DAY 135. I'm house/dog-sitting for the next 2.5 weeks, it's a gorgeous big house, completely the opposite of our apartment. The kitchen space is amazing. In our apartment kitchen, it's really only practical for one person to be in there at a time, two max. If a third person comes in the kitchen, I start getting claustrophobic and yell at them to bugger off. Point being: way more fun to cook in a nice big kitchen. I had so much fun this morning getting up early, grinding fresh coffee beans and brewing a French press, making my oatmeal, grilling some tofu for lunch (which had the most lovely grill marks!), and chopping up veggies for my salad. They also have an amazing assortment of beautiful aged vinegars so I spent a good 5 minutes selecting one for my vinaigrette dressing and another to marinate my tofu. I think healthy cooking should be fun, it makes it more tolerable to eat lettuce repeatedly if you have fun making a beautiful salad.
The Instagram food journaling has been going well, though I have to admit that I haven't always remembered to take a photo. It's really been helpful to me though to stay accountable.
They also have a treadmill at the house which I have pulled into the den area, so I can watch TV on the big screen while I sweat it out :) I won't be able to get to the gym for the next 2 weeks, as I have to get home after work to take out the dog and it's a big of a drive outside the city, but I'm going to design a little circuit of my own with my hand weights, exercise ball and exercise band. There's tons of space to do it. I can also get on my hiking shoes and go out with the dog. Lots of ways to stay active without a gym, though I do prefer the gym personally... We shall see...
Katharine's Progress
Monday, January 27, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Day 129 and Thoughts on accountability
DAY 129. Word of the day: ACCOUNTABILITY.
It's odd when I think about it, at work, with my friends and family, with my volunteering obligations.. I would never be unaccountable. I would never just stop going to work or stand up my Girl Guides. If a friend asked me to do something and I said yes, I wouldn't just go off and do something else. I would consider myself to be accountable for myself in all areas of my life. If I take this as the truth, then why have I failed to be accountable to myself in my promise to stick with this weight loss goal? I've been reading about diets and weight loss, and the stats say that only 20% of dieters will reach their goals, and I think that may be reaching a bit. Why can we not be accountable to ourselves?
Well, if that's the way it's going to be, I'll have to be accountable to others in my quest to be accountable to myself. Until I can get back on track, I will be posting all my meals on Instagram via Facebook each day. Knowing that I have to share my meal planning with my friends and followers, I can't be making any stupid decisions! Seriously! Can't be having anyone see my meal being a double cheese pizza! (drool) If you've been thinking of trying to lose a few pounds, feel free to follow my meals and try them out yourself. :)
Actually, beginning on Thursday, I'll be housesitting in Lions Bay, which is a good 20 minute drive from any of the stores and restaurants that I would normally be tempted by. It'll definitely help that I will only be able to eat what I bring with me.
From my web-trawling, some tips to stay accountable on your weight loss journey:
It's odd when I think about it, at work, with my friends and family, with my volunteering obligations.. I would never be unaccountable. I would never just stop going to work or stand up my Girl Guides. If a friend asked me to do something and I said yes, I wouldn't just go off and do something else. I would consider myself to be accountable for myself in all areas of my life. If I take this as the truth, then why have I failed to be accountable to myself in my promise to stick with this weight loss goal? I've been reading about diets and weight loss, and the stats say that only 20% of dieters will reach their goals, and I think that may be reaching a bit. Why can we not be accountable to ourselves?
Well, if that's the way it's going to be, I'll have to be accountable to others in my quest to be accountable to myself. Until I can get back on track, I will be posting all my meals on Instagram via Facebook each day. Knowing that I have to share my meal planning with my friends and followers, I can't be making any stupid decisions! Seriously! Can't be having anyone see my meal being a double cheese pizza! (drool) If you've been thinking of trying to lose a few pounds, feel free to follow my meals and try them out yourself. :)
Actually, beginning on Thursday, I'll be housesitting in Lions Bay, which is a good 20 minute drive from any of the stores and restaurants that I would normally be tempted by. It'll definitely help that I will only be able to eat what I bring with me.
