Looks like an accordion

My weigh in tracking spreadsheet that is or maybe it looks more like those machines that show heartbeats.

When I was last here I talked about vicious circles, well I can't say I've made too much progress on that front and I'm not sure why.

I know what to do. I need to track, plan and workout. I track but usually after the day is done and I've gone over points. I do workout though to do being crazy at work this week I missed classes. Yes it was a 4 day week that still had 5 days of work to get done.

On the job front I was hired permanently so super excited about that. The position started as a Mat Leave coverage contract but now I'm an official employee and couldn't be more delighted. I love what I do, I love the people I work with and I love the groups I support.

Another race is only a few weeks away and though I had my fastest half marathon time at the Star Wars Half in Disneyland it still got me into one of the last corrals at the Darkside Half Marathon at Disney World. Well to be honest I don't care where I start as long as I finish.

One of my friends and I are planning a day trip to Universal Studios while in Florida to check out Diagon Alley and all things Harry Potter...I'm so excited.

So on the weight loss front I did have a loss last Saturday but the receptionist at WW said something interesting to me. She said that I've had a lot of ups and downs lately. Now at first I thought she was talking about the accordion of weigh ins but she was referring to those 7 races in 11 days in January, the new job and before that dealing with unemployment. So yes that's true there were some ups and downs. Today I was looking at 3 month tracker. I have 8 weeks left in this book. A lot can happen in 8 weeks. So I'm setting a goal of 20lbs down in 8 weeks. If I do it I'll get my myself the new FitBit Blaze. That's the deal with myself.

I'm not going to promise to post more as clearly I fail at that every time. I do appreciate everyone's support and this amazing community of positivity out there.

I so adore my WW peeps, it's like having a crew in a weird sort of way. Though I look forward to seeing them every Saturday.

Now the plus I have been tracking so now the goal is stay within my points. I've done this before and I can do it again. I never forget that I intend to attempt that Dopey Challenge again in 2017. I need to be fitter to be faster.

So bring it.

I want to wish you all a Happy Easter!

Viscous Circles

For the past few weeks I was getting back in to the groove of weight loss. I do love the new SmartPoints & the Beyond the Scale plan at Weight Watchers. 

I love it because we now use sugar in the points calculation. Sugar was my issue. While I haven't completely eliminated it I am much more conscious of it. 

Now while the last few weeks have been awesome that wasn't the case this week. 

Why does this happen? 

It's annoying & has me digging out my Beck Diet book as I think I need some help with cognitive training. 

This week I was sniffly and tired. It made me far less diligent. I wanted sleep & not the gym. Under the weather happens. Why didn't I suck it up instead of letting it drag me down? 

It has been awhile since I felt under the weather. I feel disappointed with myself. Like I take two steps forward and one step back. A habit takes time I can't lose focus now. I won't give up or throw in the towel. 

I'm not sure what the scale will say at weigh in tomorrow but I am bound & determined to get this ship going in the right direction. I feel better today which is good. Banishing the negative & focusing on the positive. 

I got this. 

Hello 2016, yeah I'm totally late on that

I am officially the worst blogger ever. To all those who follow me I am so sorry.

However I'm back and ready to recommit to this blog.

Where I left of was setting some goals for 2016 and I'm still focused on those. I was also about to leave for Dopey and Star Wars races.

I'll start with Dopey, can I just say Florida weather is weird. Race morning weather ranged from 6 Celsius to 20 Celsius on Marathon Day.

Happily Windows 10 and I are now getting along so I could upload some pictures.

I have a tradition of collecting the RunDisney Vinylmations every year and I really love this year's set. Now last year it took me about 5 tries to get the more rare one which is a chance of 9/10. Incredibly I got the rare one on the first try at Disney World and the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo

 My next mission was to go to Hollywood Studios and check all the new Star Wars stuff. Really geeked out with I saw the AT-AT Walker

Got a picture with Chewie and gave him my condolences

This dude tried to mug me but I fought back :)

 Couldn't resist upgrading my magicband for Captain Phasma

 I desperately wanted the Force Awakens Dooney and Burke tote and got the last one at Watto's Grotto while there.

 Race Day One came bright and early which would turn into 4 days of Groundhog day of getting up in the wee hours of the morning. This was the morning of 6c.

 Race Day Two - The 10K and it pretty much rained the entire time.

 Race Day 3 - Half Marathon Day and I went back to Epcot which is where each race started in the parking lot.

 Morning of Race Day 4 - The marathon. It was 20c at 3am, I had a bad feeling about this day.

 I will admit I was freaked out about this race as I knew I wasn't prepared. My longest run before this weekend was in November. If I finished I knew it would be a miracle. Well I didn't finish. I was swept at Mile 20. I was upset but I knew I gave all I could get. I was pretty good up to the midway point but then it all fell apart and I could feel myself getting slower and slower. At one point I saw one of the bike pacers with the orange flag on the back and I knew I was in trouble. I was 3 minutes ahead of the Balloon ladies at that point and then 1 minute ahead and then they passed me. When I saw the chain of golf carts coming I knew I was finished. The minute I got on the cart the other people in the cart gave me a huge congratulations of making it this far.

We then transferred to a van and that's when I started to tear up, I had tears in my eyes when we got off at the finish line. The volunteer hung the Marathon medal around my neck and said they were proud of me. I managed to keep it together until I got back to the hotel and then there was a flood of tears. I had a few minutes of pitty party and then I vowed to return in 2017 to finish what I started.
Oh yes I will back to complete Dopey.

 Was disappointed to discover All Star Sports no longer served the big Mickey Waffle but I had my traditional post runs breakfast.

