Recap time

So 100 days have come and gone, and I am going to bust out some results.
And I am going to be totally honest. I wasn't sure if I wanted to disclose real numbers, but it didn't feel right to leave you all hanging.

By the way I am 5'2" so if you are reading this and thinking that I am way heavier/lighter than you, first stop comparing, and 2 I am really short.

Before I started this challenge I was weighing in at 150lbs. Before I started the 1st challenge I was at 150lbs too, so I all of my work from round 1 was wasted. This put me in the overweight range in BMI (27.2). I also had a body fat of around 33.5% which is slightly too high according to the interwebs.

For my inches I was around 11.5 on my arms, 37-30-37 for the standard chest, waist, and hips. And I can't remember what my thighs were, but they weren't my major issue. These were taken back in September, so I was actually probably heavier in January/May. Oh and I had no muscles whatsoever. Squishy all over the place.

And as much as I hate this picture...here is me in NYC at the beginning of May,

Before

No I wasn't grossly obese or anything, just a little bit chunkier than I would prefer. It was really hard to find a picture that I am not being ridiculous in. 

So the Challenge started on June 24th.

Out of my 100 days-
23/100 days I got no exercise.
36/100 I got intense exercise
the rest was low-moderate exercise (walking/yoga)

Food wise, I did really well with eating healthy. I have started making healthier choices without even thinking about it. Like for instance, Mike and I went out for supper last friday and I got salad even though it was a cheat day. I also got a pulled pork sandwich thinking it was healthier than ribs, I was mistaken, but I only ate half. There has been very few drinks, and no late night pizzas/poutines. I think I followed the 85/15% split for food pretty well, so much better than last challenge.

So for the results:

I was able to run(/jog/walk) a 5 km in 35 (ish) minutes! 

I go to the gym 3/4 times a week! Even 5 legit times one!

I ran around the city for 6 hours on day 50 for city chase!

I pack a healthy lunch and snacks everyday for work and most of my suppers are healthy too!

I have learned a lot about METs, and "Cutting the Crap"

I have muscles from all that body pump!!! 

I lost 10 pounds, and have consistently kept the weight off!

Tadddaaaa!!

Physically, I am really proud of my arms and shoulders, they are actually getting some definition. And my butt is definitely loving all the lunges (eek am I allowed to say that on the interwebs!!) I am also more flexible from yoga, and this is coming from the least flexible person in the world.

So for the numbers, I am down to 140 and have been consistently around there for the past month. I really want to get to 130. I just took my measurements and I am about the same as before, with 2" off my waist.  I think something must be wrong with my measurements, because I am about 1 dress size smaller than in May and to me that is a true value in workouts.  My BMI is 25.6, which is just slightly above the healthy weight range (25 is the top limit), and my body fat percent is 30% which is in the healthy range for a women (according to the interwebs, I could be wrong.)

Oh and on top of all that the Boyfriend has also lost 10 pounds, goes to the gym almost everyday, doesn't drink pop anymore, and his snacks are now healthy. He also can cook some pretty delicious food! If I have been his "motivation" (read pest) about eating healthy, he has been mine for actually going to the gym. Yay
gym buddies!

Overall I would give myself a A-. I didn't get my weight loss results I wanted (even after two 100 day tries), but I really have changed my lifestyle. I like exercise, and skipping the gym feels weird. I also like eating healthy most days!

The most important thing that I have taken from this, is that it is ok to cheat once and a while, it is the long term dedication to the goal that is more important!

So this ends my totally typical weight loss/get healthy challenge. To my loyal readers, thanks for checking out my progress, and supporting me along the way! If you too are doing your own "challenge" then all the best! Please keep following my progress to my goal weight/healthy food/fitness stuff over on my other blog:
The Pink Hard Hat!

DAY 100! Run for the Cure

Day 100/100!

So today I woke up around 8:00 for RUN FOR THE CURE!! The Run for the cure is important to me because my Nanna did have breast cancer many years ago, but she kicked cancer's butt, so today I was definitely thinking about her!

In addition to that, for a fitness challenge I picked this as my 5k goal about 6 months ago, because I wasn't sure where I would be living now, and wanted to pick an event that was available in multiple cities. I also wanted to do 50 pushups and 100 situps. I should try that out at the gym to see how that goes! In June I revised my goal from 25 minutes for the 5km run, to 35 minutes after talking some legit runners.

When I woke up and looked outside and it was practically snowing. Ok it was actually raining and 5 degrees, but still significantly cold considering last weekend was 20 degrees and sunny. Not that I minded because I like running in slightly cold weather and rain is always fun.

I got my sweet runner outfit on, leggings, gym shorts, multiple shirt layers, and a hat. Pretty styling indeed.
Totally meant to take a picture but I got distracted by the the event.

Mike and I got to the run, picked up our shirts, and had a sweet warm up with the CIBC crew. Before we knew it, it was time to start. We joined the 20,000 (!) people walking and running, and we started off.

More people than my home town doing the Run!

Now time for the run breakdown.

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to do this run in 35 minutes. Last time I tried to do a 5km I walked most of it and it took me 45-50 minutes.

So we (Mike and I) started off at a slow pace because of the 7000ish people ahead of us. Mike started his timer on his cellphone when we started because we were later than the main pack. After the crowd started to thin out, we picked up the pace. 1km was no problem, but the 2 km mark was tough. I started breathing heavily and my calfs were not doing so well.

So at around the 2.5 km mark I had to stop and walk. Boo. I walked until the 3 km mark, ran a little bit more, then walked to the 4 km mark. I really wanted to run the last km non stop. Just before we got to the 4 km mark I wondered outloud (to Mike) how close I was to the 35 minute mark. He looked at his phone, and all he said..."ooo it is going to be close" and that was all I needed.

I started running, as much as I could and I kept up a really good pace until we were rounding the corner to the finish line. The finish line was smaller than the main road so we had a major traffic jam so we stopped running about 100 m before the actual stop point.

Then I asked what our time was:

35 minutes, 50 seconds!!

That 50 seconds could have totally be accounted for by the slow start. So I consider that a goal that was met!

WHAT!!!! Yes I was that shocked. I thought because I walked so much I wasn't going to make it, but I think I jog at a really high pace when I do, so it makes up for the walking. My calves were pretty sore the rest of the day, but nothing major. Mike and I are already planning doing a 10 km in May, but that is a while from now!

The best part was about getting up and finishing a major goal by 12, was that I had a significantly productive day following it!

I am going to do a totally typical recap tomorrow of the whole 100 day challenge, but it is getting late, and I have to pack my gym bag for tomorrow!

Day 97- A day in the life

Before my last post (or posts, it may go full Harry Potter Part 7 on me), I would like to detail a typical day in my weightloss/healthy living life. Hopefully if anyone is following along and trying your own get healthy plan, you can appreciate this post.Today was a little stranger than normal, but you get the idea.

Woke up at 5:30 before my alarm, completely awake. Should have actually gotten up then and got my butt to work early, but I fell back to sleep and woke up at 7:45 instead.

Toasted a pita burger while I got ready, added some PB, and grabbed my lunch and ran out the door. Normally I have a glass of water or small juice of water, with my vitamins. That didn't happen this morning. I ate my pb sandwich in the car on the way to work, yes I do that, I like staying in bed as late as possible.

Got to work, filled up my water bottle, and grabbed a cup of tea with one sweetner. I stopped drinking coffee a few weeks ago, purely because I don't really like the taste of the coffee at work, and I am much too lazy to make my own.

Around 10 I had some almonds that I keep at work. I also didn't cook an egg today which I normally do, and I eat that when I get hungry in the morning. At lunch I realized I grabbed a container of squash and broccoli. No spices, no flavour nothing. Bleh. So I went up to the cafeteria and bought a chicken wrap, and I got a diet coke. I have bought a diet coke twice since I started working, so this was really unusual. The wrap was tasty and full of veggies. Later in the day I had some yogurt and an apple to keep me full and more water of course.

When I got home around 6:30 I had a big spinach salad with other veggies and tuna before getting out the door and going to bodyflow(yoga) for 7:30. I got home around 9:00 pm, made a better lunch for tomorrow (spinach salad with broccoli and squash), ate some cucumber, had a glass of milk, and had about two crackers with salsa, and now I am heading to bed to do it all again tomorrow!