From my web-trawling, some tips to stay accountable on your weight loss journey:
- do a weekly weigh-in
- do monthly measurements
- tell your friends, family, co-workers, etc. about your plan
- keep a food diary (which will be my Instagram picture journal)
- keep my 'goal outfit' where I can see it (for me it's this adorable Le Chateau mini-dress with the tags still on...)
- get your BFF or partner to get in the diet with you
- think about the big picture (being healthy and living long vs. wearing a bikini on vacation)
- chart your progress and record the goals you reach
- celebrate each goal reached!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Day 127 and Thoughts on a lack of momentum
Day 127. Wild Rose cleanse complete. It's been two weeks since my last blog post, which somewhat symbolizes how I feel right now... like I've been neglecting my weight loss journey. I haven't been doing terribly, I just haven't lost the amount I set as my goal. I missed my Saturday workout at TF+ for the first time in months, and Tracy sent me a facebook message afterwards. She truely is an inspiring woman, and so encouraging. It was her little message of encouragement that made me think about why I've been feeling so unmotivated, and what I can do about it.
My issue these days is that I haven't been putting myself first and making it a priority to get to the gym. This week at work I was the only agent in the office, besides the support staff, so I basically worked insane hours. I know I should have set aside specific times to get myself to the gym with no excuses, but I didn't. I know that things at work have been crazy, but that can't be the reason I choose not to make my health a priority. Imagine how things will be down the road, possibly having kids and much more responsibility.
I can't do this to myself over and over... I so tired of starting over, so giving up or letting myself fail is not an option. I don't know what it is, I was so motivated when I started in September and for the first 3 months. December was a challenge, and over the holidays I feel like I lost a lot of momentum. Maybe it's just the stress of more responsibilty at work, and the lull and indulgence of the holidays. I'm so sick of making excuses for myself though, I need to snap out of it. Perhaps I should look at things a little shorter-term... make some goals for each week and give myself a little reward for achieving them.
Goals for this week:
My issue these days is that I haven't been putting myself first and making it a priority to get to the gym. This week at work I was the only agent in the office, besides the support staff, so I basically worked insane hours. I know I should have set aside specific times to get myself to the gym with no excuses, but I didn't. I know that things at work have been crazy, but that can't be the reason I choose not to make my health a priority. Imagine how things will be down the road, possibly having kids and much more responsibility.
I can't do this to myself over and over... I so tired of starting over, so giving up or letting myself fail is not an option. I don't know what it is, I was so motivated when I started in September and for the first 3 months. December was a challenge, and over the holidays I feel like I lost a lot of momentum. Maybe it's just the stress of more responsibilty at work, and the lull and indulgence of the holidays. I'm so sick of making excuses for myself though, I need to snap out of it. Perhaps I should look at things a little shorter-term... make some goals for each week and give myself a little reward for achieving them.
Goals for this week:
- do 3 x 30 min cardio/jogging sessions this week (Sun Run training!)
- do 2 x 60 min strength/circuit workouts (Monday at TF+ and 1 morning before work at my gym)
- drink 8 glasses of water per day (something I've been slacking)
- make all meals at home (been slipping a bit on this)
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Day 113 and Thoughts on un-ladylike behaviour
DAY 113. Day 3 of Wild Rose D-Tox. This has been interesting. One very prominent thing I've noticed about the cleanse so far is the amount of, shall we say, 'colo-rectal' cleansing taking place. I have become the most un-ladylike woman in the world, thanks to these herbal supplements and much to my boyfriend's dismay (I'm so sorry my love!!). It's a true testament to his character that he doesn't even bat an eye at all my gassiness, though I have been the butt of many of his jokes over the past few days (pun intended). I didn't check the scale today, but I'm betting that by the end of the 12 days I will be losing at least 10 lbs of built-up crap, literally. Sorry, too much information, no one is going to want to hang out with me for the next couple weeks now... lol
Yesterday I had a TF+ bootcamp with trainer Wes and Tracy. I also dragged my boyfriend to his first bootcamp ever. I think that, even though he's more slender and athletic than I am, the class was definitely a challenge for him. It made me super proud to show him how hard I work while I'm there, and how far I've come that I can do these kinds of workouts. With my added cardio I burned 550 calories in 75 min. I'm definitely feeling sore in my arms, shoulders and chest today. I love that achey muscle feeling.