 I had a 5th morning of very very very early wake up day as I was off to Los Angeles and to Disneyland for the Rebel Challenge. The first thing I found at World of Disney in Anaheim was Dopey. I couldn't find him at Disney World anywhere. He came home with me to remind me of my goal to complete Dopey in 2017

Stopped by to consult with Lord Vader in Disneyland

At the race expo for Star Wars Half Marathon weekend I picked up the other RunDisney Vinylmation. :)

 As RunDisney will changing the Rebel Challenge to the Light Side Half Marathon in 2017 you could see the shift in the medals to reflect the Rebel side. Race number 5 - The 5K.

 Race number 6 - the 10K and they changed the course this year so it was tons of park time and loads of switch backs. I didn't mind the switch backs so much as it always let me know there were gobs of people behind me.

 I did develop an addiction to the Force Awakens Vinylmation in my visit to Disney World and Disneyland

 The entire medal haul of this trip including the first Coast to Coast of 2016. While I was completely dejected the week before after my failed marathon I turned myself around and had a blast at the Star Wars races.

Super fun stuff at the star area of the Star Wars Half Marathon. Do enjoy how my bib is so straight...hahaha. Miraculously I did my fastest Half Marathon since 2012 on Race Day number 7. It was crazy as I looked at my Garmin at mile 12 and realized my time I kind of booked it for the last mile. What a difference in a week. This Sunday I was delighted and my run mojo was back. 

 My crazy race vacation was at an end and I had to head home. One thing I love about heading home is flying over these mountains. The Canadian Rocky Mountains are absolutely incredible. 

So my next race is the Dark Side Challenge in April. 

This week I went back to BodyPump at GoodLife Fitness on Monday and it's been months since I've been to that class. It's called different things at different gyms but it's group class of weight exercises where you work on muscle group for a song. So there's a bicep track, a squat track and so on. It definitely kicked my patootie. I was super sore until yesterday where I was bracing myself before I stood up or sat down. I still feel it in my left thigh so I know I overdid something. I'll be back at that class on Monday. 

Now while I lost 6.8lbs over the past two weeks. I blew it this week. I'd like to blame the new bakery/ bistro that opened around the corner from work but my diligence went out the window this week. It just teaches me how easy it is to slip into bad habits. I'll go to weigh in tomorrow and accept whatever number it shows me and double down the effort. I will much lighter for Dopey 2017. Heck I will be lighter for Dark Side dang it. 

So I say bring it and what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger. 

Type to you soon....

I do goals, not resolutions

On the eve of 2016, I’ve been thinking about goals, not resolutions but goals. To me the difference is resolutions lack clarity, lack specifics and can be way too broad for example “I want to lose weight”; ok that’s great but how?

As I work in human resources I’m often helping people with goals, work goals yes but the same theory applies. The key is break down the big goal into smaller goals that lend themselves to the big goal. Are they smart goals? 

What’s a smart goal, you’ll see different forms of definitions that more or less mean the same thing but this is my definitions.

S – Simple

M – Manageable

A – Attainable

R- Realistic

T – Timely 

Now one of my goals is to lose weight, my specific big goal is to get goal weight by December 2016. 

How am I going to do this? Focus on the steps to get me there not on a number per month. 

The goals:

Track my SmartPoints every day – Track it on the app and in my journal. Why twice? Well right now I need the app to learn the new SmartPoints but I like the journal because I can record when I eat and if I’m actually hungry or not. For example do I seriously need a snack 1 hour after lunch? 

Drink 6 cups of water a day – I have a plastic Venti Starbuck cup (which holds 3 cups) at my desk and access to free sparkling water at work plus I’m pretty much addicted to making my own Perrier with my SodaStream at home. I also have another one of these cups at home.

 

Activity:

• Go back to Body Pump 2 days a week – schedule it in my calendar, pack the gym bag the night before. 

• Run/Walk 3 days a week – schedule it in my calendar, pack the gym bag the night before 

• Yoga – 2 days a week – my ultimate goal is 7 days a week so this will be modified as I go along. Roll out my yoga mat so when I get home it’s there looking at me. 

• Meditate – one day a week, again the goal here is 7 days but I find this hard to shut my brain down without having a nap. Probably because whenever I try this I’m laying down. I need to try this sitting. I have no excuses I have Deepak Chopra CDs that I’ve also uploaded on my phone. 

Read one book a month, I used to be a voracious reader and not sure when that fell off.  It can be a fun, frilly book or “a learn something” book. I should actually update my Goodreads stuff and get more books I’ve read out there into Little Libraries after I’ve registered them with Bookcrossing. 

Motivation:

It’s been hard for me for a long while as I was in a funk: an unhappy at my job funk, the sadness of releasing so many employees funk, an unemployed funk, the angry I’m unemployed funk, the will I ever find a job funk, while at home I don’t want to get out of my pajamas funk, a first Christmas at home since my Dad passed away funk, a low self esteem funk but in the last few weeks I’m feeling more like myself again. 

A big part of that I think is now working at a company that isn’t as completely stressed out as the last one. Even though I know my contract is up in a year, I feel that during this year I can truly focus on my health goals. My stress isn’t nearly as high as it’s been for the past few years plus being surrounded by nice, friendly people helps a lot. Getting back into a routine has helped a lot too. I know I’m good at what I do and think I’ve impressed a few folks already so that’s in check. 

Now it’s working on the internal stuff like I’ve got my act together and silencing any negative thoughts.

It’s a half day tomorrow so I’ll do a bit of grocery shopping just to set up a healthy weekend. 

