Ow!

My crazy weekend has caught up with me, resulting in a needed REST DAY!

I did take Jersey for an hour long walk... but that is more therapy for moi, as opposed to exercise for her. Its crazy at work right now (fiscal year end) but the end is near. My calves are KILLING me, so it was a great way to stretch them out too!

Supper tonight: Chicken ceasar salad with tomatoes.

Desert: A baked banana. I coated each banana in a little EVOO and rolled it in a combination of crushed corn flakes, coconut and a little cinnamon. Topped with a little cool-whip. Sorry for the crappy pic.

I'm off to put the sheets on the bed before my date with Jack Bauer. Mr B was pretty sick yesterday, so I had to detox the sheets! Sleeping in a germ factory makes me puke in my mouth a little bit.

Who needs Cora's?

When you can make this on your own?

I've burned a kazillion calories in the last 24 hours, so why not? It was actually not even that bad for me! 3 slices french toast made with Bon Matin Sugar Free/Fat Free bread, topped with a fruit salad made with strawberries, raspberries, banana, orange and blackberries... and a little dollop of cool whip on top. No need for syrup as the flavour from the fruit is plenty!

French toast tip: I make the 'dipping mixture' with egg whites, Almond Breeze and tons of cinnamon. The Almond breeze saves some calories, and the cinnamon adds SO MUCH flavour! Click here to read the health benefits of cinnamon!

So, are you all wondering how my INSANE weekend was? Well, I'm alive to talk about it... so I did indeed survive!

Workout date: It was my first session with my gf Lisa, and it was my turn to create our workout. What I decided to do was a circuit of 2 mins weights followed by 1 min cardio. I targeted all major muscle groups... biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, abs, and of course legs. When all was said and done, it was a 50 min workout. Exercises of particular challenge included:  shoulder press, push ups on the ball, and hamstring curls on the ball... all for 2 mins! The cardio I used was skipping and step ups. 

Spinathon: WOW! Lets just say, it still feels like I have a bike seat jammed inbetween my butt cheeks. In retrospect my legs could have done the entire 5 hours, but my ass is thanking me for not putting it through another 2 hours!! The first 2 hours... I didn't give it 100%, but I did work up a huge sweat. I'd say I gave it about 80%. The last hour though, I knew that the end was near... so I gave it my all. The end result? Not pretty. I was physically exhausted for the rest of the day. I think I really did overdo it in the "calories burned" department. I refueled as best as I could, but I totally was totally wiped. All in all, it was a fantastic time and lots of money was raised for Team Diabetes!!

LSD 14k: I woke up pretty sore, so I was thinking the worse was about to come. It wasn't bad physically, but once again it was a mental battle with my group. I implemented a "No asking about the route" rule after about the 300th "Where do we go next".  Sometimes I feel like the fun is getting sucked out of my running, but the good members are AMAZING and make up for the couple of duds in the group. I love being the person that is there to witness their longest run ever! :)

So there it is... my crazy weekend. My plans for today? To park my ass on the couch and do a whole lot of nothing.  Have a great Sunday!

I like to move it, move it!

That song was played at my spin class last night, and its been in my head ever since. Its also a fitting post title... because this weekend, I will indeed be MOVING it!

Today is my first session with my friend Lisa. I have a pretty challenging session set up for us. This concerns me. Why? I'm signed up for a 3 hour long spin class this afternoon! Another one of my friends is running a marathon in Greece for Team Diabetes. She's also a spin instructor, so she's running a Spinathon today. I was too chicken to sign up for the full 5 hours... but I'm sure 3 will be plenty!

On tap for tomorrow: 14k and a hike in the afternoon with Jersey and my husband.

Holy activity batman!

A night in...

I love Thursdays for many reasons, but I love Thursday today because its 7:24pm and I'm in my PJ's. Exercise is done. Supper is made. Kitchen is clean. Any other night, I'm usually just starting to make dinner at this time.

Immediately after work, I packed up Jersey and we drove to a fantastic path along the Ottawa River. Parked the car and we ran 8k. The path wasn't completely clean of snow yet, so it made from some very trying terrain. Jersey got her first glimpse of Canadian Geese. She wasn't quite sure what to think.

I made a variation of this recipe for supper. I made it a little healthier by using homemade pesto, and skim milk. I also added... wait for it.... CANNED SALMON. This was a big day for me as I lost my canned fish virginity. Somehow I managed to live 28 years on this earth without EVER eating fish out of a can. My opinion: It was ok, but smelled friggin' HORRIBLE.

I also may have bought a carton of this and I plan on enjoying a bowl for desert. Its that time of year, with the sap flowing etc. All the office chatter is about sugar bushes/pancakes. Hopefully we'll have a trip here in the near future for some delicious pancakes and maple syrup!

I'm off to enjoy some Thursday night TV. Stayed tuned to find out about my crazy active weekend! 

Tuesday-Wednesday

I've been effing busy the last couple of days. My apologies! Here's another play-by-play of the last couple of days!

Tuesday:

- I signed up for Sparkpeople.com I cannot believe I have never checked it out before! Its fantastic! What I looooove the most, is that it ups your daily calories based on your activity level. Its got me eating about 1800 a day. I vow to follow this for at least a week. We'll see if its what my body has been looking for!

- I went spinning, did abs, then ran 4k with my group.

- Made a delcious supper: Honey mustard steamed chicken breast, 1/3 cup rice, 1 cup mixed veggies and 1/2 a sweet tater. I love mixed veggies for some odd reason!

Wednesday:

- Continued to suffer with my womanly issues. BRUTAL.

- Made a standing date with my HOT FRIEND Lisa to become each others personal trainers. We're going to meet each Saturday. We're taking turns  creating a total body workout. Its my week this week, I'm so excited to create us a kickass workout! I know you're reading this Lisa, so be afraid...  verrrrrrry afraid. I have some great ideas planned!

- WI = +1.2. Boo!!

- Activity today was: 30 min weights, 10 mins Step Mill, 5 hill repeats - about 6k, and a 30 min walk with Jersey! WOWSA. Lotsa activity for me today!

- I made a FANTASTIC recipe tonight. I made the Silly Greek Chili from Eat, Shrink and be Merry. I made some modifications: adding a can of navy beans, a cup of frozen mixed veggies, and chose to top it with goat cheese of course! Amazing AND healthy!

Have a great Wednesday night!

Sunday-Monday

Sunday:

- Had a mentally exhausting run with my clinic. Most of the runners in this group have never run a half marathon before. They constantly challenge my pace, my timing, the route. Usually I'm pretty tolerant... but Sunday mornings are especially difficult because 1) its 8 friggin 30am and 2) I'm not caffienated. I'm also feeling frustrated because I'm running slower then my natural time to help pace them. A little gratitude now and then would be nice! :)

- Physically the run was fantastic. It was a beautiful day, and we ran through Rockcliffe Parkwhich has some of the most amazing houses as its the weathiest neighborhood in Ottawa!

- Upon my return home, I arrived to PANCAKES made by my amazing husband. Thanks baby!

- Following an epsom salt bath, we loaded Jersey in the car and headed to what I call Doggie Heaven. Snapped this shot of her... Seriously, she is model material is she not?

Monday:

- TOM arrived... I should have known due to my unsatisfied tummy yesterday. I assumed it was just because I had burned so many calories.

- I packed a healthy lunch and filled up on lots of fruits and veggies.

- Unfortunately thats about the last good thing I can say about today.

- Arrived home with a headache and cramps

- Promply decided there would be no gymbo tonight.

- Ate ice cream directly out of the carton

-  Made homemade pizza crust, from Eat, Shrink and be Merry. I'm craving cheesy carby goodness. At least this version isn't as bad as take-out right?

- Pizza pic below. Its topped with old cheddar, red onion, mushroomies, red pepper, chicken breast and a little basil. I haven't tasted it yet but it smells divine whilst its cooking!!

- I plan to take some Midol and veg with some Dexter for the rest of the night.

The perfect fuel....

...to get me through a long run is coincidentally one of my favorite foods. PB and Nanner Sammiches!

