December 15th

The cold took me down and out. I cancelled training with a client on Monday I was not doing well. Tuesday I could not make it to Diaperfit but did manage to teach Muscle conditioning. It was good. I took it a bit easy, the naps during the day helped.

Today I did train with that client for the last time. Sad to have it come to an end but happy to start in the new year back to Cardio Challenge at the YMCA. I really miss that group. I then went on a desperate search for my Earl Grey Vanilla tea. I have not been able to find it for over a month and I drank my last bag on Monday. No luck finding it before I had to head over to Tansley Woods to teach Aquafit. Didn't feel so great after class. My voice was rotten and being in the humidity did a number on me, BUT on my way home I stopped off at Frescho and found my tea. I picked up 8 containers, came home had some lunch and had a nap.

Tomorrow I teach Aquafit at 10 am and 7:30 pm assuming I don't get called to a birth. I have decided this week though I am desperate to reach my goal, that recovering from this cold and being in tip top shape for this crazy on call period takes priority to my workouts. I can't risk depleting myself any further.

December 13th

Today was not a good day. I have succumb to the cold I was fighting. I decided to sleep in and take the morning and afternoon off. I got some good sleep and hope that tonight a good night sleep will bring me back round to a healthy me.

December 10th

Okay so my DOMS song turned into more of a country western "My dog ran away and I accidentally ran over him once, wasn't sure what I hit so I backed up, then rolled forward and back three more times, while on the phone to my wife who told me she was leaving me for my brother, and cousin, and she would be leaving the quintuplets with me" kind of song. I also started to develop a tickle in my throat so no yoga last night, but everything else went according to plan.

This morning my alarm went off for 6:15 am. I realized that I had not taken out my workout out the clothes the night before and would have to scramble to get them in the dark without waking up Marc, my whole body said "Go back to bed, you can do your workout once the kids are on the bus, you will have over an hour before Aquafit, get more sleep" smart body. So I did. Elizabeth was running late for the bus so we ran. Once home I really didn't feel like doing my workout but I dragged my butt downstairs. I do feel a little better but I am not going to push myself today. I have Aquafit at 10 am, and lunch that I may duck out of as I don't want to make anyone sick, groceries to pick up for the party, a client who may be going in for a gel induction at some time today, and a holiday party tonight. I have started the Cold FX, probiotics and a high dose of Vitamin D. I am trying to hydrate more than normal. Hopefully this will be as bad as it gets.

Dec 9th

Oh D.O.M.S. how I love you. My pecs, abs, hamstrings and back are singing your praises.

Yesterday went well. Today I have done 30 minutes of the Cardio Burn Hip Hop Abs, at 9:00 am I will be out walking with a client for another 30 minutes. I have some work I need to get done at the computer this afternoon. I planned to do it well Marc was out last night. I was going to clean until 10:00 pm and then sit down and get some work done but he came home early 10:03 pm, I was just finishing my cleaning. Tonight I have a dinner meeting with a new client but hope to come home and do some Yoga. Maybe I will be able to talk Marc into doing the Yoga for two DVD we got one or two Christmases ago. It hasn't been opened yet. What do you say honey, are you game?

December 8th

I forgot to weigh myself first thing in the morning so I will do it again tomorrow because I was two lbs upand I got to be honest that really discouraged me from my goal. It means 12 lbs in 17 days and I question whether that is safe. If I really focus I think I could do it. So I will weigh in tomorrow and see if some of it was water and post workout weight.

As for my measurements I am down 1" overall.
Neck is still holding at 13.5"
The shoulders are holding at 42"
My biceps are up 1/4" to 12.25"
My chest is down 1/4" woohoo to 38.5"
My waist is still 37"
My hips are down 1/2" to 43.5"
My thighs are down 1/2" to 22.5"
Calves still 15"

These past few weeks have been really bad for me, not sleeping well and eating all sorts of things and at times I shouldn't. Now that I am back on track I am expecting to see huge changes next week. I will let you know in 10 days.

December 7th

Yesterday was a great day. I did my walk to Appleby Mall and walked for an hour or more. I have set up two new resolutions

1) Get 7 hours sleep every night. That means to be up for my workout at 6:15 am I must be in bed and asleep by 11:15 pm. After Christmas I will aim to get 7.5 hours of sleep, and by my birthday 8 hours. Last night it was 11:20 before I was in bed but I was passed out cold on the couch prior to that.

2) If it will take me a minute or less to do something, I will do it straight away. I delay the smallest jobs and it doesn't make sense. It feels good and the house looks better for it.

The body is feeling good today. On Saturday at Zumba I thought I would enjoy a hip hop dance class. So today I pulled out my Hip Hop Abs DVD. It was not as cardio intense as I was looking for this morning but it still brought my heart rate up and I could feel many of the moves. This morning I will be heading over to Tansley Woods at 9:30 am to teach Diaperfit. I may add an extra walk in during the day, or maybe I can convince the family to go for a walk tonight using the excuse of checking out the christmas lights to get them out there. I also have my muscle conditioning class at 7:00 pm. I am definitely going to sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow morning I weigh in so I promise to let you know how it goes. Have a good one.

Back on track

New week, counting down the days until Christmas and needing desperately to get my ass in gear.

I have had a rough few weeks. Feeling very grumpy, not sleeping well, major lack of focus and concentration. Enough is enough. Time to get back on my own personal exercise wagon. I got up at 6:15 this morning to do one of my strength training workouts. It was good, my legs feel a little rubbery right now but it is a nice feeling. Once I get the kids on the bus I plan to go for a walk or jump on the trampoline for a while. I need a new timer so I was thinking about taking the bike trails to Appleby Mall and picking one up at Dollarama, walking back having a quick shower then out to do my groceries and start some baking/preparation for the holidays. I have lunch with my Aquafit crew December 10th at Swiss Chalet followed by an evening with my doula sisters sharing and indulging, the 11th is our holiday house warming party, the 18th I host Christmas for my side of the family, the 19th we are celebrating with my Mom's side of the family, Christmas day we are hosting Marc's side of the family, the 27th with his Dad's side and January 1st with his Mom's. I am confident I can reach my goal and maintain it over the holidays.

Anyway back to Monday, have a great day everyone.

November 29th

Wow what a week. So last Thursday I went out for a run after I dropped the kids off at the bus stop. I did 7 minutes of running, 7 minutes of walking and 4 minutes of running then needing to come home, shower and leave. It was supposed to be my one day of last week but that didn't work out for me. Friday was my regular Aquafit class, I went to Zumba on Saturday morning and taught childbirth ed all weekend. We went and saw Harry Potter Saturday night and Marc got me Raisinettes so I ate after the time I would like to.

This week I am devoted to getting myself back on track. Today I did some training with a client, Christmas shopping, groceries and office work. Tonight I teach another childbirth education class. I have been feeling grumpy the passed few days and today feel quite run down. Maybe some reiki would help.

November 18th

Not much change to report. I am down to 165lbs, which was 2 lbs and 3/4". I did 45 minutes of bellydancing this morning. I now feel an overwhelming urge to do some kickboxing but don't want the endorphin/adrenaline high so close to bed time. I will just make myself a cup of calming tea, put on the idiot box and let go of the things I can't change, tomorrow is a new day full of different possibilities.

November 17

Today was going to be a very busy day, now it has turned to just busy. I was scheduled to workout with a client at 9 am, but that got cancelled. So now I can run some errands before heading to Tansley Woods to teach an 11:00 am Aquafit class, run home for some lunch and head back out to the YMCA to teach another Aquafit class at 1:30 pm, have a shower, run more errands, if I haven't completed them already, clean the house, rake some leaves if weather permits, if not then work on a birth story, make and eat dinner and then off to facilitate the Halton Peel Doula CARE meeting in Brampton. Because the day is busy I will not fit a personal workout in, but I taught a very good Muscle conditioning class last night. I am just waiting for the DOMS to set in.

Yesterday I did so much better than I have been with my fluid intake and I have started taking my vitamins and supplements again. I hope they will help my refuel my slightly depleted body. I have been pretty hard on it lately.

Tomorrow I will weigh in and do a workout. I have asked my personal trainer/superstar Sonny to put together a new routine for me to help me reach my goals. I can't wait to see what kind of sweet punishment she has in store for me.

It is now 9:02 am so most of the stores should be opened, but then again this is sleepy Burlington. Off to start my day. Have a good one.

November 16th

All right so the move is over and we are settled in. It is time to get back in gear. The last two days I have been lounging in bed in the mornings not wanting to get moving. I find my energy is quite low. I feel like a sloth. I can't remember the last time I did a workout just for me and I really miss dancing. So back on the band wagon. I hung some pictures last week and was looking at our engagement photos. Wow have I changed. So the new goal is to get to the weigh I was at when I got married 155 lbs by Christmas (that was my full term pregnancy weight with Juliet but I was 19 then), down to 150 lbs for my 33rd birthday on January 10th, and settling in at 140 lbs by Valentines Day. Ready, set, shrink.

Oct 27th

It has been a while since I have blogged and that is just because things are so busy. I have been doing really well. The last time I stood on the scale I was down to 165 lbs. I have become too small for one of my belts, I have had to tighten my microphone belt I wear in my fitness classes. One pair of pants I was wearing that fit is now looking quite good and is becoming roomy. I weigh in on Friday so I will know better weight and measurements but based on the clothes and comments I am getting I feel really good.

Monday I ran errands and taught a Cardio Scuplt class. Yesterday I taught Diaperfit (Aquafit for Mom and Baby), finished a birth story, did some packing and taught Muscle conditioning. Today I went for a walk in the morning, and taught Aquafit on an extremely hot pool deck. My inner thigh are so tender and I can feel my abs have worked everytime I move, it is a nice feeling. I am off to run some more errands and to do some cleaning. Have a great day.

October 15th

So life has still remained busy. I am coming down from five births in five weeks, tomorrow I will be handing over the title of Doula CARE regional rep coordinator, so I have been busy prepping all the documents and things to transfer. When I took on the role there was nothing, no files or anything. This will make it nice for the reps who will see some kind of continuity and nice for the coordinator who will not need to reinvent the wheel.

