It sure doesn't take long to lose fitness, I tell ya. This past Friday I got the green light from my physio to add in some lower body strength training and start lengthening the distances on my runs as things are looking pretty good with the old bum...wooohooo! So far, it doesn't feel like my cardio has suffered too much but not so with the strength side of things...I did 3 sets of 10 air squats and lunges to start on Sunday and I couldn't believe how sore I've been the past two days! I guess it's been almost a month since I hurt myself so I'll need some time to build things back up again slowly but surely...I don't want a repeat of this little incident ever again.
This whole broken ass thing really got to thinking though...over the past six months I've definitely asked a lot of my body but really haven't looked after it that well...mea culpa. I've been bad at stretching and rollering consistently and haven't been getting regular massages to keep things loose and limber, which I think has resulted in a lot of the issues I've been having with my ribs coming out of place more often than usual. Well, no more...I'm vowing to roller and stretch nightly and make regular appointments with my most amazing and fabulous RMT. "Niggles no more!" is my new motto.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: home workout - hundreds
Yes, I like to torture myself...hundred pushups, situps, burpees and mountain climbers. I admit that I didn't do the jump in the burpees but once the butt is better, I'm there.
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 3K treadmill run
Wednesday: 3K treadmill run
Thursday: rest
Friday: intervals on stationary bike, chinups
Saturday: 3K run/circuit
Yay! Ran the full 3K with one walk break...glute felt great!
FOOD:
Bang on...yes!
RECIPES:
Arugula Salad with Penne, Chickpeas and Sundried Tomatoes (this was fantastic, highly recommend!) and the Fiesta Bean Salad from Skinnytaste and Quinoa Salad with Herbs and Sunflower Seeds from Canadian Living.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
2013 - Week 30 Recap
Recovery week! I took things pretty easy...a lot easier than what I had planned actually. I don't know what it was, but this week was fraught with issues. Mercury retrograde, anyone?
After a fairly successful first attempt at any kind of running in almost a month, my butt was a bit sore but overall not too bad. Success! I was pretty sore from Saturday's ladder workout so decided that most of the week would just be some easy running to get my butt and body back into the groove, so no crazy workouts were in the works...I've been having so many niggles that I figured my body deserved a rest after six months of hard workouts. Most of the week proceeded as planned until I woke up Thursday morning feeling sore and achy with a killer headache and silly me...I moved a bit too quickly out of bed and felt a click in my chest and a sharp pain in my ribs...oh great. By the time I got to work, I could feel that telltale tightening of my muscles that only happens when a rib comes out of place...again! Bah. Luckily after some rollering and stretching, I felt it click back into place...calamity avoided this time. The killer headache didn't go away though and soon I was sneezing with a runny nose...I proceeded to pound every single thing I could to avoid getting sick as this was our anniversary weekend, and there was no way I wasn't celebrating, ribs and cold be damned! Whatever I did, it worked because by the time Friday night rolled around, I felt much better...all systems go for anniversary weekend!
Now we all know bad things happen in threes, right? Sunday I went out in the garden to do some weeding and must have moved just so, and my lower back start to tense up and seize. It felt OK until I went to bed where it proceeded to ache no matter which way I slept...it bothered me so much that I ended up getting up multiple times in the middle of the night to roller and stretch...sorry Hubs. It's still bothering me today and making it hard to sit for too long. Seriously...am ready to trade this body in for a newer, younger and faster model. Taller would be good too, this five foot nothing business is for the birds.
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Anyways...thank goodness that week is over so onward and upward. Anniversary weekend was fantastic too...Hubs completely surprised me with a little giftie that got me a little verklempt (OK, a lot verklempt!) at the restaurant...
A wee pineapple for our mutual love of all things Hawaiian...happy tenth, honey...you are the best.
WORKOUTS:
Prepare to be underwhelmed folks...
Sunday: intervals on the bike
Monday: treadmill run
Two and a half kilometres doing 5 and 1's and then some chin-ups!
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: treadmill run
Three kilometres doing 5 and 1's.
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Just getting over feeling sickly so I took another rest day.
Saturday: 3K run/strength
First run outside in a month!! I can't tell you how awesome it felt to get out there. And I'm being such an angel and not pushing things too fast, right? Right?!
FOOD:
A few excesses here and there but none of it counted because it was my anniversary. Tee hee.
RECIPES:
Kale pesto from Fifty Shades of Kale. Awesome recipe, but warning to those with spouses...you'll both want to eat it as the amount of garlic in this would kill Dracula.
After a fairly successful first attempt at any kind of running in almost a month, my butt was a bit sore but overall not too bad. Success! I was pretty sore from Saturday's ladder workout so decided that most of the week would just be some easy running to get my butt and body back into the groove, so no crazy workouts were in the works...I've been having so many niggles that I figured my body deserved a rest after six months of hard workouts. Most of the week proceeded as planned until I woke up Thursday morning feeling sore and achy with a killer headache and silly me...I moved a bit too quickly out of bed and felt a click in my chest and a sharp pain in my ribs...oh great. By the time I got to work, I could feel that telltale tightening of my muscles that only happens when a rib comes out of place...again! Bah. Luckily after some rollering and stretching, I felt it click back into place...calamity avoided this time. The killer headache didn't go away though and soon I was sneezing with a runny nose...I proceeded to pound every single thing I could to avoid getting sick as this was our anniversary weekend, and there was no way I wasn't celebrating, ribs and cold be damned! Whatever I did, it worked because by the time Friday night rolled around, I felt much better...all systems go for anniversary weekend!