This totally works for my body, providing the perfect combination of protein (for staying power) and carbs (for fuel)

This is going to seem like its becoming a WWer Board bashing session again today, but I don't intend it that way. There was  a post recently by someone asking if they need to take gels because they hit a wall when running for an hour. I was kind of baffled, especially when everyone agreed that gel would be the solution. 

I'm the first one to admit, I use gels/sport beans. I use them when I run anything over 14k and I begin to fuel at 50 mins. 

Gels kind of go along with my post from yesterday. They are pretty much flavored sugar, so I like to avoid them as much as I can. I realize I'm some what contradicting myself, but whenevever possible I like to refuel naturally, for example,  oranges. 

I also try to avoid calorie laden sports drinks whenever possible. Not only for the chemicals, but because they absolutely reak havoc on my stomach. When I've used them in the past, I dilute them 3/4 with water...but its still never fun for my stomach.

Because I'm a very salty sweater I need to replenish the salt... so I'll often use diluted flavored water as it is very high in sodium. Its not exactly what I'd call natural, but its easier on my stomach and tastes delicious!

Okay, I must get going. What started out to be a quick fly by breakfast post turned into gel talk. I apologize if its not very educational and kind of half-ass. 

And now a photo shoot of my all-star breakfasts!

Almond butter. Money saving tip: Buy it from a bulk store. MUCH cheaper! :)

Somtimes I like them open faced. It looks like more food that way!

Heaven. 

Hmmm, I dropped my camera yesterday... and my pictures seem fuzzy now. 

 

I just need to say this:

**I must preface this post by clearly stating I do not intend to offend anyone**

Of late, I've started posting on the Weight Watchers message boards again, mainly because I have recommited to losing the extra pounds I've gained. For the record, I loosely follow Weight Watchers program... but don't necessarily agree with the program in its entirety. 

Back when I first started WW in 2001, these boards were a HUGE contribution to my success.  They are jam packed with insightful ideas, motivation, tips etc. In addition, I "met" quite a few of you AMAZING ladies via this message board. 

Each day warning flags are going off as I read the posts of girls who are upset because they "only lost a pound" gained weight because they wore jeans to WI. More warning bells sound when I look at the menus posted that are filled with 100 calorie packs, granola bars etc. 

Yes, I was there once too.

What really got to me yesterday was when I posted about my oatmeal creation.  Immdiately the responses were: Oh that's high in points. I was actually kind of baffled because, yes, its higher then a 2 point breakfast.... but ITS GOOD FOR YOU!  I consider myself to be 'above average' in the activity department and my body NEEDS FUEL. And let me tell you, I have no problem giving it the fuel it needs. 

Thats my beef with Weight Watchers. In my opinion, it dosn't provide atheletes the proper amount of nutrition. Eating 20 points a day (roughly 1000 calories) is putting your body into starvation mode. Yes, there are now 35 flex points... but so many people believe that eating them is dangerous. Weight Watchers also has 'activity points' which again, a lot of people feel they shouldn't eat. Then people wonder why they don't lose. Why? Again this is my opinion, because they are starving themselves.

Don't get me wrong, Weight Watchers is the main reason I lost the bulk of my weight. It is a good program. It taught me about portion control. It also created a border-line disorder. I was (and still kinda am) obsessed with food. 

The point of this post? To indirectly tell a few people: 

1) Please, don't be afraid to eat. 

2) See beyond the POINTS, and think nutrition. 

3) Food is good for you. 

4) Don't beat yourself up for going over your points for eating an apple. 

5) Full fat yogurt is not going to kill you. 

6) Educate yourselves by reading more about nutrition

Ok, I feel a hell of a lot better getting this out. 

Oh, one more thing: I didn't get fat eating oatmeal jam packed with healthy deliciousness.

INTENSE

After a particularly bad day at work, I was craving a workout. I've been going in super early this week, but staying until my normal quitting time. Andrew picked me up at 3:00pm and we headed straight to the gym. 

I started out with a HIIT session on the dreadmill. 25 mins of 1:1's, increasing the run time by 0.1 each minute. I started out at 6.5mph and by the time I was done I was up to 7.5mph. I felt great the entire time. 

After cardio, I did a HEAVY weight session: Low  reps/high weight. Muscles targeted were biceps, shoulders, tris, lats with some lunges in between to break up the sets. I anticipate some sore muscles in the morning. On top of that I did 100 push ups in sets of 10, with 10 sit-ups in between each set. Yep. I'm going to be sore.

I must say though, I loved being home early in the day. 

Supper tonight was DELICIOUS.

Started out with a salad. Lettuce, tomato, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and some old cheddar.

Followed by an M&M veggie burger topped with some caramelized onion, old cheddar and tomato. On the side: Steamed asparagus.

Another stellar day!

A-friggin-MAZING!

My dinner tonight: Steamed broccoli topped with goat cheese, 1/2 a sweet potato, 6oz of steak and a risotto'ish side- Quinoa, asparagus, toasted almonds and parmasean. SOOOO GOOD!
Today was a stellar day in the activity department. 60 min sweaty spin class, followed by 4 hill repeats. The run ended up being almost 7k and about an hour. My legs are pretty much hating me tonight, but it felt great. Andrew and Jersey joined me for the run which was nice too!

WI- I was down 0.4lbs. Not the greatest loss known to man, but hey, I'll take it.

Day of rest

I took today off exercise.

My body (and brain for that matter) needs a rest.

Lets hope I don't eat the entire house.

Note to self...

...rest days are important, and I should take one every now and again. I did a spin class tonight, and shouldn't have after all the runnning I did yesterday. My legs were toast by the end of it!

I was famished by the time I arrived home, and had a rice cake  with some PB whilst cooking dinner. Lewis the sneaky bastard snuck in for a sniff while I was snapping the picture!

I've been reading about Annie's mac'n' cheese for a while now, so I decided to see what all the hype was about. I had a box of the whole wheat shells with white cheddar sauce. To 'beef it up' I added a cup of mixed veggies and some italian sausage. Sorry for the crappy pic:

I had a huge-ass ceasar salad with old cheddar on the side.

I didn't LOVE the mac'n'cheese. It was just okay. Despite being organic and pretty much chemical free.... I prefer homemade.  

Andrew is gone to geekfest 3000 (to see a movie with the boys) so I'm bach-ing it tonight. I plan to hit the hay early, and maybe have a loooooong bath to soothe my tired legs.

Good Night...and remember REST DAYS ARE IMPORTANT!!!

Sunshine is good for the soul

Man, I am sooo happy today. Its amazing what a couple days of warm(er) weather and sunshine does.  :)

Started out the day with a 10k LSD run. It was a little cold at the beginning, but it warmed up and a good time was had by all. It flew by, which is always a sign of good company.

I ran some errands afterwards... stopped in at Winners to check out the workout clothes selection. Ended up scoring a great pair of Nike running capris for $25! I also scored a pair of grey denim trousers in size 11... Great for the ego.

When I arrived home, I grabbed Jersey and headed out for another run! Its days like today that I loooooooove being a dog owner. Seeing her happy little face makes me beam. We ran 2.5K to the dog park, she frolicked for about 30 mins, and ran the other 2.5k home. 

As far as today's eats:

Pre run: PB and nanner sammich

Post run: Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte

Breakky (although its 2pm): Pumpkin oats.

Dinner: I put a chicken in the crockpot, so it will be a meat and potatoes kinda meal. LOVE IT!

The lovely Lainey asked about pumpkin oats. 

In today's bowl:

1/3 cups oats

2/3 cup skim

pinch of salt

splash of vanila

1/2 banana thinly sliced

1/3 cup pumpkin

handful of raisins (I like to cook them in the oatmeal to make them more juicy

cinnamon

topped with: trail mix, PB chips and a tsp of peanut butter.

DEEEELICIOUS!

If its as nice out wherever you are today as it is in Ottawa, stop reading this and get out and enjoy the sunshine! Happy Sunday!

Saturday play-by-by

• Started the day out with a fantastic workout: Body Attack and Body Pump. Earned 12 APs.
• Enjoyed an amazing bowl of pumpkin oats
• Went to my Dad's and soaked in his hot tub in the sunshine for an hour. Sooo relaxing. 
• I feel amazing.
• I enjoyed PC Blue Menu Roasted Veggie Lasagna, cesar salad and a slice of whole grain bread for supper.
• I am really looking forward to running tomorrow.
• Have a great night!