And yes I really just want a million bags of chips all the time. Some days are great and I fully enjoy eating healthy, others (like today) I can't seem to satisfy a craving. But I try to have some will power because if I caved to every craving, I wouldn't be seeing any results!

Now I am off to bed before I want more snacks!

3 days until the 5k run!!

Day 95-Its almost over!!! Plans for the future

After today's post I plan too post 2 more times before switching over full time to the Pink Hard Hat.

I can't believe it is almost over. I like how this time around, unlike last time, I am actually trying to keep going near the end, I haven't given up.

But to be completely totally honest, I am going to fail at this challenge again. Ok fail is a nasty word. Lets just say I won't be getting an A+. I will detail all my final results on my last post but for now I want to talk about my big plan for the next 100 days.

It isn't actually for the next 100 days, it is just for life in general.

Weight wise I want to loose 10 more pounds by Christmas (spoiler alert, this will get me to my totally typical weight loss goal). Fitness wise, I really still want to run a 5 k (or more) at some point. I am going to keep working on it.

Gym wise I want to amp up my exercise regime from 3 times a week to 5 times a week or MORE, every week. I plan on doing this the following way:

Monday-Body Pump then Zumba BACK TO BACK
Tuesday- Body Pump Again!
Wednesday- Quick Run/Cardio
Thursday-Bodyflow
Friday-Day off
Saturday- Body Attack (A crazy high cardio class)
Sunday- Body flow

This a crazy amount of gym-age, but I have learned that I really like to go to the gym, mostly because I feel really good after, not just physically but mentally too! I have enough yoga in there so I don't kill my body, and I have a coveted day off in there too!

Food wise, I think I am doing pretty well. Maybe working on smaller portions, but I have been eating really healthy.

I am going to detail all this once and a while on my other blog.

Normal recap time:
Yesterday I went to Zumba and it was really fun. And today I went to Body Pump and added weight to squats and now I am a little sore in a good way.

For supper on Monday the BF cooked some spaghetti squash and we had one of my favorite healthy meals...
SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH BEANS!!

Yah it doesn't have a snazzy name, but it is delicious. Also lacking pictures, need to get on that part of blogging.

Step 1. Cook a ginormous spaghetti squash for 1 hour at 350 C. Poke holes in it so it doesn't splode everywhere.
Step 2. Go do something nearby for 50 minutes. Don't leave the house with an appliance on, that is just common sense.
Step 3. Open can of beans, I like pinto beans or white kidney beans, rinse, have a dance party.
Step 4. Open can of pasta sauce, put in pot, add vegs and spices, and hotness if your into that. My choice is Tabasco, classic but delicious. Mike prefers thai chilies.
Step 5. Add beans to pot, simmer until hot.
Step 6. Remove squash from the oven CAREFULLY! Open it up, remove the guts and seeds.
Step 7. Fork out pieces of squash that are magically noodle shaped, and top with sauce and some low fat cheese.
Step 8. Enjoy!

The best part of this meal is that it is makes awesome leftovers. One normal sized squash fed me and the bf for 3+ meals! 

Today I also made a mini potato salad with one leftover potato, some light sour cream, garlic and dried basil, with canned artichokes left over from my pizza. It was surprisingly delicious!

So only 5 more days till the run. GAHHH!

Day 93-Exercise on the Weekend

This week has been a little strange with the workouts. Monday I was crazy and did Body Pump and Zumba as detailed before, then I didn't do anything until Saturday.

I felt really bad because for the 1st (or maybe 2nd) time this whole process I skipped the gym on Thursday, my normally scheduled bodyflow class, with no good reason. This bummed me out because I felt like I let myself down. There is a total difference to me comparing missing a class because of an event (family visiting, going out with a friend) but to miss for no reason...not cool.

Anyway to get out of my bleh mood I went for a run/gymage on Saturday. I ran for about 2 minutes before I felt like I was dying, so I power walked the rest of the 30 minutes to the gym. Probably not going to be able to run the 5k next weekend, but that is ok (I guess). At the gym I hit the elliptical for 30 minutes to get some extra cardio, and then walked back.

Today I went to Bodyflow, and I must say there is something really nice about going to a class earlish (10:30) on a Sunday, and feeling like I have accomplished something.
So even though I took 4 days off, I still went to the gym for 4 "sessions". Not too bad.

For food this week I didn't really make a meal plan so I was kind of all over the place with food. Last night I did make a delicious homemade pizza topped with the normal pizza stuff (pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, veggies) with my favorite pizza toppings: artichokes, sundried tomatos, spinach, and olives. Delicious. We ate it all before I could snap a picture. Tonight I am making homemade shake and bake chicken with potatoes and carrots. A real meal as my brother and I used to say when we were little.

Simple yet delicious

I can't believe this 100 day challenge is almost over! Next week I will have to recap the whole thing, compare it to the last one. There may even be a before and after photo, just a warning.

For now though, I want to talk about a gym pet peeve of mine. When I go to the gym (except for body flow) I come out looking like a sweaty lobster. I push myself really hard, especially at Zumba and other cardio classes, because if I drag my butt all the way to the gym, I better make it worth my while.

What drives me nuts are the people who are at the gym for an hour, and don't really do anything! I am not talking about people who are just starting out in their fitness regime and physically can't do much, I am talking about the super pretty/skinny girls who just kind of aimlessly walk around maybe stretch for 5 minutes, go on the eliptical for 15 (at a slow pace) and then stretch some more. Dear girls like that, if your make up is still nice when you leave the gym, you aren't working hard enough.

Guys are just as bad too. My boyfriend just added "they do a few reps, kiss their muscles, then flex some more"

There is one gym location I go too, and it is infamous for having good looking people who go there (that is not why I go there, I found that out after the fact), and that is where it is the worst. I just don't get it. Obviously they had to work at getting into the shape they are at, because they all are pretty fit, so maybe I am just catching them on a off day...but still why waste your time going to the gym to look good?

I am a little bit proud of my sweaty lobster-ness. But not proud enough to ever post a picture on here.

Day 87- Double Time

Whoa...I never have 2 posts in 2 days.

What is the special occasion you may ask??

Well I did something crazy today. 

First of all, I changed my gym routine to allow me to go to an earlier Body Pump class. This meant I was at work at 7:00 this morning. I Finished work by 4:00, and was at the gym at 4:30. Oh yah. I did this plan because I wanted to be home early. 

But....then the craziness happened. I decided to stay after I finished a great Body Pump class, and go to ZUMBA!!! 

I. am. so. tired. now. 

I came home to some delicious leftovers that was very healthy. Mostly reheated veggies, 3 mini potatoes and like 3 oz of fish. It was mostly that healthy because there wasn't very much fish left, but hey it works!

I am pretty pumped that it is only Monday and I already have 2 hours of intense exercise done!

 

Day 86- Gym Love

Recap dance party time:

Day 82- Yoga and a walk to and from yoga. Normally I go to the Thursday body flow class but I had a conflict on Thursday, so I went to this one. It was real yoga. I prefer body flow because you get the calm relaxing stretch part of yoga plus a great workout from Pilates. Yoga was ok though. I had the taco pasta for lunch, and a veggie lentil curry for supper. 

Day 83- I had the leftover lentil veggie thing for lunch, and went out to dinner with my book club. I could have got a salad or something healthy, but I got a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel. I have been craving one of those for about a month now, so I figured I would splurge. After coming back from that Mike and I went for a run/walk to train for the Run for the Cure in 20 days. I can run about 2.2 out of 5 km. Not perfect, but at least I am trying. 

Day 84- I had the day off, so Mike and I went out for lunch to celebrate. We got amazing pad thai, that was totally not diet worthy. I was planning on going to Body Attack (a super high intensity cardio class) but I was so sore from the gym, my body needed a day off. 

Day 85- Since I skipped Friday, I went to the gym yesterday afternoon with Mike and did some running and some weights with the machines. Not as fun as body pump, but at least I got a work out in. I also went out to dinner last night and had more pasta. 

If you add all that up it means that this week I went to the gym 5 TIMES!!!! Since I started this fitness journey back in January that was my goal, and I have done it twice. Once back in March with 5 days of Zumba and now this!! Zumba, Body Pump, Yoga, Run/Walk, and Run/Weights. Not too shabby. 

The bad thing is that for the past week I have had carbs and pasta and restaurant food way too much. It sucks because I know I am still doing really well with this challenge, but my diet has been slipping. I am definitely not as careful as before. I still don't eat a lot of junk food or anything, just little stuff, like fatty cheese, and too many carbs. Since day 50 my weight has been consistent. I think I am loosing, because my clothes still feel looser than before, but the scale isn't reflecting that. My ideal weight would be about 10 pounds lighter. I know I am not going to reach that goal by the 2nd. But I am going to keep trying until I do. 

I am just not sure what I can do to get down to that level, because my diet and my exercise levels are pretty good. Perhaps if I go to the gym 5 days a week every week, then I will see the results I want! 

In other news, I have officially signed up for the 5k Run for the Cure. If anyone would like to make a donation to this great cause...check out my page here.

Also Mike has decided to do the run with me. I asked him to help me out because I need motivation to keep running. I hope to run 3 times this week and next to prepare for the run. Maybe I will be able to run 5k non stop by then!

Day 81- Food Time

Recap!
Day 79- I did absolutely nothing. Was totally planning on hitting up bodyflow, but it just didn't happen.
Day 80- Zumba! I went to Zumba right after work and the girl was good, but it was a little to dancey for me. She was amazing dancer, and sometimes I felt like she was using the class as a chance to show off slightly. I may go back, but I may also change my entire workout schedule around. So Mondays might become Body Pump days not Zumba days. This is the excitement in my life haha.
Day 81- Body Pump, we had a sub today (same as last week) and she was good, but a sub just isn't the same as the normal instructor. Still an amazing work out, and I may have over exerted on back and chest. Oops.

Ok now for the food time. I wanted to take a break from the blah blah blah zumba, blah blah blah body pump blogs to do one about what I ate in the past few days.

On Saturday, Mike and I hit up the market/Metro/Loblaws for groceries, we were deal hunting! It took us like 2 hours to get them all, but it was worth it. So with freshness in hand, I came back and created this:


Fresh salmon with a maple syrup/soy sauce, blueberry salsa mentioned in the last post, and couscous (from a box), and market fresh green beans!

The AMAZING salsa was just some blueberries, one diced jalapeno, juice and zest (zest is a strange word to type) of one lime and some cilantro from our garden (Mike laughs when I tell him to get stuff from "our garden", in reality is a herb garden in a small pot on our 8'x4' balcony, but it is legit.) Note our fancy smancy dinner on the 8'x4' patio!

For dessert I made a Peach Crisp. I hate baking. I am not bad at it, I just don't get any joy out of it like I do cooking. I think it is because I need to cook to survive, so I might as well have fun with it. Baking is not a necessity. That all being said the peach crisp was delicious.

On Sunday I took a whole chicken, and cut it into 8 serving pieces. I have done this twice before and every time I do it I feel strangely proud of myself. If raw meat/meat on bones freaks you out avoid ever doing this. It has a kind of Dexter feel to it at points. I made a chicken basque recipe from Canadian Living, that was really easy.
Chicken pieces+Can of tomato+ bunch of garlic (cloves)+ spices+ roasted peppers+ sausages all roasted into goodness for 45 minutes.

Love that it looked exactly like the photo, minus a few pieces of chicken because I already served out our food. That was also Monday's dinner. Yay leftovers. I also ate every clove of roasted garlic on Sunday because I am cool like that.

So tonight, we were planning to make taco's but I realized I forgot to buy the seasoning, the tacos or tortillas and the salsa. Planning fail. So Mike created a Mexican Taco dish!

Whole wheat pasta, ground turkey with spicy spices, salsa made of tomatoes, green peppers and a jalapeno, guacamole made from the most perfect avocados (and lime and another jalapeno) ever and some light sour cream. Oh and lowfat cheese. It was really tasty and the best part was that it was made when I came home! Thanks Mike! Worst part was that I sneezed after eating and had jalapeno juices go into my nose. Not fun at all.

Even though these meals were healthy, they were cheap (all the ingredients were on sale), most of these meals took 30 minutes to make (chicken took 45 to cook but about 10 minutes to throw together) so they are all quick and easy. And most importantly they were delicious!!

Day 78- Goals..smhmoals

Wow day 78 already. I have had an interesting little bit the past couple of days with the TTWLC.
It seems that when I write a "preachy" blog post about being all healthy...a week like this happens.

Day 67-I went out to dinner (Indian food) with a friend from Halifax/Toronto who is MOVING TO AFRICA!! This was way more important than going to body pump.
Day 66-73 I went on vacation back to Halifax/Bathurst to move out of my Halifax apartment I had been subletting for the summer, and to visit the beach. I indulged slightly with the food, and didn't exercise enough, booo. But I did go for a really nice walk on Saturday with my family on the beach (5km in 1hr). I know I have mentioned that family is pretty healthy..but to be more specific, my Mom has gone for a walk and or cross country ski (pretty much) every day since December 26th, 2000 rain, shine, or blizzard. That is commitment.

When I came back on Tuesday (74) I went to Body Pump and it was good, not awesome, but good. No food cheats! Someone commented on my healthy lunch (carrot sticks, tuna, lettuce..it was super not thrilling) and I briefly explained that I try to eat really really healthy during the week so I can splurge a little on the weekend.

Wednesday(75) I went for a run/walk which I will discuss later (no food cheats). Thursday (76) I went to Body Flow, and yoga was awesome to get out some stress from a super busy day at work!  Friday I didn't do anything, and today I went for a stroll around town, made an amazing supper featuring a blueberry salsa from Whit's Amuse Bouche. Yes I said blueberry salsa, and yes it was delicious.

So back to my attempt at a run on Wednesday. It was a cool cloudy September that reminded me of playing soccer back in HS. Perfect for a run. Also I am trying to run a 5k in 30 minutes on October 2nd for the Run for the Cure, so I really needed to get training (like 3 months ago). So off I went, feeling good for about 1 km, before my calves started killing me, so I walked/ran for the next little bit. In total I ran 2 km and walked the rest. All in 45 minutes, so that wasn't too bad.

But here is the thing. I hated every minute of it. I love my zumba/body pump/body flow classes, but running for 45 minutes was painful and annoying. I think I am just not a jogger. I think sprinting is fun, but jogging just isn't for me. And the great thing that I have learned, is that it is completely ok. I don't need to be a jogger to be healthy. I don't need to run marathons to live a healthy life. Maybe one day I will actually be able to run a 5 k or more, but for now I am happy with my walk/run 5k.

I am still going to run the 5k on October 2nd, and I am probably not  going to meet my goal, but that is ok! I guess it is mostly about the attempt, not so much about the end result, which is kind of a good thing, because if I could immediatly run a 5k, or completed the TTWLC the first time around, I wouldn't be having all this fun :).

Day 66-Some Thoughts on this whole TTWLC

Mandatory recap: From the last post until now, I went to Yoga (62) and walked a whole bunch on the weekend. I apparently hate exercising on the weekend. I don't know why. I have more free time so one would think that I would take advantage of it..but no...I am super lazy. Food wise, I did really well until yesterday when I went to the Canadian National Exhibition. I ate half of a deep fried mars bar (seriously), 2 delicious (award winning) ribs, and some Tiny Tom's Donuts. It happened...deal with it. So much for my boot-camp/detox business. But supper last night was amazing! Slow cooked whole chicken, carrots, broccoli and sweet potato wedges. Om nom nom. speaking of noms..check out this liscense plate I was driving behind...

Full of Win

So tonight I am getting ready to go to Zumba for the first time in a while! Super excited.

Ok here is what I really want to blog about. Last week someone asked me what I do on my free time. I told them that I go to the gym eat healthy and I then I blog about it. (It made sense in context) And it got brought up that I have lost about 10 pounds in the past 50 days. Ntb. Anyway this chicky asked me "How did you do it??"

Ok once again, not an expert, but this is just my opinion and what worked for me.

My answer...in different words...Cut the crap.

This goes a bunch of ways...a) stop eating crap, and b) stop lying to your self and making excuses...c) stop giving yourself crap.

I will elaborate.
Firstly, I try to eat as naturally as possible. My fridge is full of veggies and fruits and my cupboards are bare. No frozen meals, no frozen pizzas, not very many boxes. This means that I plan my meals meticulously, and I plan my grocery list accordingly. To simplify things, when you do groceries, just don't go in the middle aisles. My typical grocery cart has the following processed items...1 loaf of whole wheat bread, 1 box of crackers...and 1 pkg of mini rice cake chip things. Look at the ingredient list, if it looks like a organic chem class gone wrong...don't eat it!!! Yes those mini thins are low fat and low calorie, but they aren't real food...that is what makes them bad (and delicious). Same goes for packaged salad dressing.  I eat my salads raw or with a little bit of olive oil and vinegar. Some times extra fat and calories in moderation (natural almonds) vs process low fat stuff (100 cal chips) can actually help you loose weight!
I figure by eating this way 90% of the time, I can allow myself half of a deep fried Mars Bar once ever.

Part b) I was (still am sometimes) the queen of excuses...I'm tired, I worked too hard today, I don't want to go to the gym wah wah wah. I will fully admit that it is very hard to drag yourself to the gym (hence my lack of real exercise on the weekends). Somethings that have worked for me is to consider the gym a mandatory thing (like a meeting) that you have to go to NO MATTER WHAT. The other thing is to put it in my schedule. I know that every Monday I do Zumba, Tuesday is Body Pump..etc. The main thing that has worked for me has been a work out buddy. This time around with this challenge it has been my boyfriend Mike.  My BF and I have become each other's motivation to go the gym because we go together. He does his thing while I do a fitness class and we meet after. We get to talk about what we did at the gym, and compare our muscles (haha). But seriously he has lost 10 pounds as well, so we are doing pretty well.

And part c) If you do bad one day and eat something naughty, don't skip the gym. If you gained weight one week instead of losing, don't go eat a bag of chips. If you ate a delicious deep fried mars bar to get the full experience of the CNE, don't eat ice cream later out of depression that you ruined your diet.
It's not about being perfect and "good" all the time...it is about eating healthy, exercising, and still living your life. Don't give yourself crap over one bad week or day, or minute. Just accept that sometimes a bag of chips is ok, and move on. This is a lesson I am still learning. I remind myself that even if I still can't run a 5k, and I haven't lost much weight in the past 2 weeks, it is ok, because any bit of exercise is good, and every healthy food choice can't be a bad thing.

If you want to see success with a healthy life (in my humble, non-expert opinion) is to balance it. Start with simple switches that you can stick with (coke to diet coke to water for example). Once you have the balance, then you can fully enjoy your healthy life without worrying about every minute of it. That is truly when you can have your cake and eat it too (low fat-gluten free-organic-chocolate cake with local beets in it please :P)

Day 60-Life Happens When you are Busy Makin Plans

As much as I try to be a good gym go-er/ healthy eater, sometimes life happens. Par example, this was my 3rd time to the gym in 2 weeks...ooopsy. I'll splain the situation.

Lets review....

Monday (Day 52), I was still really sore from city chase so I went for a rollerblade instead of Zumba. The BF and I got caught in the rain and ended up rollerblading in the rain/dark. Good times. I probably could of gone to Zumba, but rollerblading was super fun! Tuesday (Day 53) I wasn`t feeling very well, not just kinda blah which can be cured by the gym, but full blown ill. So I came home from work and slept and didn`t go to bodypump. Wednesday (54) I woke up feeling fine and went to Yoga, but the instructor didn`t show up so the body pump instructor from the previous class did abs with us...for 45 minutes. Then a yoga instructor came and we did yoganess for 20 minutes. Good times. Thursday-Sun (55-58) my family was in town, but we probably walked a total of 8 hours throughout the weekend.

On Monday (59) I couldn`t go to the gym because I drove up to Sudbury for work, but on Tuesday (60) even though I was out of town, I was getting all stressy about the lack of exercise in my life, so after the work business I went for a walk/run around a neighbourhood in Sudbury, then went back to the hotel gym and did some more intervals on the treadmill and then did abs. This just proved to me how much I have made the gym and exercise a normal and wanted part of my life.

Tonight I went to Body Pump, and the rest of the week I am back to normal with the gym. Hooray for getting back on track.

Food wise, I ate out a lot in the past 10 days (famjam visiting and trip to Sudbury) but I tried to eat healthy at the restaurants (salad instead of fries etc.) Yesterday I had a gluten free pizza, and it was delicious. I did eat some fries at lunch yesterday, and my stomach was so sore for the rest of the day. Tonight I came home from my trip and had a simple chicken and spinach salad and it was so satisfying. I was craving spinach. It is amazing what happens when your body gets used to not eating junk, then you just don't crave junk food. Even though I did pretty good on my diet considering the situation, I still feel really full so I want to try to eat really healthy and light this week/weekend to give my body a fresh start.

I have nothing major planned for this weekend, no reason ,to cheat or miss the gym, so for the next 7 days I am doing a semi bootcamp/detox just because I can!

Day 51-Gotta get the METs

It is day 51!! I have lost 10 pounds since I started this challenge (again) which is awesome!!!! I have 10 to go to reach my goal, so I am right on track :).

Disclaimer...I am obviously not a professional, and I find all my info on the interwebs, this is just some interesting stuff I found about diet and exercise recently.


I have started recording how many METs I am burning after reading this interesting article from Chatelaine.com. Basically 1 MET is how many calories you burn at rest for one hour. (Decent Calculator here, just divide your result by 24hrs!) So if you jog at a brisk pace you burn 5-6 METs or 5 times your resting rate. There are a ton of different tables that list the MET level for each activity this one from the YCMA is pretty good!

This website lists some goals to go for each week shown below:

30 or more MET-hours/week of at least moderate intensity activities (3.5 METs per hour or more) - excellent

20 to 29 MET-hours/week - very good

12 to 19 MET-hours/week - satisfactory (but, you should still try for 20 MET-hours/week or more of at least moderate intensity activities.

Normally I get I am around 24-29 MET hours a week of moderate to vigorous activity, so that makes sense that I am seeing some results on the scale!!

On Thursday I went to Bodyflow as per usual. There was a BBQ at work, so I cheated and had a sausage instead of going with the low fat grilled chicken option. Sometimes you got to live a little right :).

Friday I didn't go to the gym to give myself a rest for Saturday, because on Saturday I did CITY CHASE!!! The details of the race are going to be on my other blog shortly, but basically from a fitness perspective, it involved racing around the city for 6 hours doing crazy challenges. So going back to my MET business, on Saturday alone I got 26.6 METs! Because of this I had some pasta on Friday night to Carb up, had a PB+J sandwich on the track, and some delicious Vector "protein bars" (lets be serious, it was an amped up chocolate bar). And I didn't feel too guilty about all that carb love because I knew I was burning it off doing city chase.

However, I had mad salad cravings!! Who knew that by not eating my standard salad at lunch I would be missing my spinach! There is a severe grocery shortage in my house at the moment, so tonight we had pasta again with chicken and tomatoes and onions, but still a lack of the leafy greeness. So I am going to back on track tomorrow, with a big-ol-plate of vegs. Nom nom.

The other thing city chase made me realize is my running needs some serious work for me to run a 5km. I was  totally able to power walk the whole course and felt pretty good, but when we actually had to run, I quickly lost my breath and got really tired. I partially blame it on the humidity, but I really do need to get running to get ready for the 5 k in 50 days!

50 days down, 50 more to go! If I do as well for the next 50 days as I have for the first ones, I will hopefully get to call this totally typical weight loss challenge a success :).

Day 47-Gym Karma and some Healthy Noms

Here is a little (ok I lied..it is a large) recap of my past week doing my totally typical get in shape bid-ness.

Weekend-

Exercise: Didn't make it to the gym Friday or Sunday as planned...booo. Meaning last week I only went to the gym 2 times, and walked 2 times. Even though I know this is not up to par, instead of dwelling on it, I just got right back into things on Monday.

Diet: Not too bad, the bf made some steak salad (nom), and may have eaten way too much blue cheese with it, but over all still better for me than McDonalds. We went out Friday evening, and I got booster juice.  I ordered a regular forgetting how HUGE they are. One thing I read somewhere is choose the size you want to be..do I want to be large or medium after all this?...No I want to be small!!! (Or tall at Starbucks haha).  Lesson re-learned!

Monday- Exercise- INTENSE ZUMBA!!! I attended my normal Monday zumba class, and really tried to push myself. It was great. I love standing at the front at zumba, because then I don’t get distracted comparing myself to other people. I may look like an idiot, but I really don’t care because I am having a BLAST!! Self consciousness at the gym is rapidly disappearing, especially since I don’t know anyone there!

Food: DELICIOUS SUPER of portabello mushrooms, and homemade pesto with a small slice of deli ham (cooked in a frying pan to make it “facon”), with some havarti cheese all roasted in the oven until cheese melted. We had that with a homemade salsa, toasted small pita, and some snow peas. Yep that is right, I worked, did groceries, and made that meal and went to the gym on Monday, and even watched some tv in there!! (The meal took all of 20 minutes to make, I highly recommend it)

Tuesday: Cheat day! I know it isn’t my typical cheat day, but my Dad was in town and we went out for supper. I still had a super healthy lunch that involved some salad with leftover garlicy homemade pesto.  I had to skip my normal body pump class that I go to on Tuesdays, but....gym karma happened

Today: I went to Body Pump at a different gym today to make up for it, and the Tuesday evening instructor (who is awesome) just happened to be filling in at that gym!!  Whoa!! So now it totally feels like Tuesday for me! I added weight tonight so I am sure I will be sore tomorrow!

Food-The bf made some grilled tilapia with spices, and wild rice and veggies for super. For lunch I had an egg, lettuce, small amount of low fat cheese and more of that homemade pesto with naturally sweetened plain yogurt (Stevia Sweetner) and raspberries. I also had some hummus and about 7 low fat triscut crackers. And yes I was starving by 5:30, but I survived.  

Also, as much as I am not as focused on the weight loss as I was in round one of this whole dealio, I have been checking the scale, and at this point I am exactly on track to get down to my goal weight by October 2^nd. Just got to keep movin!! And eating the veggies J. The next 50 days are really going to be about training for the run, as I haven’t really done a lot of running yet.  I am going to try to blog more, because now that I actually am doing stuff (aka exercising and eating healthy) I would love to share more details with you all (recipes, class reviews etc), instead of shoving it all into one GIANT post like this!

Day 40- I is scared in a good way

No I am not afraid of the gym, or of vegetables, or anything like that...

I am terrified of getting off track.

For the past 3+ weeks I have been super keen about this whole challenge, and I am thoroughly enjoying it, and seeing the results (I am completely on track for weight lost compared to days of challenge), however, I am so afraid that what happened last time will happen again. I was semi good the first 50 days and then did absolutely nothing the last 50 days.

This fear of losing the rhythm I have got going is motivation in a weird way. Par example, yesterday I was not feeling the gym, at all. I have been dealing with this little allergy thing and just felt tired and a little sick. So I decided around lunch that after work, I was going to skip the gym and come home. I probably then would have had junk food for supper, or snacks because if I am skipping the gym I might as well skip the diet.

"I'm too tired", "People shouldn't go to the gym when they are 'sick'" "you can do it tomorrow" were just some of the arguments I had to skip.

BUT....

I was so afraid that this one active skipping of the gym would put me so off course that I had to go.

And guess what?

I felt 10 times better afterward. I had way more energy, my allergies weren't that bad. And I felt super intense after adding lifting weight at Body Pump!!! Oh yah! Got to love gym endorphins.  I came home and made easy peasy spicy soup for supper, with corn on the cob and chicken sausages. And tonight even though I was tired, and lazy and didn't want to cook super, I made a egg frittata with wild rice that was healthy quick and cheap!

As I approach the 50 day mark I won't be celebrating with a birthday (as I did last time)...but instead, with City Chase a amazing race-esque adventure race within Toronto! I am super excited!

Day 33- Rollerblading and Mahi Mahi

This week I tried something newish..ROLLERBLADING!

I haven't been rollerblading since I was about 12, but after my walk two weeks I decided to buy some. After the crazy heat last week finally died down on Sunday, Mike and I went out and tried rollerblading. Mike is a really good rollerblader, and I was so afraid I was going to wipe out...but it turns out I am actually not too bad at it! We ended up going 16km! What a great way to spend a Sunday evening!

I have been doing really well with the gym (Zumba Mondays, Body Pump Tuesdays, rest wednesday, Bodyflow Thursdays, Run on Friday, Rollerblading on Saturday, Bodyflow Sunday is my plan) And last week the classes actually seemed to be getting easier!

Diet wise, I am not doing too badly. I am allowing myself one cheat meal a week (Friday night), and no junk food snacks!! On Sunday during the Rollerblade we ended up stopping and getting junk food for supper along the water (Fries and a chicken burger) and it wasn't even that good. I totally regretted it, felt crappy afterwards, I would have much rather had a nice pasta dish with tons of veggies if I was going to splurge, not some deep fried "fake" food. Lesson learned.

Good news though.. yesterday I had a "old Kaylee vs. new Kaylee" moment. I was invited out to dinner with some people I know who where in town from Halifax. Old Kaylee would have skipped the gym, and probably got something decadent at the restaurant. But, it wasn't my cheat day, and I do love Body Pump..so New Kaylee decided to go to the gym, was slightly late for supper (other people were forewarned), I looked at the menu online on my lunch break, picked the healthiest thing on the menu, and stuck to ordering it! It was delicious Mahi Mahi fish, with a plain baked potato and some veggies!

I haven't been weighing myself like the last 100 day challenge. I want this one to be more about the process and then hopefully in the end the results will show!  And no more gross junk food...blech.

Day 27-Moving Right Along and an Idea for Supper

So my motivation seems to be doing pretty good! No idea why I have suddenly changed my opinion about this whole weight loss challenge, but I like it!! I realized that this go around, I don't really care about the weight so much, and it kind of irks me that the title of this blog is the totally typical weight loss challenge...it should really be called the totally typical get in shape challenge. I care way more about being able to run 5 k, lift more at body pump, and be more flexible because of yoga etc. I also like the mental state I am in after the gym, nice and relaxed! So many benefits other than just the number on the scale!

Since the last blog post I went to Bodyflow on Sunday morning, a super intense Zumba class on Monday, Body Pump on Tuesday, and Bodyflow today (even though it was about 50 degrees outside it was nice and cool at the gym). I have been pretty good with the diet, a few little ice cream treats (the 100 calorie ones) but nothing too crazy. Lots of spinach and low fat protein! 

I also have been taking my vitamins and drinking lots of water! Like a ridiculous amount of water for me. I try to finish two 750ml bottles at work, then about another litre-ish at home. The crazy thing is I should probably drink even more. I think that is why I used to feel so tired at school, I totally wasn't drinking enough water!

I was also told by a friend that I should put more recipes on my blog. The thing is I have kind of stopped using recipes and making my own creations...but here is a recipe of what I ate for supper last weekend instead of getting take out.

Super healthy pesto "pizza"
1 Pita
A ton of spinach (seriously I used half of a box of that prewashed baby spinach for 2 pitas)
1/2 cup of precooked pre peeled shrimpies from the freezer (I always have these guys on hand!)
1 tbsp cheese (feta goat cheese is delicious in this)
a little bit of olive oil
some spices
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

1. Blend/food process/chop the spinach, mix with olive oil, pine nuts if you've got em' and spices (basil and oregano for me!) Goal is to make a pesto like substance.
2. Spread mixture on pita
3. Rise shrimpies under water to defrost them, squeeze to get most of the water out
4. Put on top of spinach mixture, add cheese, black pepper more spices etc.
5. chuck in the microwave for 2 minutes or so until cheese melts
6. Nom.

It was so good!!!! I'm not even a huge fan of shrimp, but something about the combination of these ingrediants just went really well together! And the cool thing about this "pesto" is that it is a great way to get rid of past it's prime spinach!

Day 20- Training and Potlucks

Today work presented a challenge for me on the diet front.
Every new employee in my dept has to bring in Donuts/Timbits after their first pay day...or so I was told. So I arrived at work with 40 timbits and 12 donuts. I was going to have 2 timbits, because I knew there was no way I was going to have none...and I ended up having more than 2, more like 6 all morning. Not bad, but still. Then we had our monthly departmental meeting which was a potluck. So like most potlucks everyone brought a dish big enough for 20 people. I tried to limit myself, but still ate way too much. I felt so sicky the rest of the day.

