Lookie What I Found

I'm not sure if you'll be able to read this, but here is a note I wrote to all of the members of the (women-only) gym I go to. I wrote it several months ago and completely forgot about it - until I was going through my own cellphone pictures the other day. I took a photo to remind myself that a little kindness can go a long way.



Look what else I found while looking through my phone:

Selfie with NO MAKEUP?!?! WHAT??!?!



Smurfing it up...



My wee man...he's two now. I can't believe it



And last but not least, a gem from Nursery School last year. Read Aaralyn's answer...you can't say she's wrong!



I have so many more, but I think I've attention-whored my family enough for one day :)

Fat Free Friday

I weigh: 166lbs! Down FOUR from last week!

I feel: Ecstatic!

I did: Nothing! Okay, clearly that's not completely true. What I mean is, I only worked out one day this week. Was part of that due to laziness? Absolutely! But part of it was also due to feeling run-down on some of my scheduled exercise days. I'm trying really hard to listen to my body more, and if I'm falling asleep at work (standing up) then maybe it's a sign I need to rest when I get home.

Obviously that means my eating was a lot better. Think less random bites, licks, and tastes, and more vegetables, protein, and planned eating. Making some progress - finally - feels pretty good.

Now, if only I can stay on track during my son's party on Sunday...

Lazy Winter Days

I feel like it's another one of those weeks where writer's block is in full swing. I blame lazy winter days. I find that January is such a tough month to be motivated to do anything. After the high of Christmas, and the busy go-go-go season, I just want to relax. And lie on the couch under a blanket and do nothing. Especially in this weather - it's been COLD. Like -30 cold. That is NOT normal for this area!

The downside is, my son's second birthday is this Sunday, and I've left everything to the last minute in terms of preparing for a celebration. I'm glad he's only two, because otherwise I think he'd be highly insulted! Poor little guy. No worries though...a small family party will be happening nonetheless!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

Fat Free Friday

I weigh: 169.8lbs. Down only 0.2 from last week.

I feel: Angry.

I did: I thought I did pretty good this week, exercise-wise especially. I did only get three days in even though I was hoping for four...BUT the work outs that I had were great! I felt strong and powerful - and sore afterwards. I love that feeling!

My eating was pretty good - not perfect, but so much better than before. I only had one night of too much snacking, and I most certainly didn't think it was enough to offset all of my hard work.

I am so frustrated. I put on this weight so quickly, so why is it being so stubborn at coming off?

I'm really hoping that I have better news for you next week.

That's all I can muster this week. I feel defeated.

Check this Out!

Okay, you really have to check this out...CLICK HERE.

Heads up: this is actually an anti-smoking ad that's been airing in my province. However, as you will quickly see, that is not the reason I am sharing it with you. I am sharing it with you because I can TOTALLY relate to the guy in the ad...and it makes me laugh...

Is it just me?

And now, a test. Blogger hasn't been allowing me to post pictures lately, so I'm going about it a different way. Let's see if this works...



Victory is mine!!! (P.S. Nothing like Bitstripping your Dad, lol)

Have a great HUMPday!

Sunday Runday

I am SO excited to tell you about my run on Sunday!

(That probably makes me a big dork. I digress...)

We all know that I hate the treadmill. There is a reason they call it the DREADMILL. It's funny...when I first started running, I thought the treadmill was easier than running outside. Physically, maybe is it. But mentally? No way. At least for me. It is SO difficult to distract myself from any running discomfort and heavy breathing when I'm not actually getting anywhere. Yes, I watch the TVs at the gym, and that helps distract me, but it isn't enough. I need the change of scenery!

But because the weather has been bad here lately, I decided to try something on Sunday at the gym that I don't usually do: run a 5k on the treadmill. You have to understand: I struggle to make it 10 minutes on the treadmill without a walk break. I've done 20 minutes, but that's a rarity. Normally I hit a mental block and just give up.

But Sunday? I did it. I ran 5k on that pesky treadmill. Yes, a few times I paused the machine for 30 seconds just to catch my breath (but not until I'd already run 20 minutes straight). However, all of the 5k distance was done without walking. And I did it in 35.5 minutes!!!

Guys, that's basically my outside running time right now! (Just, I got out of shape and slower. Sue me.)

I am so immodestly proud of myself right now. When I finished, it was one of those cheesy moments where you feel like you can do anything! I've missed that feeling...

Let's hope that more good gym days are in my future!

Fat Free Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

Let's get right to it.

I weigh: 170lbs (down one pound this week)

I feel: Annoyed with myself. Yes, I lost a pound, but my snacking was once again out of control. I am so looking forward to being in the 160s and being at a "healthy weight" once again, and I'm just mad at myself for giving in to so many treats. I really hope this week is better.

I did: Less than last week. But I managed to get in 3 days of sweating (my minimum goal for each week). I have some mysterious pain in one of my legs (possibly a pulled muscle), so I think I will need to take it easier next week and focus mostly on arm workouts and low impact cardio. Hopefully that will help.

I guess that's all. I had a photo that I wanted to add today, but Blogger isn't letting me. Is anyone else having that issue?

What Rhymes with Craft?

Now that Christmas is over, I can finally share some more craft projects with you!

Feast your eyes:





And...because why not...here are my traditional Christmas cookies, but decorated with a twist...get it? A TWIST? (I'm lame).



Any questions about stuff I've made? Feel free to contact me!

Thank you, Number 94!

Way, way back, I mentioned that I had a "blog goal" of having 100 followers. I'm lame like that. When I first started this blog, I didn't even think I'd ever have 10, so when I hit 93 I was ecstatic! And I've been at 93 followers for several months now. But yesterday, I noticed that I have a new one! So thank you so much to number 94! Only 6 more to go!

I feel so cool.

Moving on...

As I've blithered about before, I have tried several different projects that I've found either through internet search engines or on Pinterest. Most of them have turned out really well. My most recent adventure, however, did not.

I saw a cute little photo idea of a baby boy dressed to look like a snowman. I thought the pose would make a cute addition to Donovan's birthday invitations (he'll be two in a month - what the frickety-frick?). The original was a bit more formal than I wanted, so I attempted to put me own spin on it, as usual.

It did not work.

Behold, the comparison pic:



Yeah...uncooperative, older, skinnier child + this pose = disaster.

Oh well. At least Aaralyn wanted to join in. She looked really cute!



Seriously...the lighting sucked, my kid is too old, too skinny, and too uncooperative for this posing nonsense. I'm pretty sure that he was judging me the whole time, wondering about my sanity...

Oh well. Can't win them all!

Fat-Free Friday

TGIF, peeps!!!

(It’s a bit less exciting to say that when I have to work on Saturday…yes it’s only a half day but STILL!)

Let’s get right into Fat-Free Friday. Although this week it’s more of a Fatty Friday…c’est la vie!

I weigh: 171lbs. Up 0.5 from last week. Boo.

I feel: Indifferent about it. I knew it was going to happen. My snacking was still out of control, and it didn’t help that when I DID have a few good days, the scale hadn’t budged. I know, I know. DON’T PEAK AT THE SCALE! Caused me to eat my feelings…

However…my MEALS were great this week. I avoided fast food (until last night…I kind of forgot that it was my goal to not eat it this week, but even then I didn’t get a big meal with fries or anything!), I increased my vegetable intake, and just generally ate better. I also hit my goal of exercising 5 times per week, doing 200 push ups and 10 minutes of planking, and drinking lots of water. So those were definitely “pluses”.

My favourite exercise that I tried this week was sprint training on the treadmill. I actually saw this idea on another blogger’s page. I brought the incline up to 5 (ouch), put the speed at 9 (kill me now!) and ran with all of my might for 20-30 seconds…then I would spend the remainder of the minute resting, then do it all over again. I ended up having to drop the speed to 8.5 after a couple of minutes, and then to 8 because I just couldn’t keep up. But I was sweating like crazy regardless! I also did two days of the “30 Day Shred”, which I haven’t done in awhile, and was happy that I was able to mostly keep up with it. Makin progress.

I was really hoping that I would lose the weight quickly based on the fact that I had gained it so quickly. I guess I thought it would be “easy”, and that’s why I wasn’t focused on eating so great this week. I’ve learned my lesson though!

My goals this week will be to cut my snacking and dependency on chocolate, exercise 3-4 times, and hopefully lose 2 pounds. I want to see that “healthy” weight of 169!!!

Things that Make me Happy!

1. Sunshine

2. Friends and Family



3. Music

4. Dessert!



5. Shopping



6. My pets (all 5 of them!)



7. Crafting



8. Snow!!!

9. My Daughter



10. My baby boy



What makes YOU happy?

Elf on the Shelf - a Recap

I know it's January. But, I never got around to showing you all of our family's Elf on the Shelf shinanigans. And, since I'd like a post to reference for next year (when I will surely to goodness run out of ideas, AGAIN), I'm sharing a few more photos with you. Find the elf creepy? Too bad! So does my husband, but he's still forced to put up with him for 24 days of the year. You can handle one post!

Behold, Bernard...



That's all. Hope you don't have nightmares about cross-dressing elves who want to vandalize your family photos!

"Inspirational Phrases"

Well all know that I'm not cool. An obsessive, anxiety-ridden dork would be the best way to describe me. And what helps this self-described dork get motivated for fitness and weight-loss is to look up lame-o inspiration phrases. To...well...inspire me...obviously...

Anyway...I have come to realize that not all so-called "motivation" is positive, no matter how cutesy-pie they try to word it. So, what I've done is composed a list of 10 phrases that I've seen a few times, with my own thoughts added. For your view enjoyment, of course.

Because I'm THAT cool.

1. "Nothing tastes as good as thing feels" I don't particularly like this one. No disrespect intended if you use it as motivation for yourself, but to me, it comes across as a mantra for disordered eating.

2. "Just keep going." Simple, positive, and can be applied to any area in life.

3. "No Excuses" I know that I'm in the minority, but I absolutely hate this one. For one, if you say it to someone else, it comes across as incredibly judgemental. Two, if you use it on yourself, as I once did, you find yourself at the gym, with a horrible cough, hacking up a lung because being sick isn't worth missing a gym class. Or maybe that's just me. My point is, sometimes there ARE legitimate excuses. And there is nothing wrong with that.

4. "If you don't find a reason, you'll find an excuse" I like this one a little bit better. It has a bit of a softer tone to it.

5. "Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live" This one makes you think, doesn't it?

6. "Whatever will satisfy hunger is good food." This is a Chinese proverb, and I think I will keep this in mind to remember that food's #1 purpose is to fuel the body. There is nothing wrong with treating yourself of course, but good nutrition should be the top choice!

7. "It's not going to be easy - but it's going to be worth it" Truer words were never spoken!

8. "If you hate starting over, stop quitting." I can't tell...is this supposed to motivate you, or get you to stop whining?

9. "Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied." This one REALLY got me thinking. How many things in life do we prioritize over our own health and our own goals?

10. "I run because I really really REALLY like to eat" " Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

I would love to hear your feedback regarding these quotes. Agree or disagree with me, I'd still love to hear from you! Please leave a comment!

Fat-Free Friday

With that help of my recently-discovered love of Bitstrips (yes, I'm behind on the times, what can I say?), allow me to illustrate what happened to my ass during the past Christmas season:



Yup, that about sums it up! But only better news...

Now...I know it's only been two days since I recommitted to my healthy ways, but since Friday has always been my official "weigh in" day, I figured I might as well step on the scale to see what two mere days of being reasonable gets me.

I was down over 3 pounds. I don't care if it's mostly water weight - I'm happy with that.

I had absolutely no problems following my plan over the past two days. I'm taking that as a sign that I'm in the right mindset to do this again! I didn't feel hungry or deprived or anything. Fingers crossed that I can continue this...it would really be nice to fit my junky truck back into my pants.

On a completely unrelated note...I was going through some of my old pictures, and found this one from Aaralyn's first Christmas (2009). I hereby present to you a "Flashback Friday". How freaking cute was she?


Definitely makes me miss having a baby!

New Year, New Plan

Happy New Year, everyone! Still hanging on to those New Years resolutions? It's been a day already, and I know how quickly they can sometimes fade away, ha ha! I, myself, didn't make a list of resolutions this year. Instead, I made just one simple philosophical pledge which I hope to follow over the next year: quality over quantity. It's something that can be applied to a lot of areas in life: time with friends and family, charitable donations, food, gift-giving...the list goes on. So that's my plan, and I'm hoping to stick with it. What's yours?

Now...onto weighty matters. As I mentioned in a previous post, January 1st was to be the re-birth of my healthy lifestyle, and so far it's going well. I also noted that I would be doing a few things differently this time, and I am. First of all, I am really (moreso than before) viewing this is a new LIFESTYLE. And no lifestyle plan can be exactly the same all of the time. So I will not panic when I am invited to eat at a restaurant, and I will not harp at myself when I eat too many cookies if it's just for one day. These things happen in life, and it's okay as long as long as they don't happen all the time. If I mentally beat myself up over perceived "slip ups", then isn't that a "diet" mentality? I don't want to live like that! In fact, I think it's been hurting my success.

I am also going to start off making weekly goals for myself. I used to make 4-6 weeks plans, but they were getting harder and harder to follow, which caused me to feel like a failure. By doing things a week at a time, I can look at my upcoming schedule and choose a plan that is reasonable for those seven days. And since I will be changing things up more often, I am hoping that will prevent boredom in my routine.

My plan for the first week (which will technically start on Friday, which is my official weigh-in day): exercise 5 times, eat 3 servings of vegetables a day, drink lots of water, do 200 push ups, and not eat ANY fast food. Fast food has been killing me lately!

Lastly, I am going to try to mix cardio and weight training a bit more consistently. I'm thinking, for now, 60-70% cardio and 30-40% strength. I'm curious to see how that works for me.

Now, without further adieu, I will admit my weight to you. Let's get this over with. It's NOT good:

Weight: 173.6lbs
BMI= 26 (overweight...only by about five pounds, but STILL!)

And here are some "before" photos:



As always, I know it could be worse. And I know it's not that bad, and if you look like I do, you should not be at all ashamed of yourself. It's just that I gained almost 20 pounds in less than two months. That is NOT good!

I am hoping that I can lose about 7 pounds this month. That would make me very happy!

That's enough rambling for me! One final photo: my New Year's Eve outfit:



Yup. PJ pants and a Guess shirt. Can you tell I stayed home with the kids? I'm such a party animal!