Naughty

Its 11h40pm and I'm eating orange/pineapple ice cream.

I had fahitas for supper at Lonestar.

And a few chippies with salsa.

I don't care. I don't feel guilty. 

I PLANNED FOR IT. :)

Back on the straight and  narrow tomorrow!

Beeeeeeeeeef!!

I don't eat a lot of red meat. But today, I had a crazy craving for a hamburger. I had a great day in the points/exercise department... so I had a burger!

Lean angus beef mixed with an egg white, bread crumbs, montreal steak spice and BBQ sauce topped with 1/2 a cheese slice on a 2 point bun. Served with zuchinni boats.

...and a side of veggies.

.....and "crack dip". Its not good for you, and its addictive.

I had a unique workout tonight. I did Body Attack, followed by Body Pump. Attack was fantastic, but Pump as I mentioned was: UNIQUE. I have never done this particular class before, because I think there is a prequisite. What is that you ask?

You must be gay, and you must be male.

I was surrounded by 9 men (I COUNTED!!) and the male instructor was winking at the hottie beside me. Please see the humourous side of this, as I don't mean it offensively... it was just friggin' bizarre to be the minority! At my gym its pretty rare for males to participate in group fitness classes so it was just SOOO WEIRD to be surrounded by men.

12 Activity points were earned when all was said and done. WOO HOO!

Off to watch THE OFFICE. Night. :)

Windy WI Wednesday!

-1.2 lbs! Yipee!

Running hills certainly was interesting with 60-90 km/hr winds blowing in your face. We did 3 repeats for a total of 6.5k in 50 mins.

I'm stoked about my WI this week. With my illness, needless to say working out wasn't really possible. It always seems that I have good WI's when my exercise is minimal. Ah well. I like to exercise dammit.

What was good about this week:
- I ate a lot of fruits/veggies
- stayed away from processed crap
- didn't eat any chocolate... yipeeee
- didn't have a single starbucks. Shocking.
- enjoyed my MIL's b-day dinner out, but enjoyed prime rib and a piece of cake.

What was mediocre this week
- ate out 4 times (2 lunches, 2 suppers)
- didn't drink as much water as I should have
- didn't workout so much.

I have some rosemary topped chicken in the steamer for supper... and it smells divine. Can't wait to enjoy it! Here's to another fantastic week! :)

le sick: the home sick edition

I have a hard time staying home sick. I see so many people abuse their sick time, and well, thats just not me. After a pretty rough day yesterday, I decided to listen to my body and stay home. I also have a pregnant co-worker, so I don't want to pass any of my germs on to her. 

After a gravol-induced sleep I actually feel ok... although when I woke up I was still pretty high. 

Last night, I asked Andrew to pick up a loaf of bread. I should know better by now. Why you ask? He came home with a loaf of this: Each slice is at least 1" thick and its 130 cals per slice!  

I was able to slice it in half.... and made an open faced PB and Banana sammich with some orange slices. 

I don't think Jersey knew I was home today. When I woke up and came downstairs she was KO'ed on the couch! Call me the fun-police, but I don't let her upstairs or on the furniture. Clearly she breaks the rules when I'm not around!

le sick: part deux

Somehow I managed to survive the entire day at work, but I'm definitely still not well.

Long story short: No long run.

I did take a 45 min walk with Jersey, which also likely counted as a glute workout since I had to clench my cheeks together the entire time!

Lets hope for rainbows and lollipops tomorrow. Until then, I can be found on the can.

le sick

This weekend has pretty much sucked. I've been sick the whole time. The kind of sick where you can't be far from the bathroom. Yuck.

Yesterday was my MIL's 65th birthday. Initially I was a little worried thinking about the weekend with all the temptations. I was only able to keep down a banana all day, so my prime rib dinner (barely ate half) and piece of cake (it was strawberry shortcake... I was eating it regardless of my stomach issues!!) likely wasn't the end of the world.