I have been getting a lot of comments lately on how great I look. It feels very encouraging to hear as I have not done anything other than teach classes. Today I did get up and do a workout. I have always had a fear of bootcamp. I was afraid my knee would not hold up. But several months back I found a bootcamp DVD for $5 so I picked it up. I did it today and it was a boring workout. The instructors were saying 'Wow this is tough" or "Feel the burn and I was feeling nothing unless I adapted to ramp it up. They did one or two interesting things I can adapt for class but otherwise the DVD was garbage. I did manage to work up a sweat though. I notice I have been staying up much later than I should so back to early morning workouts to adjust my body clock and start me off with that strong energy high. Now that I am clearing my plate I have more time for me. Woohoo.

September 28th

Wow, what a whirl wind this passed month has been. We have bought and sold a house, purged and packed, planned and excuted a huge birth and baby show, and have been at two births, the next scheduled for tomorrow and another next Wednesday. I am now teaching 4 aqua and 1 land class a week, subbing classes if my schedule permits. My personal workouts have suffered and because of it I have refused to step on a scale until today. I have been not sleeping well, working way too much, and stress eating and drinking (not a lot of drinking but more than average). Because of that I did not want to see what was going on with my proportions. Many people in the past week have been making comments that I am still getting smaller. As my schedule has going from extremely busy to just moderately busy I decided to hop on the scale this morning and see where I will be restarting from. I was very surprised, I got off twice and stepped back on again. I am down to 166. That is 5 more lbs. That means I get a new outfit and Marc is paying. WOOHOO.

September 6th

So things have really slipped but I am okay with that.

The week prior to the trip to the cottage I was busting my tail to ensure everything was done or passed off to the appropriate people for the Family Birth and Baby Show. I was quite stressed but made some relaizations and went for a Reiki treatment and gained some focus.

I didn't do any workouts at the cottage though I brought my gear. I went for an early morning swim twice and swam across the lake and back in under 20 minutes, but that was about it.

The week after the cottage things were crazy busy trying to get back on track after being away from clients and the computer for a week.

Then this week that just ended Marc and I found the perfect house, bought it and prepared this house for listing with a private open house on Sunday and today. It was a lot of work preparing a house for sale in under five days but we got it done, with some help of course. Last night I slept so well. I was asleep around 10:30 pm and stayed in bed until after 9 am. It felt amazing not to have to wake up and start purging or cleaning (sigh of relief).

The plan is now that the girls are both in full time school to get back on the wagon and get to business. I was just too overwhelmed and the workouts were the easiest thing to let slide. Something had to give and I know it was short term loss that I could easily make up.

August 12th

What a lovely morning. Actually I haven't been outside yet but it just feels like today will be a spectacular day.

I did my lower body strength training this morning. I was a little nervous starting out as my legs still feel a little tender from the other day but hair of the dog, right? I feel awesome now, very alert and eager to get this moving along.

Forgot to mention yesterday I weighted in, I was down another pound and 1/2" from my chest, waist and thigh. Not a lot but things are moving again in the right directions. This is just the start of the shed.

August 11th

I am so easily side tracked. This morning I got up at 6:30 am. I wanted to send photos out to be printed and be able to pick them up around 11 am so I knew I had to send them off right before or after my workout. Well me and computers are not always the best of friends and I was having huge issues. I did start my workout but not until after 7 am when I totally gave up. Marc came downstairs to say goodbye gave me a brilliant solution and things were smooth sailing. I managed to get it sent off while resting in between sets. My upper body workout this morning was good. I did one less set for chest and back because I work them nicely last night. It was a great class, they said it was good and they had fun, I know I did.

Off to have some breakfast and then go sweat it out on pool deck as I teach Aquafit at 9 am at Tansley Woods. Getting together with a friend today down at Spencer Smith or the beach. Sushi with another friend for dinner and visiting with a client in the evening. Have a great day.

August 10th

So not quite the start to the week I had hoped. I didn't get to bed until after 1:30 on Sunday and I thought five hours of sleep on purpose is not enough, so I skipped my strength training. However I had an awesome Aquafit class. I was silly and highly energized. it was a lot of fun, the members complained/were very impressed with the class and said what a great workout it was.

Today my alarm went of at 6:30 am and I really didn't feel up to my strength training, my muscle are tender from the weekend (It was an incredible Nia class). I was planning on doing my getter done workout but would have needed to sneak through Elizabeth's room and in the girls bathroom to get the timer and I didn't want to run the risk, so I did a Zumba class at home. Wow, it was Zumba advanced, really good and very sweaty. My abs, legs and heart felt it. I will make up for the missed training sessions today in my muscle conditioning class. I have a really full week this week so any opportunity for a fun workout I am going to grasp at.

Today Elizabeth and I are going to Glen Williams to a fellow doulas house. Our Dooula CARE regional group is having an informal summer fun day with trampoline and pool fun. Woohoo.

August 7th

What a week. I had a client with on and off contractions from Monday - Friday. Thursday morning they called right before my alarm was due to go off for my workout. I ended up at their house for the morning, working through the day and teaching childbirth ed at night, no workout : ( Friday morning was a write off as well. Today I did go to Zumba. I had to scale it back at the end I guess I was not totally recovered after missing a full nights sleep. It was still good though. Tomorrow I am going to Burlington's Labrinth to do a Nia class with my Mom and Aunt. It should be good.

Next week I will be back on track.

August 4th

This morning I planned to sleep in however forces were against me. Marc's alarm went off at 7 am, Elizabeth climbed into bed at 7:05, and a client called at 7:20. I only wanted to sleep in until 7:45. Oh well.

I went to Aquafit and ended up wetter than my participants in the pool. Holy sweat. In the afternoon I began feeling a little overwhelmed with work so I took a break and walked as Elizabeth drive her Corvette to Esso. It was not the relaxing, take a breather walk I was hoping for. I was quite stressed with her sudden stop, starts and indecisiveness while on the road or in driveways, of course she never did it on the safe sidewalks. I got an ice cap that I am pretty sure she made with cream even though I asked for it to be made with chocolate milk (since that is 1%mf). I downed it because I was so hot rather than savouring it as I had intended. When I got home I was so exhausted. Elizabeth got invited to the neighbours to play. My plan was to play a quick game on the computer and then was cooler and less frustrated vacuum the house. While somehow I ended up working on "Family, Birth and Baby show" stuff (a big event the Halton Peel Doula CARE chapter is putting on in September), took another call from my client with an update, called the back up doula to update her and then answered a ton of questions about teaching prenatal classes. Next thing I knew I was on the phone again, this time to my sister, it was 4 pm and my floors still weren't vacuumed. My amazing husband came home made dinner, fixed some small details on the Family Birth and baby show website, vacuum the house, did dishes and then gave Elizabeth a bath (I was not allowed to help with the last one so I came downstairs to start my lower body workout instead. I really didn't feel up to it since my muscles were quite stiff and tender from yesterday's muscle conditioning class. But the plan was to do it anyway, and then hop into a super hot epsom salt bath with lavendar vanilla bubbles and mellow out. It has been a busy day, though it sounds as though Marc did everything I was working the whole time as well, but I figure it is important to praise him once and a while since everyone already knows I am a super woman, hee hee hee.

August 3rd

No changes in the measurements department. I woke up at 6:30 this morning and did my upper body workout. I was planning on going to another instructors Aqua class. I hear she has some creative moves but the day is so full today I think I would be better off catching her another time. The plan is to walk to muscle conditioning tonight (6:15 - 6:45 pm), teach (7 - 8 pm), walk home (home by 8:40 pm), quickly freshen, hop in the car go to an interview (9 pm) and then go grocery shopping if I haven't done it earlier, then maybe do some PM yoga to help bring me down and settle with a cup of mellowing tea. Until it all starts again at 6:30 tomorrow morning. I really want to getting 8 hours of sleep so that means forcing myself to an earlier bed time, which Marc will be thrilled with.

August 2nd

Today was very busy. I woke up shortly after 7 am and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Marc and I both had to work and I got a head's up call for a birth so I really needed to cram as much as I could because I am not sure when I will get called out, for how long or how much recovery time I will need. By the end of the day I felt very depleted. I sat down to a large hot chocolate around 8 pm, gave Elizabeth a bath and decided to do a "Dance it Off" video I borrowed from the library. Juliet wanted to watch a movie with me but I really felt I needed to do something for me that released some endorphins. It was a fun routine, it will be better next time as some combos I wasn't grasping until the last rep.

I weighed it in Sunday morning, no change in weight. I didn't do my measurements, I may do that tonight. If there are changes I will let you know tomorrow when I report in after my workout. Sleep well.

July 30th

This morning I so did not feel like doing my workout. I woke up at 6:22 and really wanted to turn my alarm off. But I got out of bed, came downstairs and checked e-mail. I really wanted to work rather than exercise but I laced up my shoes and am glad I did. I know my pecs will be sore tomorrow but I will be happy to feel the ache, even as I type I can feel they are ouchy. I stretched but will down more water and stretch even more.

Today Marc is taking Elizabeth to her last day of swimming so that gives me a free morning to get a haircut and get some work done. I have no more snap heating pads so I need to neutralize those. Marc is out all night tomight so I MUST complete a birth story. I will not go to sleep tonight until it is finished.

Saturday I plan to go to Aquafit to participate in the morning after I weigh in. I am excited to see what the results are. This is the first week in a very long time I have gotted four strength training sessions in, I am just coming off of my period, I have been pretty stressed and eating some unhealthy stuff, so it will be interesting. Sunday will be a day of rest, maybe I will go on the elliptical in the morning but the afternoon will be spent at Marc's friends partying on the lake, maybe some water sports. It should be fun. Talk to you on Monday.

July 29th

I keep waking up at 6:15 am and convincing myself to lounge in bed the extra 15 minutes. I really should just get up and start my day. There is a lot that can be accomplished in 15 minutes.

I did my lower body workout today. My stomach was feeling yucky at the start and I questioned whether I should workout. I decided I would get started and if it got worse I could always stop. Amazing as the muscles began aching, I mean working, the stomach stopped. I feel lovely now, sweaty but lovely.

