Junk I Love

This summer, as you know, my cravings have been getting the better of me. So, just to get it out of my system, I thought I'd share with you some of the junk food that I adore:

1. Ice Cream. It's been my biggest down fall this summer. Especially McDonald's Oreo McFlurry's.


2. Chips, especially this kind of Dill Pickle Chips :


But, you have to eat them with this dip:


3. French Fries. Why do they have to be so good?


4. When I'm trying to be good, I eat this yogurt-covered pretzels. They are the perfect combination of sweet and salty. Unfortunately, the benefit of the 100-calorie packs is eliminated when you eat several...


5. And, finally...any kind of chocolate...seriously, any kind...


What are YOUR biggest food weaknesses?

Runner's High? Not for me!

There are a log of blogs out there that are dedicated to fitness and exercise. Among them, many feature bloggers who are into running, like myself. What I've noticed in a lot of these blogs is that there tends to be a post describing "runner's high"...a feeling of euphoria that occurs at some point during their run. It's described as an amazing feeling that helps motivate them for future endeavors.

I, however, do not get this.

Nope. I have no idea what a runner's high feels like. How I wish I did!

I do, however, get what I call "runner's indifference". At some point during my runs, I reach a point where I stop feeling like I'm torturing myself, where my breathing has regulated, and even if my muscles feel sore, I'm running at a steady pace. And at that point, I may not feel great or amazing, but I do feel like I could keep going for quite awhile. Like, "I can stop anytime, but I don't NEED to." Take THAT, former lazy self!

So, I'd like to hear from you, if you are a runner, or any other type of athlete. Do you have experience with runner's high...or can you merely relate to my indifference? Why do you think some people get this elated feeling while others miss out? Tell me, please!

Summer Bucket List

A couple of weeks ago, I was on vacation from work. I have another vacation coming up next week, but it occurred to me that I never recapped the last one!!! So let me do that now...

The week was wonderful! The weather was hot...almost unbearably so! But, I didn't let that stop us from crossing some things off of our summer bucket list. We didn't go away, but we did enjoy several day trips and excursions. We had a very busy week actually! My husband didn't have the whole week off, so my parents helped me with the kids on some of our outings. Here is what we did:

We:

- Took the kids to a local(ish) playground and splash area
- Spent some time in the family pool
- Went to a zoo in a nearby town
- Took my daughter to a nearby (mini) waterpark AND the drive-in movie theatre to see Despicable Me 2 (it's quite funny, by the way)
- Went to a BIGGER waterpark
- Drove about an hour away to a Safari/Zoo-type area (and got caught in a really bad storm!)
- Helped prepare for, and attended, my niece's 4th birthday party (yes, I made the cake!)

Overall, it was a tiring week - but so much fun!

Rough Start

My "Summer Slimdown" is off to a rough start. Don't expect to see a Fat-Free Friday post from me tomorrow - I don't even want to know what the scale says!!! Ulgh...

Part of my struggling has been due to some stress that I've been experiencing lately, which is causing me to eat my feelings. And I have a LOT of feelings. I know, I know...excuses, excuses. BUT...we also got some very good news this week: my husband passed his licensing exam, so after years of working as an apprentice, he is FINALLY a licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer!!! So of COURSE we had to go out and celebrate. And you can't celebrate without an appetizer, entrée, dessert and wine, now can you?

So, what I've learned is...when I feel bad, I want to eat, and when I feel good, I want to eat. And that's a problem.

But, I feel like today is going to be the start of some better weeks ahead! I went for a run last night (and pushed myself, despite wanting to stop every darned second!) and have eaten really well so far today. And I am determined to re-lose these pesky 10 pounds. Because I can't wait to look like this again:

How to Live With Your Parents (but not for the rest of your life)

Let me just put this out there:

I still live with my parents.

Put your eyes back in your head. I KNOW it’s a bit weird.

And actually, by “still live with”, I really mean “live with again”, and by “I”, I mean “my husband, kids and I”. Yes, we are just one big, happy, multi-generational family.

Seriously, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.

And it’s not as rare as you may think, either. A surprising number of North Americans live in these type of family households (of course I forget the actual percentage, because I’m cool like that, but I think it was somewhere between 15-20%). Not to mention other countries and cultures where this arrangement is the norm.

We used to live in a condo. Now, we don’t. I don’t want to bore you with details about the why and how, but let’s just say that it isn’t the horror story many people may think. All of us get to save money and share household work…and it’s kind of nice having extra help with the kids. It’s pretty much like having free, live-in nannies…who tell you how to parent your kids. And hog the kitchen. (I’m KIDDING, Mom and Dad. Well, kinda).

Here are some pros and cons of sharing a home with another generation:

Getting Ready In the Morning

Pro: People are around to help watch the kids, so that if I get behind schedule (which is often), I don’t have to rip my hair out trying to get ready while two kids wrap themselves around my leg.
Con: I can’t walk around half-naked…not that I do that….

The Kitchen

Pro: Yay! People to share cooking duties with (I hate cooking. I’d rather swallow fire.)
Con: There is literally someone in the kitchen ALL the damned time. Tripping each other.

Bedtime

Pro: If both of my kids are “just done for the day” at the same time, and my husband is at work, I can have help putting them to bed.
Con: Extra excuses for my daughter to NOT go to bed. “But I need to hug Grammy! But Grampy didn’t give me a kiss! WAHHH.”

Pets

Pro: Between us, we have three cats, two dogs, and a fish tanks. So much animal life around all the time!
Con: SO MUCH animal life around ALL THE TIME.

Is this plan forever? No, not at all. But for the time being (and for my sanity), it really has been a blessing…

Mostly…

Fat-Free Friday

Summer Slimdown 2013 - Week 1's results are in!

I..........lost a whopping 0.8 of a pound.

I'll take it. Last weekend was horrendous. Besides, I have a new plan for the upcoming week, which I am actually excited about. I'm going to focus on getting more activity in, even if I only have 20 minutes. No more of this "Oh, if I don't have an hour, there is no point" garbage. As always, I ask that you wish me luck! I've love to lose 2lbs this week. It will be a challenge to do so though...

Also...I thought this was funny/neat. For my wedding anniversary in June, I ended up wearing the same dress as I had the previous year. Yes, I'm lame!!! But this time, I weighed about 30 pounds less. I made a little side-by-side photo thingy, and am happy to say that I DO see a difference...even though it's mostly in the face. Do you? *note...I cropped my husband out of the frame...not because I'm self-centred, but because he prefers his photo not being plastered over the internet. Lamesauce.*



Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday