Last day till the last month

of the year. December first is tomorrow and it's time to start thinking about New Year's Resolutions once again. Two years ago I resolved to lose the "baby weight" and I did it. That was a serious challenge but I kept at it and obtained my goal. I had some deep rooted motivation and now almost 2 years later I am going to resolve to keep up the healthy eating habits I gained while on my weight loss journey. I am also going to resolve to get more active again. I know how to eat healthily and now I must learn how to incorporate activity into my lifestyle as well. I have all the tools and knowledge but need the deep rooted motivation to filter into this part of my brain! I need to focus on the positive energy working out more will give me. I am digging deep inside me to figure out what exercise  I love best and plan to stick to it.
December is my month of personal challenge, to figure out how to incorporate activity into my life, to find a routine and schedule that works for me. I plan to try out some new classes at the community centre, revisit my love of  Zumba and perhaps give yoga another try (so many people love it- maybe I will find the type that I love too)
I will keep you posted on my journey of self discovery over the next few weeks and hope that I find something to truly move me

Update on "Party Cool"

So it turns out party cool is just another word for "dressy" Everyone showed up at the bat mitvah in suits, fancy dresses and loads of bling. (except for one of the bat mitvah girls friends-who showed up in jeans,sweater and pumas -boy did she look uncomfortable!) I am certainly glad I wore a little black dress and not a skirt and top or dress pants as I had originally thought I might!
Next event I throw that requires an explanation of dress code will simply say Fancy but NOT formal. Or perhaps something like "cocktail party attire" that sure would have helped clarify what to wear to this event!

WWYD...

if you were handed a cheque for $6000???
Would you spend it on yourself? Go on a shopping spree at your favourite store??
Would you use it to pay off a loan? Line of credit?
Would you purchase new appliances for your home? or play it safe and put it away for a rainy day???

Oh the possibilities!

Party Cool???

We were recently invited to a Bat Mitvah. The invite states that the dress code is "party cool" now really WTF does that mean? A few years ago we were invited to another family function at the dress code on the invite said "elegant casual"... seriously! Now I know for sure that hubby will be wearing a suit- no need to make the same mistake twice but I have no idea what I'm going to wear! I have a great dress I'd love to wear but I wore it to a wedding last year and think it might be too dressy... and the sweater dress I recently bought will probably be too casual...so i guess a shopping trip is in order! Any suggestions on what to wear when the invite says "party cool" that is really a totally new one to me!
(and really, what is with the new dress code lingo all about- just say what you mean so people actually understand what is going on!!!! )

Today I commit to...

starting all over again.

I am promising myself that today I will get back onto the healthy eating and exercising track.
I will make better choices, in both my eating and behaviour.
I will think before I act. I will look to the future before reacting in the now.

before and reality!

I find it amazing that what we think we might do before hand is often not what we end up doing at all! I never imagined being that mom. The one who got annoyed by my kids, freaked out at them and yelled at them all the time. The mom I used give dirty looks to when i was a teenager working at the grocery store. Time to learn how to deal with tantrums and kid fits without raising my voice and feeding the fire!!

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement, when you ask G-d to forgive you for all the sins you have committed over the past year. The day when you give up all pleasures and fast without food or water for 24 hours... the day I have always dreaded all year.
This year I am hosting the "break the fast" meal at my home, which means that I must spend most of the day cooking and cleaning my home while not eating a bite and taking care of my 2 little ones (my hubby will be at shul for more of the day than me so I'm primarily responsible for the care of the beasts)! This shall be interesting.
I am making a "simple dairy" meal which consists of nothing containing meat. The only problem is simple doesn't = easy! I still have to make a kugel or two, prepare soup, make home-made vegi pizza and a broccoli braid (using tuna instead of chicken)...then there is the cleaning! oy vey.
My last minute attempt at hiring my cleaning lady to help out didn't pan out-she of course was booked months ago for the night- what on earth was I thinking leaving it to the last minute!!!
Maybe now is a good time to start meditation and serenity now techniques!!

the Lazy Train

was coming... choo choo... I just haven't been up for posting, cooking, exercising or doing much these days. I don't what came over me through most of August and the first part of September but whatever it was I think it is passing.
After becoming so lazy and not exercising much, eating pretty much whatever I wanted and starting to feel like a blimp again my dear hubby decided to give me a much needed kick in the ass. He told me that I had to stop complaining and just do something about how I was feeling. I was annoyed with him at first but then really heard what he said and got right back on that elliptical. I have been working out every other day for about a week now and miraculously feel slimmer already! I only do a 30 minute workout but I adjust the settings myself using the manual mode rather than a set course which is much more challenging- I actually break a sweat- something I never usually did on the elliptical at home (probably part of the reason I gained a shit load of weight in the first place- going from a hard core workout at the gym every day to a half-assed workout at home over the course of several years was not good for my waistline! ) ANYWHOO... I feel like I'm back and going to be giving it my all again.
Next step- attending my motivational meeting again!

still at it

keeping up with healthy habits. Took a mini-break but got back on the elliptical tonight and it felt great. I know now that if i miss a few days it doesn't mean that is the end of it- it just means it's time to start over again!!

Day 26

Got distracted with life and haven't had a chance to blog...or exercise that much for that matter!
Did start an ab work out on Sunday evening which came with a balance ball and resistance band set...it was so hard I had to turn it off after a few minutes- that was a major blow to my ego! BUT on the other hand it was a harsh reminder that I must work on my core strength. Will get to that soon!
Last night I managed to get out for a short run. It was the perfect weather for running. Nice and cool with some breezes too. My only problem still seems to be those iPod earphones which always fall out of my ears while running. I have been meaning to go and get over the head headphones but just haven't had a chance (well i went to bestbuy and for $50 a pair i decided to leave them in the store and will try somewhere else)
As for eating well...haven't been keeping to the WW program that well but haven't gone completely over board eating crap either- just a few too many handfuls of cereal in the evenings and not weighing/measuring portions that well- and of course I had to eat a huge piece  the cake my little man made at a cooking party the other day- it was delicious! Will get back on track and will probably do okay at my next weigh-in- so that is all that matters with that right now!

Monday Madness

Had a follow up doctor's appointment yesterday. She has found nothing and really no reason for the ongoing dizziness. I'll stick to the theory that my blood pressure is a little low but it's not overly serious and certainly no excuse to eat like a glutten!
Was supposed to have a new cleaning lady come yesterday. She never showed up! I was quite annoyed as I have doing most of the cleaning myself these days but it is very hard for me to keep up and the house is starting to look a little worse for wear. When I discovered this one for $8 an hour I thought my troubles had been answered  but I guess the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is" holds true in this case! She had made promises of helping with laundry and cooking too! Oh well. Guess Craigslist is not the most reliable place to find a good cleaning service! IF ANYONE OUT THERE KNOWS OF OR HAS A RELIABLE CLEANING LADY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!
On the exercise front...managed to get out and run for just under 3km yesterday evening. It was so hot I almost passed out but I did it! If felt great but today my leg muscles are quite sore! I wonder if I'll ever be able to get past 3km in one session...

Feeding Frenzie

Yesterday was not a good day on the eating front. Since I've been suffering dizzy spells lately, the doctor said I have low blood pressure and should make sure to eat frequently throughout the day. I took this a little too much to heart and was eating the whole day...to the point where I really didn't feel that great.
SOOO last night I decided to get my shoes on and run. I planned to run for as long as I could but my run was interrupted by the sight of police helicopters and police cars all over the neighborhood. I was close the end of my run when this disturbing sight caught my attention. Alls well that ends well though...the apparent abduction of a 13 year old boy was not an abduction at all but an angry dad and son dispute (thank goodness!!!)
Back to my point though...did run and felt good about it but muscles are quite sore today. Forgot to track how long I ran   (distance and time were lost in all the commotion). Didn't exercise for most of the week but I'm hoping to get back into it again this weekend!

Magical Garden

Our garden is doing really well. So far we have ONE cucumber. It looks like a pickle- it is small and bumpy but will likely grow to a nice size soon. It's so exciting to watch the natural growth of things!
The tomato plant is flowering nicely too. I can imagine that in a few weeks all those flowers are going to be nice juicy tomatoes for my daily salad!! Yummm...

New Week, time to get moving!

Haven't felt like posting much over the weekend. Was so busy with the kids and family stuff that I am finally getting to it!
Had a less-than-successful garage sale yesterday. We put up signs all over the neighborhood and had quite a few people drive by...and not stop! All in all the kids had a great time, we spent time together as a family and I did manage to reorganize some of our stuff as for making money...not so much! Can get less than a tank of gas with our profits but it was an experience over-all!
Later in the day we took the kids to Thornhill Pool for some family swim time. The kids had a blast and loved playing in the water. It is amazing what water-wings will do to a kids' confidence in the water! THEN we went out for my dad's birthday to Southern Rub Smokehouse.  Where we had a nice meaty dinner- definitely NOT the place for vegetarians ...the brisket was delicious smothered in smoked molasses sauce! The BBQ chicken looked yummy too!