On the 1st I want to clean my house, the 2nd I get back to my Saturday Weightwatcher meetings and then back for Dopey/ Star Wars on Jan 3rd. Then it’s one day of work and then off to Orlando. 

I do love my WW meetings, my leader is awesome and my peeps (the other attendees) are awesome. 

I can’t believe I leave in less than one week for the craziest run goals I’ve ever attempted and going into it unprepared but positive – what the heck is that?

To keep my goals while I’m away I’ve preordered groceries to be delivered to my hotel room for the first time ever. I decided to try this because Orlando will be humid and there will be many exceptionally early wakeup times; just for Dopey that will be 4 days in a row of getting up ridiculously early. Actually my flight from Orlando to LAX and my flight home are all ridiculously early so it will be many days in a row of getting up at 2am ish. 

I’ve actually started to go to bed a little earlier to start the sleep conditioning. 

I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year and an amazing 2016. 

Hugs!!!

Still a terrible blogger but feeling hopeful

Since I talked to you last....

I've been at my new job for 5 weeks and I absolutely love it. Everyone is super nice, I feel like I have my work mojo back as I'm not laying hundreds of people off but rather doing what I do best and that's helping leaders with their people.

I will miss this these people when that contract finishes, though they keep telling me things are always changing so who knows what the next year will bring.

I went to the Avengers Half Marathon weekend and had a ton of fun, and finished the 5K, 10K and Half Marathon. Had a super great day with two of my Californian friends and finally saw Phantasmic. Thrilled that I got to ride Hyper Space Mountain, otherwise known as Space Mountain.

Decided to not continue Barr as it's too expensive.

With the new job I've had to adjust to new hours as everyone works later then in my previous job. Just getting used to getting back into the swing of things took a few weeks. It's amazing how quick pajama days took over my time off.

Weightwatchers introduced a new plan called Beyond The Scale but I like to call it War on Sugar, this has taken some adjustment and made me realize I was consuming a lot of sugar. I honestly think this will be the plan to get me to goal. I absolutely adore the new 3 week trackers. Especially Jean Nidetch's quote on the cover "it's choice not chance that determines your destiny".

I actually made it to a meeting all through the Christmas holidays. My leader tells me I'd be a natural WW leader...we shal see.

Speaking of Christmas I do hope everyone had a happy and peaceful one.

This was my first solo Christmas at home since my Dad passed away, I preferred to spend it on my own but avoided most Christmas stuff. I put up very minimal decorations and avoided Christmas movies and tv shows. Instead I finished watching Star Wars Clone Wars the animated series.

I did find the days leading up to it difficult as everyone was talking about their plans with their families. I kept quiet. The last few years I'd be planning to go away so without anything like that to plan it felt different.

Speaking of going way. It only a few more weeks before I leave for Dopey. I'm not worried about the 5k, 10k and Half but the Full Marathon is freaking me out. My training has been awful since I went to Edmonton months ago. On the plus side I've done one before so I know a big part of this will be mental. I will probably be walking it and I don't care if I come in last, walk across that finish line with the balloon ladies. The important thing to me is upright and smiling as one week later I'll be off to Disneyland for the Rebel Challenge, this is my favourite Disneyland run. I plan to keep going to this one.

I won't be back in August for Dumbo Double Dare in 2016 mainly because I ran out of vacation. I will be back for Tinkerbell in May.

So from now till I leave for Dopey my focus is still on run/walks and hydration. It's going to be wicked humid in Florida.

My newly updated Windows 10 and my phone are not loading pictures at the moment but hopefully I'll get that sorted out soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I'll be back before New Years. I'm planing my goals for 2016 and I'll post them for accountability.

Talk again soon....

I'm a terrible blogger but things are looking up

Hello my friends,
It looks like I've been dropping in once a month ish for awhile. Admittedly I lost my mojo and being unemployed didn't help.

The hardest apart from no pay cheque was the lack of routine for me.

However, I am employed again - yahoo!

It's a one year contract to cover a maternity leave but in the current market it works for me plus it included benefits so shazam.

I have gotten in to the habit of sleeping in and staying up later. I also got hooked on Scandal watched up to the current show on Netflix. There's parts of that show that bug me i.e. endless mooning looks but it's the equivalent of nighttime soap.

I've been going to Barre classes. There's a studio near my house so I got the one month intro pass and so far have gone to 3 classes one more tomorrow as well.

On Tuesday this week I weigh in at Weight Watchers as I'll miss Saturday. Last week I was down 1.4 which is a nice change. My tracking has been so so.

Wednesday I'm off of the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge. Last year I did the first Avengers Half but it wasn't a race I loved. It could have been the 80km winds but I didn't really think I'd do it again but then they added the challenge and I can't resist a new challenge or a new race.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing my RunDisney buddies.

I start the new job on the 23rd so I'll still have a week off when I get back.

Not sure I'll keep the Barre workouts after the month is up as it's pricey. It's gaining popularity in Canada. I do have BodyPump classes at Goodlife Fitness, The measurement will tell. I took my measurements the day before I joined Barre and will take them again at the end of the month.

It's definitely a workout. To an outside eye looking in it doesn't look like your doing much but it works your whole buddy and makes the muscles shake. I feel like the uncoordinated one in the class but even after a few classes I felt improvement today so promising.

I might download some workouts on my ipad so I can continue while in California.

Alright so I will be back more often as I need to be more accountable and I'm hell bent on getting to goal. My Weight Watchers leader thinks I'd make a good leader so we shall see.

I hope all is going well with all of you. Stay tuned for race recaps.

Hugs!