Yesterday was a great day, after our workout we did some grocery shopping and ran some errands together. Stocked up on lots of produce. For dinner I made seared ahi tuna with roasted veggies. Mmm. Sorry, forgot to snap a pic in my rush to gobble it up. I also put a slow cooker of pea, bean and leek stew, though even with cooking for 10+ hours, the beans still weren't soft enough this morning. I think I may have to scratch this batch and start again with canned beans instead of dried.
My boyfriend did another batch of juicing this morning so I had a glass of his 'mean green' before work. So good. I was talking to Tracy about it yesterday. The green juices are great, a 1-cup serving is an awesome snack. I have pondered adding a scoop of protein powder to the finished juice to have for breakfast sometime, though I don't know how good vanilla protein powder will taste with it...
Mean Green Juice (courtesy of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead)
Serving Size: 16oz. (though I do 8 oz. for a snack)
Ingredients
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 apples
6-8 leaves kale
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp ginger
Directions
Wash all produce. Juice. Pour over ice and enjoy.
Yesterday I had a TF+ bootcamp with trainer Wes and Tracy. I also dragged my boyfriend to his first bootcamp ever. I think that, even though he's more slender and athletic than I am, the class was definitely a challenge for him. It made me super proud to show him how hard I work while I'm there, and how far I've come that I can do these kinds of workouts. With my added cardio I burned 550 calories in 75 min. I'm definitely feeling sore in my arms, shoulders and chest today. I love that achey muscle feeling.
Yesterday was a great day, after our workout we did some grocery shopping and ran some errands together. Stocked up on lots of produce. For dinner I made seared ahi tuna with roasted veggies. Mmm. Sorry, forgot to snap a pic in my rush to gobble it up. I also put a slow cooker of pea, bean and leek stew, though even with cooking for 10+ hours, the beans still weren't soft enough this morning. I think I may have to scratch this batch and start again with canned beans instead of dried.
My boyfriend did another batch of juicing this morning so I had a glass of his 'mean green' before work. So good. I was talking to Tracy about it yesterday. The green juices are great, a 1-cup serving is an awesome snack. I have pondered adding a scoop of protein powder to the finished juice to have for breakfast sometime, though I don't know how good vanilla protein powder will taste with it...
Mean Green Juice (courtesy of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead)
Serving Size: 16oz. (though I do 8 oz. for a snack)
Ingredients
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
2 apples
6-8 leaves kale
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp ginger
Directions
Wash all produce. Juice. Pour over ice and enjoy.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Day 111 and Thoughts on the Wild Rose D-Tox
DAY 111. Day 1 of the Wild Rose D-Tox 12-day cleanse. Because I slipped a little bit over the holidays, I wanted to do a cleanse for January to recharge myself. For all of January I will be sticking to the mantra of no wheat, dairy or alcohol. Leanne suggested that for the first 12 days, I try the Wild Rose D-Tox to really boost my cleanse.
It's a 12-day supply of herbal supplements that are supposed to aid your body in eliminating toxins and cleansing your digestive system. Online customer testimonials also boast great side effects like clearer skin, more energy and loss of up to 10 lbs in that 12 day period. Along with the supplements, I have to follow a specific meal plan, which is already pretty much the same as the TF+ meal plan. Lots of veggies, fish, brown rice, almonds, berries and fibre-rich fruits like apples and pears. It's good to be getting back to my healthy eating, because even though I didn't go crazy over the holidays, those few over-indulgent meals and treats have left me feeling rather sluggish.
This morning I took the 6 herbal pills (taken twice per day) and the drops of herbal essence or whatever they call it. I don't know any way to describe the intensely terrible flavour of those droplets. It was like drinking a 'Prairie Fire' shot made with cheap tequila. Gross. I had it with a fresh green juice that my boyfriend made, which took the edge off the herbal aftertaste. He's big on the juicing since we watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead in the fall. He uses our Breville juicer faithfully each week. It's really sweet actually... after each juicing session he takes it apart and lovingly scrubs it out. I wish he had that same tender love of doing all dishes.