Now we all know bad things happen in threes, right? Sunday I went out in the garden to do some weeding and must have moved just so, and my lower back start to tense up and seize. It felt OK until I went to bed where it proceeded to ache no matter which way I slept...it bothered me so much that I ended up getting up multiple times in the middle of the night to roller and stretch...sorry Hubs. It's still bothering me today and making it hard to sit for too long. Seriously...am ready to trade this body in for a newer, younger and faster model. Taller would be good too, this five foot nothing business is for the birds.
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My constant companions, Ms. Tennis Ball and Mr. Foam Roller.
And yes, that's a fake palm tree in my office. What?
Anyways...thank goodness that week is over so onward and upward. Anniversary weekend was fantastic too...Hubs completely surprised me with a little giftie that got me a little verklempt (OK, a lot verklempt!) at the restaurant...
what a guy...
A wee pineapple for our mutual love of all things Hawaiian...happy tenth, honey...you are the best.
WORKOUTS:
Prepare to be underwhelmed folks...
Sunday: intervals on the bike
Monday: treadmill run
Two and a half kilometres doing 5 and 1's and then some chin-ups!
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: treadmill run
Three kilometres doing 5 and 1's.
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Just getting over feeling sickly so I took another rest day.
Saturday: 3K run/strength
First run outside in a month!! I can't tell you how awesome it felt to get out there. And I'm being such an angel and not pushing things too fast, right? Right?!
FOOD:
A few excesses here and there but none of it counted because it was my anniversary. Tee hee.
RECIPES:
Kale pesto from Fifty Shades of Kale. Awesome recipe, but warning to those with spouses...you'll both want to eat it as the amount of garlic in this would kill Dracula.
Monday, July 22, 2013
I Ran
I couldn't resist but add a little bit of a retro kick to today's post. Yep, you got it baby, Flock of Seagulls! I'm an 80's child, what can I say? And the title? So fitting.
Yep, I ran...but I didn't run so far away. But I'll take it! I had my physio appointment today for my weekly check in and good news...I got the green light to start running again. Wahoooie! My physio said that he could tell I was doing my homework (yes, I'm puffing my chest out proudly as I type) and that my glutes are way stronger than they were when I first went in to see him. My hip and muscles have also loosened up considerably, thanks to tons of rollering and some very intense (in other words, super painful) work with a tennis ball. I have to go slow and build back up again a bit at a time, starting off with two to three kilometres running 5 and 1's, building up to a half hour of running and then go from there. Anxious to get at 'er, I raced home and jumped on the treadmill...I admit, it took all my willpower to not keep going but I ran 2K doing 5 and 1s as prescribed and I stopped. And...drumroll please...butt is feeling pretty good! So I'm hopeful I'm on the mend. I'm back to see him in two weeks, and then we'll see if I can start adding back lunges and squats and then hopefully I'll get the all clear. So I've got a bit of a ways to go to be fully recovered, but I'm gettin' there.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
2013 - Week 28/29 Recap
OK, my broken ass is pissing me off. I know, I know...people get injured all the time and I've been able to continue to exercise so I haven't turned into a total couch potato, but there's nothing that replaces that feeling of hitting the wide open road and just giving 'er. I haven't quite hit the "feeling sorry for myself" stage quite yet, more the "wish this would just effing heal so I can get on with it" kinda feeling. I think I haven't quite fallen into the depths of despair because I've been able to continue to work out even if I'm not able to run so I'm not getting too cagey, thank goodness...but it still kinda sucks. Anyways, not rushing it and just being patient. If my foam roller was my best friend before, that thing is now glued to me at the hip figuratively and literally...I've been rollering every day and faithfully doing my rehab exercises. I've even been rollering my butt at work when things feel tight from too much sitting! Anyways, I won't bore you with all the gory details of Week 28, but I did mostly intervals on the bike to keep my cardio up, PISE classes with modifications, and some home workouts. No bootcamps as it's a lot of running and hill sprints with scads of squat, lunges and burpees...not what the ol' butt needs right now! Anyhoo, on to Week 29.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: intervals
Doing intervals of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off on the stationary bike. Yup, it's a total sweatfest and I'm just dripping in sweat after!
Monday: PISE
Le sigh. I may have pushed myself a teeny bit harder than I should have at class...I thought some bodyweight squats would have been OK but apparently not. Butt was feeling tight and sore the next day. Blah.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: PISE
Sob...last class at PISE for the summer! I can't believe it's been six months since we started these sessions and I'm so, so happy that I've been fortunate enough to be part of this group. I've discovered I love strength training and want to do more of it in the future...I've always been way more cardio-focussed so am really happy that I've managed to build up my strength so things are more balanced. I've learned a lot about proper form and have tons of exercise routines from all the workouts we've done so I'll continue on with these while we're off for the summer. The ladies are all super gung ho for another round starting in late August/September and I'm so signing up for sure! This week coming up I'm going to take it a bit easy on the workouts...I think because I've been going at things pretty hard core for the last six months and I'm facing some niggles, so a little extra rest is in order starting with a massage Friday night. Yesss.
Thursday: rest
Friday: intervals
More bike intervals in the morning. These things are not easy in the morning when I'm barely half awake.
Saturday: home workout
Hubs went for a run while I went downstairs and did a ladder workout that we did at PISE, working from ten to one on the following exercises:
Bent over row
Glute bridge
Push press
Mountain climbers
Situps
Shoulder press
Pushups
Stability ball roll-ins
Renegade row
Burpees (chest to floor but no jump...NOT risking it!)
I adapted all the lower body stuff to upper or core, and man...my upper body is really feeling it today, oooch.