So when it came to going to the gym tonight shortly after work, I really didn't want to. I wanted to go home and go to bed. HOWEVER..I geared myself up and and headed out to a Zumba class at a Goodlife 20 minutes from my apt. I started running on the way there because I was afraid I was going to be late, and then I realized I was enjoying the run so much, I didn't want to go inside to a gym (being inside all day has that effect). So I tried to run for as long as possible, and that was 15 minutes. I probably went 1 kilometer. If I want to do 5 km in 35 minutes, I am going to need to get training! So after running got too hard I decided it was way too nice out to just go home so I went on a 2 hour (power) walk along the Toronto water front! Came home nice and sweaty, and actually felt like I got a good work out in.

And amazingly, I was no longer tired, or felt full, and my stiff neck from sleeping weird last night even went away. Isn't it weird that the main reasons why I didn't want to do exercise were cured by exercise? So I came home and had nice healthy supper that was 3 veggies and 1 protein...aka chicken, and asparagus, zucchini and tomato and cucumber salad!! Nom Nom Nom!

Day 18- Nom Nom Exercise

Hola World!
So after my depressing blogs about me trying to get back into this totally typical weight loss challenge, I have officially gotten back on track and loving it!

On Sunday night I took some time made a fitness schedule and a food schedule and decided to stick with it. I realized I don't really have a hobby at the moment, so this is my new hobby. I used to do Student Goverment stuff at university, and that was my hobby. And there were some days where I didn't want to go to meetings/hold meetings/plan meetings etc, but I did anyway, so the gym is kind of the same. I know somedays I won't want to go, but I am just going to do it. And the after effects of the gym are way cooler than sitting in meetings :).

I went to Body Flow (Yogapilaties) yesterday which included a 25 minute power walk to the gym and a 25 minute not so power walk back. It was an awesome work out and really relaxing. Today I did "Awesome Abs" a 15 minute ab workout and then Body Pump right after work and now I am very sore. The body pump instructor is awesome! My shoulders are dying a little right now, but in a good way! And the fun continues all week!

Food wise I have made my own diet plan (maybe I will be super successful and market it and make millions...haha!). I have combined the "Diet Solution" low sugar, low carbs...with Canada's Food Guide (CFG)!Yay!!
Everyday I am eating 7 servings of fruits and vegs (mostly vegs and berries), 2 servings of dairy (plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese). This fits CFG. Where I differ is I am eating is 5 servings of protein (instead of the 2-3 recommended)    and 3 servings of Grains (instead of 5-10). So a typical day looks like this:
B- Cheerios, milk and blueberries
S- Almonds
L-Egg (I looovee eggs) spinach, mushrooms, green onions and yogurt and raspberries for dessert
S- Apple
Pre Gym Supper- Spinach, Tomatos, Chickpeas, Half a pita, some olive oil and spices
Post Gym- Supper Same as above without the pita!

I had a little cheat today, one of the girls at work was handing out small pastries and I took one without even thinking. I immediately regretted it!  Speaking of cheats I have scheduled in one non diet meal a week, like sushi or thai food!

Now time to go make lunch/supper for the next few days!

Day 14-Does anyone else hate the gym?

So if day 100 is October 2nd, it is already day 14! Yikes. So far on the training plan I..umm...umm..thought about going to the gym.

I had a moment yesterday (from being tired and cranky from not sleeping well) where I almost decided to never write this blog again, eat ice cream and not go to the gym and go for the laissez faire attitude and give up on this whole challenge. Thankful the boyfriend convinced me that I was being tired and cranky and to stick with it.

So with all that decided, I am going to go to the gym this weekend. Preferably an all women's gym.
This brings me to the topic of this post. The main reason I felt so bleh about the gym is the gym itself.
I did like the 3 times I have gone here, but at the same time feel intimidated to go back! It is a co-ed "professional" gym (aka most people go to the gym and go to work near by). I realized I spent part of my Zumba class criticizing myself in the mirror, and the body pump class I tried to do too many weights to "keep up" with the crowd.

I like gyms that have no mirrors and no people! My favorite class was Zumba/Aqua Zumba at the Dalplex because there were no mirrors..and I thoroughly enjoyed going to the women's only gym...way less intimidating, and less populated. I NEED to get moving if I am going to run 5k in 86 days! I tried running a long time on Monday, and I did 1.5 km at a good speed before stopping...progress needs to be made.

However food has gotten better thanks to my fancy smancy egg/toaster (see here for details).
It has been a few days of ooo lets put together stuff in the fridge..it resulted in this:

Cauliflower, Celery, Mushrooms, Spices, and Shrimpies :D

Added that to some spinach for lunch the next day! Noms!

Day 1-Restart

Hi my name is Kaylee, and I am trying to lose 16 pounds(ish) in 100 days. Wait a minute...this sounds familiar.  I know, I already did this, but I like the 100 day thing. Conveniently, that corresponds to my first "competitive" 5k, the CIBC Run for the Cure.

I have restarted my food and fitness journal, I have a new kitchen to cook in, and now I am have the experience of my first attempt to know where I went wrong. Day one was actually June 24th, to correspond with the RFTC on October 2nd.

One thing that I have already been good at is going the gym. Last week I went 2 times (already beat my total for april) and swam on the weekend, and then this week I went today at 5:30 in the AM (YIKES!). I think by having a Goodlife next to my office is sweet motivation to get a workout in. When I wasn't working, it was easy to just not leave the house, but now if I am already there I have no excuses! The body pump instructor was awesome, and the Zumba girl was good too! I think I am going to try to go at 5:30 in the morning, because I find if I go to the gym early in the morning I kind of forget that I went, then later in the day I will think "boo I have to go to the gym" only to happily realize I already went!

For the next two weeks I really want to stick to the "diet solution" low sugar meal plans. They really did work in March when I tried them. I will start tomorrow, because right now I don't have the right food in my house to follow it completely. I think doing this in the summer is going to be significantly harder than doing it in February/March. If you have been following along, you will realize I fell of track the minute the weather got nicer. Suddenly, I didn't want to be inside cooking and thinking about healthy food. I wanted to get out, go out, and enjoy the sunshine (and junky food that goes with it.)

Summer to me is nachoes, and ice tea, and ice cream, and patio drinks etc etc etc. I also need to work on what I eat if I go out. I need to realize that getting a salad at a restaurant is ok, especially if it was someone else's idea to go out to eat in the first place. Also, eating out is expensive and it is wayyy too easy to do here. I will definitely need to watch that!

So Day 10:
Fitness..1 hour at the gym cardio and weight circuit.
Food...lots of bread and carbs. Toast for Breakfast, granola for 2nd breakfast (I got up at 4:30, I needed something to eat at 8:00). PB+J for lunch. Yogurt, almonds, blueberrys and an all bran bar. Way not enough veggies going on.

Ok Spinach... it is time for me and you be be besties again!

Goodlife Here I Come!

One of things I am very excited about for moving to Toronto is the massive amounts of Goodlife Gyms. There is one on every block (almost) and they are massive. They have pools, and hot yoga and every sort of class ever!!!

I want to get back into hot yoga. I did it in February after much persuading by a friend, and I actually really enjoyed it. I liked how warm it was compared to the cold air outside, and how flexible I felt, and overall how relaxing it is. Not sure if I want to be in a 35 deg room while it is 35 deg outside, but we shall see!  I also may want to try swimming. I love Aqua Zumba, and I love the water, but I never gotten into swimming laps.

Last blog post I detailed my "ideal" eating day, this one is more about my ideal workout plan would be. I would love to be like Annette from Enjoy Your Healthy Life. She works out 1.5-2 hours every day by doing a variety of things, and she loves it! Her blog is very energetic!

I would love to do two workouts a day, but considering how I typically get 3 hours a week of exercise, this is  a lofty goal. Ideally I would like to go do cardio and strength in the morning, and then a class in the PM.
More realistically would be to do 2 days of cardio, 2 days of strength training, and 1 day of Yoga. Ok, that is my plan for July! Who knows, maybe a year from now I will be a super keener working out 2 hours every day!!

Also, in a way earlier post I commented on my fitness goal. I decided to run the 5K in October for CIBC's Run for the Cure. I had said that I wanted to do it in 25 minutes. After doing more research, I realize this is crazy for someone who has ridiculously short legs. I have adjusted my time to 35 minutes. I think that is a good goal.

Sleeping In, Eating Muffins

So as I sit here and eat Vegetable Thins crackers and drink diet coke (both could be worse snacks, but both are loaded with preservatives and chemicals) I have been thinking about my totally typical weight loss challenge. Actually I have been thinking about it pretty much every day and especially every time I eat.

My big conclusion...I can't wait to get back on track! 

I am moving to Toronto in a week and a half and by July 1st I should have a new apartment with a kitchen, and have a normal 8:30-5:00 job! No more mini jobs (tutoring, campus tours) that cause havoc with my schedule, and no more sleeping in until 11:00 am. 

I have also noticed that sleeping in just messes with life in general. I have never been a morning person, not that I am a ``don`t talk to me until I have coffee`` person, just if given the choice I would rather lounge around in bed. Lately I have just been plain sleeping until late morning. This means my typical day goes like this:

11- wake up

11-12 Lounge around, read the interwebs, complain that I don`t want to get out of bed

12- actually get up when I realize I am wasting my day

12:30ish have breakfast-piece of toast, cereal (nom nom carbs) and juice (nom nom sugar)

12:30-2:30 clean, do random stuff, laundry etc

2:30-3:30 More surfing of the interwebs (I don`t intentionally surf, just go on my computer to do something and get horribly distracted)

3:30-6:00 tutoring

6:00 I realize I am hungry and buy gross unhealthy food and some sort of caffeine like substance (a giant bought muffin and ice cap for example)

6:30-9:00 tutoring

9:00 realize that all I have had to eat is a muffin and cereal today, and have a legit supper with water. 

9:30-12:00 watch tv, blog, think about packing, snack

I live a very exciting life. 

On days where I get up early (for example last Monday I went to a boot camp at 6:30 am) my eating schedule looked like this-

5:30 am- A legit healthy muffin (made by my BF`s mom-they were very good!) and water

6:30-7:30am- more water at the boot camp

8:30am- Grilled peppers and onions and GARLIC, turkey sausages, egg in skillet form with water. It was delish. 

12:00am- Whole wheat pasta salad with veggies with water

5:30pm- Home made wrap with chicken and veggies on the run with water

9:00pm- Blueberries and yogurt with water

Notice the difference. The second schedule is more what I want..err maybe not the 5:30 am start that was a bit much. 

Day 100- Lessons Learned

Well day 100 has happened. I marked this occasion a few ways:
1. GRADUATING FROM UNIVERSITY!!!!
2. Not meeting my 16 pound weight loss goal...sad face.
3. Going to a boot camp at 6:30 in the morn, before my graduation...
and...
4. Eating some pizza

As a engineer (whooaa its official) I have learned that when I do projects there should always be a project closure component where there project is reviewed. This is sometimes referred to as "lessons learned"...These are my lessons learned from the project of my totally typical weight loss challenge.

First, Exercise. Gyms are not a scary place. I have gone from someone who never went to a gym, to someone who goes at last twice a week. I have tried every single Goodlife Class, and some Dalplex classes and hot yoga. I have also started a boot camp. I now know how to the use machines, and am not afraid to try new things.  My fitness knowledge has expanded exponentially. In order to keep going to the gym/exercising 4+ times a week, I need motivation in the form of a friend or a expensive class, and I also do better when I schedule the workouts in. I should also remind myself that as much as sometimes I really don't want to go the gym, once I go and workout I love it!!

Second, Diet. I give the Diet Solution Program a good review. It is pretty easy to follow and I like how it just makes sense (low sugar is better). I did really well for the month of March and then didn't do so well for the months of April or May. I changed my diet almost permanently in the fact that I don`t drink juice anymore, and try to eat 5 times a day instead of one. Things I definitely can improve are meal planning, and getting back to the low sugar diet when my life permits, and eating smaller portions.

Third, Goals. I wanted to loose 16 pounds. I didn`t even come close. Loosing wight is like 80% diet and 20% exercise. If I had been as good as I had been in March for the rest of my challenge I would have been way closer to reaching my goals.  If I gave my self a mark on this challenge as a whole it would be a C+. C for the actual effort, and the + for all the learning I did!

But (and this is big)...even though I didn`t see the results I wanted on the scale, my clothes fit nicer, my arms and my legs are toned, and I don`t feel bloated and tired all the time from crappy food. My energy levels definitely increased when I was eating very well, and I have come to love multi vitamins, organic food, and fish oil.

All that being said, I am still not in the healthy BMI range, and really want to get to my goal weight. I want to keep trying, and therefore I am keeping my blog. I like how I get to share with you my progress, and my fun findings about diet and exercise! Not reaching my goal has somehow made me more motivated to reach my goal (does that make sense?). And that just shows me how much I have changed. To me weight loss was always like a start and end period so if I didn't do what I wanted in a certain period, I would quit. But this has been more about a lifestyle adjustment, one that I wish to continue 

Day 87-91 Back to the Grind

So this week I am happy to say I did 4 hours of exercise, or 4 "gym" sessions!

I went on a two hour hike over rough terrain on Saturday, so that was a definite work out for the legs! I like doing things like that because it doesn't feel like exercise, it is just doing something fun!  The other 2 hours were at the gym doing a 1 hour session of Cardio and Resistance training, with machines. This is so strange considering that 6 months ago I was terrified of even using a machine at the gym and would only go to classes. The classes are great, but some times they don't fit in my schedule. I was sick of making excuses to not go go the gym if there wasn't a class available.

Back in March when I won a free personal trainer session, she gave me a circuit using mostly body weight and a few hand weights (lunges, squats, push ups etc.). I have done that routine few times and I really like it. When I went to the gym on Tuesday I was going to do that circuit, but ended up trying the machines and actually liking it. The gym I am going to now (still Goodlife) is a Co-ed Gym, but has a room kind of attached to the women's changing room for women only. It is great because I can go use the machines without being intimidated by muscle-men guys. The room has also been almost empty the two times I have gone.

So my own Kaylee-made circuit is 15 minutes of Cardio then machines to do all the arms, back, shoulders, legs, then plank for a minute, lower back exercise, step ups (30 each side) and calve raises...then repeat :). I think it is a pretty good work out and I am definitely feeling it from yesterday!

Side note- I also weighed myself on the scale at the gym and it gave me much nicer numbers than the scale last week. Maybe it was just a scale thing!

Day 58-86

Hi again world. So in the past 30 days I disappeared from the blogosphere. I was moving, and packing, and then I went on a 2 week long trip. And I was not following any sort of diet or exercise routine. Bleh. So the bad news is I am nowhere near meeting my goal. Actually I weighed myself tonight, (on a different scale than I had been using) and I am almost back to where I started. Boo urns.

I really want to get down to my goal weight, even it if it isn't by June 1st. I am not giving up. I am joining a boot camp for the next monthish, (it was a sweet deal on Groupon) and that should help the exercise thing. I also went to the gym for the first time in a month yesterday, so that was good! I also am trying to eat healthier but this is challenging because I am currently am not cooking my own meals, so I don't have that much control.

I know soon I will probably be moving, and starting a job, and I can't wait for then. I will be on a routine and can go back to planning my meals and exercise. I have definitely realized one thing about my diet practices, and that is that I need to be fully into it or I don't care. There is no happy medium!

Day 52-58 Seriously off track

I don't even want to write this blog post.  This week my plans of getting on track failed epically. Here are the details:

For the past 19 days, I have officially worked out twice. I have been on a lot walks, but they barely count.

My food journal from the past week is laughable. Some of the healthier items include veggie pizza, and when it is from a pizza place, it isn't that healthy!

What has happened to all my motivation and progress!!!   Realizing this wonderful fact that I haven't gone to the gym at all in the past month is a serious wake up call. I am really going to try to go 3-5 times a week like I was originally. I have scheduled a gym date with my friend tomorrow morning. Having to be accountable to someone else is motivation to go to the gym which I desperately need!

Food on the other hand is a bit of an issue. On Friday I go to visit my boyfriends family for Easter in Cape Breton, this means lots of homemade food (which is delicious), and then I come back to my apartment for a week, pack up all my stuff, move across town for the summer, and then leave for a two week road trip. So for the next month I will have no routine, or need to buy healthy groceries.

I think I am going to do some research on "How to Stay Healthy on a Road Trip." I will keep you posted on my finds!

Day 49-51 Halfway point

It didn't occur to me that the halfway point of my 100day challenge was going to fall on my Birthday. Bad luck indeed. I did have cake and ice cream, and a skinny vanilla latte yesterday. It was a birthday after all. 

This week is not going well at all. The birthday issues aside, I have gotten completely bored of going to the gym, and lazy about cooking. Part of that reason was because I did get sick, so I got out of my routine. Now I need to get back in before I fall off track completely. 

I haven't gone to the gym/zumba in a week, I have been going for walks almost every day because the weather has been so nice, but a stroll at the waterfront doesn't count as a "workout". Tonight I am going to Yoga, and I am going to try to go to the gym every day for the rest of the week, just to get back into it. It is so funny how going to the gym gives you energy. Once I start going I want to go more, but just going takes so much effort. 

I also need to get the food back on track. It is exam time for most of my friends/boyfriend and I am finding myself slipping into the habits of exam snacking even though I personally am not writing exams. After my blog post/rant about non-processed food I went out on Monday and bought an entire grocery order that was in boxes, or packages. I felt ashamed haha. 

I think once I get back into routine, going to the gym will give me the motivation to eat healthy and eating good food will give me the energy to go to the gym. Vicious circle!

Day 50, 6 pounds down, 10 to go. Not sure I can loose 10 pounds in 50 days, but we shall see!

Day 45-48 Sicky and Soup

That cold that I had on Wednesday is finally going away! Yay! 

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous outside, so on Friday I managed to go for a walk despite the cold, and today was another walking day. Not quite Zumba, or Body Pump, but at least it was something!

This weekend wasn't too bad for food or drinks. I had one glass of wine on Saturday and had half of a piece of Coconut Cream pie (it was a birthday thing!). Other than that, it wasn't quite "Diet Solution" worthy, but nothing too crazy (toast, soup, thai food, fish etc.) This week I am going to try to get back on track with the diet, going back to eggs, and veggies, and keeping the carbs healthy. 

One of the components of the Diet plan is the fact that most of the stuff should be organic and non-processed. The idea is that your liver and kidneys deal with all the processed stuff  as toxins, so if your body is dealing with processing "Monosodium Glutamate" it can't get rid of fat fast enough. I am by no means a nutritionist or medical professional, so I have no idea if it is true. But something about eating actual food instead of chemicals can't be a bad thing. 

For me, this doesn't mean buying everything organic and pesticide free (I still like a bargain) but I try to buy most of my meat and veggies at the farmers market, and I adjust my meal plans to what looks good at the market. Another trick is to avoid the center aisles at the grocery store. No crackers, cereal, pasta sauces, canned soup, and of course the junk food (pop chips etc). 

So last week I made Potato Leek soup with market potato and leeks, organic chicken broth (on sale!), and celery and carrots, and some salt, pepper and thyme. That just feels better than canned soup!

Day 42-44 Weigh in

This week I lost..wait for it...2.2 pounds**!!! What up! For those of you following along at home, this was because I was sans-appetite last week, so my food consumption was low. And I went to Zumba 5 times last week. So far this week I have been eating more (which is good), and I went to the gym on Monday, but not the past two days, because now that little sore throat from last week has turned into a full blown cold...bleh.


One side effect of my diet has been less bad hair days. I will explain. The "Diet Solution" recommends a daily fish oil supplement. Fish oil pills have Omega 3 fats in it, which helps with a variety of things like fighting depression, improves cardiovascular health, and has anti-cancer properties. The other benefits, are the effects on skin, hair and nails. It helps dry skin and scalp, and strengthens nails and hair.


I have been taking fish oil supplements for about a month now. In the past my hair has been dry, coarse and dull. And now suddenly, it is manageable, shiny, and looks like I just had a hair cut. I am convinced it is the fish oil. (I made this correlation today, I was very excited about it, hence this post).


I'm loosing weight, have shiny hair, life is good. Now I just need to get rid of this pesty cold!


**I weighed myself like 10 times in the past two days because I didn't believe it

Day 38-41 I Survived the Weekend

Finally a blog post where I can say I had a decent weekend! No drinks (diet coke and club soda when I did go out with my friends) and no major junk food issues either. And more good news...this week I finally "went to the gym" 5 times, which was something I have been trying to do since January. I went to 5 Zumba classes, so lots of Cardio! I'm going to try to throw in some strength training this upcoming week.


This week my diet has been iffy. I haven't been feeling great (little sore throat nbd) so on Wednesday I ate comfort carbs (toast, whole wheat pasta) and since then I have had no appetite. I haven't been eating 3 full meals a day, and I know that isn't good. For those who don't know, skipping meals triggers your brain that you are starving, so when you do eat, your body holds on to all that food because it doesn't know when the next one is coming.


This is what happens to me if I am busy especially when I was in school, I tend to skip meals, and then I would eat one unhealthy meal (like pizza). This time, at least I am eating healthy stuff for that one meal/snacks but it still isn't ideal. I am going to try to get back on track tomorrow, get on a schedule and actually plan my meals. I went to the Market yesterday, so now I have a fridge full of delicious food just waiting to be cooked!


This weekend I made brownies (yah I know that isn't really "low sugar", but everyone needs some chocolate), and keeping with the "healthy" tradition, I made the brownies with beets! (Old school red velvet cake used beets too!)


I got my recipe from BBC Good Food, so all the measurements were in grams, but here is my version all converted for ya!


Ingredients:
4 Medium beets
1/2 Cup of Butter
200g Bar of 70% Dark Chocolate (you must use dark chocolate, or else the brownies will be too sweet)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Plain Flour
1/4 Cup of Cocoa Powder


1. Peel and cut the beets into chucks-your hands will turn red, but it washes off. Put in a microwavable bowl with a splash of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 12+ minutes. (It took mine 17 min to get tender).


2. Heat the oven to 350, and grease a glass baking pan (20 x 30 cm).  Put eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat together using a hand mixer. Should be "pale and foamy." Or whisk briskly for 5 minutes if no hand mixer is available.


3. Carefully remove beets (they are hot), drain off water, and put in a blender. Add chunks of chocolate, and squares of butter, and vanilla. Blend until smooth. The chocolate and butter melt from the hot beets. (Food processor would work better).


4.Fold beet mixture into egg mixture. Sift in flour and cocoa powder into bowl. Pour into pan.


5. Bake for 25 minutes or until "just the merest quiver under the centre of the crust when you shake the pan." Cool completely in pan. Note: they are so moist that they don't look like they are cooked when they are done. Actually do the shaky pan thing to see if they are ready!


They are delicious! Fun game: don't tell your friends there are beets in them, they will never know!

Day 35-37 Numbers

Tonight was another weigh in. I lost 0.2 pounds from last week. I also weighed myself right after dinner so that may have impacted it. But at least it is losing something and not gaining anything.


According to my spreadsheet where I keep track of my food and my exercise and my weigh ins, if I continue on this track I will not reach my goal by the June 1st. I will be around 5 pounds off. Which wouldn't be the end of the world, but would still be frustrating. I also did a calculation (because I am nerd) and at Day 37/100, I should have lost %37 percent of my total (16) so I should have lost 5.7 pounds so far. I have only lost 3.2 (really thats all...booo). So I am off by 2.5 pounds. That doesn't seem like a huge number, so maybe I will get back on track by the 50 day mark.


I know weight isn't everything, and I can tell visually that I have lost weight. Dresses and skirts fit looser, and jeans are back to being comfy again. I feel way more comfortable in my bathing suit at Aqua Zumba then I did in January. All of these are good things. Since January I have lost 7.2 pounds, and being 5'2" this does actually make a difference.


This week hasn't been going too well because I have been sicky the past day and a bit. Last night right before Aqua Zumba I started feeling a sore throat, but I went to exercise hoping that would help. It didn't. I had no energy, and came home and literally crashed into bed and fell asleep for two hours. Today I felt better, but still not at %100, and when I feel sick, I want food...specifically carbs. Like toast, and pasta. So today I had more carbs than normal, but at least they were whole wheat. Hopefully I will feel better for Zumba/Aqua Zumba tomorrow!