages. It is a little pricey but it's also kind of worth it. I had forgotten the steam room and whirlpool just in the dressing room.

It was hopping for a Sunday and a lot of women in pairs. Also quite a few pregnant women as they offer services especially for expectant mothers. Two groups ordered lunch.

The funny part is I'm back at the Hyatt tomorrow as that's where my all day meeting is.

I then braced the Bay for swimsuit shopping day 2. I left with a tankini, but a swim skirt for bottoms. I did have a thought in the racks of suits. Ever since my melanoma diagnosis I'm super leery of the sun. I was supremely lucky to catch it early and now I just have a one inch scar on my right arm. The thought part came from I will not lounge by the pool all day in fact I'll try to keep my exposure between 11am and 3pm super minimal. Earlier and later are better.

So if my Vegas buddy wants to lounge by the pool until noon I might go for a bit but then I'll hit the gym.

I also had the thought that at some point I'm going to rock a bikini.

I was searching you tube last night and found some girl who actually posted a tour of her room in Aria, surprise surprise when I spotted a scale in the bathroom. There's only one other time I've seen a scale in a hotel room and that was in Montreal. That inspired the thought of making use of their spectacular gym. My can't I treat Vegas like a gambling, shopping and workout oasis. I have a goal to come back lighter then when I left.

I've never done that before. There's always a first time.

Have a great remainder of your Sunday and a great Monday. I don't think I'll have time to blog on Monday.

Hugs!!!

4 sleeps

On Friday I was so tired I went to bed and forgot to set my alarm therefore sleeping through weigh in. I really wish there was a noon meeting on Saturdays. I did step on the scale at home and week of eating out certainly had it's effect. My scale is different then the WW meeting so I'd rather wait for a WW to write it down.

I'm bound and determined to get to Wednesdays meeting in the evening. The last one before Vegas.

The rest of Saturday was spent with my good friend M and I accomplished a lot clothing wise. This is a major victory as I despise clothes shopping.

First stop Walmart where I got new pillows as I desperately needed them and forgot them yesterday. M was on a mission to put together a birthday gift for her niece.

Then off to DT and I got 2 pairs of Columbia shorts on sale. I love their shorts as they're perfect for hot weather and stand up to activity. Also 3 t-shirts all on sale that are moisture wicking but don't look like technical shirts.

Then I got hooked up with a new pair of Mizuno runners and a pair of New Balance minimum bare foot technology. I wanted to try the bare foot stuff but not sure I wanted 5 finger vibrams. The New Balancestill have vibram soles which means awesome traction.

It was buy one get one 50% off. Now i've been wearing Mizuno Wave Alchemy for a long time (version 5 to 11). I haven't been loving the 11 for awhile. They feel different. I was talking to the all knowing sales clerk at Sports Chek (who's worked the shoe wall since 2006). He told me that it could be my arches are stronger as Mizuno shoes can help do that. He told me I wouldn't see that if I was using Asics or Saucony. I don't know if that was true but he sure was knowledgeable about shoes. I'm going to try the Mizuno Wave Inspire. They felt good and similar to Wave Alchemy 10 (which I loved) I did try jogging in the store. They're purple. I love purple. I never buy my runners based on color though, function is way more important for your feet.

Then it was off to the Bay to try on bathing suits. I tried on the Miracle Suit which apparently makes you look leaner. I didn't like the style I tried as there was loads of ruching and the suit felt heavy. I have to go back DT today for a waxing appointment so I'm going to go back and see what I can find.

Then we wandered past Cleo and they had sale on dresses, and I realized I still has a partial gift card for them. I got 2 dresses for one heck of a deal.

Then M wanted to go to Ricki's as apparently they have awesome capris. Now I'm 5'4 so capris are hit and miss for me as often they make we look shorter. However as we walked I had to pop into La Senza as my bras are dying and the underwire is coming out. They also had buy one get one half off. M scored some cute capris. I found 2 shirts that would be suitable for my corporate summer wardrobe at very reasonable prices. I need to go into the corporate office on the Monday when I get back from Vegas and it's supposed to +20C.

Then we were off to Chinook mall and I stopped into Sephora and got my birthday gift.

She treated me to a lovely birthday dinner.

All in all a fantastic day.

Today I need to write my pack list for Vegas as I'll be out all day tomorrow.

So I hope you enjoyed your weekend so far, might be back later.

The week

My actual birthday was very low key on Sunday as it's the day before I fly out. I don't really like to do anything on Sunday other then laundry or around the house as an early bedtime is necessary for a 6am flight.

On Monday I tried to make oatmeal in my microwave before heading out and it wasn't working which made me realize it's time to replace the microwave. This microwave is old so it was really time for a new one but this had to wait till I got home. Monday afternoon it was off to Fort McMurray for a 2 day training course.

My co-worker and I were booked at The Platinum - Fort McMurray's only boutique hotel. It's an odd place as it's right above a Sears that sells mattresses and appliances. The door to the hotel has a buzzer so you can't just walk in. The actual lobby is on the 2nd floor. Each room has two bedrooms, a little kitchen and the smallest vanity I've ever seen. I can see the value of this place if you're there for a while as there's a Save On Food really close by. I wasn't super impressed though as it struck me more like Ikea then boutique. Restaurant choices in that part of downtown Fort McMurray isn't abundant. Though we did find an awesome Japanese place near by.