Today I have both kids at home, laundry, lunch with a friend, and a childbirth ed class tonight. It should be a lovely day.

July 28th

Feeling good - Got some positive comment yesterday about how I am looking. It was good because I am feeling stagnant with weight loss, so to hear body image is improving is great.

I have started a new 5 lbs challenge with Marc. If he loses it first he will only have to give me back rubs for five months rather than six. If I lose it first I get a new outfit, tops, bottoms, shoes and a purse, woohoo.

Yesterday was good as I said I did my lower body cutting a few things short to finish up in my muscle conditioning class. Wow that lunge medley was difficult. I walked to and from Tansley so an hour round trip. I got close to eight hours of sleep last night, though I felt quite groggy when I woke up. I know you are supposed to get eight but I find it is a bit too much. I will keep trying. This morning the alarm went off at 6:30 and I came downstairs and did my upper body workout while cleaning during my rest in between sets. Tonight I plan to get on the elliptical once I get home from visiting a client and knock off a birth story, so I may not get my eight hours tonight. Happy hump day everyone.

July 27th

I can't believe it has been nine days since I posted last. It has been a busy, pretty stressed but some fun as well week. I did none of my strength training sessions though I taught more than normal and got to Zumba on Saturday morning. I have been craving chips for the past two days, which is strange for me because I don't really enjoy chips. I know my cycle is due to renew and maybe with all the added stress it makes sense. I am trying to ensure I do something special for myself every 3-4 days to help with the stress. I am confident if I can force myself to get up at 6:30 though 6 may be better, so I can get my workout and then clear some other stuff off my calendar before the kids wake up and the day starts I will feel much better. Encorporating some one on one time with Marc ; ) should help too.

I did get up at 6:30 this morning. I decided to send out a quick request to my regional reps before my workout, since I was supposed to do that yesterday and didn't. The simple request ended up taking 20 minutes as I remembered there were more details and things I needed from them. So my workout didn't get started until close to 7 am. Marc came down at 7:20 to say goodbye and Elizabeth was up. She sat and did her own thing but I did cut a few of my exercises short. However I will finish them up when I teach tonight, my class will groan over the lunge medley. Thanks Sonny. I never understand why people moan, when an exercise challenges me I love it, it's working, isn't that why you workout?

July 18th

Marc and I have spent an awesome weekend at the Honda Indy. Even with spf 50 I have managed to get quite the deep tan, I have never been so dark.

Thursday I did not get my strength training session in nor did I do any workouts Friday - Sunday. But I made sure Marc and I took every set of stairs we could. We were in the back row of the grandstand. I did eat poutine for the first time, that is not what I thought I was ordering, I am not sure why people like it. The cheese curds were delicious and so was the chicken breast on top but the soggy fries were digusting.

This week I am not sure how many strength training sessions I will get in. Monday I am teach Cardio Challenge at the YMCA from 9:15 - 10:15 am and Shallow Aqua at Centennial from 11:05 - 11:50 am. Home for a quick shower and meal preparation, then I have a fellow doula coming over to teach me some of her yoga for birth technique so I can support her client with the technique in case she goes in labour while the primary doula is away. Then I need to get some groceries. Tuesday I teach muscle conditioning and will be walking there, maybe I will get my fast workout in first thing in the morning. Wednesday I am teaching Shallow Aqua at 9 am and Cardio Sculpt at Tansley at 6:30 pm, I will probably walk there again in the evening. Thursday and Friday look like good days to do the remainder of my workouts. On Saturday I really would like to get to Zumba. It has been way too long. Thanks for helping me figure that out. Hope you all have a super fantastic week.

July 14th

Today has been a great start to my day. I got up at 6:30 am to go on the elliptical for 30 minutes. I was groaning and really wanted to stop within 5 minutes and go rest on the couch, not because it was hard but I was tired. I pushed past and got a good workout.

At 8 am I remembered my sister would be coming with the girls around noon. Crap the house was trashed. So I quickly cleaned, got my teeth brushed, contacts in and flew to Tansley Woods to teach Aquafit. The girls did an awesome job cleaning and when I got home there was not much left to do. Elizabeth has two friends over until 12:30, then my sister and three nieces will be here. We will have tuna pasta for dinner and I am hoping to get on the elliptical once more today. I am confident I will see changes the next time I weigh in. I feel great, sleeping better, eating better, with energy to spare. It feels so good being back on track and to be a loser once more.

July 13th

Just finished my lower body workout. I went well. I did only two sets of some repetitions because I know they are areas I will be working tonight in my muscle conditioning class and I want to be able to walk tomorrow. Instead of feeling excited and totally pumped I feel very calm, and at ease, it was a really nice stretch and I feel ready for a tea, some breakfast and the newspaper. I wonder if the kids will stay asleep long enough so I can have that uninterrupted.

Today's plan is to finish the laundry, get it put away, sign a contract with a new client, pick up pictures so I can start working on a birth story, have lunch, pick up two of Juliet's friends and take all the girls swimming from 2-4, come home make dinner, plan and memorize my class for tonight, walk there, teach it, walk home, hang out with the family, snuggle with Marc and go to bed. Chat with you tomorrow.

July 12th

So after weeks of promising I am finally back on track. This week it is not I will be, it's I am.

Yesterday I stood on the scale and I was back up 2 lbs. I had been thinking for a while that things had stagnated. I have had a few people cross my path lately who are on a weight loss journey as well and I am being to fatigue of saying I have lost 20 lbs, I want to say I have lost 25 so far and continuing to lose.

Last week I did only get one at home strength training session. However I did get out to a Nia in the park class and it was very good. I can't wait to get back to practice regularly in the Fall.

So enough blogging I have work to do and the less time I send sitting in front of the computer the better.

July 8th

I really do need to get more consisent with my posting. I have had news I wanted to share but work has been pretty busy. My strength training has not been going well. I have been doing one at home session a week. I know, I know. Today I got 2/3 of it in before I got a call from a client, not imminent but I do need to get in the shower and have breakfast.

The good news is I reclaimed 4 pairs of pants. Most were a 13/14 from Jacob Connexion. I was so excited. The weight hasn't changed since I last reported I am at 170 lbs which is 22 lbs down. I went to teach at the YMCA on Monday it has been a long time since I have taught there. The ladies really noticed they said they almost didn't recognize me. It felt nice. I plan to finsih up my workout later tonight and do my upper body workout tomorrow. Saturday I am doing my CPR recert but Sunday my mom and I are going to do Nia in the park in the morning, and I teach in the afternoon.

I will post more consisently, I promise. I hope everyone is staying cool.

June 28th

Wow, my alarm went off at 7 this morning, it hasn't done that in a while. I haven't been sleeping well again and it is in relation to my cycle. I don't know if I should fight and do things to sleep more it or just go with it. I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep yet I feel fine when I wake up on just a few hours. My mind isn't busy with thoughts that are keeping me up, every time I wake through the night I feel clear headed and very alert. Today I felt a bit groggy when my alarm went off. I had been sleeping on my hand and it was still asleep so I decided to do my lower body workout. It went well. I could tell I had not done it in a while.

Today I have a full day running errands with Elizabeth and teaching the last of a five week series of childbirth education. My house is reasonably clean because I just started a three week series yesterday. Maybe her and I will do some yoga together this afternoon to help break up the day.

I have been bad

I can't believe it has been 10 days since I have posted last. That is very naughty. The past three weeks have been extremely busy, overwhelming busy and because of that my personal fitness suffered. i still taught my classes and extra classes but I didn't do my home workouts. All work and no workouts caused my system to get dragged down by Elizabeth's cold. I got it on Sunday and today my voice has mostly returned. I feel better though still easily fatigued, I think not exercising may be partly contributing.

Regardless when I stood on the scale I was down another 2 lbs, no inches though and that was day 23 of my 28 day cycle. I am hopeful. Next week I will be getting back on track, work is somewhat calming down so I can get on track and geared for the kids to be off school. I am so excited.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Chat soon with motivated and achieving news.

June 16th

Yesterday I was so tired. Marc asked me a question at 10:30 and I was stumbling with my answer, the words weren't coming out I was so tired. I finally pulled myself together enough to answer and said "Tomorrow I will try and sit at the table with the legs on it." which had absolutely nothing to do with what he was asking me.

It was a good day. I taught deep aquafit for the first time and it seemed to go over well. In the evening I walked to my muscle conditioning class and back which was 50-60 minutes round trip.

Today I was pretty wiped, not sure if I have a cold coming on. This week and next I have an extra aquafit and muscle conditioning class. Hopefully it will make up for last week.

June 14th

Yikes a whole week since I have posted, that is not good. Nor was my workouts this week. The week was good just not for my health journey. To be honest I only did a lower body strength training session and miss my muscle conditioning and one Aqua class. I did however have one outstanding birth and another pretty good one. I did good while eating at the birth however there was more than average Tim Horton's consumed. When I weighed myself on Saturday my weight had not changed, therefore I decided not to do my measurements. I feel things have changed. I have been noticing that clothes hang different and people have noticed a big change in my face. I am happy with that for now.

I have a very busy work week this week but I have scheduled my workouts into it and asked for Marc's help in pushing me on. I just finished my upper body workout and was very impressed with my bicep curls. Sonny has me do them with a heavy weight until failure. The last time I did this workout I could only do 12 before failure. This week I got 15, then 8 on my second set and 5 on my third. I was very happy with that. I am also going to start incoroprating yoga into my evenings 2-3 times per week. I think I could use some more stretching. That is it for now. I will write again tomorrow.

June 7th

Yikes it has been a while since my last post. To be honest it wasn't a fabulous week for me. I was quite stressed out and I actually got pretty overwhelmed on Thursday. The redeeming factor was I have a new niece. Yeah Allison, now I just need to find the time to visit her. I did teach all my fitness classes, however if memory serves me correct I didn't do any of my strength training until Friday, which was when I weekend warriored it and did my lower body, went to teach Aqua and came back to do my upper body, ate lunch, went for a massage and busted my butt getting ready to spend the weekend at my mom's helping her with her garage sale and prepping for her move.

This morning I have started with my lower body workout. My house is trashed so between groceries and the dentist I will clean, vacuum, Marc's job but someone has got to do it, and prepare to teach prenatal tonight. I also need to get my weekly plan put together, maybe during breakfast to spare some time.

May 28th

I am drenched. I just finished my lower body workout and I sweat a ton. It felt great. While I was doing my ballet bar exercise my working leg kept getting lower and lower and my supportive leg by the end of the set was shaking like crazy. I should be able to get upstairs today but tomorrow we will need to get a chair lift installed.

I didn't get on the bike last night. I was feeling quite overwhelmed and irritated all day. I called a friend but that didn't help. So I put on a bellydance technique DVD. I noticed how out of practice I am. Though the dancing felt okay it didn't help because I was disappointed in my body not being able to dance as it used to and with me for allowing my practice to slip. In the evening when I was still feeling blah I did indulge in a glass of wine and a chocolate bar, not dark chocolate either. It didn't really satisfy anything. I watched a Russell Peters movie and the laughing helped a bit. I am sure tonights go karting and outing to celebrate Marc's birthday will help. I can't wait to go rock climbing, that is next Friday.

May 27th

Getting out of bed this morning was awesome. I was so sore. My abs, particularly my obliques, and my chest are yikes. Marc asked if I was okay. I said "Oh yeah, I am good." I got a soft gel seat for my bike and hope to take it out tonight. I was going to ride it to the pool today however I need to drop off something at a clients and pick up a new shipment of Nukkles. I know it sounds a bit like an excuse. However I did get on the elliptical for 30 minutes this morning and will get on the bike tonight. I do have to get a birth story started, ideally done which means a large chunk of time on the computer. But I do have a plan. Every 30 minutes I have a timer that will go off and I will do a different exercise each time. June will be the start of five months into my journey and I want to see some bigger results. Not so focused on weight loss as I am the inches, dress size and overall health. Others have been noticing the difference I however am feeling not much has changed. Maybe a new picture and chalk outline may help.

May 26th

I love my new workout. I just finished the upper body portion because my legs are still aching from yesterday. It was fun, fast and killer effective. I am doomed tomorrow and Friday. I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning however I couldn't sleep and was excited to try my workout. When Sonny showed it to me yesterday I was so impressed with the multifunction of each exercise.

Yesterday was good. I got a ton of stuff done, bank, groceries, house cleaned, Zumba, neutralizing some hot massagers, pre-cutting our fruits and veggies, writing two letters of recommendation, and planning and teaching a great muscle conditioning class. And a shower of course. Today should be great too. I am so pumped with endorphins right now I love it. I have some manuals to bind and phone calls to make. Elizabeth has gymnastics this morning, I think we will walk there. I hope to go on the elliptical tonight or maybe better to do some yoga and stretch things out. Last night I got my first of many back rubs. I was chatting with my friend Judy about loosing 20 lbs and she said it must feel nice not having to carry around two sacks of potatoes. I hadn't thought of that, to put it in perspective, wow. I know I look better but the visual and realization that that is 20 lbs was eye opening. Thanks Judy and thanks Sonny and all of the people who have noticed my transformation and told me about it.

Time to hit the shower.

May 24th

What a great long weekend this has turned out to be. I skipped my workout this morning. Naughty, I know but I got a good solid 6 hour chunk of sleep, had a great appointment with a client out on their patio. Came home had a quick bite, then out to Confederation Park to play mini golf and laser tag with the family, my mother in law and niece and nephew. Wow I worked up quite the sweat in laser tag, particularily trying to run while holding onto my loose sandals, next time I will plan better. It has been a fun day, lots of play and vitamin D, I feel awesome.

May 23rd

Today was a descent day. I am suffering from a bad case of insomnia, which is seeming to return the week prior to my cycle. I have problems getting to sleep, staying asleep, and wake up feeling fine, yet I know I have not had enough sleep. My mind is clear and not running a marathon, it appears to be just hormones. Anyway back to my day we went out for a hike on the Bruce trail for 1.5 hours which was nice, stopped at Taco Bell for dinner and I had two tacos from their light and healthy board. After dinner we decided to head down to Spencer Smith which turned into a journey down to Barangas, wow it was a lot further away than I expected. We hung out at the beach from 7:30 - 8:30 pm, it was getting mighty chilly, Marc and the kids had icecream, I wanted a hot chocolate but no go. When we got back Marc was finished, he had quite a headache so he went to bed. I changed into my workout gear and did a 45-50 minutes bellydance yoga fusion. It was really not what I had in mind, I wanted to dance and it was more muscle toning/stretching, so afterwards I did another DVD of dancing but just the 20 minutes of fast and fun and 10 minute stretch. It felt great. Life is great. Can't wait for tomorrow to do it all again.

Rethinking things, but not too seriously

This week I did not get my game on. I was bed ridden Wednesday and Thursday with a sore throat, ear infection, dizzy, fever, yuckiness. Friday I felt okay in the morning, tried to get my house back in shape and realized if I have to pause this many times in light housekeeping there was no way I would be able to teach Aquafit or go rock climbing. On Tuesday Sonny is coming with a new routine for me so I will pull it all together then.

This morning was my weigh in time and it has me wondering if my approach is all wrong. I made it down to 172, that means 20 lbs and that I beat Marc. Now I am going to give him a few days leeway in case it is due to muscles shrinking due to a full week of not working out and two days will little food intake. However there were three days of Tim Horton's or simple sugars, and yes chocolate bars to maintain stamina when missing three nights of sleep in one week.

As for inch loss I am down 1/2" from my shoulders, 1/2" from my biceps, 1/2" from my chest, 1" from my hips, 1 1/2" from my thighs and 1/4" from my calves. On Friday I also bought two pairs of size 14 capris. When I held them up I wasn't sure they were going to fit so I grabbed a 16 as well. when I had them up to my knees I thought, nope, not going to be able to close them, yet as the button got closer and closer I got excited. They did up beautifully, no pulling, great fit, it was awesome. Marc has also been commenting on how nice my backside has been looking. So it had me, in jest, thinking maybe I should skip multiple nights of sleep, and eat whatever junk food I want as my method for weight loss. However I know it is not good. My brain is fuzzy, I have no energy and I am sick. My body does not fair well to this unhealthy lifestyle.

Either way things are looking up, 10 minute back rubs every night for six months, a new routine, new pants, a smaller, healthier me. I love winning and at the same time losing feels good too.

May 18th and life is so busy

Two births in one week has taken a toll. The first birth missing out on so much sleep made my energy levels plummet. On top of that Marc was away, and the week was beyond busy with work stuff. He came home and I taught a weekend crash course, Elizabeth was very sick with a stomach virus that is going around so that impact our sleep as well. Monday I had great intentions to get back on track but something told me to sleep in and take it easy. I restocked my doula bag and feel an overwhelming urge to eat after 9 pm. At 10 pm I received a call from my sister in law who was having contractions and wanted me to join her in Guelph, well that explained a lot. Today at 12:35 pm my nephew, Hunter, made his first appearance. Now I am exhausted. I hope to get back on track tomorrow but feel a little doubtful. Marc and I are going for a 90 minute introduction to Rock climbing on Friday, an exhilarating, active birthday present. I am so looking forward to it.

It is time for me to snuggle up with Marc and veg before the crash. Good night everyone.

May 12th

Nothing has changed. My weight and measurements are the same. That sucks. I need to ramp my workouts up and get back on track with my eating and hydration.

This morning I really didn't want to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 7 am. I could have slept at least another hour. But I knew my workout would give me energy and set me off on the right foot. I did my upper body band workout. I normally use the grey (harder) band only for the first two exercises but decided to try it for every one except the overhead work where I need the length. It was good. I felt the added resistance, though maybe more so in the next few days.

I am not feeling as energetic and fabulous as I did when I started. I am still inspired though very discouraged and fearful I have hit a plateau. I am a bit nervous how much I will need to ramp things up. For now I will try going back to more of the schedule I had when I first started, the strength training is the same I was just getting more cardio in. Hopefully that will but me back on track. I am not sure I have the time to increase from that, although if I don't take the time I won't have all the benefits of being healthy. Short term loss for long term gain. It's all in my head.

May 11th

Today is Marc's birthday and what a day it has been. I got home this morning from a birth. Sunday night I went to bed around midnight and received her call at 1:15 am, no rest for the wicked. Yet I didn't realize how little rest that would be. I got home at 8:30 am today. Thank goodness for incredible neighbours and family. It was a school day so I was able to sleep from 9:30 am to 3 pm. Juliet had a "Guys and Dolls" practice and wouldn't be home until 5 pm. Elizabeth got invited to a gymnastics class from 5 - 6 pm. We went out for dinner at McDonalds. I had the spicy Thia salad, it is very yummy, grilled chicken of course and an iced tea and we zoomed over to Juliet's chick fit class and my muscle conditioning. I had asked someone to teach it for me because I wasn't sure if I would be able to. I would have physically been able to teach it but my brain was still very sleep deprived so I participated in class instead. It was a good class. Then we grabbed some groceries, came home to call Marc and get ready for bed while I tried to recovery the pig pen that used to be my house.

This week is a nightmare of a busy week and having lost almost two days didn't help but I have almost caught up or rescheduled what I missed. My inbox looks terrrible and has recovered from my vacation but that will have to wait. Tomorrow I weigh in and I am not looking forward to that after living on Tim Horton's and throwing my whole system out of wack. Maybe it is too soon and it won't have taken effect yet. We will see.

May 9th

Happy Mother's day. I have just spent an awesome weekend with my mom. Saturday was my sister's baby shower my mom and I hosted here. It went very well. I didn't get the best night sleep last night but today was pretty good. I have to admit I was quite disappointed when I saw my mother's day gift that Marc purchased with the kids consisted of a bag of six half a fist sized truffles and a huge chocolate heart. It hurt a little that they couldn't think of something more heartfelt and meaningful. I felt unsupported in what I have achieved and towards the goals for my health. Despite that the girls and I had fun with my mom. We had hoped to go for a hike to Hilton Falls conservation area and register for the "Footsteps for Trees" program. However it was quite windy and cold and Elizabeth really didn't want to go hiking. Instead we ended up going bowling, a wee walk and feed the ducks at Paletta, and out to Sushi Asano by my house. The food was really good. Not too fond of the eel though, it was a weird texture but I tried something new.

I just finished an hour on the elliptical and I feel really good for it. I am going to have a bath with the lavendar vanilla bubble bath a client gave me. That should send me off to a solid night sleep. I can't wait. Juliet was making fun of the bags under my eyes today at dinner.

This week is an extremely busy one from dawn to midnight. I am finding it more difficult doing it on my own but it is getting done, and getting done well. Marc will be home on Friday night, I teach all weekend and then a fresh not as busy week begins. I just need to get through this with a strong, steady, happy pace and be proud of every accomplishment along the way. I know I can.

May 8th

Wow, sorry for the lapse in posts. I have been good, just to busy to brag about it. Thursday I taught Aquafit and it was really good. I sweat a ton and my legs were quote tender from Tuesday's class and Wednesday's workout. Thursday night I went to Zumba since I knew I would miss it Saturday morning, due to Karyn's shower at my house. I absolutely love this new routine, it is so much fun and a great workout. Friday I worked my lower body in the morning, vacuumed for 40 minutes and still didn't finish the whole house then went to Aquafit. Got home and finished vacuuming and washing the floors, dusted and finally ate lunch at 2 pm. Then did some more prep for the shower. I was pretty exhausted so at 3:30 pm Elizabeth and I sat down to a rainy day movie, Labrinth, what a great movie. Had leftover veggie enchilada casserole for dinner, thank goodness for leftovers. This morning I got out of bed around 7:30 am, I couldn't sleep anymore so I came downstairs to do a Latin dance workout. I wanted to get it in anyway but 6:30 am was too early.

Now it is time to eat and shower and prepare for Kay's shower. Tomorrow the plan is to have brunch and go for a hike. I have faith the weather will support that.

May 5th

Monday didn't end on the same bang it started on. The day was really good but I didn't work my core or do 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Yesterday I went to a deep aqua class at 9:30, did some shopping, downed my lunch, dropped of a forgotten lunch to school, headed to Toronto for a board of directors meetings, zoomed home to just miss getting Elizabeth off the bus, had dinner and ran out to teach muscle conditioning, then came home and enjoyed a glass of wine and a musical, while the cat is away the mouse will feast on rare exotic cheese.

I really didn't feel like getting up to workout this morning. I went back and forth between cardio and strength. My class last night we did a good bit of legs and I didn't want to overdo it. However I is easier to do 30 minutes on the elliptical when the kids are around than my strength work. So I decided to do a full body workout. It was good but my legs were shaking just standing doing my upper body. I plan after lunch to get on the elliptical for an easy walk. Tonight I have an appointment with a client and chances are I probably will just want to veg this evening.

May 3rd

A while back my period used to effect my sleep. I would get bad insomnia a day or two prior and three days into my cycle, I think that has started again. I was really not eager to get out of bed this morning and work out but I also knew I won't sleep well if I stayed in bed. My hope was for my workout to invigorate me and hopefully allow better sleep tonight. It has definitely invigorated me. I feel fabulous. I did my upper body strength and want to hop on the elliptical but I know Elizabeth will be up and wanting breakfast before I get a chance to finish. So the plan is to sneak in some abs during the day today and do 30 minutes on the elliptical tonight either after dinner or after my childbirth ed class. I am feeling that passion and drive at had when I first began my journey. It feels exciting and alive. Hooray me.

May 2nd

Sorry for the delay in this post. I got quite behind in many things because of the vacation. I also missed out on one of my strength training sessions and almost skipped out on Zumba on Saturday. I am so glad I didn't. It was all new music and rotines and it was fabulous. I have to miss several of the Tuesday classes for the next little while, so I can take some deep Aquafit which I will be subbing for parts of June, but Thursday evenings have opened up for a while so maybe I can get in then.

Marc is leaving Tuesday morning for California on business for 10 days and it couldn't be a worse time. I am feeling a little overwhelmed, anxious and to be honest a little angry, though not justifiably angry just hormones probably.

Today I measured in and the results were not surprising but still disappointing. I was up 1 lb and down 1". I really want to step up my game. I am picking up a bicycle today and plan to ride it to Aquafit and Muscle Conditioning (I will start riding to muscle conditioning after June 1st. I hope I can make it home after class which I should there are many hills and it is not that far). I can also ride to Zumba too which would be great, now I just need to review my hand signals. My water and food intake has been off, I have noticed I am eating out of boredom, not enjoying my food as much. So I will once again start eating mindfully. My plan is when Marc gets back I will have won our bet and get indulged in 10 minute back rubd every night for six months, that and being healthier and stronger are great rewards for my hard efforts.

April 27th

I am back from vacation. It was good but very costly. I did okay. I got all four of my strength routines in. I had to adlib for a few of the exercises since I didn't have my pole to wrap my tubing around but I felt the differences which was good.

I didn't get any cardio in, though I did some strength and cardio blasts in the pool while they were entertained by Daddy. We did a fair bit of walking with Disney but some sitting and standing. I did not drink as much as I normally do and ate a lot more, particularily after supper. I want to weigh in tomorrow just to see and will do a proper weigh in with measurements on Sunday.

April 16th

When I got out of bed this morning I really didn't want to be up, let alone workout but I did and felt great doing my full body workout. At 10 I went to teach Aquafit. Was planning on having a shower there but had left my shower stuff at home, so I drive home trying not to lean my sweat soaked shirt against the seat, did a pedicure and had a nice shower. Tonight I went to the Goddess Gathering, bellydancing and mediation. It was fabulous, I feel so centered and so Michelle. What a great way to start my vacation. This is my last blog entry until I get back. I will have no cell or internet access while I am away, woohoo.

I look forward to updating you all when I get back.

April 14th

I am getting very nervous about Marc losing his 5 lbs before me. He stepped on the scale and was down 3 lbs, he did say he would loss 6, but that is half way, yikes. I know in my heart and head that I can beat him. I have even contemplated unhealthy ways to do it but I will not. This is long term, see it through and if I have to pay penance for slacking I will just have to "suck it up".

Tuesday I went to Zumba and it was a great class but my knee was not in a good state so I really backed it off. That night I taught a great muscle conditioning class, if I do say so myself. The class worked and so did I. Wednesday morning I did my lower body routine, I gave myself one alternate exercise to avoid pressure on my knee but I still worked hard. I did plan to go on the elliptical for an hour but that didn't happen. So I got up 30 minutes earlier this morning to do the hour. I have Aquafit today and will do some crazy cleaning this afternoon as I try to get my house looking awesome before we leave to minimize the stress of coming home to 2 weeks worth of laundry and a filthy house.

April 12th

Today was measurement day again. I was feeling very hopeful as in have been noticing that I am looking quite good in my workout wear. However I was curious to see since it had been a very stressful week and on Saturday I was at a baby shower and eat not as health as I normally would, stayed up to midnight and before heading off to bed got a urgent call to provide back up for a person I hadn't met therefore I was up 37 hours, not caring for myself very well while at the birth, came home slept for 11 hours and woke up to weigh in.

Still I am pleased with the results. My weigh had not budged but I am down 2.5". I have lost 1/2" from my shoulders, 1/4" from my arms, 1/4" from my chest, and 1 1/2" from my waist.

This week I have a lot on the go but I refuse to let it get me as stressed as last week. I am forward planning during my trip on how to maintain my workouts. I am on a band routine for my upper body so that will be easy to pack, the legs may work too and of course we will be walking around Florida and swimming so that will help as well.

April 10th

What a week this has been. I have been so busy and feeling quite overwhelmed and now angry/irritable about it.

An update on the fitness front. I did get a cardio workout in before heading off to teach Aquafit on Thursday, rushed home to prepare for a promo committee meeting for an event DoulaCARE is doing in May. Then downstairs to work on the promo material, followed by dinner, and preparing and teaching a CBE class.

Friday I did not do my full body strength training. I was so tired and overwhelmed. I did teach Aqua, then zoomed to Mississauga to give a talk at a doula training, home to pick up Elizabeth and work on a birth story, promo stuff and some other things. Made dinner, which I ate in the car enroute to visit a client, ran some errands, worked on Monday's meeting I am facilitating and not prepared for, picked up a cake at 8 pm, and home by 9:30 ish to do more work.

This morning went out for a Cardio Sculpt class, it was good. Did some work and actually took some time to work on my puzzle. I was on the quite the roll, it was great. Today I am going to focus on letting go, deep breathing and refocusing on what is good, calm and peaceful. I need to bellydance.

April 7th

Today has been a very rough day. Last night Marc took NiQuil, well he was snoring so loud that ear plugs would not help so I slept on the couch. I was not able to get the work I needed to get done last night because Juliet was on the computer working on procrastinated homework until 10 pm. Anyway I don't want to bitch here about my day so I will stop now.

I did manage to get my upper body strength training in at 8 pm. I did want to do at least 30 minutes on the elliptical but it was too close to bed time and now I am just not feeling it. I got a lot accompolished today and even have been able to get started on some things that were not. I will now finish my goblet of water and have another rooibos tea, that seemed to mellow me out earlier and go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day as well.

April 5th

Happy Monday. This morning I got up and did my lower body strength training. Had a yummy breakfast of flax seed oatmeal, with protein powder and bananas, I was very pleasantly surprised how good it was, chased with green tea. Out shopping all morning with the girls, spent a lot of money but necessary expenses. Lunch was a big yummy salad. Tonight I got a fair amount of stuff done. I wanted to get in my Latin dance DVD but that didn't happen. I was feeling pretty exhausted, just wanting to snuggle up with Marc and a glass of wine and hide under the covers. But Elizabeth's hair was an absolute rats nest, it is getting worse and worse the longer she grows it. So I needed to brush it out. As it has been for the passed three weeks she cried and told me she hates me and that she will not cut her hair despite how much it hurts to get it brushed, and I really am being as gentle as I can. Once we finished I was so frustrated and she refused to kiss me. I wanted to bury myself even more, but instead I decided the best way to deal with negative emotions is to exercise so I hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes, got a good sweat while Marc sat on his butt and tucked into some wine, mine has been breathing and now I am definitely going to win. I am so excited 10 minute back rubs every day for 6 months. I will be so relaxed. I can't wait to get started.