As for my diet and exercise plan...well stuck to it over all except for dinner last night and the pizza with a side of chips I had at a birthday party today. Balanced it all out with a 3km run this evening. I was doing so well on my run until the last few yards, when the heat and humidity suddenly got to me and I had to slow down to a walk...but that was okay as I got to my goal- running with no walking (except for taking a moment to shove those ipod ear buds back into my ears as they kept falling out!- must find ones that stay in better- or go old school and get ones that go over my head like ear muffs!) I have to say, once i got going it felt pretty good to get out there!

I deserve a huge whoot whoo...

Since my last weigh in on June 4th I have managed to lose 4 pounds. I was really upset last time as I was way too close to my goal weight on paper (and way more than my personal goal weight) so I have been making an effort to stick to plan, exercise daily and just live a healthy lifestyle. All my hard work has been paying off!!! I am now at 135 and am now focusing on maintaining this weight rather than losing more!!! Cross my fingers I can stick to my plan!!!

Day 6..

and still going strong. No serious workout for me yesterday but did take a nice long walk before and after a ginormous sushi dinner. Tried to stick to healthy eating during the day  in anticipation of AYCE sushi but got so hungry I snacked on a small piece of 4 cheese pizza before dinner. It was totally worth it!!

I haven't been to weigh-in in over a month and plan on going tomorrow to see if my small efforts have paid off. I will happy to have stayed the same but will be even happier to see a small loss. My weight creapt up a little over the past few months and I had a reality check at my last weigh-in...came just a little too close to my goal weight and definitely don't want it up that high! ( I set my goal weight about 10 pounds higher than my actually personal goal weight just to avoid ever having to pay for a weigh-in again!!)

On the brighter side

After the doctor's visit yesterday we went for a little retail therapy at Yorkdale. I have been wanting to go there for ages and just never get the chance. It wasn't quite as much fun toting a 5 year old boy and a 65+ mother with me as it would have been solo or with a friend but managed to look in a few stores. While browsing in Laura I noticed their amazing sale on costume jewellery, I have been searching for a necklace without much luck when my little guy pulled one off the rack and asked me to try it on...well it was awesome!!!  A long 6 strand silver chain that really looks nice with just about everything!!! My 5 year old son is a mini- fashionista! he often picks out clothes for me and they often look good! Funny thing is he picks the funniest outfits for himself and would never let us tell him to change or that he may not match! oh well- I am wearing my new necklace today with such pride!

Day Five and staying alive

This post is more about my visit with an orthopedic surgeon and less about my eating and exercise plan. Although I didn't get to work out yesterday I did stick to my eating well plan. I even took a healthy lunch with me down to Sick Kids hospital as I knew my son and I would likely be in for a long long day. It was a very long day.
We finally got down to the hospital after battling parking at the subway. I had decided to park at Yorkdale in order to avoid major traffic headaches. I didn't know the parking lot only opens at 9:30! Luckily they do start to open the gates a little earlier so we got in the lot at 9:15- but that meant we were still running late. Our appointment time was 10am. Although we did get down for 10 we didn't see the doctor till closer to 1pm! Can you imagine...they signed us in, sent us for x-rays then put us in a quite depressing room for close to 2 hours to wait to see a doctor! This is with an appointment! Anyway the first doctor came to do an assessment and determined that yes he definitely has scoliosis. He then told us the most likely option is surgery. Okay I was completely freaking out inside. This is pretty major. So finally the Orthopedic Surgeon arrived to confirm he has scoliosis but it may be corrected with a brace. So we are taking him back to sick kids in a few weeks for measuring and casting of a brace that he will have to wear for 23 hours a day. I had thought he'd only need to wear it at night but unfortunately I was quite wrong. My little guy is really worried about wearing this brace thing. And I don't blame him!

Day 4

was a great success. Not only did I track every single thing I ate but I also ate very healthy meals, no nutrition less snacks and got in all my water, vegetables and milks! Then I also did a great dance step video which I really enjoyed. The steps were a little less complex then the last step video I tried and I worked up more of a sweat because I could actually do the moves instead of trying to figure out how to do them. And when my footing did get mixed up I just stayed at the basic step just to keep moving. It was pretty awesome. And it was only 25 minutes which I really really loved!!!
I am finding that the more exercise I do the more energy I actually have. I always knew that was the case but sometimes it's so hard to actually put that knowledge into practice!

Day three

Didn't do as well Sunday on the exercise front as I'd hoped but I did still manage to get in some crunches and ab work. Ate pretty well too. My little guy is now encouraging me and wants to know exactly what kind of exercise I've done the night before. I explained to him all about my personal challenge and he thought it was a great idea. I think they've been teaching him about the importance of physical activity at school and we also discussed it with his doctor at his last check up. It is so important to start a love to activity early on in life- i never had that and hope to change that for my kids!