Now if I had been travelling alone I would have taken advantage of the grocery store and just cooked but my coworker didn't have their corporate credit card yet so I was their Sugar Mama for the two days.

The hotel had no gym but offered passes to the fitness center at the college. It wasn't exactly pedestrian friendly and we had no car.

Now Fort McMurray quite often gets a bad rap and you often read about prostitution and drugs. However Fort McMurray is beautiful surrounded by gorgeous forests and rivers, and the people are so lovely. Everyone is really nice.

Restaurant options are limited in comparison to Calgary so eating was a major challenge. Every meal was out or at the training.

I have to admit when my schedule gets disrupted my behaviour isn't exactly focused on WW.

However the course was great and it was really nice to see my Fort McMurray coworkers.

Thursday it was back to site and my to do list looked like an encyclopedia. Plus I was flying home that day as well so time was limited. After we got off the plane we went to East Side Mario's for dinner. So this whole week has pretty much been a wash.

On Monday I'm at an all day offsite meeting that's catered. Tuesday I head back to site. Wednesday I fly back in the morning and need to go back to the dentist for the permanent crowns and I'm squeaking in a cleaning in as well.

Somewhere between all that I need to pack as it's off to Vegas on Thursday. Today I went to the bank for some US cash. I'll probably start packing this weekend so only last minute stuff is left for next week.

I also went to Walmart and got a new microwave. I opted for a Panasonic and already I notice a difference as it cooks way faster then the old one.

Tomorrow I need to go shopping for a swimsuit (fun), shorts, some new t-shirts (all of mine are tired). I'd also like to find some summer dresses not only for Vegas but for chilling at home.

Right now I'm catching up on Masterchef. I love this show as it's so inspiring.

Alright I will try to drop by tomorrow and show you my shopping haul.

Hugs!!!!

The dawn of 40

Tomorrow is my birthday...I turn 40.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Part of me thinks it's just a number and I like myself now better then when I was in my 20s. I also know no one guesses I'm 40. They usually think I'm in my late 20s. This was proven when on Thursday my office was sabotaged with banners that said 40th birthday in progress, "40" glitter every where, 2 signs taped to the front of my desk that said 40, and "Lordy Lordy look who's 40" written on my whiteboard. I admit my first thought was to rip it all down and then I thought who am I kidding i should just be touched that people went to all that effort. Many who stopped to see the ah creativity commented that they definitely would never have guessed my age. Not that there's anything wrong with looking your age. I'll admit to some vanity there.

Lately I've been a bit more wigged out. I keep thinking how I'm single, never married and no kids. It's funny one of my friends turns 40 11 days after me. She is quite honest in saying turning 40 wigs her out and has been for awhile now. Last week I thought that was crazy. We have so much going for us and a number does not define you.

What I'm trying to do is think of my blessings. Yes I am soon 40 with great friends, a great job and a great family. I have roof over my head that I own. I have food in my fridge. I can pay my bills and travel.

It kind of helps that I just saw an interview with Cameron Diaz who turns 40 soon and has never been married, doesn't have kids and I think is currently single.

I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Then I start thinking about this weight loss stuff and how I've been battling for a long time. I think for some of us it can take awhile to find the inner fire to get this done some are blessed with figuring it out faster. For me it has definitely been a long journey but I appreciate the lessons learned along the way.

Yesterday I was at the dentist getting two crowns and a replacement filling. I guess another thing to be grateful for is a dental plan. Right now they're temporary crowns. The permanent ones go in on the 13th. I was a model patient and actually don't feel too sore today. When I yawn the right hand side of my jaw is a wee sore. The temp crowns do feel funny as I can tell it doesn't feel like normal but there's no discomfort. The teeth are right next to each other so the temp crown is actually one piece that covers the two teeth as it's better for stability. I do find myself eating very slowly and chewing very mindfully.

I was down 1.8 today which is awesome as I went out to dinner on Thursday and some rough food days. On Tuesday I did C25K week 2 Day 2. Tomorrow is Day 3. I'm also pleased with 1.8 after my 4.4 loss last week.

Dad came in today to bring me geraniums so we planted those. It has been a major food feast day which tends to happen when Dad visits as he doesn't trust my cooking ability. My Dad's repertoire is basically meat and vegetables. So lunch at DQ and pizza for supper.

Tomorrow definitely needs a workout. One thing I'm incredibly grateful for is I can workout. Though still needing to lose weight I'm in good general health - knock on wood.

2012 will be the year I hit goal as I'm done with goofing around. I want to stay active so that puts the priority on getting lighter as another goal is to also smoke my January half marathon time.

So tonight I will focus on the positive and tomorrow I will celebrate turning 40 by getting my sweat on.

Hugs!!!!!!

Dusting off C25K

I admit my running has been on a major back burner lately and my goal to finish C25K fell by the way side.

Today I dusted it off. So far I've yet to go past week 2 well not past day one week 2. That's where I started today. My goal this week is to finish week 2.

This morning I headed out after a cup of coffee. It went fine. I just tried to focus on technique as opposed to speed.

The deets in miles: 33:48, 2.25 mi, pace 15:03, 195 calories burned.

Tracking is still on and water is great as well. I'm happy I got that Venti Starbucks cup. My water intake is doing so well.

Now I'm looking to the week ahead. So Tuesday and Wednesday I have late meeting nights that will go till 7. That means morning workouts must return at least on Wednesday. I did realize that if I'm working later I don't need to be at my desk at 6am which I usually am.

When I land on Thursday I'm heading out to dinner with some co- worker/ friends. Right now the plan is Craft Beer Market. I've already scoped out the menu and I plan to warn them in advance I'm focused on a good weigh in.

Saturday is my birthday and my Dad is coming in, not so much for my birthday but planting needs to be done. That's so my Dad and I know he'll bring a cake. Now I'm thinking about weighing in on Friday. On Friday I get my temporary crown as well - fun times.

So weigh in on Friday would have to be a drive by weigh in as I need to be at the dentist at 1 and meeting ends at 12:45. Plus I need to have lunch sometime. Weighing in on Saturday just seems simpler at least I don't need to worry about that till I get home.

So it will be an early night as I have an early flight tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Hugs!!!

A funny thing happens

When you follow the plan. I tracked all 7 days last week and someways were not exactly on plan like the fries/pie and nanaimo bar incident but I tracked it.

The WW scale showed a 4.4lb loss. As I stood there it briefly showed 179 before landing on 180.8. I did have the momentary thought that I had not has the incidents mentioned above would I have seen myself back in the 170s?

When I do look at my whole week it wasn't so bad point wise. I get 231 points per week. That's 26 per day and the 49 weekly points. I was over by 8 points last week.

Hey 4.4 is nothing to sneeze at and it inspires we to keep it up. I'm determined to get back into the 170s next week.

Tracking continues today and so far 6 cups of water and a 40min walk. I did intend to do house work when I got home but I sucked into a marathon of The Lying Game. I'm new to this show but it sucked me in on abc spark.

My mind is going more and more to Vegas but the funny/strange part is I want to stay on plan. Normally Vegas would be an excuse to go a little crazy and my crazy would be on the food side not the drinking side. The bonus is the very good friend I'm going with is vegetarian. Now it's also very possible to eat not so healthy as a vegetarian - hello mac'n cheese but the other plus is P is fitness conscious.

We're staying at Aria and they have a cool pass you can buy to access extra spa facilities. Their gym looks pretty darn funky as well.

The thing I want to buy the most when I'm there is a Nike Fuel Band. I think my Garmin FR60 is dead. On Tuesday when I turned it on it gave me a very funky error. I did email they're help people so we'll see.

So now I keep my eye on the prize and just keep tracking, moving and drinking water.

Hope you all had a fantastic Saturday.

Hugs!!!

The call of the tater tot

I was doing so well this week but hit some challenges.

On Tuesday there was Tim Horton's box in the kitchen. I made the very bad decision of opening the box where I found my all time favorite donut - the honey crueller . I ate that thing in probably 60 seconds flat and it wasn't as good as I remembered. That donut is 9 points. Later on absolutely nothing in the camp kitchen appealed to me at dinner so it wound up being fries and gravy, ah I didn't stop there then I had pie. The good part of this story is when I got to my room I changed into workout clothes and walked on the treadmill for 40 min. Running was out of the question as I had just eaten. the other good part is I tracked everything.

I could have gone to the pack lunch kitchen and grabbed something healthier but I

Yesterday was a bit of a challenge as there were lots of treats around due to meetings and good bye parties.

I had my new traditional camp breakfast of a poached egg on toast. The poached eggs were next to the tater tots. I love tater tots. When I worked in Calgary one of my favorite fast food places is Taco Time and their mexi-fries aka tater tots. Now I rarely have them out and instead sometimes have them at home but baked not fried.

On Wednesday I asked for 5 tater tots. The server lady said she'd give me 6 with a little smile. I ate 4 of them. I had to shake my head a little on the exchange. When we offer food or to share food it's not necessarily a good thing. It comes from a good place but one doesn't have to eat it.

The good news I'm still down from the last weigh in.

Today got my hair trimmed in preparation for Vegas and went grocery shopping. I do have a plan for the next 3 days at home. The plan is to stay on p,an this weekend as well.

I tried on last summer's shorts and 2 pairs fit. 2 pairs are too small.. Le sigh and yet more inspiration to keep on track. So I might need to buy new shorts but at least I know I have two pairs that will fit a few pounds from now. This is me trying to stay positive.

Back slides happen. The defining moment is what you do next - continue to slide or get up and keep go forward. I'm going forward.

Enjoy your Friday.

Hugs

So tired

Slept terribly last night so by the time my day was done I was so tired.

So this will be a short & sweet post.

Tracking still on, scale still being friendly and water bang on again.

Just going to watch the Dancing with the Stars finale & then it's sleepy time.

Hope you enjoyed your Tuesday.

Hugs!!

So far so good

Day 3 of re-committing myself to Weight Watchers. The scale is heading in the right direction. Water intake has been stellar. Tracking is focused.

Tonight I got in 1hr of activity and it went like this according to my Polar HR monitor.

Badminton: 44:37min, 324 cal burned, HR 129-145
Rowing Machine: 27:10min, 306 cal burned, HR 165-179

My new co- worker is a former Canadian badminton champion so I'm learning loads. Tonight I learned the term " badminton butt" apparently due to all the lunging tones the patootie. I despise lunges so I'm not so great at that part but I'm improving.

The rowing machine was a spur of the moment decision. I left badminton and was going to go back to my camp room but then decided to double back and squeak in more workout time.

I was shooting for 5000 meters. I did do that back in the day of using a trainer. I petered out with 1200 meters to go. I forgot what a full body workout the rower is. So I discovered a new goal of hitting 5000 meters.

First thing when I got to work today I pulled out my WW 10% key chain with my 25lb charm and clapping hands and put right in front of me on my document holder. Now I've put 10lbs back on so the battle is on.

I'm now watching American Ninja Warrior that I found by accident. These people are crazy fit and maybe a wee crazy I.E parcour, climbing walls and etc. It's also inspiring.

Alright I have a question for those who blog using an iPad, What app do you use? I don't mind the blogger plus app I use now but the inserting pictures isn't so great. Do you guys have any suggestions.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Monday!

Hugs!!!

Step one

I'm a daily weigh in person. Every morning I weigh myself in my pjs and write it in the corner of my tracker. In the past it's kept me focused. I look at it as data.

Today I was 3lbs down from yesterday's WW WI, now my pjs are lighter then my WI uniform so it would actually be down 2 lbs from yesterday's PJ weigh in.

Tracking does wonders as does drinking 9 cups of water. I still got snacky after supper but I tracked every bite.

Today I had absolutely no run mojo. Instead I finished "Weight Loss Boss" and watched the the last two parts of "Weight of the Nation" on HBO.

Major things learned from both those things is I'll need to focus on eating right for the rest of my life. There will be no "cure". The world will conspire against you i.e. aggressive food advertising.

However it's not about will power necessarily it's about controlling my environment.

I'm glad I took today to just chill and refocus my thoughts. Beating ourselves up for falling off the wagon serves no purpose. Shake it off and realign.

I also wanted to creat a tracking strategy today. I've been recording The Revolution on my pvr. I adore Tim Gunn and Harvey Pasternak (Canadian boy). Harvey has been showing a program called 20 days to summer or was it swimsuits. At any rate he's been showing exercises and a food program. His philosophy is to have 5 meals a day part of his other 5factor program.

One thing he said in the last episode made me think. Take your waking hours and divide by 5 that's how often you should eat so breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks.

I used that theory today with my tracking. I know from past experience that when I schedule my meals and sort out the points it's easier for me.

I've done that today and so far so good. I am flying to work tomorrow even though it's Victoria Day. I'm using that day later on to tag on to vacation. I'll be in bed early so after dinner snacking shouldn't be an issue. At camp this isn't hard for me as I'm far from the kitchen.

I also realized I'll be able to weigh in before Vegas. I had thought I'd be missing a WI but my flight gets home in time to make a meeting. Even though that's still a few weeks away I like that I'll have an anchor before heading off for 4 days of fun. I already know I'll pay extra for gym access. Aria has some pretty cool stuff in their spa area.

Next weekend I'm looking forward to see the new renovations in my local gym.

I hope all of you had a lovely Sunday.

Hugs!!!!!

Run away train

Oy vey, I did weigh myself this morning in my pajamas and I thought ok I'll see no change. Well when I stepped on the scale at the meeting it was a different story - up 1.2. I was shocked.

That shock was a good thing as it rattled some cobwebs out of my brain.

I've been delusional, complacent and lazy lately. Sort of tracking but not giving it my all.

My operation enough was replaced by Operation Whatever. Why- I'm not entirely sure. I could be more wigged out about turning 40 then I realize. The 1.2 could be TOM related but still my weight is heading in the wrong direction and the only thing responsible for that is me.

So today I tracked everything and I do realize I have an issue with after dinner snacking. Water has been food with 9 cups. Activity was 40min walk.

Tomorrow I run and that has also been ignored for the past few weeks.

Enough!!!!

I got home and started watching The Weight of the Nation on HBO. It's a 4 part documentary on the obesity epidemic in the US. The statistics are staggering but the message was hopeful in part 2 which focused on what people can do about it. A series of small changes can create dramatic results. There were two women who've been successful and the key was small achievable goals. It's a really interesting doc with leading experts in obesity.

A light bulb went off when i heard the 2 ladies. They talked about mastering one thing at a time. For example they started with tracking, then added water and so on.

Taking on a lot is always a downfall for me particularly with weight loss. Track a whack of things and things slide. Create a complicated plan and it all falls apart. This is probably why I'm terrible at challenges. I have great enthusiasm at the start & then I fall apart.

What made me successful at the start of WW was taking things in stride and keeping it simple. Back then you didn't start tracking activity till week 4 because the purpose was supposed to get you used to tracking.

This week I have one goal which is to track and stick to my points. That doesn't mean everything else slides it just means I need to get back into the basics and that starts with tracking. I drink water out of habit and exercise will still be a part of the week as well as that's a bit of a habit but I'm also conscious of Fitbloggin in September and Disney Wine and Dine half in November.

I know what to do. Heck I can talk the talk. I now must walk the walk one step at a time. I want to post successes!

I also need to blog more often. That definitely helps the accountability. No more head in the sand.

I know WW works when you follow it, my issue lately is so so following it and getting so so results.

I will do this. I know I can do this if I put in the work.

Well I hope you enjoyed your Saturday.

Hugs!!!!

Lawn mower drama

So last Saturday my lovely neighbours helped me buy a new lawn mower. They helped me get the thing home. Well on Sunday I attempted to mow and the thing would not start. Of course the customer service dept. was only available Mon-Fri.

I paid just under $400 smackeroos for this cordless electric mower so I was a wee disappointed.

Today I decided to try again but nothing so I phone the customer service people and she walks me threw some trouble shooting. She told me that there's one piece on the handle that sometimes gets bumped in shipping that prevents the mower from starting so if I bend it back a little with pliers it should work.

I then hunted for pliers and couldn't find any I suspect my Dad took them home with him so I try with gardening shears (yeah I know but I had the girl on the phone). I thought I had bent it a bit but the mower still wounldn't start. She gave me the number of the repair place.

I phone the repair place and the guy tells me that he's seen one of these mowers recently with the same problem and the culprit was that metal piece.

Well then I decided to bob down to Walmart buy a new pair of pliers and try this again. Sure enough, I bent that piece of metal a bit and shazaam working mower.

Wow it's so different from my gas one. My gas one is ancient and it's always an exercise to get it started and then a lovey plume of smoke comes out. This was so light and way more quiet.

Now apart from the lawnmower olympics the week went fast.

I attempted setting my alarm early to go to the gym but everytime I did that I had crappy sleep and just got up when I normally do.

I'm thinking I could adjust my schedule a little so I'm not setting the alarm for 4am to hit the gym. Also very soon the treadmill 4 doors down from my camp room will be operational and way more convenient.

I decided to weigh in tomorrow morning as my day was sucked up by lawn mowers. I had intended to go to the gym afterwards but the gym is closed. They're taking advantage of the Victoria Day long weekend to finish some renos so it will be up to me to figure something out.

Speaking of workouts in my quest to find camp room friendly workouts I'm going to give Harvey Pasternak's workout a try. It seems pretty straightforward and not a huge time investment.

I need to super charge my efforts as Vegas is 4 weeks away...

Hope your week went well.

Hugs!!

One day at a time

I downloaded David Kirchhoff's (CEO of Weight Watchers) book "Weight Loss Boss" and have had my nose attached to it for most of yesterday.

I can totally relate to what he says and you don't need to be following Weight Watchers to read this. If you've ever read his blog www.manmeetsscale.com and liked what he said there you will definitely like the book. Now I'm only half way through at this point but it's given me some good reminders. The biggest one is treat weight loss as a priority. The reason this resonated with me is I haven't been doing that. You know how it goes - you get what you put in.

I'll write more when I'm finished the book. He's a data junky like me but it's written in a very engaging way and again it's not about Weight Watchers of course he mentions it as he does work there. He comes from a place of he's faced the same challenges in losing weight. The other part that resonated with me is it took him awhile which is the same for me.

I always get a little bugged when someone asks how long it's taken someone to lose weight. The reason it bugs we is 1) Everyone is different and everyone's circumstances are different, and 2) It's not just about losing but keeping it off and 3) it's dangerous territory to start comparing yourself to others. In my meeting when someone hits goal I'm more interested in what they've learned and to celebrate their success. Well that's my thing anyway.

I did track all of yesterday and breakfast is recorded for today so far. Later I'm attempting my green smoothie in the vitamix.

Today's priority is cleaning the house as I've let that slide. My house is definitely a reflection of my emotional state.

I also need to mow at least the front lawn with the new lawn mower I bought yesterday. My old mower barely made it through last year. The old one is a gas mower and every time I started it a big cloud of smoke would rumble out of it.

The new one is a cordless electric model made by Greenworks. I haven't used an electric mower in ages at that was with negotiating the cord out of your way. So I'm intrigued by this one and it got good reviews.

My fabulous neighbor helped me out yesterday. I'm not fond of driving so don't have a car. I had no idea if a lawn mower would fit in a cab. Canadian Tire was hopping yesterday and quite a few people were eyeing mowers. I also a lot of people buying flowers. There's a rule of thumb in these parts - plant nothing until after the May long weekend as we usually get a killing frost between now and then. I don't like planting anything until June just to play it safe.

Hope your enjoying your weekend.

Hugs!!

Motivation

That was the topic at my WW meeting today. I hadn't originally planned to weigh in today and was aiming for tomorrow but I then decided to go today at noon. I just wanted to face the scale and take responsibility.

Up 1.8 and not surprised. Last week I was hardly behaving like anyone following a plan. Workouts apart from badminton on Monday non existent. I did set my alarm for 4 am on Tuesday but after waking up at midnight then tossing and turning I chose more sleep over the treadmill. Eating wasn't horrendous but could have better.

I think it's a sign that today's topic was motivation.

This is what was written on the whiteboard.

What motivates me?
Why do I want to lose weight?
Do I want it badly enough?
Why is it important to me?
How do I reframe?

I've been a chubby kid most of my life and I'm tired of it. Vanity is definitely a component but so is health. I want to age gracefully and be active.

Lately I've definitely been complacent. So the badly enough comes into play.

My roller coaster behavior has to stop - now. I'm turning this ship around.

The only thing in my way has been me it's time to use that energy on succeeding.

And that starts immediately.

Snow Day

It was a pretty busy week I must say.

On Monday I spent the day sharing an office with a co- worker who was sick. Knowing I had to deliver a speech to 300 people on Thursday I was hoping I didn't catch it.

By Wednesday I wasn't feeling 100 percent and thought I had the beginnings of a cold. However nothing really materialized symptom wise I did feel tired.

I was so nervous on Thursday probably the cause of the tired. . My presentation was about an occupational fatality. Heavy stuff for sure. I wanted to deliver this with empathy and not like a statistic. Well I almost got through it but when I closed the sadness of the event hit me again so I started to tear up. I barely got my last line out.

Then I spent 20min dabbing tears at my table. What totally blew me away was the response I got. So many people came up to me to tell me how moved they were and how awesome I did. so many told me they cried with me. One of the things I hate most is crying in front of other people but so many told me that's what made it hit home for people.

That continued into the 2nd day. Even the head poobah of my group and the group I support ( who happened to be the guest speaker) said I did an amazing job. What I'm proud of is I did what I set out to do I told the story of a person not a statistic.

I generally like to fly under the radar at not draw attention to myself and now 300 people know me but it was for a worthy cause.

I was pretty exhausted for the rest of the week. I had a headache pretty much all Thursday and of course had no meds on me.

Friday was exhausting as well. I'm an introvert so while incredibly touching all the attention was exhausting.

I decided that I would not set an alarm today and just focus on recharging. I woke up looked out the window and declared a snow day. It's so bizarre yesterday was +14C.

I didn't go to weigh in focusing on sleep but I did weigh in on my scale. Up 3.8, yeah did I mention this 2 day conference had a lot of food and the food was really good. Plus the emotional toll didn't help either.

Now that's all done and no more distractions until Vegas in 6 weeks. The tracker is front and center on my coffee table as today is the start of a new week.

The goals this week are back to basics: tracking, water, exercise. I'm watching the season finale of Biggest Loser for inspiration. Kim looks incredible. I was hoping she'd win. I do hope next season gets not so dramatic & obnoxious contestants.

All right my friends the war is not over and I still believe. We can do this.

Hugs

Some times status quo is alright

My 3 days in the Kananaskis was pretty good. It's the first time I've stayed at the Delta Kananaskis and I didn't realize how big the complex was nestled in the woods. You're pretty isolated that's for sure.

The funny part was there were 2 other groups from my company there. One group works with me at site so it felt like we took over the hotel.

I have to admit coaching a team of directors was daunting but they're not so different from any other team. I did feel honored when our nominated team lead wanted to run things past me as I was leaving.

The hotel had a tiny gym that opened at 6am, breakfast was served at 7am. I never got there. My old boss's boss is also a trainer and she was there and held boot camps at 5:30am. Yeah first day dinner went to 11pm. I never made it. I did try to be mindful with all the buffet meals and focused on veggies. They had beautiful pathways but due to bears we were told not to go alone. That sucked as I would have loved to run outside.

I went to WI yesterday at noon as I wanted to test out the Friday meeting. I do really like this leader. I stayed exactly the same which for this week I'm happy with as I was at that training for 3 days.

There was a bit of drama in the meeting when one woman started having some outbursts. No one knew her. When I was waiting to weigh in she had an altercation with the front desk girls. Then the leader was talking about a boot camp she went to and this lady starts saying we don't need exercise classes if people stopped driving and walked. Then the leader was telling us how she had chips and dip for supper. Now this was more an example of how everyone has their moments of off plan behavior. This woman bursts out " you're killing me" and then goes on a rant that we talk about food. Ah ok food is the reason we're all there. Then she rants that instead of talking about clementines we should talk about more local fruit. Well the whole meeting came to the defense of the leader.

It's funny at the training when the coaches were together we talked about having a minimum of 3 women on a team forms a coalition.

Eventually she left. I get that she's very environmentally conscious and there's nothing wrong with that it's just how she went about it that was a little rude.

Well next week I need to go to Saturday's meeting due to having to go to another conference. After that there are no schedule differences till I leave for Vegas.

Today I went to Zumba and it was fun ad always. With that and the walk there and back I burned 727 calories .. Booyah.

Tomorrow it's C25K.

Hope you all had a good week.

Hugs!!

Dear Me - Enough

Dear Me,

This is your logical self talking today. I am proud of you for going to weigh in even though we both knew you'd see a gain. What you weren't bargaining for was a 3lb gain, of course I wasn't surprised. Let's face it you're playing fast and loose with the program for sometime know. You had fries for dinner 3 times last week. Had you listened to me instead of going with the flow of some your dinner mates I could have created a healthier dinners.

On Tuesday you programmed your alarm to go run, it went off and you couldn't get out of bed.

I need to ask you how badly do you want this. Let's look at your weight tracker.

You're bouncing and you've done this before. I don't mean to come down hard on you but you need a shake up. You used to be good at following the program and you saw results...remember 168. Right now WW is you're favourite charity. You let your emotions rule too much.

You've created good plans but then you cover them with dust bunnies and put your head under the covers. You called your plan Operation Enough well enough is enough.

Barb weighed you in today and asked you how long you've doing this. You faltered on your answer as it's been a long battle. You did tell her you've been bouncing around the same 5lbs which is very true. This isn't a plateau you're suffering it's complacency. She kindly gave you a new copy of the materials and told you to go back to step one which was my plan for you anyway so I'm glad I had back up.

It's not all bad I mean you're good at healthy breakfasts and lunches. You're downfall is snacks and supper and consistent workouts, and tracking- oh and meal planning. You need to listen to me more often, just stop and think. You need to make a commitment to yourself. The only person who can make this happen is you. So when you plan a workout - do it.

Today you tracked everything, had 3L of water today and had 40min walk, that's a good first step. Now you need to take a second step and just keep going.

I know you can do this and I believe in you. So go back to basics, forget what you know and re-learn.

Hugs,
Me

What the heck

That title is directed to me logging into blogger today and finding it totally different. Not sure how I like this.

Alright it was a busy week but I like busy. Played some awesome badminton on Monday and then got into a debate about HR monitors. One of my coworkers thought it was impossible to burn 500 calories in 90 min of badminton. Which is exactly what my Polar heart rate monitor said.

Tuesday attempted to get up for a run, instead I reset the alarm. Tuesday was a long day due to meetings till 8pm so sleep was my priority and I didn't even try to get up Wed am.

C25K got the back burner this week which I'm completely ashamed about. However in the mail this week I got a few reminders to rejig the running focus.

I adore the IFitness water bottle belt I got at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon but the runs are short right now so I don't really need to cart water bottles. I adore the fit on these and they're not kidding when they say it doesn't bounce of course the trick is to wear it on the hips.

Tada, the double pouch version. It keeps everything dry so phone can go in one pocket and kleenex in the other. 

Now I also picked up an Amphipod arm band holder for my phone. I wanted another option as opposed to always a belt.

It's taken me awhile to find an arm holder I like. My major issue is I don't want to take my IPhone out of it's case to put into the holder as that's just a production. Tada, the phone fits in this one with the case. Thanks to Lululemon Addict who posted about this or I never would have found it.

The other thing I found last week is MIO is finally in Canada. What I love about this is it's liquid so it mixes in the water a heck of a lot better and I actually don't like super flavoured so I like the control. I control how much I squirt into the water. I have them at home and at work. Now there's only 4 flavours available in Canada hopefully we get the others soon.

This week is going to be a bit different. I'm flying back on Sunday and then back home on Monday as I'm heading to the Kananaskis for 3 days, it's work thing that I'm really looking forward to. It will be a really nice hotel for 3 days so I must stay focused.

I'm heading to weigh in tomorrow and I'm so looking forward to it. Not sure what the scale will say as I wasn't paying super attention to the plan this week. I've also come to the conclusion it's not good when I miss a meeting. The meeting refocuses me.

Now when I get back from Kananaskis I want to start trying Friday noon meetings. That will depend on Saturday and if they've found us a regular leader yet. The Friday leader has subbed before and I really like her.

I had my annual skin check today and thankfully my dermatologist removed a skin tag that was annoying. Due to the fact that I've had melanoma it has to go to the lab to be tested just in case.

He also gave me a prescription for the weird breakout type thing happening around my left eye. He said it's a form of dermatitis typical in your 30s. I did tell him I'm crossing into 40 in about 6 weeks.

After weigh in tomorrow I need to go shopping. This 3 day event is business casual and most of clothes due to working at site aren't really business.

I hope all of you had a great week.

Hugs!!!

Funky town

For the past 4 months I've been in a funk and despite good intentions I seem to slide backwards.

A lot of it was due to stress and being an emotional eater that's just the perfect storm, however the light is at the end of the tunnel.

This week was pretty stressful but things are changing in a good way. At work I've felt like a hamster on the spinning treadmill thing. Not miserable but not super happy either. That resulted in some bad food decisions and sleep issues which just makes me tired with no get up and go to workout. Apart from badminton on Monday there have been no workouts this week.

However my Thursday meeting that I was worried about went well so that was a relief.

Yesterday I was in Fort McMurray for a 7 hour meeting that was exhausting. The night in a hotel room so different noises and the meeting didn't start till noon and didn't get home till 9pm. By the time I got home and picked up my mail from neighbour I just went to bed. Of course I neglected to program my alarm and slept right through weigh in. So I was disappointed with that even though I pretty much knew I'd have a gain. I still wanted to face the scale.

A big success of the week were those Starbucks cups my water intake was pretty good. The little journal got filled out a few times and the tracker up till Tuesday. I admit that I let myself sink into the funk this week.

On Monday my job does change a little with a bigger client group and getting involved with some interesting projects. I feel like this is an opportunity to spread my wings, while a wee scary it's also a whack of excitement.

I will turn this around.

Hugs!!!

C25K week 2 begins - RFS Week 2

Happy Easter!

Let me start with yesterday's weigh in, I was up 1lb. I knew that was coming with no tracking.

I also know it could have been worse but my 3 workouts helped that I believe.

For this week I armed myself with a few things to get me back on track.

A new tracker with my own sticker. Intention is what I need as in be purposeful and take control.

I have no issues getting all my water in at home as I usually fill my Sigg 1L then pour it into a glass with straw. Every Saturday morning I go to Starbucks before weigh in and I've been eyeing this cup. After WI this week I went back and they had two left on the shelf so I bought one for home and one for work. One fill is a little over 3 cups. I've refilled it 3 times today.

A mini journal, I'm definitely an emotional eater and I want to start writing before I nibble. I could use my tracker but I don't keep that front and center on my desk. So I thought this can sit in eye shot and it's fun. Plus I keep a paper journal on top of the blog and to haul my normal journal back and forth to camp is can take up space needed for something else. I don't want to leave a journal in my camp room. So this little guy will travel back and forth with me to note when I feel snacky and to figure out why plus act as journal when I need to get something out.

Today I started week 2 of C25K and did run 1 today. It wasn't a pretty run. I had breakfast beforehand and wonder if I ran too soon. When I get up at camp in the morning to go to the gym I just have a swig of G2 and then go workout. I have breakfast afterwards. I also had my Iphone in the pocket of Addidas hoody. The pocket is more like a kangaroo pocket and the phone bouncing was not fun. However I did it. My time is longer as I was half a block away from house when cool down ended so I just kept the garmin on.

36:47min, 2.56 miles, Avg pace 14.21, Max pace 9.55 (which is faster then I do on the treadmill), calories burned 207. Now on Friday when I went to the gym and did C25K wk 1 day 3 I forgot to wear the HR monitor but it still estimated my calories burned at 233. Today I wore the HR monitor so I know the estimating is off.

Now my week is a little different this week. On Friday I need to be in Fort McMurray for a meeting. Instead of flying home on Thurs only to be up early and back to the airport on Friday morning I'm going to take the 2hr bus ride from site to Fort Mac and stay overnight in a hotel. The good part about that is I get to sleep in as the meeting doesn't start till noon. The 2hr bus ride isn't so bad as I usually fall asleep on coaches. Now the challenge will be eating in a restaurant the day before weigh in. I don't land in Calgary till 8pm on Friday. However I am up to the challenge.

Hope you all have a great week, I'll blog when I can.

Hugs!!!

I did it- Week one C25K complete

Happy Good Friday,

I actually finished the first week of C25K and this is coming from someone who has attempted this program in the past and pretty much bailed before completing the 3rd day.

It's been quite a week.

Didn't sleep at all Sunday night. So Monday was me dragging myself through the day. I did play my Monday night Badminton. I really enjoy that and it's a good calorie burn as we have each other running all over the place. Everyone is a wee competitive too so that adds a bit more fun.

Tuesday I woke up on my own at 2am and could not go back to sleep. At 3:20ish I thought this is ridiculous so I went to the gym and did C25K day two. I didn't put my running shoes on until I was past all the bedrooms in my camp dorm to limit noise.

Wednesday I was going to do yoga in my room but the lack of sleep was bothering me. Everyone was telling me I looked tired. So I pretty much went to bed early. All this no sleep business also resulted in no blogging over the week.

Thursday I intended to get up at 4am and go to the gym for C25K day 3, yeah didn't happen. So it absolutely had to happen today and luckily my gym was open from 9-5. This time I turned my Iphone around so I wasn't looking at the active.com app and instead just focused on the audio cues.

It was funny during the jog parts I felt like I was going slow, which I was at 5.1 on the treadmill but I'm doing that on purpose to build a stronger running base. I can build on speed when the 9 weeks are finished. I have a habit of going too fast too soon and just not building up enough endurance.

On Thursday I did receive an email from my Tinkerbell running friends about entering for the Nike Women's Half in San Francisco in October. It's a lottery entry so no guarantees but that's is the same weekend my cousins are supposed to be in San Fran so kind of kismet I think. Plus the bling is a Tiffany necklace..nice.

In other news my work is going to changing a bit in a week. My client groups size gets a whole lot bigger and I'm super excited. I still keep my old group but I get groups that I supported in my old role as a recruiter before I became an HR Advisor. I'll be busy that's for sure but I love being busy.

So much change lately my own business unit changed as well as my immediate team... It's safe to say change is everywhere.

Now change can be scary but I think it can be good as well as it shakes you up a little.

Speaking of change I have been on the hunt for skin care for awhile now. A few months ago I broke out next to my nose, mouth and around my eye only on the left hand side of my face. I thought it was allergies maybe but that made no sense as it was on one side of my face. Then I realized it's probably stress. Well I've been trying a whack of different products with no real results, then I watched this infomercial for Murad about hormonal ageing. I thought why not let's give it a shot so I ordered the 30 day supply of their Regenerist line. I'm going to be 40 soon after all. Though thankfully a few weeks ago some of co-workers didn't believe me and I almost had to show them my driver's license, I'm quite blessed that people still guess that I'm in my 20's - Thanks Mom and Dad. Well shazaam everything cleared up in a few weeks after using the Murad products. Yesterday I got the 90 day supply because I want to use what's remaining of the 30 day as travel size for my upcoming trips. I'm officially hooked and happy that I can order it only through baileydirect.ca at a better price then I get anywhere else. It's not cheap but this is the only skin I have.

My missing tracker was in fact at my desk I discovered on Monday, however over the week I didn't use it. Food wise wasn't too bad but I also know I'm not a fantastic estimator. To be successful I need to track.

However I am very much looking forward to weigh in tomorrow so I can get my head back in the game.  I'm thinking a new tracker as well to inspire me. I love fresh notebooks of any kind. I also love purple and I saw the new concord grape define jacket on lululemon's website. My size was sold out, so I got one size smaller, that is motivation my friends.

2 months and one week to Vegas.....

Week 2 of C25K starts Sunday.

Hugs!!!

Day one C25K

Happy April!

Today was the return to C25K, now my last run was two weeks ago I wanted to start back at the beginning. Got off too a goofy start as I locked my phone which caused the app to pause but I figured that out fast.

This was my first run outside in a long time too. My first few running bursts felt a little rough but I found my groove and I was surprised when it was done. The bonus of not looking at the phone and just listening to the verbal cues.

It was about 8c and a wee windy but I felt good.

It was 29:51min, 3.38km, avg pace 8:50/km, 117 calories burned. My warm up was a little long due to the phone locking. I'm looking forward to run 2 on Tuesday.

I've been tracking on my phone for the last few days and I went to write it in my tracker and I can't find it. I must have left it at work. Even though I have the WW app I still like to write it down.

Normal schedule next week so even better for no excuses.

Hope you enjoyed your Sunday.