A New Chapter

Hello my friends,

Well remember those lay off rumours I mentioned, well two days after being back in the Calgary office I was indeed laid off. Can't say I didn't see it coming. In fact my department went down by 1/3. When I shared that info with my friends they thought the company was evil and kind of have to agree on that one. With every major change you go through the steps of grief and anger is one of them.

To be honest I very much doubt that company will be in operation too much longer and that's not me being petty, at least I can't take it personally as hundreds of people have been laid in the company and hundreds are being laid off at a time in my fair city thanks to low oil prices.

That also means there is some super stiff competition on the job front but as I did see the writing on the wall I started applying while still in Edmonton.  I've had interviews. I've had 3 interviews with one company with the 3rd interview happening last Thursday. I know it was down to two people but my spider senses and red flags were screaming after that last interview and if it is offered to me I will be turning it down and that scares me to death but it's 100% clear that two groups I interviewed with are not at all on the same page and they have some serious issues that need to be fixed. In the interview they actually told me there were 3 people in 5 years in this role, yeah I can see why.

Had an interview with another company last Monday, now this job I would love but I know they were interviewing all week and now it's Thanksgiving Weekend so I expect next week I'll hear next steps or...thanks but no thanks. I'm so hoping it's not thanks but no thanks. While positive that I haven't heard anything yet if it goes much longer into next week my guess would be they went forward with someone else and just waiting for the Ts to be crossed and the I's dotted before letting all the interviewees know.

I continue to apply but I don't want to do what I did last time and jump at the first job. I would like to make sure the next move makes sense to me. I've exceptionally fortunate that I had a nest egg if necessary be without work for a few months - that does scare a part of me to death.  An additional thing to plan for is as it gets closer to Christmas recruitment typically stops.

This bust that my city is experiencing is supposed to bounce back but that seems to keep being pushed back and now the theory changes constantly

I've actually been officially unemployed for 10 days. I'm struggling to find my new routine as I wait for interviews.

Last week I just chilled and processed and went on interviews. I did two in one day which was exhausting for an introvert like me. Selling oneself is exhausting.

This week well it's a Thanksgiving Day on Monday and I think I'll go advance vote for the Canadian Federal Election.

Tuesday - no plans but I want to start reorganizing my kitchen
Wednesday - Appointment at the bank and coffee date
Thursday - Another coffee date but helping a friend with their resume. I am a bit of resume whisperer.
Friday - yet to be determined

While the weather is nice I can also get some work done on Dad's house. I have a non ending list of projects.

I vow to go to the gym to get out of the house daily. Heck on day one of unemployment I de-scaled my kettle. I'm not good without some sort of routine.  Came home from grocery shopping last Wednesday to see my neighbours were getting their eavestroughs replaced. I had to move my car for the boys so I asked if they could give me an estimate. My eavestrough was in dire need of replacement so the quote looked good and I had new eavestroughs by Friday.

My Dopey training wasn't great while in Edmonton and then I have been in a bit of pity party the last few days to the point I thought maybe I should try to defer.

But then I gave myself a kick in the patootie decided to prepare as best I can with the time remaining and do the best I can. Heck if I get swept that will just fuel me to do it again.

So I'm going to take this time to do a little soul searching, getting sorted, staying positive and job hunting.

I will be dropping by here more often to regale you with what I'm doing while looking for work. Perhaps before and after pictures on my reorganization and I do want to paint the living room/ dining room. See never ending projects....

I hope all is well with all of you.

What's your why?

Hello Again my friends,

Yes a long absence from blogging primarily because I had no laptop with me on my back and forth from Calgary to Edmonton for the past 6 weeks.

I did go do the Dumbo Double Dare and 5K at Disneyland in between, I got the bling unfortunately I don't have the picture handy but if you're on Instagram I'm Rundisneyaddict and there are some pictures there.

I have been driving back to Calgary every weekend to collect my mail, check on my house and attend my Weight Watchers meeting. I really like the people in the meeting and the leader so it was important to me to keep going.

My secondment has been cut short and I return to Calgary full time next Monday which I'm super happy about a I can resume my routine and back to the gyms I love.

Layoff rumours have reared up again but I like to focus on that if I'm not in control of something why should I worry about it.

A major topic of WW meetings lately is your why, why did you join or more broadly why are committing to getting healthier.

Now as I've mentioned before I think I've joined WW about 3 times falling off the wagon due to life events. I remember my initial why for joining was a friend of mine was doing it and it seemed really straightforward. I keep coming back to it because I know it works when I follow the plan.

In the meeting when it asked what is "why" now, well I have race goals that being lighter and fitter would be beneficial, I'm more inspired as I'm now in my 40s, also I don't want to dress to camouflage myself. I want to dress to highlight my success. Well that resonated with a few people in the meeting.

Which resulted into the re-introduction of the Fashionista Fund. I dusted off my jar which I still had. The goal for every 1lb lost  $20 goes in the jar and stays in the jar. So even on weeks where goodness forbid there's a gain the money stays in the jar. I'm quite excited actually.

I'm still waiting to receive one of the new Success Factors weigh in books, they are continuously out of stock in all of Canada apparently. Hopefully this Saturday.

I like that it puts more focus on a month at a time, still weighing in weekly but looking at the whole month instead of feeling derailed on one week. I love that it includes a spot for measurements and me time. I think of me time as soul time. I do live alone so the me time is expansive but when I do something that focuses on my well being apart from workouts like reading a book.

Now that I'll be back home and back on track for my training with gym schedules that work for me I will be blogging the journey to Dopey more often.

What's your why to lose weight and get fitter?

Slip, not a slide

That was the theme of this week's Weightwatchers Meeting and I was the poster child. Yup I was up 1.8.

Living in a hotel from Sunday to Friday for the past two weeks didn't help with eating out for dinner every night and while I stayed true to my Thrive Mix for breakfast, my lunches were prepackaged microwaveable or cup a noodles.

Tomorrow I finally get the company apartment and I'm very excited to be able to cook my own meals. I first need to collect the keys from the other tenant as they've been moved to another building. They're hanging on to this apartment just for me.

It was a stressful week as the project I'm working on got cut short now I've been told the plan is that I return to the Calgary office when I'm done but I was supposed to be done by the end of October. The Project Director tells me on Monday I will probably only be needed for 2 weeks. What!!!! I knew my bosses in Calgary weren't expecting that. So now I'll be there until October 8th and that's to cover my co-workers vacation.

Oh and I'm in the process of trying to replace my roof in Calgary. The roofing company tells me the colour I wanted is out of stock so I picked another colour trying to remember the colour of my stucco. I was happy to see supplies on my roof when I got home yesterday.

It is a pretty boring drive from Calgary to Edmonton, I think you turn twice in the whole 3 hours. I always stop in Red Deer both ways for a bathroom break, snack and gas. Yesterday Gasoline Alley in Red Deer was crazy. I stopped at Mac Donalds (not the best choice). There was no where to park so I had to do the drive thru but then there was no where to stop to eat so I wound up reheating it when I got home. I should have just got a milk shake at Peter's as I had no idea there was one in Red Deer. The most awesome milkshakes.

I tried a new route home this week but at one point I followed the GPS, I was planning on turning on Highway 14 and the GPS said Highway 14s/Baseline so I turned only to wind up in massive construction and every turn off it wanted me to take was close so I backtracked to Highway 21 then to Highway 14 and then to Anthony Henday on the QE2. I will definitely take that route next Friday. But as I'm now in an apartment I'm debating driving home Saturday morning, yes that would only give me one day at home but the drive on a weekend morning is far calmer and less traffic. Plus if I can do laundry there I can do all that on Friday so it's a calmer Saturday.

It was raining on the way home and some crazy people were still going 30 to 40 KM faster than the speed limit.

We shall see, want to hit Costco again when I get to Sherwood Park and then off to pick up the key to the apartment. I really hope the other tenant cleaned it as that would really suck to drive 3 hours and then clean an apartment, grocery shop and meal prep.

Thinking positively.

My goals for next week:
Gym bag goes to work and right after work I either go to Goodlife or Millennium Place. Have a dinner ready to go so I plan to pre chop veggies so I can either make a salad or omelette when I get home. Plan lunches.

Track and drink water.

On to a new week!!!

Not dead, just busy

Well Hello,
Since I last dropped by a few things have dramatically changed.

The major thing I've been seconded to the Edmonton office for the next 3 months. Yeah.....

It happened ridiculously fast I was told/asked well more told to go on Tuesday Aug 4th and started in the Edmonton office on August 10th.

I had been to that office a few times. I really like the people and to be back in a more operational environment for a while is a nice change.

I opted to take my own vehicle. I didn't want to fly and get a new rental every week. There was an option to use a company vehicle but they're massive beasts. Plus with my own vehicle I have a bit more flexibility in going back and forth.

I had very few kilometers on my 2 year old Escape so I figured it deserved to be driven more. Driving more is very new for me. I didn't get my license till I was 25 and bought my first vehicle 2 years ago. I pretty much drove Dad's car and rentals. Yeah...but I love my Escape so this week we did the 3+ hour drive to Edmonton, drove from the hotel to the office every day (transit is not an option) and drove the 3+ hours home on Friday afternoon.

Tomorrow morning I drive back to Edmonton. I still have another week in a hotel until they can provide me with an apartment.

I packed my Thrive stuff and had my morning smoothie. I even picked up a scale to take with me so I could still do my daily weigh ins. Yes the plus of driving is I can pack a lot of stuff.  I pretty much moved my whole Calgary office as my Star Wars stuff goes where I go.

I actually packed my lunch. I found microwavable options for lunch (Chunky Soup and Chili) which I can store in hotel room, I got some mini packs of Sun Chips and some mini oreos.

The kitchen at work has a microwave and an espresso machine. So I brought the Keurig Mini, which I used to have in my office back when I was at site, and I brought a kettle with me. No kettle in the kitchen but I had them talking about toaster oven last week.

I did check out the GoodLife in Sherwood Park but the times of their classes are different then my usual GoodLife so that meant tweaking the training schedule.

Where the office is considered Edmonton but Sherwood Park is closer so this where we usually stay when going to that office and I quite like the area. Years ago I went to a yoga retreat there.

When I drove up last Sunday I went to Millennium Place in Sherwood Park to check out the indoor track. It was a disappointment as it's pretty much a circle with an incline part. So I don't think I'll be getting a membership there. It will be GoodLife, outside and the hotel treadmill while I'm in hotel.

Last week I brought food with me in an insulated bag with an ice pack. I left the ice pack in the hotel fridge freezer - dang it.

This week I'll wait till I get to Sherwood Park to get Fresh food lunch supplies. I plan to go to Costco when I get there tomorrow as I'm told that Costco isn't ridiculously busy.

I do plan on driving back every weekend as I still have my house. This secondment has put a massive wrinkle in my plans for my Dad's house and delayed that project. I really want to come every week to got to my Weightwatchers meeting. I really like my leader and my WW peeps.

I was actually down today, it was .4 but I'll take it after eating out for a week. I became quite fond of the Baja Bowls at Taco Del Mar but the shredded beef one is 12 points. I need to really plan steps. In the Calgary office I can pretty much nail 10000 steps a day with the walk to an from the train station and just running around getting lunch.

I changed my flight arrangements for the Dumbo Double Dare to flying from Edmonton as it just seemed complicated getting back to Calgary mid week to get on a flight. There's still a few weeks till I leave for L.A.

I find myself far more sedentary with driving everywhere. The closest food options to the Edmonton office are a 20 minute drive. My goal for this week is to get outside or the gym after work to get those steps in.

Now you are updated on me, on to my week 2 adventure in Edmonton. I will be back.

Thrive Experience - 2 weeks in

Thrive Experience - Day 19

So as I mentioned in my last blog I decided to give The Thrive Experience a try and I'm officially into my experiment. 

I did find more mental clarity as of day one and the continues, and to me that’s waking up clear headed with a stronger sense of focus.

I did find more energy. Before Thrive when I got home from work and I'd sit down and check what was on the pvr and pretty much veg out and now I find I putter a bit more and straighten up or finish off a project I started but didn't finish in the past. 

On the weight loss front I’m still tracking my WW points and my eating wasn't particularly stellar not horrible the week before last  but I did go over in points just due to bad planning. I never hit the gym once last week and at weigh in on Saturday I had a one pound loss.  I attribute that to Thrive really taking away cravings. 

Now I still have issues with emotional eating especially boredom but over the past few weeks I pinpointed that like never before. This week was particularly rough for a number of reasons. One I'm being sent to Edmonton for the next 3 months. Came as a total surprise on Monday. The other major reason is layoff fears hit a new high again. So this week I had 1.8 gain at weigh in. The Edmonton thing was the major reason as combined with the new layoff fears what will I find when I come back in 3 months. I requested taking my own vehicle. Edmonton is 3 hours from Calgary as I wanted the flexibility to come and go. My plan is to come home every weekend or go to the property. This does cause a massive wrinkle in my life which I really hope they appreciate. 

I have to rejig my training plan but my Goodlife membership works anywhere in Alberta. I can get drop in passes for a facility with an indoor track. I really want to continue going to my WW meeting as I love my WW peeps but I did find a standby meeting there if I need one. I also ordered more Thrive stuff to take with me. 

This is my Thrive routine right now:

I take the capsules when I wake up and 20 minutes later I have the shake and for the first week I wore the regular DFT patch every day. The 2nd Week the Ultra DFT patch. Before I go to bed I took two Balance capsules.

Now I've stopped taking the Balance as I don't want to get too graphic but I think I'll get my fibre in from a more nature source. 

I decided to try the whole Thrive Plus line in this experiment  which includes:

Thrive Plus -Activate – I tried that for the first time on a Monday as my pre workout beverage and then I went to BodyJam, BodyPump and Yoga class and never felt a decrease in energy.  It kind of tastes like a thicker kool aid, I was expecting more of flavoured water. I used one pack in 16oz of water. It recommends 8-16, I'm so glad I went with 16 as I think had I done 8 I would have found this a little overwhelming. I drink it roughly an hour before my workout and find it does give me a boost of energy. 

Thrive Plus Boost  - I added this fruit/ veggie mix to my smoothie starting Monday morning, it has a berry type flavour and mixes super well with the vanilla flavour of the Premium Smoothie Mix. I honestly find this keeps me satisfied till lunch time.  

Thrive Plus Rest –  Haven't implemented this yet but I can truly evaluate if I feel any differently as I wear a fitbit 24/7 I can certainly track if there’s any changes.

Thrive Move – this offers joint support so curious to see if has any influence on my knees,  boy do my knees get angry during the lunges at BodyPump so I'll start this this soon and see if there’s any impact on the BodyPump class.

Ultra DFT Patch (the purple ones on the right) – Now this patch is bigger and supposed to be stronger. I can't say I've noticed a massive difference from the regular patch but I'll need to go back to the regular patch for awhile to truly tell. I do find with the bigger patch I have to think about where I put it i.e. shoulder or arm as if my muscle flexes it can impede how it sticks so the flatter the area the better. Back of shoulder seems to work best for me. 

I am pleased so far. I have felt great, noticed increased energy and far less food cravings. 

The emotional eating is purely in my head and I'm now thinking of this 3 month thing as a chance to remove myself from the emotional office setting and a chance to have a new adventure. 

I took a picture at the gym as a before picture and took my measurements as well. Don't mind the grumpy expression on my face. I was going for beast mode. 

Feel free to check out the products here http://bolsyl.le-vel.com/

In other news I geeked out my Escape a bit more which I have renamed Tie-Fighter. 

 The circles on the window were part of fundraising effort for Noah's Light. I've had the stickers for some time but finally got around putting them on the Escape. Above are stickers representing all the RunDisney Challenges (multiple races over multiple days). I found the Imperial symbol on Etsy and got a little too excited and ordered two by accident so one on the gas tank lid.

And one on the back windshield 

Here we have all the RunDisney Races including Expedition Everest and Tower of Terror 10 miler. Now I haven't done the WDW Half or Marathon yet or the Dopey and the Goofy but I stuck them on anyway. 

I'm excited to continue this Thrive adventure and all the other adventures that start soon. I don't go to Edmonton for another week. So this coming week is all about getting sorted like getting my roof re-tiled, yup had to get that done before the winter and found a well reviewed roofer who can do it next week. 

I will definitely try to blog more often. 

Going to try this Thrive Experience

Well Hello!

Again been awhile since I posted.