FOOD:
A few naughty things leapt into my mouth this week. Being better this week for sure, but it's my tenth wedding anniversary this upcoming weekend so I'm throwing all caution and better judgement to the wind and definitely something celebratory will be had!
RECIPES:
Huh. I didn't make anything new and exciting this week. Rats.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: intervals
Doing intervals of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off on the stationary bike. Yup, it's a total sweatfest and I'm just dripping in sweat after!
Monday: PISE
Le sigh. I may have pushed myself a teeny bit harder than I should have at class...I thought some bodyweight squats would have been OK but apparently not. Butt was feeling tight and sore the next day. Blah.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: PISE
Sob...last class at PISE for the summer! I can't believe it's been six months since we started these sessions and I'm so, so happy that I've been fortunate enough to be part of this group. I've discovered I love strength training and want to do more of it in the future...I've always been way more cardio-focussed so am really happy that I've managed to build up my strength so things are more balanced. I've learned a lot about proper form and have tons of exercise routines from all the workouts we've done so I'll continue on with these while we're off for the summer. The ladies are all super gung ho for another round starting in late August/September and I'm so signing up for sure! This week coming up I'm going to take it a bit easy on the workouts...I think because I've been going at things pretty hard core for the last six months and I'm facing some niggles, so a little extra rest is in order starting with a massage Friday night. Yesss.
Thursday: rest
Friday: intervals
More bike intervals in the morning. These things are not easy in the morning when I'm barely half awake.
Saturday: home workout
Hubs went for a run while I went downstairs and did a ladder workout that we did at PISE, working from ten to one on the following exercises:
Bent over row
Glute bridge
Push press
Mountain climbers
Situps
Shoulder press
Pushups
Stability ball roll-ins
Renegade row
Burpees (chest to floor but no jump...NOT risking it!)
I adapted all the lower body stuff to upper or core, and man...my upper body is really feeling it today, oooch.
FOOD:
A few naughty things leapt into my mouth this week. Being better this week for sure, but it's my tenth wedding anniversary this upcoming weekend so I'm throwing all caution and better judgement to the wind and definitely something celebratory will be had!
RECIPES:
Huh. I didn't make anything new and exciting this week. Rats.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Why I Run Long Distances by The Oatmeal
I've loved the comic "The Oatmeal" for ages...hilarious, honest and a bit crude (OK, a lot crude), he's been quite often the source of those kinds of laughing fits where my stomach hurts, I can't breathe and my vision is blurry because I'm crying so hard. Anyways...his latest comic is about why he runs...he's done the full range of races, all the way from 5Ks to ultramarathons, and he talks about all the terrible and wonderful reasons of why he runs long distances. It's a five part series (seriously, you'll want to read them all), so if you're a runner...this is a must read. For those of you who know and love us runners, it'll give some insight on why we lace up our shoes and choose to run 26.2 miles and train for hours during the hot blazing summer. I won't spoil it, but his reasons for why he runs are bang on to how I feel.
So go here to read it. Go quickly, go now. Oh, and to the Oatmeal? I love you.
So go here to read it. Go quickly, go now. Oh, and to the Oatmeal? I love you.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Achy Breaky...Body?
Have I completely dated myself? OK I admit...I hated...no, I despised this song when it came out way back when but it seemed like a good segueway into this post. First...the song is old, like me. A hit back in 1992, I was a young lass of 23 back when Billy Ray sang about his achy breaky heart. Hubs and I started dating in 1992 when I was young and carefree without a worry in the world. So fast forward now 21 years later and honestly...lately I'm feeling every millisecond of the past 44 years, I swear! This leads me to the achy breaky part...does anyone else ever feel like they're a million years old some days? Lately I've so been feeling my age...I don't recover from workouts as fast as I used to, and I seem to be dealing with a lot of niggles lately...my broken ass, a vaguely unhappy Achilles (I still don't regret helping that lady!), and I had another couple of ribs that were out and bugging me last week. Quite often I wake up feeling sore especially after a hard class, but sometimes I wonder if this is normal or it's just me because I'm as old as dirt (OK, maybe I'm not that old, but I sure feel like I am). For instance, this morning...I woke up and felt soooo tired and had little muscle twinges and twangs everywhere. Anyways...I think over the next while I'm going to really make sure I up the self care on my body/muscles, and possibly treat myself to a few good massages to help with my rib issues and keep my muscles loose and limber. Oh and possibly take up line dancing as a new workout...uh, NOT. Ha!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
2013 - Week 27 Recap
Looooove Sunday afternoons...mornings are always a blur of cooking, laundry, cleaning and other domestic duties, and then once I'm done it's me and glass of something (lately it's been wine) hanging out and spending some quality time together.
Recap this week is going to be short...I went to the physiotherapist last week to see what was up with that whole butt cheek thing that happened last Friday...I don't mess around with injuries and figure if something hurts, it's your body's way of saying "what the eff, man?!". Anyways...it's confirmed that my ass is indeed broken. My left glute muscle is weak and not doing what it should so the piriformis was doing all the work and finally decided to give me the finger and go on strike. At first the physio said I could do a short run around 5K-ish, but then decided nope...he wanted me to give my butt some more rest so no running, lunges or squats for the next week until I go back to see him again. He gave me some exercises to do because, in his words, he wanted me to have "buns of steel"...he had me clench my butt cheeks and apparently the left one didn't even engage, lazy thing. Anyways, he gave me some ultrasound and did some acupuncture, which was actually pretty funny...I'm used to being in various stages of dress with practitioners and don't even bat an eyelash, but he kept apologizing the whole time while he worked on my exposed butt. Buddy, you can do whatever you want if it means I can continue to work out pain and injury free! Ha.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: home workout
So even though I have a broken ass, it doesn't mean I can't exercise so I've been going back to old workouts that I've done with Josh that were mostly upper body. Pretty soon I'm going to have no neck with the amount of pushups and stuff I'm doing. Look out, Incredible Hulk!