I took lots of drugs before bed in hopes to make it out running today. Needless to say, my long run didn't happen. I'm feeling UBER guilty about it too. My guilt goes away with the thoughts of being 10k away from home with the sudden urge to 'go'. I have enough stomach issues and the odd case of the 'runners trots' when I'm healthy, let alone sick. 

After a good sleep-in, I woke up feeling 'ok' but my stomach was still queasy. I decided to buck up and sweat out this virus and hit up a spin class. I felt like it was a safe move. Not a lot of bouncing or impact, and there is a bathroom close by. This was probably a huge mistake because I felt like ass the entire time. Even the hotness of my favorite instructor was not enough to make me give'r. 

The rest of the day has been spent on the couch. I plan to be here until bed time. 

Happy Sunday. 

PS- Please convince me to do my long run tomorrow. 

The last 2 days...

My brain is mushy... so I shall summarize in point form.

Thursday:

-  Started the day off right. Did an early morning Body Pump and 5k run. Felt great.

- I was reminded why I don't really enjoy said workouts. Getting ready for work at the gym with 25 other women. 

- Had a crazy busy day at work.

- Ate raisin bran for supper, but stayed totally OP.

Friday:

- Woke up feeling kinda crappy.

- Crappy feeling continued throughout the day.

- Had this amazing Mandarin Noodle Soup for lunch. Opted not to eat so many of the noodles though.

- Enjoyed my favorite class of the week. RPM Spinning with THE hottest man on this planet. 

- Ran for 2o mins after spinning to kill sometime,

- Waiting for my husband to pick me up... called him after he was 30 mins late, only to find out he somehow managed to lose his effing keys between the time he arrived at work, and the time he was to leave.

- Had to take the gross bus home and had to sit beside the most disgusting smelling man ever. 

- Arrived home to poor doggie who pretty much sprinted out the door to pee. Poor girl.

- I am le grumpy. 

- I'll put your out of your misery now and end this grumpy talking.

- Happy Amy to return tomorrow.

WI and Workout!

Drumroll please: -2.6 lbs! :)

Workout tonight:

3k tempo run @ 6.17/k
2k LSD pace @ 8.0/k
20 min Shred Level 3.

Feeling GREAT!

I got stuck at workout and wasn't able to make it to run club, so I ran with Jersey as soon as I got in the door. On the training schedule was the 3k tempo, but I was getting bored walking so I just decided to run slowly home.

I've been slacking a little in the weights dept, so I opted for a little quality time with Jillian.

All in all, a goooooood day!

Really?

Tuesday nights always consist of spinning, followed by running. Usually inbetween I stop at shoppers to procure some refueling, usually in the form of a Myo-Plex Lite bar.  

That being said, its Lent... and if you recall I gave up chocolate. 

Do you know how frickin' impossible it is to find a chocolate free protein bar?! 

I ended up buying a box of Vector Bars. Not the end of the world really, but it sure made me miss the sweet chocolately taste of the Myo-Plex bars.

Spinning was sweaty, running was freezing. All in all, a good night. :)

Point Friendly Comfort Food

Its another cold one in Ottawa today. I was craving comfort food big time. That being said, I didn't have a lot of points to work with, because I may have indulged in a date filled cookie this afternoon that one of my co-workers baked. 

Its been a while since I've made soup, so I made a huge pot of 0 Point soup. My secret ingredient you ask? PARSNIPS!! I cannot tell you enough how AMAZING this tastes in said soup. I also add a can of diced tomatoes... another excellent additive!

Weight Watcher bread was on sale this week (I never buy it... too pricey!) so I bought a loaf. I made 2 delicious mini sammiches to go along with my soup. One grilled cheese with tomato and one with a laughing cow wedge, tomato and fresh basil. I pressed them in the pan by putting a frying pan over top of them, and weighted it down with a 12 pack of diet pepsi. PERFECTION!

I took the night off exercise. Just didn't have it in me. I deserve a night off every now and then! I did do two 20 min yoga sessions... one was for runners, and the other was a hip opener. It was okay, but I enjoy loud music, sweating and punching things much better! :)

Just gonna throw this out there:

Am I the only one in the whole world that hates yoga?

Tried it again tonight. Definitely NOT for moi.

I'll be back with more later!