April 4th

This weekend has been pretty good. Saturday I went to Zumba and had a really great class. Saturday was my cheat day. I don't do them often but I was quite indulgent.

Today I went to my sister inlaws for lunch and I ate well. I didn't go back for seconds because I wasn't hungry anymore. I skipped dessert though I did nibble on three Lindor eggs while I was there. For dinner we stopped off at Subway and I ordered a six inch sub and was quite satisified with that. At 7 pm I went for a 40 minute walk with Elizabeth around the neighbourhood. We also ran down one street, she set a good pace. At 9 pm Marc tucked the kids in while I started an hour long workout on the elliptical. I worked up a decent sweat and I feel great. But will now need some mellowing tea as I feel quite invigorated.

Marc and I have made a mini challenge to see who can lose 5 lbs first. I am quite eager to win and want to beat him fast but healthily.

Yeah April

So here is the updated picture. Snmaller boobs, waist, hips and thighs, woohoo. I am so proud.

Results

I hope you guys won't miss me too much but as time moves on you will be seeing less and less of me. No I am not going anywhere... just getting slimmer, fitter, healthier and happier.

This morning I got up and did a full body workout plus a five minute Hip Hop dance routine, it grabbed the wrong DVD, I was hoping for more ab focus but it was just some cool moves to use on the dance floor. Marc said he will take me out dancing tonight so I can show off my new moves but I don't want to show him up so I think we will hang out at home. maybe I can get him to do some salsa or hip hop with me.

Okay enough delays, you want to hear how the weigh in went. I am down around 3 lbs and have lost 4" on day one of my menstrual cycle so I am hoping for some water retention, but still very pleased with the results based on my effort, with the exception of this week, over the passed twoand a half weeks. I am down 1/4" on my biceps, 1 1/4" across my chest, woohoo, the boobs are shrinking, 1/2" off my waist, 1" off my hips and another 1" off my thighs. Marc took my picture this morning, sorry I didn't shower first. I will get it posted this afternoon. My breakfast is calling to me. Thanks all of you for helping me regain my focus and for all your love and support. It means so much.

April 1st

Yesterday went quite well. On top of my workout Elizabeth and I went for a hike in the forested area near us for an hour or so. Later she drove in her red corvette around the neighbourhood while I walked alongside her. In the evening I did the dishes, washed the floor, vacuumed the whole house, which is someone's else job, cleaned the girls bathroom and got in 45 minutes on the elliptical.

This morning I cleaned the other two bathrooms, snuck in 30 minutes on the elliptical, I wanted to do more but had to dash to teach Aquafit. The class gave me quite the workout. They say I work them hard but after class I am normally wetter than they are. Then ran a bunch of errands. Now sitting down to write a birth story and check in with a client before the family comes home and I need to make dinner and prepare to teach childbirth ed tonight. I am so glad the house is clean. I would like to get on the elliptical again but class probably won't end until 10 pm and then it is getting a bit too late.

March 31st

Wow the end of March were does the time fly. I have been feeling awesome so far this week. I feel "back to my old boney self again" sorry that is a quote from Nightmare before Christmas and it just seemed to flow. I know I am a total nerd.

Monday Marc and Juliet were both out so I managed to get a full hour in on the elliptical. My mother in law called while I was working out but I didn't stop. Hopefully now she understands if I was sounding a little winded. Yesterday I went to Zumba and taught muscle conditioning and this morning did my lower body strength training. I plan at some point today to get on the elliptical for a minimum of 30 minutes, or maybe just go out for a long walk to some far away park and play, or maybe both.

It was nice this morning Marc told me he is very proud of what I have done. So am I. I can't wait until Friday to see my results and take a new picture.

March 29th

I want to thank everyone who has been offering their support the passed little while as I have been feeling discouraged. I am happy to say I am feeling back on track, very excited and devoted to my workouts and healthier eating with diminished sugar cravings.

I just did an upper body workout, will give Elizabeth a bath and come down to do at least 30 minutes on the ellipitcal. I am looking forward to weighing in and taking an updated picture so you guys can see the results of the passed two months.

March 25th

I forgot to mention that 2 days ago I reclaimed a pair of jeans. Now these were beyond muffin top, they were almost corset jeans. I ran out of petite jeans and thought bagged rolled at the bottom jeans were inappropriate for an interview. I noticed the jeans at the very bottom of my drawer and thought I would try them. They fit comfortably. Woohoo.

This morning I did my upper body workout. I have decided once Elizabeth gets on the bus I will do 30 minutes on the elliptical before heading out to Aquafit. That way my day is freed up and if I feel I want to do more after class I can but am not tied to it. I like having options. Enjoy your day.

March 24th

I feel like I had slipped. I was snacking on junk and felt fine with that. But now am getting back on track. I am sure the endorphins and energy hit will help correct the blahness I have been feeling.

My foot was a bit better yesterday and much better today. My house was absolutely trashed so at 7 am I got up and cleaned rather than worked out. But in the end all was good. I decided to stay at home than go to knitting club and got my lower body strength training plus 30 minutes of elliptical. I was having to remind myself how good I will feel afterwards half way through and by the end I was very pleased I made it. I am now off for a soak in an hot epsom salt bath.

Tomorrow I will get up and do an upper body strength routine, teach Aquafit and come home to hit the elliptical for at least 30 minutes. Then shower and prep to teach prenatal education. Friday I have to leave at 6:45 am to end to an all day seminar in Toronto. Should be home a little after 6 pm if traffic goes well. I think I will pick up some sushi for dinner, yum.

March 22nd

I had an interesting weekend. Got to Zumba but not much else.

Today I really felt I needed to sleep in. Had many vivid disturbing dreams through the night so it wasn't very restful. Today I had to go back to the walk in clinic to treat that plantar wart. This doc was more brutual than mine. I am in extreme agony, using a golf club as a crutch. I am thinking that I will skip my weigh in tomorrow and I may miss out on my workout. Once again, I think I will need to take it easy so I can teach well Tuesday night. I have another performance evaluation, this time on my land class so I will want to be at peak performance. I also have two interviews tomorrow so I won't get much chance to rest. I just hope I am not hobbling for them. I am medicating and so far it is not helping much. Hopefully a few more doses and time will help.

March 19th

Still feeling a little out of sorts about my journey, not as passionate and excited. I am very proud of what I have accomplished but feeling "whatever" about it. Maybe once the kids are back in school things will pick up. We have been quite out of schedule so that may help.

I am enjoying my new workout. I can feel a difference, noticing muscles again that are being challenged in new exciting ways. My abs never did get achy but I could feel the soreness maybe I solved the problem of DOMS, make it hurt in the workout, drink lots and you are safe.

Just finished a full body workout. My lunges were sad, even with no weights I was quivering and fighting with my knees to hold alignment. My intention is to get Elizabeth out for a bike ride today and do some walking, bikes and me are not friends unless they are stationary and secured in place and to hop on the elliptical for a mellow, jazzy stroll tonight. I feel the need for some slow, steady centering.

March 18th

Last night I did not get my second round on the ellipitcal done but I was so exhausted and my legs were pretty sore. I realized that I am so glad we are done having babies. I was at out the park in the morning with some daycare providers and out with a friend in the afternoon who has four kids. Not that I didn't enjoy myself or love kids but by the end of the day I was so glad to have only two and at the stages of life they are now. Now we get to grow up and have fun together and I was very thankful for that.

Today I did Crunch's Cardio Salsa. It sucks, the instructor is so annoying and it is so slow to build combos. I did sweat a little once we finally started putting things together. I found it didn't even flow well transitioning from lead legs. I will be scrapping that DVD.

My foot still hurts but I am motoring through. I am going to teach Aqua this morning, and bringing the kids along because they have a rec swim after my class. I hope my participants warm the pool up a bit for me as Centennial seems to be on the cooler side.

I start a new childbirth ed series tonight so between tidying, prepping, doing laundry and having fun with the kids my day is looking pretty full. Hope you guys have a great one. Happy Thursday.

Happy St. Patty's day

Last night I had an awesome workout at Muscle Conditioning. We focused on legs since I knew this morning I wanted to do my upper body band routine. It was a great workout last night. Leaving I knew I was going to be very sore by tonight and unable to move or laugh by tomorrow.

This morning I got up and did my band workout for upper body. It felt incredible. I could feel my muscles bulking up as I did it. Go lean muscle mass, go. I think I may hop on the elliptical for 30 minutes now before the kids get up, got to love March break. I have have a friend coming over at 1 pm and I am planning to get back on the elliptical around 4:30 for another 30 minutes, give the kids some dinner, have a healthy snack and then Marc and I are going out with his friends tonight.

Thanks for your encouragement during my short lived setback. You guys are great.

Affirmations

Some of you have asked about my affirmations. So here is what I do.

Every night I write down three things I am proud of, thankful for or happy about. The reason is to send myself to sleep with positive thoughts and reaffirm how fantastic life is.

I then write three affirmations. I have a list and I choose the three that resonate with me the best that day. Then I repeat them a few times before falling asleep. The reason behind the affirmations is law of attraction, what the mind can conceive the body can achieve, wishful thinking.

Also whenever I look in my bathroom mirror I focus on the areas of my body I love, and mental go over why I love those areas. For the areas I am not totally in love with yet I envision they are as I would love, think positive thoughts and give praise for how fabulous they are.

Setback

Since Saturday I have had an emotional and now physical setback. On Saturday I did my strength training and wanted to get some cardio in. Marc had to go out Saturday morning so I wasn't able to go to a class. I spent the morning and afternoon out shopping with the girls and Saturday evening I was cleaning the house like a mad woman. I spent 3-4 hours on Juliet's room and later realized I had a ton of prep work to do for my prenatal class the following day. So I never did get my cardio in. I also have a plantar wart that I have been treating on Saturday I wanted to go to the walk in clinic to get treated and that never happened.

Sunday morning was spent binding manuals, setting up, going to pick up Juliet from a sleepover and coming home to vacuum, which is Marc's job but he got called into work and wasn't going to make it home in time.

Monday I was to start my new strength training routine. I really did not want to get out of bed and ended up staying in bed until 8:30 am. I hoped that today I could get the groceries and pop into the walk in clinic to get my wart treated and get my workout in after lunch before heading out to see a client at 3 pm and another at 7 pm. The morning was a very slow start for the girls and I, first day of March break and all. We weren't ready to leave the house until 11:30 ish. Once finished the groceries we stopped off at the clinic to find a full waiting room, so forget that we bundled back into the car. At 2 pm we tried the clinic again but same story. At this point I figured my workout was shot but in the evening I could still get some cardio in. My evening appointment was quite quick and I was home around 7:45 pm so I tried the clinic again. It wasn't so busy this time but my family doc was there and he is a wart nazi. Part of the reason I like to go to the clinic is because my GP is so aggresive with wart treatment that I can barely walk for a day and a half. At the clinic I can still teach/workout that day. So this morning I had intentions of doing some Latin dancing since I will miss Zumba but those went to pot. I went to sleep with an ice pack on my foot, and the pain did not help my sleep. I had a hard time standing in the shower and I know there is no way I will be getting cardio in. I want to pamper and heal as best I can for my muscle conditioning class tonight.

Emotionally I am quite distraught. I baked a cake on Sunday and have since enjoyed three big pieces. No icing just Butter Pecan Duncan Hine, or Betty Crocker, can't remember which. And two glasses of wine last night. I feel i am slipping a bit and moving back into the "I don't give a hit" mode. That really frustrates me because I was feeling so great and positive and doing fabulous. I have also slipped on my probiotics and B complex, maybe I need to get back on the B vitamins as I am sure they contribute to my energy and mood, as well as the exercise. Hopefully once the workouts and vitamins resume I will be back to my positive self again.

: (

Today is results day again. First let me tell you the results for this week I am down 1 lbs and up 1/2". I know it is not a lot to be up but I am feeling disappointed and full of questions.

1. Was I so paranoid about losing too much weight that it thwarted my efforts?
2. I didn't eat as well in regards to my blood type, and had a lot of stomachache this week, did that contribute?

I am still really proud of my efforts. I had many people tell me this week they have noticed a big difference. When getting out of the shower today I noticed and praised how great my body is looking. I love touching my stomach and feeling how small it feels. Again I was slacking on my affirmations and thanks this week and have definitely had a more challenging week. I think more consistency with that and a change to my strength routine is in store. I have three programs from Sonny and I think it is time to vary it up. My body may have started to become accustomed to these exercises, it has been almost a month and a half. That will help keep my interest and shock my body.

Today I got up and did my strength training. I was hoping to take a class this morning but Marc had to go out to help his Dad and Grandfather, Juliet is still sleeping and Elizabeth needs a bath. The plan is to get an hour of elliptical in this afternoon or evening.

Hope you all have a great weekend. From the incredibly shrinking Michelle.

March 12th

Yesterday was not the greatest day. After Aquafit I was so exhausted all I wanted to do was come home and have a nap. I haven't felt that worn out in a long time. But I knew there was no time. I needed to eat lunch and take my car in for an oil change and maintenance. Once I got there they told me it would be 3 hours and offered a shuttle ride home. I said yet, however the shuttle would be more than 45 minutes so I walked home instead. It was a nice day but a lousy walk. Walking along North Service Road, passed Vortman's, luckily they were not baking cookies, and Appleby was so loaded with cars.

The evening was good with a great Doula meeting yet I had such an upset stomach when i got home, Elizabeth was in our bed and Marc was snoring like crazy. Not the best night sleep.

This morning I chose sleeping in to cardio. Went and taught Aqua and my shirt by the end of class felt like it had just come out of the washer. We have some of Elizabeth's friends over now and my hope is to get some cardio in tonight. Weigh in is tomorrow. I am on the fence, I hope to be down 3 lbs, 5 seems too much again and 2 or less might disappoint me. I guess I am just hard to please. I am sure Marc would agree.

March 11th

I am furious. I woke up early to get my strength training done and the basement was a total mess. So I had to tidy my workout area and got started close to my normal time. I wasn't even finished my first exercise when Marc came down to collect the garbage, having to squeeze passed me on the stairs making me stop what I was doing twice. During my second exercise Elizabeth woke up and came downstairs to continually interrupt. I defineitely need me time to workout. The exercises were harder and I didn't get the same flow of endorphins. I finished my workout before she should have woken up and checked my e-mail to see what my day had in store to find out one of my regional reps is still struggling to get the resources she needs for a baby expo she is running on Saturday. I have asked for things to be sent to her and resources that I don't have assess to, I have asked for how to get the resources so I can get them out to her with no luck. And in the back ground Elizabeth is nagging me. GRRRR. Not the way I was hoping to start the morning.

Some good news is that I will have to go clothes shopping. The pants I can make do with belts, tops fine but my underwear is falling down. Woohoo.

Yesterday I managed to get 1 hour on the elliptical, today I got my strength training in and am teaching Aqua today. I wasn't feeling totally up to my strength training and Murphy decided to throw on an extra challenge. I am glad I got through it. Now to sit down to a nice cup of tea and some breakfast. That should help my mood.

March 9th

I am hoping today will go according to plan. I am planning on going to Zumba with my cell attached to my hip as I may have to go laboursit today. This evening I have my muscle conditioning class which i should be able to make but with birth you just never know.

On Saturday I decided to treat myself but instead of clothes I bought heavier weights. My workout on Monday went well with the heavier weights. I had to buy 7 lbs instead of 6 lbs but I was pleased that it felt fine. I guess that means it is time to step it up at my muscle conditioning class as well.

I was getting a little concerned last week whether I am losing weight too fast. I want to make sure my weight loss is safe and permanent. But after talking to several people I think I will wait and see if I continue to lose 5 lbs every week or if it starts to slow. I am feeling fabulous, still eating when hungry and not feeling deprived or low on energy so I think I am good. If that changes I will definitely get things checked out. I guess it is just the Capricorn in me needing to worry about something.

March 8th

Another week has begun. By the end of last week I was getting a little off my game. Particularily yesterday when I got a shocker that my eldest has been wracking up charges of $359 on my credit card at iTunes. I was quite annoyed and felt overwhelmed and wanted to sit down and zone out with some bad indulgent food. Luckily I had a prenatal class to teach so it kept me occupied. Then dinner, which was healthy but the feelings came back. So I focused on a healthier way to address my emotions, with my dear friend the elliptical. I did an hour and felt so mellow when i got off. I put the kids to bed around 9 and popped a movie in for me, I could barely stay awake.

My weigh in is on Satuday so this week I am refocusing myself on my journey to be a healthier, stronger, better me. I have come to relaize this morning that I am working out a fair bit. it just doesn't seem that way because it is broken up through the day. However Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday I am doing between 1.5 - 2 hours of strength and cardio, and Thursday, Saturday 1 hour of something (dance, or Aqua) and Sunday I rest, maybe I will go on the elliptical for 30 hour but only if I feel I want to. People have begun to notice the changes and it feels wonderful.

March 7th

Long time no update.

Thursday I did my workout and was planning on going to participate in a deep Aqua class. yet Elizabeth had other plans for me. She had a rip roaring fever which pulled the plug to my plans. So that was all I got in for the day.

Friday I was going to workout in the morning since I was teach a prenatal class all day. While Elizabeth woke up at 6:45 so no workout once again. Excuses, excuse, I know.

Yesterday, Saturday, I got up and went to a Cardio Sculpt class, since I knew I was in need of both cardio and strength. In the evening Marc and I got together with some high school friends of mine. I enjoyed two beers and didn't eat the best I could but it also wasn't terrible.

Today I am teaching prenatal from 1 - 6 pm but will hop on the elliptical tonight.

March 4th

Yesterday I was so excited with my results and a little bogged down with an eye infection that I decided not to do my strength training in the morning. I planned to do it in the evening after the kids were in bed and Marc was back at work. I had also hoped to go on the elliptical in the afternoon or early evening.

In the afternoon we had some company so I didn't get on the elliptical however after dinner Elizabeth wasn't feeling so hot, I think she is getting Juliet's cold, so I put on a movie and hopped on the elliptical. however I only managed to get 40 minutes in because it was squeaking pretty bad and leaving some residue behind. So I got off and e-mailed my handman, who fixed it once he got home.

Once the kids were in bed I didn't feel like doing strength training so I just filled up my class of water, tucked into four loads of laundry and caught up on some of my PVR files. I figured even if I do strength just twice this week that will be fine. However this morning i woke up with this intense desire to do my strength training and I now honour my body's need for sleep, exercise and food, so down I came to workout. I will also being going to participate in a deep Aquafit class today. I was planning on getting the elliptical but I think that will be fine, I have a pretty full day anyway. I hope your day is full of life and vigor. Happy Thursday.

Zen corner

So I lied in bed last night pondering my existence while Marc snored like a trucker and by the morning I realized that I am like the snow... melting.

Yes that is right today i weighed in and I am down another 5 lbs and 4 and 3/4". But the best part is where I lost the inches from. Here is the outline.

Neck 13 3/4" down 1/4"
Shoulders 44 3/4" down 3/4"
Biceps 13 1/2" no change though I would love to see more change on my armajello, next time
Chest 41 1/2" woohoo the boobs are being to get smaller at last, it may only be 1/2" but I will take it
Waist 41" that is down 1 1/2" I am so proud
Hips 46 1/2" down 1 1/2" super super proud
Thighs 26" down 1 1/2" way to go Michelle, way to go
Calves 15" down 1/4"

I am so pleased and beaming ear to ear. This morning I put on the jeans I have started wearing a belt with and just to see what would happen beltless I pulled them down and they slid easily off. Can I go buy new clothes now, just one piece?

March 2nd

Yesterday was a good day. I got my strength training done in the morning, my knee is starting to bother me even during stretching so I will need to come up with some interesting solutions. In the afternoon Elizabeth mellowed out to a movie while I enjoyed an hour on the elliptical. The rest of the day I enjoyed, had an interview and watched a movie with Marc.

Today I enjoyed a Zumba class with Super Sonny, and my dear friend Shannon. It was a great workout as usual and I am looking forward to the new cd and routine next week. Shannon came back for lunch and a chat which was good though i didn't get my shower in until 2:30 ish. Oh well.

Tonight I am off to teach Muscle conditioning and will get home and maybe do some knee strengthening while watching another movie. I have coupons from Rogers that expire March 5th. At least I don't feel the need to indulge in treats while I watch.

Tomorrow morning I weigh in and it may be the first day of my cycle or the last so hopefully that won't influence my results too much. Can't weight, I mean wait to see.

Off topic

Nothing to do with my weigh loss journey but more so on my tech savvy journey. I just figured out how to change the time zone for my posts. It always bothered me that it wasn't showing the right time and I just figured out how to change it without any support from my handsome computer nerd of a husband. I am so proud of myself.

March 1st

I can't believe we are into March already. I am so excited to be one month into my journey. I am really looking forward to my weigh in on Wednesday. I am finding that I am wanting to eat more and drink less. I feel like nibbling most evenings. I hope it has something to do with the fact my cycle restarts around Wednesday. If not I fear I am temporarily losing some momentum and I am hoping my weigh in will recommit me to my long term goal. Again I stopped doing my affirmations for a few days, and almost went to sleep without doing them again last night but got myself up and quickly jotted them down. I do sleep so much better ended the day with the three things I am grateful for or proud of and affirming my goals.

This morning I woke up excited and ready for my workout. I did my "got no time" strength training and either this afternoon or early evening I plan to go on the elliptical for 30 - 60 minutes. I have an interview tonight at 8:15 pm so I doubt I will get on after bed. Maybe if Marc decides to go on the elliptical once the girlsa re in bed and I am home I will do some pilates or yoga, but we will see how the rest of the day goes.

February 27th

This morning I went to Aquafit, this time to participate. It was a great class a lot of upper body. The instructor was my head of Aquatics and she looks amazing. After class I wanted to tell her how great he looks. She has lost 62 lbs. I told her about my journey and she gave me a big hug. she lost her weight as well by listening to her stomach and to stop eating once satisfied. It is not hard. It was great to hear and extremely encouraging that this is possible.

I am feeling good and I feel I look better when I see myself in the mirror. I can't wait to weigh in on the 3rd and see what is going on.

February 26th

It is earlier than I would normally blog but I just finsihed a bellydancing DVD and I am so alert now. It was a lot of fun, I haven't bellydanced in ages and I could tell, my form was not so good. This DVD put you through the paces. It was straight combos right from the beginning. It wasn't long before I was sweaty and really having to concentrate on what came next. I hope it increased my mental accuity for the day. So will my Aquafit members. yesterday I kept calling a ski a jack. They asked me "Who is Jack and why are you thinking about him so much?"

Both kids are in school today so the plan is to teach Aquafit, come home do some Hip hop abs, I am all about dance and my belly today I guess. Tonight Elizabeth and I are home alone, Marc has an appointment with his personal trainer and Juliet is going babysitting, so I will throw on a movie for her and get on the elliptical. That should be adequate. I need to make up for those smores Sonny pointed out were so bad.

February 25th

I had a good strength training workout this morning, followed by teaching Aquafit. I was planning on going on the elliptical this afternoon but after my shower I could tell my body was done for the day.

So instead I went out and did my shopping. I got a book on eating and exercising for your blood type. I was very excited as I started it. It's quite interesting. Then I got to what I should be eating. It SUCKS. I am supposed to eat lots of meat, and no whole wheat or cheese. It SUCKS. I will try cutting out the things I am supposed to and see but some of the "Highly optimal" foods may take a lot of self talk and may not happen.

It did say I thrive on exercise and how it helps elevate my mood, etc. I knew there was a reason why I love physical activity so much. it always amazed me that others don't enjoy exercise, now I see there may be some physiological reason why.

Well I am off to read some more. Good night.

February 24th

So today yet another appointment cancelled. I had an okay day today. Slept in again, figuring today I would take it easy after my workouts yesterday. I had a smoothie for breakfast and found I was straving by 10:30 am but Elizabeth was at gymnastics so I had to wait. Had the leftover chicken souvlaki but made it a salad rather than wrapping it in the pita and then had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was what I was really craving, with non or low fat swiss, I can't remember which.

After lunch Elizabeth invited a neighbour out to make a snowman. I ended up doing most of the work. then over to the park for some tobogganning. When we got home the kids jumped on the Wii to play Mario and I hit the elliptical for one hour.

After dinner I had five freshly baked smores followed by a chaser of digestive enzyme and a lot of water. I really wanted them and will not be indulging over the weekend so it was my treat.

I haven't taken the scale out of my bathroom yet and this morning I hopped on just to see and was down 1 lb from Sunday. I know weight can fluctuate a lot so I will wait until the 31st but it was encouraging. Tomorrow I am back to my fast and furious workout before going to Aquafit, then out for some shopping (books and health food stuff) and hopefully 30 minutes on the elliptical somewhere in there, oh and laundry. Did I mention I hate laundry? Need to find some way to make it fun.

My wrist is totally better today, woohoo, back on track and raring to go. Good night.

February 23rd

So today was a very busy but very accomplished and sweaty day. I slept in until 7:45 am, got up and got the kids to school. At 10 - 10:45 I taught Aquafit, it was 87 degrees on pool deck today, then ran over to Bow Dance Studios to do Zumba from 11 - 12. And came home to find I couldn't get in my driveway, so to the gargage to get the shovel. Shovelled for half an hour and then i could finally have lunch. I was super sweaty but really needed to eat. Lunch was good, but my shower was incredible.

I made chicken souvlaki for dinner, then headed out to Muscle Conditioning for 7 pm. The class went very well, I worked hard and got lots of moans and smiles.

Once home my wrist was quite swollen and achy. I iced it and took some Advil to help with the swelling. I had a lot of water to drink today so that was great, it was 6+ glasses or bottles of 750 ml. The next time I weigh in will be right around the time of my cycle so we will see how that impacts things.

I did have a coffee today and with it I had four oatmeal cookies. Not because I was craving them but because Marc bought a huge pack at Costco a while back and they are going to expire. The kids won't eat them. I guess it is the waste not want not mentality, yet I felt with all the exercise I would get in today they wouldn't influence my results. Yet one of my affirmations is to respect my body's needs for sleep, food and exercise and eating just because is not included. I acknowledge that and will be more respectful from here in.

Some of my Aquafit participant asked me if I watch the Dr.Oz show. They said it is really good so last night I decided to record it. He brought up a very interesting fact. That when you are out for a meal with someone you will eat 40% more than if you were to eat alone. If you are out with a group of 7 or more you will eat twice as much. I noticed that on Sunday when I was out with my mom, aunt and sister. I will have to be mindful of this in future and use mindful eating while out.

February 22nd

I hope everyone is home safe. My plans for tonight got rescheduled so we are safe and snuggling at home.

Sunday was results day and this time they were much more reasonable, though I have to admit I was alittle disappointed. It would have been great to stay on a path of 5 lbs and 5" every 10 days but that is not totally reasonable, and I want to keep my program healthy and managable. So as of Sunday I was down another 1 lb and 2 1/4". I lost 1" off my shoulders, 1/4" off my biceps and 1" off my waist (hooray smaller waist).

Today I taught a fabulous Cardio Challenge class it the YMCA, it was great being back there, and they all seemed to have an awesome time, smiling even while groaning and sweating. I showed a few of them new exercises and stretches they had never seen but really liked, so that was great.

I also went out and bought some fibre powder with additional vitamin B and started taking my probiotics again. I notice since I am eating less my digestive system is slower than normal. So we shall see in 10 days the impact that has.

I am feeling really sleepy today so I am going to honour my body's needs and go to bed after folding the four loads of laundry heaped on my bed. Tomorrow I am teaching Aquafit in the morning, which I hope to follow up with Zumba, hey I will be dressed and sweaty already, just needed to redose with deodorant. Than in the evening is muscle conditioning. It should be a pretty packed day, that may be part of the reason I am willing to go to bed before 10 pm.

More exciting news

I just couldn't wait to share this. I just put on my muffin top jeans that are freshly out of the wash and they did up much looser with no spillage. Woohoo. I feel on top of the world right now. I can't wait to weigh in tomorrow. Positive reinforcement is such a wonderful thing.

February 20th

So I got up this morning and did my strength training and...

I was able to do a full minute for both sets of gate runner. Toward the minute mark there was some self talk as my mind wanted to send me defeating messages yet my body was strong and probably could have done a few more. it feels so great to have come so far in such a short period of time. A few more times like that and I will start trying to beat the number of reps I can do in the minute. I can wait to share more successes with you.

Today the girls and I are on our own. I still really would like to get some cardio in. We will see what the day has in store for me. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit. I am almost there but I think it will be easy since I am feeling pretty addicted to these endorphin surges, great night sleep and feeling fabulous. Plus being able to share my successes with you guys, my fitness participants, etc really helps me stay motivated. Thanks to all of you, you are a great cheering squad, you make it even more rewarding.

February 19th

So today I enjoyed a sleep in again. Went out and taught Aquafit, came home and succumbed to some of the leftover cookies, maybe five in all over the day but the good news is they are gone now. Elizabeth had a gathering and her friends happily ate the rest. Temptation is gone. Last night I really wanted to munch on something. I wasn't craving anything or hungry. I just wanted to munch but I didn't. However I did enjoy a glass and a half of wine. Yum.

Today I had some yummy, healthy food and the cookies, a glass of wine with dinner. However Marc and Juliet are both out tonight so I got an hour on the elliptical while watching the olympics, which was very motivational to workout to. But once the dance skating came on I flipped over to Coronation Street.

Feel good now. Will down my water and try to work through some of my PVR events. Tomorrow morning I will not get to go to any classes since Marc has to work all day, but I will get up and do some strength training. I need to go out and buy new shoes since my old ones are shot. Hooray new shoes.