Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

I read Caitlin’s post yesterday, and it really hit home for me.

Both of our kitties are from the shelter.

Jersey isn’t from the actual shelter, but we adopted her from a family that no longer wanted her. She apparently chewed dry wall, ruined their hardwood, and jumped all over everyone. Of course she did… she was a PUPPY. Part of me wonders what the whole story is though, because she is a very timid dog. She also suffers from a little bit of separation anxiety too.

Flaws and all, I love that dog to bits. There’s not a day that goes by that she doesn’t warm my heart with her quirkiness and loving personality.

Their loss, was truly my gain.

If you’re looking for a dog/cat, please check your local shelter or classifieds for animals that are looking for loving homes. They deserve a second chance too. :)

guilt free indulgence

I reallllllly wanted pizza today.

So I had it.

But, just because its pizza… doesn't mean it has to be an unhealthy meal.

I picked up some Bellatoria thin crust pizza from Costco. Half of the pizza was approx 500 cals. I bulked it up with some steamed broccoli.

A delicious, yet healthy, indulgent meal. I loved this pizza!

And I had another glass of wine. We had to finish off the bottle!

I had a great workout tonight. I hit up Body Pump and half of Body Attack class. I had to leave Attack early so I could catch a ride home with Andrew. Overall, 60 mins of muscles and 30 mins of intense cardio.

I went public on Twitter today, by proclaiming that I will NOT have a single piece of Halloween candy this year. I’m counting on you guys to keep me accountable for this.

In other exciting news, we booked our winter holiday to Mexico at the end of January.  If that’s not motivation to stay on track, I dunno what is. Hello, bathing suits!

I’m on my game and it feels great.

ahhhh home

Tonight is the first night in a looooong time that I came home from work with absolutely NOTHING on my plate. Between French lessons and Booty Camp my evenings were pretty much spent.

After survivng my French exam (and having a mini shopping spree at Sephora afterwards) I decided tonight would be a night of absolute NOTHINGNESS.

I took the pootch out for a quick trip to the dog park, and came home to cook a feast.

There was wine…

 

Maple Roasted Brussels

1 cup whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce

Deliciousness.

I never drink during the week, but tonight I just felt like a glass of wine. Perfect way to unwind after a long few weeks of crazy evenings.

I didn’t even have an smidge of exercise guilt tonight.

Thanks for all the well wishes concerning my french test. I think it went pretty well. I will receive the results in approx. 5 day. TORTURE!

Back to routine tomorrow, but for now… it just feels good to breathe.

DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

I have a habit of picking up spice blends for reasons of convenience. My spice cupboard is overflowing with all sorts of different spices.

While making my pumpkin fudge last week, I was out of pumpkin pie spice… so I decided to investigate the contents. Sure enough, I had every single one of the spices in my cupboard.

May I present: DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ratio looks like this:

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp all spice or cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

I tripled the recipe to get the amount shown above.

Cheaper and tastes EXACTLY the same!

When in Rome…

When in Rome Gatineau, do as the Romans French do!

I have zero appetite. I suspect its stress induced (which is actually a first in my life…during university I ate during moments of stress!) so I created a mini meal. Very French if I do say so myself.

Grapes, raspberries, courtland apple, some wheat/sesame crackers and a little chunk of cranberry/cinnamon goat cheese.

Delicieuse!

Crunch Crunch Crunch

That is the sound of my brain... crunching all the french knowledge I have in my head in preparation for my exam tomorrow. Ahhh, the joys of working for the federal gov't.

I had another good day. Busy days means less eating.

Busy days also always end with a kickass workout. Best way to get rid of stress = 60 min spin class!

I'm a bit bummed that I had to miss my last Booty Camp Fitness session. But unfortunately my French had to take priority, as my job depends on it.

Je suis nerveuse, mais je suis prete! (I don't know the shortcuts for accents on my laptop!)

Re: Anonymous Commenter

"Ouch. Why the not so subtle dig at Oh She Glows?It's pretty simple. Her content is interesting, even if she is peppier than life. She writes well. Has a compelling story. Would never call someone out underhandedly for her success. :("

My post last night was NOT a dig at Oh She Glows.

In fact it was not a dig at anyone. Nor was it written in a negative way that could be considered as a dig.

I was merely comparing myself to the other bloggers out there.

Many bloggers have been recognized for their success, and I'm proud to be a part of that community.

And if you really must know mention of a bakery was in reference to Kath and her hubby recently becoming bakery owners.

a great day

Today was a great day.

I was actually so busy that I barely had time to think about food let alone eat much!

