Last night after dinner I went for a 3 km run.  It's harder to run after you've eaten and I had to stop several times, but in the end I made it through.  Early this morning I went for a walk/jog with a friend and one of my dogs.  We did 5.6 kms.  When I got back home, another friend was just leaving for a walk and I decided to join her with both of my dogs.  We did another 5.6 kms.  So, in the last 15 hours I've done 14.2 kms of cardio!  So proud of myself :)

When I got home this morning I had a pear and a strawberry bagel.  For lunch I'll have leftovers from 2 nights ago, which was a delicious lentil chili.  Dinner tonight is at a friend's house.  Even though it's Easter, I've decided that I want to back to eating vegetarian.  When I moved 8 months ago, we switched to vegetarian for 4 months and we really liked it.  So I think I'm going to make the switch permanent.  We do have some very limited meat in our freezer, so I will use that up over the next few weeks and then that'll be it.

I read a book called The China Study which talks about all the research that has been done over the last several decades on the link to cancer and animal protein.  I recommend that you read it if you have questions about the cause of cancer and how to decrease your risk of cancer.  This is one of my motivators for a vegetarian diet.  Have you ever thought about going vegetarian?

There are so many times in a year when you can make excuses about not eating healthy.  This time of year, in particular, is Easter and of course, with Easter comes Chocolate.  After eating really well all day, I get a craving for chocolate.  2 Aero chocolate eggs later, I've eaten 280 empty calories.

But it's not only Easter.  It's Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, countless family/friend birthdays, weddings, get-togethers, the list seems to go on and on.  Excuse after excuse till you get to the point where you don't need an excuse anymore and eat junk whenever you feel like it.  As children we were reward for achievements with food.  Candy, slurpees, cake, dessert, ice cream.  When it's a habit that has been ingrained in you since a young age, it is difficult to break it.  I catch myself doing it with my own kid and then I stop myself.  "NO, you don't need to give him candy at his last swimming lesson.  No, you don't need to make him cookies when he brings home a great report card".

I want to instill the value of learning self praise and a sense of achievement through my own verbal praise to my child.  I want to break the cycle of reaching for the ice cream scoop when you feel good or down about yourself.  Food should not control us, and above all food should not be our happy or sad place.  We need to make ourselves aware of the ways that we use food to fill voids to avoid or elevate feeling in our lives.

I know I'm ranting, but in order to change you have to become self aware.  Aware of your triggers and aware of your habits.  Writing this down is my way of being self aware and the start of moving past it.

Tomorrow is a new day and the difference between your body today and a week from now is what you do over the next 7 days.

Whew!  I just finished my morning workout and I feel great!  I've started to notice that I'm not as tired throughout the day, I'm not going back to bed in the mornings after my kid leaves for school and I'm starting to notice little changes in my body.

Last night I didn't work out as planned.  I really just wanted to cuddle in bed with hubby, but I did walk the dogs for an hour first.

This morning I went for my first outside run of the season.  It is crazy how much harder it is to run outside than on a treadmill.  I ran about 3kms in about 18 minutes.  I stopped to walk 3 times, but I think that time was really good.  On days I run outside, I'm going to keep running that same loop until I can run it non-stop without trouble.  Then I 'll bump up the distance and work up to 5kms.  When you start running outside, be aware that you will probably get shin splints!  They are SOOO painful, but if you keep up the running, they do go away after a few weeks.  Ice your shins and take hot baths with epsom salts to manage the pain.

After my run I went for a 70 minute walk with my dogs and some friends.  When I got home I did a quick leg workout.  I found some videos by Tracy Anderson who has trained many rich and famous stars.  Her philosophy in training is to tone and tighten rather than build bulk.  She does this by doing movements that are not repetitive in the sense that a bicep curl is repetitive.  She does unique movements.  You can search her on you tube to find her videos if you're interested.

Off to shower and to paint!

Today was a stressful day.  I had to deal with something that has been a pain in my side for several months now and it left me in tears and very angry.  Being an emotional eater, I normally would have headed to the closest McDonalds, ordered 4 cheeseburgers, one large fry and a large McFlurry to top off my sorrow.  I didn't do that though.  Instead I got in my car and drove.  I ended up at a mall and while I know that replacing one vice with another isn't a very healthy thing to do, so I was hesitant to go binge shopping.  Instead I called a friend and we met for lunch.  I didn't overeat.  Instead I used her as a sounding board and vented my frustration.

I did go shopping afterwards but I was in a much better frame of mind and ended up spending far less than I would have if I had gone straight into stress shopping mode.  I did end up eating some chocolate today, but it was after I was calmed down.

For exercise today I will be doing an arm, leg and abs workout this evening.  Here are the links that I'll be using as inspiration for my workout tonight.
Arms
Legs
Abs

I should also mention that I did an hour of cardio at the gym last night, 30 minutes on the bike and 30 on the elliptical.  I was quite proud of myself.

This week, I hope to keep motivated and get my eating a bit more under control.  I've had something sweet to eat for the last few days and I need to get out of the habit of having junk every day.  Yes, once in a while is fine, but every day is not.

Weigh In

Yesterday, overall, was not a great day.  We had company over for brunch and while aspects of the food I made were healthy, in general it was not.  For example, I made Sweet Potato Hash, sweet potatoes are a very healthy complex carbohydrate and a great alternative to simple carbs like bread.  But paired with bacon and turkey sausage, not super healthy.  I also made muffins and while strawberries and yogurt are healthy, putting them in muffins, not so much.  I also made bacon and onion biscuits and there was nothing healthy about them.  On a positive note, I did NOT overeat.  I managed to continue with portion control at brunch and throughout the day with leftovers.  After supper though, which is my toughest time of day, I broke out the easter stash and had two Aero eggs and 2 small chocolates.  

I only got in a minimal amount of exercise when I worked for an hour, running around teaching agility to dogs.  

So today is the big day!  It's been a week since I started my 45lb journey on-line for everyone to read. I've weighed myself and measured and here are the results.  

           

	Beginning	Week 1
Weight	180	176
Chest	39.5	38.5
Waist	38.5	38.0
Hips	43.5	42.5
BMI	31.9	31.2

CHANGES: I'm down 6 lbs, I'm down 2.5 inches in my chest, waist and hips and my BMI is slowly coming down too.  While I'm still in the Obese Class 1 for BMI, if I can drop the 45 lbs and get down to my desired 135lbs, I will reach the Normal weight category.  

Overall I am very pleased with my progress this week and encouraged to keep up the work.  Thanks to everyone whose reading along on my journey.  

Saturday is a hard day to be healthy.  It's a day to relax and take a load off after a long week.  I wasn't unhealthy today, just perhaps, not as healthy as I would have liked.  I slept in a bit this morning and then I worked.  I was able to kill two birds with one stone and got in a walk with the dogs at an off-leash park while I was working.  I did not workout though.

As for food, this morning I had a yogurt cup with a 1/4 cup of Harvest Crunch.  For lunch I had a ham sandwich.  I have a sandwich maker that I LOVE to use and normally after I eat one sandwich I make a second one because the first was SOOOO good.  Today, I took the time to eat slowly and savor the sandwich and I didn't feel the need to make a second.  For snack I had 8 chocolate covered cashews from yesterday and 4 crackers with hummus.  For dinner I had an Avocado, Egg Salad Wrap, but I had mine in half a pita.  I also had a coke and rum for dessert :)  So I think I had a pretty darn good day for food!

While I didn't exercise today, I was on my feet all day long.  I finally got some of the painting done that I have wanting to get to, and I cleaned the house.

Tomorrow I have friends coming over for breakfast and then I work.  My running and leg workout will have to wait till the evening.  Maybe hubby will join me in some one-legged squats.  Something that I've noticed is that since my hubby and I have started working out regularly, my kid has shown a big interest in it too.  Sometimes in the evenings we'll all go into the basement and we'll each do a workout routine.

Bedtime now after a long day.  See you tomorrow!

It was a bit of a chilly day in Mont Tremblant today, but I spent the whole day outside walking around and shopping with my dogs.  My pedometer fell off my hip halfway through the day, but I estimate that I walked about 16,000 steps today, half of it was up hill.  

I started the day off with a pear/apple/pineapple/mango/banana/ yogurt juice, which was super yummy :)  For lunch I ate at La Diable in Mont Tremblant and while I had a burger and fries (I know, I know) I actually only ate half of the burger and half of the fries.  Normally I would have scarfed that food down in no time, as I am always the first one finished eating at every meal, but today I made a conscious effort to put my burger down between each bite.  I ate my fries with a fork rather than my fingers and I took the time to enjoy my surroundings, people watched, and had a conversation with hubby while I ate.  All of these combined managed to help slow me down.  And, while I didn't feel full, I did feel comfortably fed, which is a big deal for me.  

When leaving Mont Tremblant, my kid wanted to stop at the candy store and my hubby asked me to get him something, so I caved and bought strawberry marshmallows and chocolate covered cashews.  I had a couple of handfuls in the car (mindless eating grrrrrr!) but immediately felt sick to my stomach.  Again, normally I would have eaten the whole lot but I still have a bunch that are sitting in my freezer.  

The changes are starting to happen and MOST importantly I'm realizing them when they do happen.  My attitude towards food is starting to change and I like the way it's going.  When I step on that scale on Monday I may not be down in pounds, but that's okay.  It will happen in the next few weeks, especially if I continue to be conscious about my choices surrounding food.  

Day 4 on my 45 lb journey and I'm feeling good.  My hips are a bit sore from the treadmill walking workout yesterday but aside from that I feel refreshed, and most importantly, I fell great about myself.

Yesterday was another successful day in my eyes.  I did my treadmill workout, did an arm workout and walked the dogs.  I also vacuumed all three floors in the house and did some dusting.  I ate well with healthy snacks and meals, no junk!

Today I am starting the morning refreshed and not tired which is SO nice!  That is one thing that regular exercise will do for a person.  I am drinking a cup of hot water with lemon in it to start the day and then I'll make myself a mango/pineapple juice.  My plan for exercise today is to do a 30 minute run on the treadmill.  I started on the treadmill back in the fall and have slowly worked up my endurance.  I was using an app called "Get Running" which I found extremely helpful.  It starts you out in walking/running intervals and you slowly increase your running time.  I stopped using it back at the end of January and I was up to 20 minutes running straight.  I'm going to start where I left off from which means I'll be running for 5 minutes, walking for 3, running for 8 minutes, walking for 3, running for 5 minutes.  It also starts you off and ends with a 5 minute walking warm up and cool down.  It works out to 34 minutes, 18 running.  If I stick to it, I should be running for 30 minutes straight the second week of April.

On of the things I want to do this summer is to run a 5km race.  I'm going to look for one her in Ottawa and I'll let you know what I find in case you're inspired to run one too :)

I didn't get to painting today so I will definitely be doing that today.  I'm going to walk the dogs later on with my hubby after he home from work.

As for food, I made Thai Chicken Pies last night so I would have something to send for lunch for my kid, so I'll be having them too.   For supper it'll be Avocado Egg Salad Wraps. I recently heard that brazil nuts are super healthy for you and help assist in weight lose so I think I'll go pick some up today when I go grocery shopping.

I was going to have Friday as my weight in day, but I decided that a Monday would make more sense.  If I do a weigh in on Friday and lose weight, I might be tempted to "celebrate" on the weekend and gain back all that I've lost.  So, for extra motivation to continue eating well and exercising on the weekend I'm doing my weigh in on Monday.  Tomorrow we're headed to Mont Tremblant.  My hubby and kid ski, but I do not.  Because I won't be able to get in a real workout, I'm going to wear a pedometer to see how much I walk tomorrow.  I'll be walking all around the ski hill and want to walk into the town so I should get in about 3-4 hours of walking.  Any guesses on how many steps I'll take?

Last night didn't quite go as planned.  My friend had to work so I didn't go to the gym for a second time.  My body was feeling so exhausted last night that I fell asleep at 6pm and slept all night long.  I didn't end up making dinner but as a snack around 3 in the afternoon I had chicken salad on whole wheat crackers.

Yesterday was a good day though.  I got the rest I needed, I walked the dogs, I got in my cardio workout at the gym and I ate healthily.

After my kid went to school today I ended up sitting on the couch reading and fell asleep with my dog. Another thing you should know about me is that I LOVE sleep.  I need a minimum of 8 hours a night to function.  I can sleep anywhere, especially in the car.  If my hubby is driving, I usually fall asleep, especially on trips.  On a 14 hour drive I usually sleep at least 10 hours.  Crazy, I know.  So last night I got about 13 hours of sleep, which was awesome.

I'm lying in bed right now typing this but I'm about to get up to do a workout.  I'm going to do a treadmill walking workout with different inclines to simulate hiking.  Here's the workout...

-Start walking at 3.6 with 0 incline for 2 minutes
-Incline 4, 1 minutes
-Incline 8, 3 minutes
-Incline 12, 2 minute
-Incline 3, 1 minutes
-Incline 10, 2 minute
-Incline 12, 1 minutes
- Incline 7, 4 minutes
-Incline 12, 2 minutes
-Incline 6, 2 minutes

It's a 20 minute workout that you will feel in your legs.  I'm also going to do arms today.  I found this arm routine on Pinterest and I've done it a few times.  It's only 8 minutes long and it's meant to tone and pull in any flabby skin.  There aren't any weights, but by minute 5 you're arms will be burning.  Try it!  I'll also do some tricep and bicep exercises and pushups.  After my shower I'm going to walk the dogs and then do house work, dusting and vacuuming.  Then I'm going to paint!  I'm so eager to get out and start gardening, but with 20 cms of fresh snow on top of the mountains of snow we already have I have to do something else to get me in the mood for spring!

As for food today, for breakfast I had a yogurt cup mixed with 1/2 cup of harvest crunch.  For lunch I'll have a salad and then for dinner I'll make that Harvest rice that I was going to make last night.

I haven't weighed myself yet and I don't plan to until Friday so stay tuned for how I'm doing.  I'll list my measurements on Friday too, beginning measurements and what they are so far.  Wish me luck!

I've told myself that I won't lie in these posts, so I must say that I had 4 fiddlesticks and 2 glasses of white wine yesterday.  Which really isn't that bad.  Overall, yesterday was a success with a dog walk, a run on the treadmill and healthy eating with portion control.

When I woke up this morning and peeked out the window, I must admit it took everything I had to roll out of bed.  The school buses weren't running today so I knew I had to drive my kid to school.  The thought crossed my mind that I could drop the kid off and then came straight home and go back to bed for 45 minutes before I had to get up for my appointments today.  Oh, how wonderful that would have been!  Then I thought about this blog and how absolutely uninspiring I'd be to anyone who read day one by quitting on day day 2.

SO...

The plan today was to go to the gym for 45 min first thing in the morning and walk the dogs in the afternoon.  This is what I ended up doing today, I shoveled half the driveway, I made it to the gym for a quick 30 minute cardio workout on the bike this morning right after I dropped the kid at school, I walked the dogs with a friend this afternoon, AND I am going to the gym for a second time tonight with a good friend to do an arms and core workout.  GO ME!!!

This morning was the stationary bike for 30 minutes.  I have to say that I hate the bike.  I went to a biking class once and HATED it!  That said, I own a mountain bike and I would really like to start biking with my family this summer.  So I figure I'd better get my butt ready for mountain biking.  This is the workout...

-5 minute warm up at a moderate pace

-For the next 5 minutes I turn the resistance dial UP a quarter turn every 30 seconds

-For the next 5 minutes I turn the resistance dial DOWN a quarter turn every 30 seconds

-Repeat the up and down for another 10 minutes

-Finish with a moderate to light cool down

SIDE NOTE: This is not me on the bike.  If you had seen me this morning you probably would have laughed and wondered how a person could possibly sweat so much.  The bike is a sweat-producing workout.  You will sweat more on the bike than if you walk/elliptical/row/run all together! 

FOOD

For breakfast today I had a pear/apple/pineapple/cucumber/lime juice this morning and a turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread with 7 whole-wheat crackers and hummus at lunch.  For dinner tonight I'm making Harvest Rice with Apples and Pecans which is another super yummy dish I like to make.

The hardest time of the day day for me for eating is after supper.  My problem is that I never feel full!  I could out-eat any grown man twice my size and still have room for dessert.  So, after a portioned supper, where I should feel satiated, I don't.  Then I have seconds.  Then I sneak a few forkfuls from the leftovers while my hubby and kid are watching hockey.  Then I have a bed time snack with my kid.  Am I the only one who does this?  I'll report back tomorrow to let you know how the evening went as far as food.  Hopefully being out of the house at the gym tonight will help with this and I'll be so exhausted when I come home that I'll just crash.  If not, the back-up plan is to have air-popped popcorn, no butter.

If anyone reads this, leave a note and let me know what your successes were today.

In the beginning

3 years ago I adopted a child.  I know new mom's tend to put on a lot of weight.  Well, adopting and becoming a new mom was no different.  To say the least, it has been a very stressful 3 years.  And, like so many others, I am a stress eater.  Needless to say, I have put on more weight then I care to admit.  I've been trying to make a turning point in my life to finally start doing something about this but all of my attempts thus far have failed.

This blog is an attempt to make that turning point stick and to really make a difference in my life and in my weight.  My goal is to drop 45 lbs over the course of the next few months through exercise and healthy eating.  I am not dieting.  I want to eat more vegetables that aren't covered in sauce or cheese.  I want to choose fruit as my desserts, not chocolate goodness covered in more chocolate goodness.  I want to walk my dogs every single day for about an hour (4-6kms). I want to run 5 days a week, either on the treadmill or outside.  I want to run a 5km race.  I want to exercise at the gym 4 days a week.  I want to be able to say no to things I know to be unhealthy.  I want to practice portion control and learn to eat only what my body needs.  I want to continue juicing in the mornings (which is one positive change that I've made and really LOVE).  And, ultimately, I want to fit into my red dress again.  

I don't know if anyone will ever read this blog, but it's meant for me anyways.  It's a place where I have to hold myself accountable and knowing that someone, someday might read it will help me to do that.

Today is March 18th, 2013 and I weigh 178 pounds. My goal weight is 135.  I have only been that weight once before, but I looked good.  I bought a red dress for a wedding back then and I'd like to wear it again this summer for another wedding.

Today I walked the dogs for an hour.  I ran on the treadmill for 26 minutes.  I had a juice this morning and a salad at lunch and a banana for a snack.  For supper I'm making barley and asparagus risotto.  I've made it before and it is DELICIOUS!

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair colored because every new beginning should begin with a spa day :)  Rather than going back to bed after my kid goes to school, I'm going to the gym for 45 min.  I'm going to do the bike for 30 min and then abs for 15.  My dog is getting groomed in the morning so once she is home I will take the dogs for a walk.


This is a picture of me at my heaviest.  It is embarrassing and I hate it.  I hope to have a new picture to post soon, one that I'm not embarrassed to put my face on.

Today's a good day to start something new and as the saying goes, "the difference between your body this week and next week is what you do over the next 7 days."