When I bought the kit at Whole Foods (on sale for $24), there was a sign up that Dr. Terry Willard, a clinical herbalist who designed the detox program, would be speaking on Monday the 6th. Pretty cool, I may have to go check it out... hear it straight from the horse's mouth :)
This morning I took the 6 herbal pills (taken twice per day) and the drops of herbal essence or whatever they call it. I don't know any way to describe the intensely terrible flavour of those droplets. It was like drinking a 'Prairie Fire' shot made with cheap tequila. Gross. I had it with a fresh green juice that my boyfriend made, which took the edge off the herbal aftertaste. He's big on the juicing since we watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead in the fall. He uses our Breville juicer faithfully each week. It's really sweet actually... after each juicing session he takes it apart and lovingly scrubs it out. I wish he had that same tender love of doing all dishes.
When I bought the kit at Whole Foods (on sale for $24), there was a sign up that Dr. Terry Willard, a clinical herbalist who designed the detox program, would be speaking on Monday the 6th. Pretty cool, I may have to go check it out... hear it straight from the horse's mouth :)
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Day 106 and Thoughts post-holiday
DAY 106. Happy to report that I maintained my weight loss over the holidays and all those Christmas parties. I definitely did not strictly adhere to the meal plan as of late, but I also did not go balls to the wall like I used to do around Christmas. I could berate myself and feel shitty that I fell off the wagon, but that's not going to help me at all. Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed my holidays and yes, I ate more than I should have, but I was smart about my endulging and did not gain weight. Moving on now. New day, new week, new year!
Killer workout with Sarah at TF+ on Saturday morning, along with Tracy and Cassandra. It had been a week since my last strength training session (I did get one cardio session in last week though), so it was a definite challenge. Did an extra 30 minutes of cardio with the workout and in total burned around 600 calories in 90 minutes. This morning when I woke up, everything was aching. Felt great.
One thing that is motivating me is the thoughts about my Christmas gifts and Boxing Day shopping. Once again, no new clothes. I don't expect my family to buy new clothes for me anymore, probably for fear that they won't fit, or that they can't find them in my size, or that they would be embarassed to ask me what size to get them in. It did bum me out to think about it. Perhaps it's a rather selfish way of thinking, but I want my boyfriend to be able to go out and buy me some sexy 'intimates' for Christmas. I want my family to see a nice sweater in a shop window and be able to find it in my size. I want to go out on Boxing Day and find great deals in my favourite regular-sized stores. Other than the new dress I bought before Christmas, I haven't bought anything new lately, with the optimism that over the next few months I'll be shopping for smaller sizes. It probably sounds vain and shallow, but I like fashion and clothes, and I want to be able to shop in any store, not just plus-size ones. I want to feel like I look beautiful and well-dressed and sexy... and more than that, I want to feel confident about it.
Beginning on Monday (why wait for the new year!?), I'm going to go back to doing the 4-week cleanse to jumpstart myself again. No dairy, no wheat, no alcohol. I got some great new cookbooks for Christmas so I'm sitting at my desk today, browsing through and finding some yummy new veggie ones to test out. Maybe as a mini-challenge, I'll test one out each Saturday and post a picture and my notes.
Happy New Year! I can't wait for 2014, it's going to be a good one.
Killer workout with Sarah at TF+ on Saturday morning, along with Tracy and Cassandra. It had been a week since my last strength training session (I did get one cardio session in last week though), so it was a definite challenge. Did an extra 30 minutes of cardio with the workout and in total burned around 600 calories in 90 minutes. This morning when I woke up, everything was aching. Felt great.
