Return to ME

Instead of boring you all to death with yet another photo of a Starbucks coffee or leftovers or travelling treats (I lost a follower today and I’m sure it’s because the last 12 days have had nothing to do with healthy living!!) I have something much more up the usual alley of Embracing Balance…

…healthy plans!!

I’ve been sitting here working away this morning but totally distracted by my excitement to get home and get back on track.  As much as this trip has been super fabulous (minus the part about leaving without a new condo!) I just cannot believe how far off the healthy track I have fallen.  It’s just nutty!!  A lot of it was circumstance but for the most part it was just me throwing all of my usual good choices out the window.  This is NOT how I planned to live through this trip. 

Isn’t it funny how easy it is to forget who you are?

I let the stress of condo shopping take over. 

So here I sit with my yellow legal pad madly scribbling notes, ideas, plans, meal ideas and a grocery list.  I arrive in Halifax at 7am tomorrow morning and I’ve already asked Cosette if we can go to the Farmer’s Market on our way to my house.  Might as well land on the right foot!

My inspiration is coming in part from Sammie’s Challenge.  While I cannot commit to the 8 weeks she has set out at this time, I can borrow some great ideas and motivation.  I have one solid week to regain my balance and get on track before our Blog Girls May Long Weekend GTG and I plan to use every single one of those days to the best of my ability.

If I can lose the guilt and the bloat, regain my strength and commitment, and stick to the plan for that one week…I just know that any little indulgences that crop up over the party weekend won’t throw me completely off the track like the last 12 days did.  It will help to be back in my house with my kitchen, fridge and grill ready and waiting…and it will help to be back within a 5 minute drive to my gym.  I can do this!

A few notes thus far:

• WATER.  3-4 litres per day.  Without fail.
• Limit caffeine.  2 cups coffee before noon.  No Starbucks.  No lattes.  No creamer.  No white sugar.
• Meal Plan.  3 meals. 3 snacks. Flexitarian.  No red meat or pork.  Use the BBQ.  1 bigass salad per day.
• No desserts or sweet snacking.  No mindless (or mindful!) night time snacks.  Tea and fruit after dinner if needed.
• Limit dairy.  Organic probiotic yogurt OK.  Feta for salads OK.
• No added sugar.  Easily eliminated by avoiding Starbucks and snacking.
• Be active. Sweat a lot.  Walk EVERY morning (plus stretching & breathing). 3-4 cardio + strength workouts per week.  2 x yoga class per week.
• Take vitamins.  Multi, calcium.
• Sleep properly.  In bed before midnight.  Up with alarm.
• Watch less TV.  Read more.  Take breaks.  Follow budget.  Make to-do lists.  Enjoy friends without food.  Just breathe.

Anyone else feel like they need a giant kick in the pants right now?

Triple Fortune

Saturday morning required a typical greasy breakfast.  A trip to Victoria is not complete without a trip to my favourite diner…Floyd’s.  :) 

I had planned on trying something different but when it came time to order I just had to get my usual…the BC Hash.  Heart attack in the form of tasty deliciousness.

Nothing remotely healthy about that! 

After breakfast my buddy Mikey and I went for walk downtown to meet his wife for coffee on her lunch break.  He treated me to an Iced Coffee…but I think my camera ate the photo.  I did capture this cute bird hanging out in the shrubs though…

When Angela went back to work Mike and I decided to go to Beacon Hill Park and visit the baby duckies!

and turtles…

and blue herons…

After that I had to run back to Tiffaney’s to pack my stuff to head up to my Mom’s.  Alex and Ingmarie were kind enough to give me a lift yet again!  They always look after me.  :)  Along the way we stopped for a snack…

I was tempted to get coffee but decided I needed something green and healthy!  Happy Planet juice.

I could actually feel my skin absorbing the nutrients.  I’m in desperate need of fruits, veggies, vitamins and water.

Once at Mom’s house we relaxed and visited for while and then ordered up our mother-daughter traditional Chinese take-out feast.  Nom!!

For those of you that didn’t know…whenever my Mom and I visit we always order Chinese take-out for our first night’s meal.  Tradition!

Apparently I’m pretty lucky because my cookie contained THREE fortunes!

   I was trying to relate all of these to condo hunting.  I would like to understand why I haven’t found one yet.  I would like someone to offer me exciting news about one. I would like an unexpected turn of events to provide me with one.  haha.  It could work, right??  right????  :)

Desktop Confessions

The motto around here is “Keep it Real” so in all fairness to myself and to you all I have decided to come clean about a few things.  Lately, my undocumented snacking has been on a downward slide…and this weekend kind of sent me over the edge.  Being Monday I’m feeling all good about getting back on the wagon so I figure the best way to start off is with a confession.  Seeing the junk right here in black and white should help make it easier not to do it again anytime soon.  Right?  Yikes!

Midnight Snacking

For the last…oh I don’t know…three? weeks I’ve been staying up WAY too late.  Not unusual for me really, but the new twist is that I have developed the habit of bringing a snack along to bed with me while I read or watch TV.  It started out with the occassional bowl of cereal or granola…and quickly degraded to cookies, popcorn, or now…get this…effing Cheetos.  WTF are those even doing in my house? I should know better.  Hello TRIGGER FOOD!

The Crunchits STOP HERE!!

In fact, ALL bedtime snacking STOPS HERE!!

Weekend Decisions

Basically I just didn’t hold myself accountable.  I left my camera at home a couple of times, and it’s truly amazing how my choice-making thought processes are tied to that little thing! 

No camera…no balance!

Saturday started out all lovely.  A great morning yoga session with Katie.  A yummy non-fat latte…

A protein packed breakfast including fresh fruit…

Some crazy amounts of paperwork…

Fuelled by a deeeeelish spinach salad…

With red grapes and gouda.

And then I hit the town with a long lost friend and choices degraded rapidly.  Strongbow cider, nachos, spinach dip, pita, chips.  And people, there was no moderation…I attacked that melted cheese like it was going out of style. 

And yes, I topped that off with a 2am bowl of Cheetos on my way to bed.  WHO AM I?

Gee, I wonder why I’ve been constantly dehydrated and waking up feeling like death???  Duh, right?!

Sunday again started out on the right foot.  Crazy deeeelish and healthy smoothie…

In the KA: fresh frozen raspberries, frozen banana, ice, light coconut milk, honey, UVAB, Amazing Meal.

On my way to our friends’ daughter’s birthday party I grabbed a coffee and a piece of chocolate chip banana loaf from Starbucks.  I even had both of my cameras and still didn’t take a picture.  Lame.

At the party things were all good because the snacks of choice were veggie and fruit trays and pita chips with dips.  Of course, there was a little piece of cake too!!  Funny enough, I took 300+ pictures of the kids and the party…but you guessed it…I didn’t take pics of any of my food.  Not that there was anything wrong with it, but the point is that for the first time in almost a year I completely neglected my food blogging!

After the party I met that long lost out of town friend for a quick drink and I could have had dinner at the pub but I opted to skip it and head home for a healthier choice.  Go me, right?!

Um, ya…not so much.  Once back at the house we decided that we’d head out for dinner as I didn’t really have anything prepared.  I could have made a healthy choice…but what did I go for?

• Mozza Sticks appy!
• BLT
• with fries, and mayo for dipping!

I mean really?  I totally didn’t need that appy…and there’s nothing wrong with a BLT and fries but after the weekend of over indulging I already had…I probably could have made a better choice.  And the side of mayo?  Unneccessary!!  and unphotographed of course!

So anyway…there it is.  Ewwwwwwwww.

Today Balance shall be Embraced!  And by that I mean no ridonkulous food choices, no disgusting late night snacking, and more activity than running up and down the stairs to my kitchen!

Right? …  Right!!

Crash ‘n’ Burn

We all have our moments.

Today is mine.

My moment to fall right off the healthy balance wagon.

Bam!

FH had to leave for yet another sail this morning.  Only 4 days this time, but still.  Bummer, right? 

I slept like shit last night.  Even tried relegating myself to the spare room but still tossed and turned.  I hate those nights.  So when I got up at 6am this morning to drive FH, my body was not impressed.

I packed my gym bag, filled my water bottle, pulled my hair up…completely intending to workout on my way home…but seriously people, it would have been dangerous.  Falling asleep on the treadmill is not advised!  So I came straight home to hug a pillow on the couch for an extra couple of hours.  Strangely enough I slept better for that two hours than I did all night.

Here’s a fun little thing for you all…  homemade egg nog misto!!

Even though I’m still using up my Starbucks gift cards and not paying out of my own pocket I think four trips in three days is enough…so now that it’s Monday I am back to brewing at home.  Jen’s cute (but sad!) video the other day reminded me that I too can steam my own bevvies at home.

My machine makes crap espresso (waaaaay too much water) but my 5 years of barista experience back in the day have left me able to make Starbucks quality foam with the steamer wand.  :)

80 measly calories for three mugs of foamy light egg-noggy half-caf goodness!

The bad part is that I sipped on those coffees all morning and into the afternoon and didn’t eat ANYTHING.  I’m so backed up with work after losing the internet on Friday, it’s ridiculous. So by the time I realized I was hungry and got food, I made bad choices.

• chocolate
• chips
• Wendy’s chicken strips
• cheese

Random, weird and completely void of nutrition.  Sometimes you just have to let it happen.  It’s out of my system and I have already planned for tomorrow.  Project Energize shall return!

In festive news, yesterday FH had to work so I ran some errands and switched out the Fall centerpiece for the Christmas one…

Tis the season to start thinking about digging the boxes of lights and decorations out of the scary room in the basement!

The One Where I Got Off the Couch

Ya that’s right.  5:00 came and went and I was still trucking along on work stuff.  The weather got blustery and gross (I watched my neighbor’s BBQ blow over), so my walk plans went bye-bye.  I lost all my steam, ate cookies, put on my slippers, wandered aimlessly around my kitchen, and GAVE UP.

Then, after dinner and a bowl of jelly beans, I decided that flipping channels was NOT the way I was going to spend my night.  Something snapped.

At 8:00 I washed my face, changed my clothes, and stormed out the door.  45 minutes at the gym turned my night (my week!) around.  This is the feeling I’ve been looking for.  I don’t know where it’s been, but I’m glad it’s back!

• 20 minutes on the elliptical, cross country
• 3 sets: tricep pulldowns, bicep curls, shoulder presses
• 2 sets: crunches, reverse crunches, scissor crunches
• 2 minute plank!

If this doesn’t help me sleep tonight I’ll scream!!

Before I went I did have another comfort food dinner.  Leftover Chowdy Doody chicken corn chowder, with some cheesy Multigrain Tostitos.

These dangerous fancy jelly beans (ie: Jelly Belly knockoffs) made their way into my basket at Walmart last night.  Uh-oh.  This huge bag was only $3.  Danger Will Robinson, Danger.

 

I had one serving.  OK, then after the picture I had like two more servings.  The bright side is that I got a massive sugar rush that I put to use at the gym.  :)

That bag is now well buried in the pantry.

Oh, and before I forget…I totally stole Lynn’s FABULOUS idea for mint hot chocolate!  Soooo deeelish.  I brewed a cup of strong peppermint tea and mixed it with a packet of organic hot chocolate mix.  What a fantastic afternoon treat!!

People.  I’m back.  I promise.

Go with the Flow

Some days you just have to, you know?

I woke up this morning (early, due to someone banging on my door...I didn't answer) with unexpected energy and the itch to do something productive (like yesterday wasn't totally crazy productive, but whatever). So I decided just to go for it. No plan, nothing...just go.

So I showered and cleaned up, tried making an iced coffee but it was ass, ate a cupcake (I'll tell you about those later), and sat on my front porch for a few minutes. As I sat there I realized that we've been worrying so much about how to deal with our back yard, that I've totally neglected the front yard. So I quickly had a look at what needed to be done, grabbed my purse and off I went.

Stopped for a coffee...the Sunday favorite of a triple grande vanilla no-fat latte, and a bigass chocolate cookie to be consumed throughout the day. Hit up several garden centers, got what I thought I needed and came home.

Chugged some water, ate some hummus and carrots, changed my clothes and got to work. You can see the photos of my gardening on my other blog. Chugged more water while I worked. Ate some cookie. :)

Finished up the gardening, made a turkey dog on a whole wheat bun with a light cheese slice. Finished the cookie. :)

More water, and now thinking about a yummy salad for dinner. Heading to the grocery store now that I've washed all of the dirt off me, and will pick up something fresh and crunchy. Thinking about some cherries for my movie treat tonight too. Bringing my own water to the theatre too because no one needs a $5 pop....nor do I need the sugar or calories. No popcorn for me because tomorrow is weigh-in and I don't want any salty treats making me retain water. No sir!

No menu plan, and the cookie wasn't the best choice, but I was active and rounded out my day with lots of healthy options so I'm very pleased with my day!

Happy Father's Day!!!