After work I hit up the gym for a cardio-fest. I ran for 60 mins while watching Y&R (guilty pleasure) followed by 30 mins on the stair climber. Wooo!

Rushed home to my second-last french lesson in preparation for my test on Thursday. My teacher has done a great job prepping me for the oral exam. I’m feeling more and more confident as the test approaches.

Dinner tonight was simple. A haaaaa-uge salad.

Into the bowl went:

• spring mix
• red pepper
• cucumber
• apple
• pomegranate
• goat cheese
• homemade turkey salad
• Kraft Fig Balsamic dressing

YUM.

Thank you for all your comments regarding my blog.

I haven’t been in a magazine, I’m not vegan, nor do I have a bakery but it feels good knowing you guys like me just as I am…. F bombs and all! ;)

Tell me what you think about ma blog!

I have been blogging now for almost 4 years. Crazy!

I must preface this post by reiterating that I blog purely for both my readers and myself. I have a rewarding, full time career that keeps me crazy busy and have no intention or desire to make blogging a full time career.

However, I am really envious of those who are able to make blogging their job and I am slightly jealous of the bigger blogs that seem to have taken off overnight.

I would some feedback on my blog.

Good content? What is great about it? What is horrible? More food porn? More exercise related posts? More Jersey pics? Post frequency? More day-to-day activities? Daily menus? More pics?

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

I have thick skin and will be able to handle the good, the bad and the ugly. If you want to realllly give it to me, feel free to post anonymously if you’re not comfortable.

Even though I’m just lowly little Canadian blogger I still want to make sure I’m keeping my readers interested.

Late night dinner

Booty Camp was great tonight. Hard to believe that its the last week already… I’m noticing some great changes in my endurance thanks to all the intervals we do.

I didn’t eat dinner before I left. I may have had a small serving of stuffing though… eeek!

I wanted to keep dinner light in calories and carbs, and this is what I came up with.

Homemade turkey salad with sliced apples and cucs. YUM!

I whipped up a batch of Chowdy Doody using my leftover turkey. Yummy lunch tomorrow. Yay!

Have a good night.

explanation

Firstly, thank you ladies for putting up with me AND writing some amazing comments regarding my weekend.

Secondly, bare with me. This post might be all over the place.

So, you're all right. I did balance out the indulgences by getting in lots of exercise this weekend.

I guess I'm lucky in the sense that I actually enjoy working out. I crave it to be quite honest.

My problem? I like to eat. (I also love Billy Joel. Uptown Girl just came on the radio!)

80% of the time I eat healthy REAL food.

20% of the time I eat treats.

I guess I'm just frustrated about my lack of self control. The girl below is the girl that used to get winded walking across campus to class. This girl that hated arriving late to class so she wouldn't have to squeeze into the seats in front of anyone. She could easily polish of a medium pizza in one sitting. She had no self control whatsoever.


What makes me afraid is that I'm starting to see bits and pieces resurface in the girl pictured below.



The new Amy: I am healthy. I am happy. I am an athlete. I am strong. I am determined.

You know how to rock it Amy. Get your head in the game and your will power will come back.

Feeling ‘meh’

This weekend involved a lot of exercise.

This weekend also involved a lot of food.

Why can’t I enjoy anything in moderation?

Fuck.

I need to get my shit together.

Thai and Wine… Oh my!!

Tonight marked the end of a looooong week.

My friend Amie is over tonight as both of our hubby’s are at the Ottawa 67’s game. You know what that means? WINE!

 

 

That also means… FOOD. I had big plans to make us a thai dish, but I was sooo busy this week the last thing I wanted to do tonight was cook,

We got thai take out and it was DELICIOUS.

Up next: CHEEEEESE for dessert.

I was a good girl and did an hour long run on the treadmill at the gym after work, so I’m able to indulge a little tonight.

Tomorrow, I have BOOTY CAMP at 10h30 to make up for the session we missed on Thanksgiving Monday.

There will be a big need to have a water chugging competition before bed to ensure that I am bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I am so happy the weeeeeekend is here. Tomorrow, I’m making a turkey dinner to host a mini family belated thanksgiving dinner with my cousin and his lovely wifey. Will be great!!

Have a great night!

Not much to say

I had a brutal day at work.

Missed my workout.

Had French lessons.

ITs 8h59… I haven’t eaten dinner yet.

I think its going to be cereal.

Because the Yankees could win the ALCS tonight, I will leave you with some baseball inspired pictures that take me to a happy place!

GO YANKEES!

 

New recipes galore!

So far this week, I’ve tried 3 new recipes! I’ve loved each and every one of them too… so I thought I’d share!

The first recipe I tried was the Pumpkin Mac’n’Cheese I saw over on Amber’s blog. I didn’t bake it, and I added some some a can of tomatoes and some frozen peas but overall it was very tasty! Head over to Amber’s blog for the recipe!

400

I should also note I made waaay too much sauce as I had a ton of pumpkin to use up. This is why I’m a horrible baker.. I improvise WAY too much!

Secondly, after seeing Jaime’s post on the Eat Shrink and be Merry Chowy Doody, I knew it was one that I would love.

Again I made some subs: I didn’t have any diced tomatos so I added some salsa instead. I also added some peas. YUM. Andrew absolutely loooved this dish. I think just because it had bacon in it!

Tonight, was another successful soup from Eat, Shrink and be Merry. Thai One On.

I think this one was my favorite out of the 3 new dishes I tried. I may be impartial because I love thai flavours, but this one is AMAZING. Full of flavour AND nutrients.

I’m off to watch some tv and give my fur babies some lovin!

Calling all Ottawa (and area) bloggerunners!

Well, the Halibloggers think that they are all cool running the Santa Shuffle. Truth be told, I’m somewhat jealous!

I got an email from a runner buddy asking me if I’d participate in the Ottawa Winterman Marathon Relay and the light bulb turned on in my head!

Make an Ottawa blogger (and reader) event! DUH!

I know for a fact there are a lot of bloggerunners in Ottawa (Nat, Sarah T, Christy, Anne B, Laura and many more I’m sure) and area (looking at YOU Krista)

Any interest in doing the Marathon Relay?

The scoop:

The relays are an exciting part of the Winterman Marathon. Teams of 2, 4, or 8, may challenge for relay supremacy in their divisions.  Each participant on a relay team, must run the same distance as every other team member (except for the person who runs the last loop, who runs 2.22Km further than the other team members).

Each team member on the 8 person relay team, must run one full lap of 5 kilometres, except the final runner, who runs 7.22Km.

On the 4 person relay team, each person must run 10 kilometres, except for the team member doing the final lap, who will run 12.22Km. Team members may run their 2 laps consecutively, or alternate laps.

On the 2 person relay team, team members may run their 4 laps in any order or any number in a row, as long as each member runs 4 complete laps of the course, with the last one running 7.22Km.

 

Who’s with me?

How to Bring your Garmin 205 back to life

 

I was charging my 205 yesterday to go out for a run. Much to my dismay, right as I was getting ready to leave (after an hour of charging) there was a black screen of death.

NOOOO!

I started to panic a little bit. Okay, I panicked a lot.

But then I thought I would use my good friend Google to see if it was a common problem. Sure enough, it was.

To bring Mr. Garmin back to life, press the "Mode" and "Reset" buttons at the same time. Let go of those two buttons after 2 seconds and then pressing the power button the unit will turn back on.

Crisis Averted! :)

TV Munchies

I love lazy Sundays.

I had big plans to make an appearance at the Running Room for run club this morning, but after staying up late watching the crazy long Yankees/LAA game I managed to snooze until 9am! WOW!

I did want to hit the pavement though. I call myself a runner, but if I’m being honest to you all, I haven’t had the same dedication to running that I had while training for my half in May. Today was PERFECT running weather. About 4 degrees and sunny. Loved it. Jersey and I ran 10k in a little over an hour. On the slow side yes, but I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of it.

That was about all I accomplished today, but thats ok.

I’m about to hit the couch with Andrew to catch up on our shows. We’re almost 2 weeks behind eek! On tap: CSI, The Office, Top Chef, House and The Good Wife.

Here’s what is on the TV munchie menu. Apples, cantaloupe, melted cinnamon raisin pb, and the last of the pumpkin dip.

 

Have a great Sunday evening. :)

Operation Beautiful visits Goodlife, Ottawa

The gym is a scary place for many people.

Even scarier: The women’s change room. Bodies of all shapes and sizes.

I am the first to admit, I have a hard time ‘baring it all’ in the change room. I have developed quite the technique with regards to changing without showing any skin.

You may recall my first Operation Beautiful note where I stopped feeling self conscious about my sweat. Ever since then, I’ve also stopped feeling self conscious about my body.

After losing 100lbs, I can tell you… I do not have a trim/toned body. I have a saggy, wrinkly body. But you know what? I worked HARD to lose each and everyone of those pounds. Why not be proud of that?

I am no longer ashamed of my body. I don’t feel the need to hide behind the curtain anymore.

I thought I’d remind all the beautiful women at my gym of the same thing.