The last time I dropped by I posted my new training plan and week one went awesome.  Then I got sent out of town for a few days for work  and then it was Canada Day and another day off two days later for the Stampede Parade and the plan kind of unravelled.  After a 2.6 lb loss after week one of training, on Saturday I had a 1 lb gain due to my unravelled week. Today I was down 0.6 lb. 

This week I found it hard to get back at it but I put my training plan on one page and posted it in my kitchen and at work to give me one heck of a reminder of what I need to accomplish.

This week we dressed Western in honour of the Calgary Stampede. I do own a great deal of plaid and two pairs of cowboy boots.

Now a little while ago a friend was telling me about this vitamin program she was trying called the Thrive Experience, the concept is to do it for 8 weeks. She’s on week 3 so far. I admit I wasn’t too sold when she first told me about it and dismissed it as another fad.

A direct quote from their website “The Thrive Experience is an 8 week premium lifestyle plan, to help individuals experience and reach peak physical and mental levels”

She told me that some of the reported benefits are supposed to be:

Restful sleep

Weight Management

Increased cognitive performance

Quicker recovery from workouts

Joint Health Support and the list goes on.

Now let me be clear I am super suspicious of any type of “magic” supplement. Of course the reviews on the Thrive by Le Vel website are all glowing. Once you register to order you're given your own link. I also checked reviews on Amazon and on there they were mixed but a lot had to with shipping issues and it's recommended to only by the product directly through the Thrive website or Thrive promoter not a 3rd party. I believe promoters are not supposed to sell via 3rd party like Amazon. They never claim the products to be a replacement for exercise and wise food decisions which I respect.

She’s had a very positive experience, her skin is glowing and she says she no longer gets sore after her kickboxing workouts and says she doesn't get snack attacks.  She’s super enthusiastic about it. 

Now this program is also set up as a bit of a mass market sales thing that you can participate in or not. If you get 2 people to order using your link you save money on your order. She was not by any means trying to sell it to me, she was genuinely excited about it so I decided to try it. I have zero interest in treating this as an income supplement. My mission is to see if this stuff has any impact on me and my current rut.  

She gave me a 3 day sample to check out.  

I figured I’ve been in a bit of a dump for a long time so let’s see what happens. I did go ahead and ordered a month worth after Day One and will blog about my experience on the experience.

The concept:
 Take the Thrive Premium Lifestyle Capsule  right when you wake up - There’s a version for Women and one for Men. The one pictured below is the Women's version. 

·        20 min later have the Thrive Premium Lifestyle Mix aka smoothie– alternate days with a regular breakfast

·         Wear the Thrive Lifestyle DFT patch for 24hrs, swap for new one every day.

The DFT now comes in a super sized version that's also available in a few different colours. I'm looking forward to trying that.

On Day One I took the capsules and 20 min later the smoothie. The smoothie comes in one flavour only and that’s vanilla but I did like that it’s 2 PP on Weightwatchers – oh yes I'm still tracking my WW points through this “Experience”. The capsules come two in pack. I decided to start with taking the two in the pack but there’s also the option to start with one and waiting to start wearing the DFT patch. It’s really all about what works for you.

I mixed the smoothie mix with  1 cup  coconut/almond milk but you can use water too. I quite liked it and actually didn't find it had any weird protein powder taste. I stuck on a DFT patch as well.

Day One was Wednesday and I did feel  more energy on my walk to the train station, felt more alert  I didn't feel snacky all day. Only ate when I was legitimately hungry.  Usually I have a cup of coffee in the morning but I didn't all through the 3 day trial run. I did go for coffee after being at work for about an hour and felt no ill effects at all. That was the only cup of caffeine I had all day stuck to just water after that.

Thursday was Day Two so vitamins/ capsules again but no smoothie as it’s regular breakfast day (I decided on one piece of toast and ½ tbsp of Peanut Butter).  Wearing another DFT patch, had no skin issues with the patch at all. Wore it on my right upper chest Day One and Day 2 it was on my ankle.  

Got notification that the one month supply shipped but not sure when it will get to me. So on to Day 3 -Friday. I took the vitamins, had the smoothie and put on another patch this time on the back of my shoulder. I definitely felt more energy when I had the smoothie so interesting to see how that goes during the month. My friend has another friend doing this experience and she has a smoothie everyday. I get the appeal it makes breakfast ridiculously simple and fast. 

I hope this package arrives soon it was supposed to arrive on Friday according to the tracking but look like it was delayed and if it comes Monday I of course won't get it till I get home for work. I'm really looking forward to this test and the next 8 weeks.

Here's to experiencing the experience. 

Summer Solstice Reboot

Hello my friends,

Again a bad blogger with far too long between posts. I promise I'll be by more often especially as my training picks up. 

It's the Summer Solstice and as I live in an area that experiences true winter it's always nice to embrace summer. It's time for a health and fitness reboot. I actually began this reboot last week. 

I rejigged my training plan starting this past Monday and rejigged it again for this week to train for my upcoming races and train for this game we call life. 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
BodyJam & BodyPump	Walk with Friend, if not walk at Gym	Run/ Walk	BodyPump	Run/Walk	Yoga or   Run/ Walk (depending on training plan)	Long Run

I need to build strength and flexibility for this upcoming Dopey not just cardio.

The back to back BodyJam (think Zumba to hip hop music) and BodyPump (free weights focusing on muscle group per song i.e. biceps, triceps, chest, squats/ lunges) totally kicked my patootie.  Had zero idea of what I was doing in BodyJam, just like Zumba, but it was fun. The two BodyPump classes this past week had feeling muscles I forgot I had. 

Got a new running log, Hello Kitty and Batman were on sale. Hello Kitty just didn't seem appropriate for the marathon, 4 half marathons, 4 10Ks and 4 5Ks I have planned from now till January.  So Batman it is.

Just a matter of days until the annual Calgary Stampede rolls into town.  I was actually down on the grounds for the Theresa Caputo Experience on June 11^th and saw that set up has begun. Now it doesn't officially start until July 3^rd with the parade.

Now I had expressed interest in being a pacer for the parade which means walking the 4km route along the horses. After thinking about it for awhile I opted not to do it. I'd much prefer to watch it on tv in my pajamas and go for a run afterwards. It’s my tradition to make pancakes  on parade day as during the 10 days of Stampede you can find a free pancake breakfasts every single day, actually there’s an app.  My personal favourite is when they put the cooked bacon inside the pancake…oh yes.

Just celebrated a birthday and was humbled by all the birthday messages on Facebook and Linked In. I’m still mistaken for being 15 years younger than my actual age. I've stopped correcting people J

The 2 year anniversary of my Dad’s passing was on June 16^th, while that was a bit of a tough day I'm feeling more like myself than ever before.  I figured out my plan for his house as well. It took me this long to get my head around it and at peace with it. He actually died on Father's Day in 2013 so today was a bit rough as well. 

Our beloved WW leader stepped down as she had too many commitments which I totally respect, but lately is been all substitutes with a promise the new leader is starting the following week and to me the leader makes the meeting. Finally met her on Saturday and she seems cool, her day job is meditation coach which I think is very cool. In fact I love this month's topic in the WW meetings focusing on being mindful. 

Though I do have to say my meeting peeps are great, we've bonded and have a really good interaction.  For the last few weeks I was without them but they were all there last week and with summer approaching it attendance will get spotty. I need to find an alternate meeting for when I go to Dad's house, either earlier on Saturday at a different location or downtown on Thursday mornings. Not sure what I'll do next weekend, I'm leaning towards checking out another location. 

I entered a swelfie (sweaty selfie) contest to win free stuff from SportChek, can't win if you don't enter.

I cancelled my Christmas Cruise as I realized a cruise a few weeks before Dopey is not the wisest plan with all that food and drink. I couldn't imagine doing 20 miles worth of laps on the boat either. I might still go away but after checking out a few options it sure is pricey to travel solo during high season. Our office is closed for two weeks in December, maybe I’m ready to face a Christmas at home and get a tree. We shall see.

So now you're all caught up with me. Back to BodyJam and BodyPump tomorrow. 

Hugs!!

I can do it and Tinkerbell

Hello my friends,

I know I totally suck as a blogger only dropping in once a month.

A lot has happened lately and my brain is in a bit of a spin.

So the last time I dropped by I had just signed up for Dopey this still running around my brain but I’m super excited about this challenge.

Meanwhile I went to do the Pixie Dust Challenge at Disneyland. It was the first time I’ve ever done a RunDisney 5K that started in the park.

At first I was totally confused as there was no corral on my bib, so I just made sure to be there when it opened.  As the race announcers talked they did refer to corral A, B and C. So in this case entirely dependant on when you arrived.

It had rained which made parts of the park uber slippery so I took it slow.  A super fun part was we were instructed to crow whenever we saw Peter Pan’s shadow and throughout the back lot they had projected images of Peter Pan. Well my crow sounds more like a rooster but it was super fun just as you came around the corner you’d hear crowing so you knew there was a Peter Pan.

Saturday was the 10K, I’ve done this one before and it was an enjoyable run. My favourite part of this one is were coming through California Adventure and a Pirate tried to haggle with me – “Arggh you keep the shadow and I’ll keep the gold” but my reply was “Argghh – no deal!”.  He called me a smart pirate.

Sunday was the half and it started out coolish but soon heated up.

Now I discovered when I laid out my run stuff that I again forgot the doohickey that attached to the heart monitor strap. My downfall is I wash the strap before and of course have to take that part. I didn’t check the strap and alas no HR capabilities. Now the last time this happened at Avengers I actually bought a new HR strap, well it was an improvement on my current one. Now this time I did check to see if there was a strap but there wasn’t so I ran without it. 

I’m typically always get a bit of chafing on my upper right arm just above the arm pit. I always thought that due to the HR strap as the closing part is right there. Wow this time it was pretty bad and all because of the sleeve on my RawThreads shirt. It seems like HR strap actually prevented it a bit.

My strategy for chafing is diaper cream first then when it starts to heal and crust over I switch to Vaseline. It drove me bananas when I got home because it was constantly rubbing against clothes but it’s finally mostly healed.

The following weekend I went to a Hay House “I can do it” conference in Edmonton. The original appeal was a chance to see Dr. Wayne Dyer in person but the two days were awesome. Out of 10 speakers I only found 2 a little meh.

I came home with a ton of books and homework, and quite a few aha moments. I really enjoyed Robert Holden as he’s got a great sense of humour while still relaying a poignant message.

There was a medium by the Colette  Baron-Reid that gave me goosebumps.  I know that not everyone believes in this sort of thing but I found the experience sincere.

Anita Moorjani was incredible describing her near death experience. 

I came home on Monday with my brain and heart full. The primary message we need to love ourselves and get the ego out of the way.

A lot of them also spoke of weight loss especially the self sabotage we bring on ourselves. For me that really comes down to self love. I sabotage because I’m scared of succeeding. Why am I scared of succeeding? Part of me thinks is I don’t know a skinny me, having been chubby all my life.

I need to let that go, if I honour my health and well being then I’ll discover who I am on the path.