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: home workout
I had emailed Danya to tell her my story of woe and asked for an alternative workout to do in the meantime. Butt was feeling better so I was able to get on the stationary bike and do some intervals.
Thursday: rest
Friday: home workout
Saturday: home workout
FOOD:
Bang on again, go me!
RECIPES:
Mushroom and rice "meatloaf" from Mouthwatering Vegan.
Recap this week is going to be short...I went to the physiotherapist last week to see what was up with that whole butt cheek thing that happened last Friday...I don't mess around with injuries and figure if something hurts, it's your body's way of saying "what the eff, man?!". Anyways...it's confirmed that my ass is indeed broken. My left glute muscle is weak and not doing what it should so the piriformis was doing all the work and finally decided to give me the finger and go on strike. At first the physio said I could do a short run around 5K-ish, but then decided nope...he wanted me to give my butt some more rest so no running, lunges or squats for the next week until I go back to see him again. He gave me some exercises to do because, in his words, he wanted me to have "buns of steel"...he had me clench my butt cheeks and apparently the left one didn't even engage, lazy thing. Anyways, he gave me some ultrasound and did some acupuncture, which was actually pretty funny...I'm used to being in various stages of dress with practitioners and don't even bat an eyelash, but he kept apologizing the whole time while he worked on my exposed butt. Buddy, you can do whatever you want if it means I can continue to work out pain and injury free! Ha.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: home workout
So even though I have a broken ass, it doesn't mean I can't exercise so I've been going back to old workouts that I've done with Josh that were mostly upper body. Pretty soon I'm going to have no neck with the amount of pushups and stuff I'm doing. Look out, Incredible Hulk!
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: home workout
I had emailed Danya to tell her my story of woe and asked for an alternative workout to do in the meantime. Butt was feeling better so I was able to get on the stationary bike and do some intervals.
Thursday: rest
Friday: home workout
Saturday: home workout
FOOD:
Bang on again, go me!
RECIPES:
Mushroom and rice "meatloaf" from Mouthwatering Vegan.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Playing Along
I know, I know...how many of these things can I do, right? Sorry, I'm a total sucka for a survey so here goes.
A. Attached or single?
Attached to Hubs for twenty one years, married for ten years this month! Our impromptu Maui trip this winter was to celebrate our tenth year of marriage-dom and there's nowhere that I'd rather be to celebrate this milestone.
B. Best friend?
My bestie R...she moved away to the Land of the Living Skies, Saskatchewan a few years ago, and not a day goes by when I don't think about her. Sigh.
C. Cake or pie?
Geez, these questions are always so hard! I like both, but I would have to give the slight advantage to pie. Love a good flaky pastry and a yummy, fruity, delicious filling like strawberry rhubarb or apple.
D. Day of choice?
Friday, or better know as Saturday Eve around our house! I love the feeling of the impending weekend and knowing that I have two days to hang out and the world is my oyster...nothing tastes better than a nice glass of wine on a Friday night, too. Tee hee.
E. Essential item?
Hands down, my iPhone...or as Hubs calls it, my Borg. I cannot live without my iPhone. This thing is always within reach no matter where I am, and if I'm separated from it, I start to get a little bit anxious. There's been times where I know I've put it down in the house and I've freaked out thinking I've lost it. I know, I have a huge problem.
F. Favourite colour?
Any shade of green, but my fave is a bright, chartreuse green.
G. Gummy bears or worms?
Bears...always the bears.
H. Home town?
Victoria...born and raised and I've never left.
I. Favourite indulgence?
Pedicures at my favourite spa in the whole wide world, Willowstream at the Fairmont Empress. Nothing is better than getting pampered and spoiled.
J. January or July?
I would have said January because I used to hate hot weather (I know...I'm so weird) but now I love, love, love the summer so July it is! There is truly nothing better than walking around in shorts and flip flops on a hot summer day.
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K. Kids?
No thanks! Hah! I've never, ever, ever wanted kids and knew from a very early age that I didn't want them. OK, I may have had vague thoughts of having them for like fifteen minutes or something when we first became engaged, but that feeling quickly dissipated. People have said for years and years that I'd change my mind and have them, but now that I'm pushing 44...pretty sure we're not contributing the gene pool. I guess I've just never had that desire (I think I'm missing that gene) and luckily, Hubs is on the same wavelength. I much prefer being an aunty!
L. Life isn't complete without?
Scotch. Hah, I kid! Love...from your kids, parents, friends, spouses, furbabies...it all counts. Sappy, but true.
M. Marriage date?
July 26, 2003...anniversary coming up soon, woohoo!
N. Number of brothers/sisters?
One older bro, currently living in Edmonton and works as a prof at U of A.
O. Oranges or apples?
Oooh, this is even harder than the cake or pie question. I love both...but would probably give the slight advantage to oranges.
P. Phobias?
Two huge phobias...I'm absolutely terrified of spiders and will emit blood curdling screams if I find one of those awful looking big brown house spiders in the basement. Truly, I'm hysterical and I know I'm being hysterical, but I can't help myself. The other thing that sends me into fits is heights...I can't get up on a step ladder without getting dizzy and losing my mind.
Q. Quotes?
R. Reasons to smile?
Friends, family, good health, a roof over my head and food on the table. Don't need anything else!
S. Season of choice?
Summmmmeeeeerrrrr!
T. Tag 5 people
OK, I won't force anyone to do this so I won't tag anyone!
U. Unknown fact about me?
I signed up to go to nursing school but changed my mind. So glad I didn't, as I've become squeamish in my old age.
V. Vegetable?
Hard to pick as I like 'em all, but I'd say my two faves are broccoli and asparagus.
W. Worst habit?
I leave dishes lying around everywhere. Poor Hubs has to pick up after me in that department all the time.
X. Xray or Ultrasound?
Neither, thanks!
Y. Your favourite food?
Sushi, hands down. Absolutely love it and never get sick of it.
Z. Zodiac sign?
Right on the cusp between Aries and Taurus, but I think I'm more Taurus.
A. Attached or single?
Attached to Hubs for twenty one years, married for ten years this month! Our impromptu Maui trip this winter was to celebrate our tenth year of marriage-dom and there's nowhere that I'd rather be to celebrate this milestone.
B. Best friend?
My bestie R...she moved away to the Land of the Living Skies, Saskatchewan a few years ago, and not a day goes by when I don't think about her. Sigh.
C. Cake or pie?
Geez, these questions are always so hard! I like both, but I would have to give the slight advantage to pie. Love a good flaky pastry and a yummy, fruity, delicious filling like strawberry rhubarb or apple.
D. Day of choice?
Friday, or better know as Saturday Eve around our house! I love the feeling of the impending weekend and knowing that I have two days to hang out and the world is my oyster...nothing tastes better than a nice glass of wine on a Friday night, too. Tee hee.
E. Essential item?
Hands down, my iPhone...or as Hubs calls it, my Borg. I cannot live without my iPhone. This thing is always within reach no matter where I am, and if I'm separated from it, I start to get a little bit anxious. There's been times where I know I've put it down in the house and I've freaked out thinking I've lost it. I know, I have a huge problem.
F. Favourite colour?
Any shade of green, but my fave is a bright, chartreuse green.
G. Gummy bears or worms?
Bears...always the bears.
H. Home town?
Victoria...born and raised and I've never left.
I. Favourite indulgence?
Pedicures at my favourite spa in the whole wide world, Willowstream at the Fairmont Empress. Nothing is better than getting pampered and spoiled.
J. January or July?
I would have said January because I used to hate hot weather (I know...I'm so weird) but now I love, love, love the summer so July it is! There is truly nothing better than walking around in shorts and flip flops on a hot summer day.
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K. Kids?
No thanks! Hah! I've never, ever, ever wanted kids and knew from a very early age that I didn't want them. OK, I may have had vague thoughts of having them for like fifteen minutes or something when we first became engaged, but that feeling quickly dissipated. People have said for years and years that I'd change my mind and have them, but now that I'm pushing 44...pretty sure we're not contributing the gene pool. I guess I've just never had that desire (I think I'm missing that gene) and luckily, Hubs is on the same wavelength. I much prefer being an aunty!
L. Life isn't complete without?
Scotch. Hah, I kid! Love...from your kids, parents, friends, spouses, furbabies...it all counts. Sappy, but true.
M. Marriage date?
July 26, 2003...anniversary coming up soon, woohoo!
N. Number of brothers/sisters?
One older bro, currently living in Edmonton and works as a prof at U of A.
O. Oranges or apples?
Oooh, this is even harder than the cake or pie question. I love both...but would probably give the slight advantage to oranges.
P. Phobias?
Two huge phobias...I'm absolutely terrified of spiders and will emit blood curdling screams if I find one of those awful looking big brown house spiders in the basement. Truly, I'm hysterical and I know I'm being hysterical, but I can't help myself. The other thing that sends me into fits is heights...I can't get up on a step ladder without getting dizzy and losing my mind.
Q. Quotes?
R. Reasons to smile?
Friends, family, good health, a roof over my head and food on the table. Don't need anything else!
S. Season of choice?
Summmmmeeeeerrrrr!
T. Tag 5 people
OK, I won't force anyone to do this so I won't tag anyone!
U. Unknown fact about me?
I signed up to go to nursing school but changed my mind. So glad I didn't, as I've become squeamish in my old age.
V. Vegetable?
Hard to pick as I like 'em all, but I'd say my two faves are broccoli and asparagus.
W. Worst habit?
I leave dishes lying around everywhere. Poor Hubs has to pick up after me in that department all the time.
X. Xray or Ultrasound?
Neither, thanks!
Y. Your favourite food?
Sushi, hands down. Absolutely love it and never get sick of it.
Z. Zodiac sign?
Right on the cusp between Aries and Taurus, but I think I'm more Taurus.
Monday, July 1, 2013
2013 - Week 26 Recap
Happy Canada Day, folks! I cannot believe that this year is precisely half over...where's the time gone? Anyways, this weekend was absolutely stellar...beautiful, warm, sunny weather and one of the most relaxing and fabulous weekends I've had in recent memory. Happy, happy, happy sigh.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Crazy workout day. Had a good cardio workout in the morning at bootcamp and then got my ass absolutely handed to me that night at PISE. OK...I've done a lot of tough classes with the king of butt-kicking Jason...but this one was on a whole other level of omg-I-think-I'm-gonna-lose-my-lunch kinda hard. It was totally awesome.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Jason class in the morning...lots of hill repeats but I wasn't doing so hot. What's up? Well...the night before Hubs and I were leaving the grocery store, and this poor little old lady was backing up out of her space and her car broke down right in the middle of the lane, blocking both sides of traffic. As we walked up, we watched people walk past her and not even offer her a hand, and the people in the cars were getting more and more irate and honking. Incensed at what utter and absolute jerks people could be, Hubs and I offered to help push her car back to her spot...and in the process of doing that, I think I overextended my Achilles heel (I was wearing flip flops) and it was hurting at bootcamp Wednesday morning...hills in particular were difficult. Not happy that I injured myself, but I couldn't not help that poor lady! Strength work for the evening class (am super loving strength work) and some exciting news to announce...well, exciting for me...ha! I moved down a band for the assisted pullups! I know, small things please small minds...but I'm that much closer to being able to do an unassisted pullup. One day...
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Double le sigh. I skipped class in the morning to let my Achilles rest, but managed to pull my left glute muscle when I was doing some lunges at the evening class. We were just at the start of our workout and as I went into the lunge, I felt a sharp pain in left butt cheek and it hurt enough that I couldn't continue on so had to modify the workout (it was still tough!). As it cooled down that night, it started to ache and going up and down stairs was painful...gah! Over the past few days I've been making sure to ice it every few hours and managed to get some compression on it and thankfully it's feeling better...I'm not going to take any chances though and am going to take it easy this week. I've had some niggles over the past while with my right calf and now with this Achilles and glute thing so I think I might to take this week off from classes and just let my body get some rest and recover. It's going to drive me crazy to not exercise, but what's a week in the whole grand scheme of things...and better to be off one week than three months, amirite?
Saturday: upper body workout
Did a Josh workout that was all upper body to rest the old butt cheek while Hubs went out for a run. As always when I'm injured, I regret those times when I jammed out on workouts in the past and wished I could have gone with Hubs...love our runs together.
FOOD:
Bang on.
RECIPES:
Lemon rosemary garlic lamb chops from Food.com.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Crazy workout day. Had a good cardio workout in the morning at bootcamp and then got my ass absolutely handed to me that night at PISE. OK...I've done a lot of tough classes with the king of butt-kicking Jason...but this one was on a whole other level of omg-I-think-I'm-gonna-lose-my-lunch kinda hard. It was totally awesome.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Jason class in the morning...lots of hill repeats but I wasn't doing so hot. What's up? Well...the night before Hubs and I were leaving the grocery store, and this poor little old lady was backing up out of her space and her car broke down right in the middle of the lane, blocking both sides of traffic. As we walked up, we watched people walk past her and not even offer her a hand, and the people in the cars were getting more and more irate and honking. Incensed at what utter and absolute jerks people could be, Hubs and I offered to help push her car back to her spot...and in the process of doing that, I think I overextended my Achilles heel (I was wearing flip flops) and it was hurting at bootcamp Wednesday morning...hills in particular were difficult. Not happy that I injured myself, but I couldn't not help that poor lady! Strength work for the evening class (am super loving strength work) and some exciting news to announce...well, exciting for me...ha! I moved down a band for the assisted pullups! I know, small things please small minds...but I'm that much closer to being able to do an unassisted pullup. One day...
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Double le sigh. I skipped class in the morning to let my Achilles rest, but managed to pull my left glute muscle when I was doing some lunges at the evening class. We were just at the start of our workout and as I went into the lunge, I felt a sharp pain in left butt cheek and it hurt enough that I couldn't continue on so had to modify the workout (it was still tough!). As it cooled down that night, it started to ache and going up and down stairs was painful...gah! Over the past few days I've been making sure to ice it every few hours and managed to get some compression on it and thankfully it's feeling better...I'm not going to take any chances though and am going to take it easy this week. I've had some niggles over the past while with my right calf and now with this Achilles and glute thing so I think I might to take this week off from classes and just let my body get some rest and recover. It's going to drive me crazy to not exercise, but what's a week in the whole grand scheme of things...and better to be off one week than three months, amirite?
Saturday: upper body workout
Did a Josh workout that was all upper body to rest the old butt cheek while Hubs went out for a run. As always when I'm injured, I regret those times when I jammed out on workouts in the past and wished I could have gone with Hubs...love our runs together.
FOOD:
Bang on.
RECIPES:
Lemon rosemary garlic lamb chops from Food.com.
Monday, June 24, 2013
2013 - Week 25 Recap
Zomg, zomg, zomg!
So about a month or so ago I wrote this post about the Colour Me Rad runs, and how awesome and cool that I thought doing one of these would be...I know sometimes as runners we get so wrapped up with splits and intervals and fartleks and speedwork and personal bests and, and...well, you get the drift. Anyways, I figured it would be so much fun to do a run strictly and solely to have fun with your friends and all the runners around you. Well guess what...Colour Me Rad is coming to little old Victoria! Squeeeeeeee! It came up as a recommended post on my Facebook page (seriously, it was fate), and as soon as I saw it I knew who I wanted to do it with and that was my bootcamp buddy, D. We've worked out together for the past five years and she's been my friend since we were in the sixth grade, so who better to ask? The run isn't until April 2014, but she's in like Flynn and we're so excited. Cannot wait.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: yoga
Yay, finally made it to yoga! It was desperately needed as I've been so tight and stiff lately.
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Gorgeous day for workouts! Morning was out at Esquimalt Lagoon...seriously, there is probably not a better location to do a morning bootcamp...you get to work out by the ocean with the sun rising as you work up a sweat...can it get any better than that? Evening class was an absolutely killer class where all we used was a medicine ball, and if we dropped it we had to do burpees as punishment. Let's just say no one dropped their ball.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Am seriously loving our new trainer at PISE. I just gotta say, I've been so lucky to have had such great trainers there so far. She is totally kicking our asses and pushing us just enough to make us work hard and improve our fitness but not so hard that we barf up a lung. She's been amping it up each and every class, I swear after each class I looked like drowned rat with my hair pasted to the side of my head and makeup running everywhere...and no, I am not one of those chicks who puts on makeup to go to the gym. Ha!
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Saturday: 30 minutes treadmill
I know, I know. We jammed out on our weekly run, but Hubs was catching up from jetlag and I was, to put it simply, feeling like ass. I was tired and woke up with a screaming headache, but we cut a deal that we'd still have to work out but could forgo the run. Done! As always, I started out tired and groggy and after some hard intervals on the treadmill, I felt great but the best thing? My headache totally went away. Awesome.
FOOD:
Food was bang on this week. Yes.
RECIPES:
Lentil burgers from Back to the Beginning by the Three Sisters - this recipe was absolutely fabulous and the best veggie burger I've made to date...even better than the one from Whitewater, and that's high praise, folks.
So about a month or so ago I wrote this post about the Colour Me Rad runs, and how awesome and cool that I thought doing one of these would be...I know sometimes as runners we get so wrapped up with splits and intervals and fartleks and speedwork and personal bests and, and...well, you get the drift. Anyways, I figured it would be so much fun to do a run strictly and solely to have fun with your friends and all the runners around you. Well guess what...Colour Me Rad is coming to little old Victoria! Squeeeeeeee! It came up as a recommended post on my Facebook page (seriously, it was fate), and as soon as I saw it I knew who I wanted to do it with and that was my bootcamp buddy, D. We've worked out together for the past five years and she's been my friend since we were in the sixth grade, so who better to ask? The run isn't until April 2014, but she's in like Flynn and we're so excited. Cannot wait.
does this not look like the most fun, evar?!
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: yoga
Yay, finally made it to yoga! It was desperately needed as I've been so tight and stiff lately.
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Gorgeous day for workouts! Morning was out at Esquimalt Lagoon...seriously, there is probably not a better location to do a morning bootcamp...you get to work out by the ocean with the sun rising as you work up a sweat...can it get any better than that? Evening class was an absolutely killer class where all we used was a medicine ball, and if we dropped it we had to do burpees as punishment. Let's just say no one dropped their ball.
truth...
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Am seriously loving our new trainer at PISE. I just gotta say, I've been so lucky to have had such great trainers there so far. She is totally kicking our asses and pushing us just enough to make us work hard and improve our fitness but not so hard that we barf up a lung. She's been amping it up each and every class, I swear after each class I looked like drowned rat with my hair pasted to the side of my head and makeup running everywhere...and no, I am not one of those chicks who puts on makeup to go to the gym. Ha!
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Saturday: 30 minutes treadmill
I know, I know. We jammed out on our weekly run, but Hubs was catching up from jetlag and I was, to put it simply, feeling like ass. I was tired and woke up with a screaming headache, but we cut a deal that we'd still have to work out but could forgo the run. Done! As always, I started out tired and groggy and after some hard intervals on the treadmill, I felt great but the best thing? My headache totally went away. Awesome.
FOOD:
Food was bang on this week. Yes.
RECIPES:
Lentil burgers from Back to the Beginning by the Three Sisters - this recipe was absolutely fabulous and the best veggie burger I've made to date...even better than the one from Whitewater, and that's high praise, folks.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
2013 - Week 24 Recap
OK...I gotta say...I think I've been sore almost every week for the last 22 weeks since I've been working out at PISE! I'm one of those crazy people who actually likes being sore but if I keep this up, I'm going to have to start packing my foam roller and tennis ball around with me everywhere and have my RMT on speed dial...oooooooooooch.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: 10K run
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
All I remember about this day was it felt like all I did was pushups...in the morning we did a pyramid workout and push ups were one of the exercises. At the evening class, Dania busted out a can of whoop ass on our butts and had us do eight rounds of eight exercises, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. Twenty seconds doesn't sound that bad, right? Except we had to finish the eight rounds of each exercise before we could move on to the next one. I swear, after the eighth round in a row of push ups I thought my arms were going to spontaneously combust and I'd have to drive home with my feet.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 30 mins treadmill a.m./PISE p.m.
Back/neck was hurting and I was worried about a rib being out (sigh, hypermobility is such a PITA) so I didn't risk going to a Jason class and decided to do some cardio on the mill. I massaged my back with a tennis ball intermittently during the day and it must have popped something back into place as things loosened up and I was able to go to evening class...and so glad I did! Josh was back for his graduation so it was great to see his smiling face.
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Sigh. Some more sadness this year...I tell ya, it hasn't been a stellar year in this regard, that's for sure. Hubs' stepdad passed away last week so he had to fly to Manchester on Friday to be with his mom. His stepdad was a really nice guy, we had a chance to meet and hang with him when we went to Hong Kong a few years ago. Anyways, glad we were able to find flights on such short notice and that Hubs can be there for his mom.
Saturday: 10K run
A quiet run on my own on Saturday...just me and my thoughts. I missed Hubs, but it was kinda nice to just get inside my own head and let my thoughts wander.
FOOD:
A few treats slipped past my lips this week...I couldn't resist trying this dessert that my coworker brought in for us as she had some leftovers from a dinner she had made the night before. What was this irresistible dessert? It goes under a few names...Mud and Snow Tire Cake (sounds appetizing, no?) but better known as Better Than Sex Cake. Chocolate cake mix as a base, with a mixture of warmed condensed milk and caramel sauce poured over it and then topped with a layer of Cool Whip, Skor Bars and more caramel sauce. It was delicious and worth every sugar laden calorie.
RECIPES:
Thai noodles from Cleaning Eating 3, Potato Salad from Back to the Beginning from the Three Sisters, and baked pork chops from Food.com.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: 10K run
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
All I remember about this day was it felt like all I did was pushups...in the morning we did a pyramid workout and push ups were one of the exercises. At the evening class, Dania busted out a can of whoop ass on our butts and had us do eight rounds of eight exercises, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. Twenty seconds doesn't sound that bad, right? Except we had to finish the eight rounds of each exercise before we could move on to the next one. I swear, after the eighth round in a row of push ups I thought my arms were going to spontaneously combust and I'd have to drive home with my feet.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 30 mins treadmill a.m./PISE p.m.
Back/neck was hurting and I was worried about a rib being out (sigh, hypermobility is such a PITA) so I didn't risk going to a Jason class and decided to do some cardio on the mill. I massaged my back with a tennis ball intermittently during the day and it must have popped something back into place as things loosened up and I was able to go to evening class...and so glad I did! Josh was back for his graduation so it was great to see his smiling face.
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Sigh. Some more sadness this year...I tell ya, it hasn't been a stellar year in this regard, that's for sure. Hubs' stepdad passed away last week so he had to fly to Manchester on Friday to be with his mom. His stepdad was a really nice guy, we had a chance to meet and hang with him when we went to Hong Kong a few years ago. Anyways, glad we were able to find flights on such short notice and that Hubs can be there for his mom.
Saturday: 10K run
A quiet run on my own on Saturday...just me and my thoughts. I missed Hubs, but it was kinda nice to just get inside my own head and let my thoughts wander.
FOOD:
A few treats slipped past my lips this week...I couldn't resist trying this dessert that my coworker brought in for us as she had some leftovers from a dinner she had made the night before. What was this irresistible dessert? It goes under a few names...Mud and Snow Tire Cake (sounds appetizing, no?) but better known as Better Than Sex Cake. Chocolate cake mix as a base, with a mixture of warmed condensed milk and caramel sauce poured over it and then topped with a layer of Cool Whip, Skor Bars and more caramel sauce. It was delicious and worth every sugar laden calorie.
RECIPES:
Thai noodles from Cleaning Eating 3, Potato Salad from Back to the Beginning from the Three Sisters, and baked pork chops from Food.com.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Eating Clean: Step Two
So a few weeks ago I wrote this post about all the lifestyle changes Hubs and I have made to work on some Hubs' health issues. The changes were pretty drastic and some days it was hard to stay on track, but I have to say...I'm pretty proud of Hubs' as he stayed on course the whole way. Anyways...as a follow up to his initial blood work where we discovered he had elevated cholesterol, blood sugars and blood pressure, Hubs' had some more blood tests recently at the three month point to make sure that the changes we were made were working.
I'm so happy and absolutely thrilled to say, Hubs' cholesterol levels have dropped and are well within normal ranges! The doctor was so impressed, he thought that he had put Hubs' on meds and just couldn't believe his eyes that the changes were all done through diet and exercise and in just three short months. Here are the numbers, so you can see how things have improved:
Total cholesterol (normal range 2.00 - 5.19)
Before: 5.97
After: 3.37
LDL (normal range 1.50 - 3.39)
Before: 3.39
After: 1.78
HDL (normal range, higher than 0.90)
Before: 0.93
After: 0.84 (booooo!)
Triglycerides (normal range 0.42 - 2.29)
Before: 3.62
After: 1.66
Chol/HDL ratio (normal range, lower than 4.9)
Before: 6.42
After: 4.01
So while we're thrilled that things are going in the right direction, we still have a bit of work to do to get his HDL up (I'm thinking more omegas). Blood sugars have dropped and are at the high end of normal, so still some improvement to be made there...this in particular is something I want to work on as Hubs' grandma and dad both have Type 2 diabetes. Blood pressure has dropped but still a teeny tiny bit high. But overall, I'm so happy to see the improvements and it's confirmed that we're on the right track. This whole thing has just confirmed to me how absolutely important nutrition is to health...as Socrates said "let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food". Smart man.
I'm so happy and absolutely thrilled to say, Hubs' cholesterol levels have dropped and are well within normal ranges! The doctor was so impressed, he thought that he had put Hubs' on meds and just couldn't believe his eyes that the changes were all done through diet and exercise and in just three short months. Here are the numbers, so you can see how things have improved:
Total cholesterol (normal range 2.00 - 5.19)
Before: 5.97
After: 3.37
LDL (normal range 1.50 - 3.39)
Before: 3.39
After: 1.78
HDL (normal range, higher than 0.90)
Before: 0.93
After: 0.84 (booooo!)
Triglycerides (normal range 0.42 - 2.29)
Before: 3.62
After: 1.66
Chol/HDL ratio (normal range, lower than 4.9)
Before: 6.42
After: 4.01
So while we're thrilled that things are going in the right direction, we still have a bit of work to do to get his HDL up (I'm thinking more omegas). Blood sugars have dropped and are at the high end of normal, so still some improvement to be made there...this in particular is something I want to work on as Hubs' grandma and dad both have Type 2 diabetes. Blood pressure has dropped but still a teeny tiny bit high. But overall, I'm so happy to see the improvements and it's confirmed that we're on the right track. This whole thing has just confirmed to me how absolutely important nutrition is to health...as Socrates said "let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food". