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.