One thing that is motivating me is the thoughts about my Christmas gifts and Boxing Day shopping. Once again, no new clothes. I don't expect my family to buy new clothes for me anymore, probably for fear that they won't fit, or that they can't find them in my size, or that they would be embarassed to ask me what size to get them in. It did bum me out to think about it. Perhaps it's a rather selfish way of thinking, but I want my boyfriend to be able to go out and buy me some sexy 'intimates' for Christmas. I want my family to see a nice sweater in a shop window and be able to find it in my size. I want to go out on Boxing Day and find great deals in my favourite regular-sized stores. Other than the new dress I bought before Christmas, I haven't bought anything new lately, with the optimism that over the next few months I'll be shopping for smaller sizes. It probably sounds vain and shallow, but I like fashion and clothes, and I want to be able to shop in any store, not just plus-size ones. I want to feel like I look beautiful and well-dressed and sexy... and more than that, I want to feel confident about it.
Beginning on Monday (why wait for the new year!?), I'm going to go back to doing the 4-week cleanse to jumpstart myself again. No dairy, no wheat, no alcohol. I got some great new cookbooks for Christmas so I'm sitting at my desk today, browsing through and finding some yummy new veggie ones to test out. Maybe as a mini-challenge, I'll test one out each Saturday and post a picture and my notes.
Happy New Year! I can't wait for 2014, it's going to be a good one.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Day 100 and Thoughts on the holidays
DAY 100. Christmas is just 2 sleeps away! Can't believe how fast time flies. This week has been mixed.
I used a little bit of my Christmas bonus to buy a new dress for the holidays, and I was able to buy a smaller size for the first time in awhile. The fit was so much better too, which made me so ridiculously happy. For the first time I took 3 dresses into the change room and didn't have a freak-out or have to struggle to get any one of them over my head or bust or hips. There is always that fear for me that the dress will seem like it's going on alright, but then it gets stuck midway and then I have to start yanking at it and praying that I don't rip it. It was a wonderful feeling of elation to fit into those dresses. This time, I actually had a choice of which one I wanted to buy, not just the first one that fit. I feel quite content just thinking back on it.
On the other hand, I didn't have a great weight loss this week. It didn't surprise me, as I had worked late many nights and had 2 Christmas parties. I'm really proud that I still got 3 workouts done this week despite the busy schedule. If you had told me 4 months ago "Katharine, in a few months, working out 3 times will seem like just a regular week, not even a great one" I would have laughed in your face. I'm really getting to be quite addicted to that wonderful feeling after a workout, that rush of endorphins and feeling of accomplishment and strength. I'm still feeling those thigh and glute exercises from Saturday!
For the next week, I will focus on maintaining my weight loss. It can be a challenge over the holidays, but definitely do-able. Beginning in the new year, I'm all set with my training plan for the Sun Run providing me with 3 sessions of cardio per week, and I bought my bootcamp package with Team Fitness with should keep me set for strength training for the next 10 weeks.
With New Year's resolution coming up soon I'm hoping our little TF+ group will have some new recruits... No time like the present!
I used a little bit of my Christmas bonus to buy a new dress for the holidays, and I was able to buy a smaller size for the first time in awhile. The fit was so much better too, which made me so ridiculously happy. For the first time I took 3 dresses into the change room and didn't have a freak-out or have to struggle to get any one of them over my head or bust or hips. There is always that fear for me that the dress will seem like it's going on alright, but then it gets stuck midway and then I have to start yanking at it and praying that I don't rip it. It was a wonderful feeling of elation to fit into those dresses. This time, I actually had a choice of which one I wanted to buy, not just the first one that fit. I feel quite content just thinking back on it.
On the other hand, I didn't have a great weight loss this week. It didn't surprise me, as I had worked late many nights and had 2 Christmas parties. I'm really proud that I still got 3 workouts done this week despite the busy schedule. If you had told me 4 months ago "Katharine, in a few months, working out 3 times will seem like just a regular week, not even a great one" I would have laughed in your face. I'm really getting to be quite addicted to that wonderful feeling after a workout, that rush of endorphins and feeling of accomplishment and strength. I'm still feeling those thigh and glute exercises from Saturday!
For the next week, I will focus on maintaining my weight loss. It can be a challenge over the holidays, but definitely do-able. Beginning in the new year, I'm all set with my training plan for the Sun Run providing me with 3 sessions of cardio per week, and I bought my bootcamp package with Team Fitness with should keep me set for strength training for the next 10 weeks.
With New Year's resolution coming up soon I'm hoping our little TF+ group will have some new recruits... No time like the present!
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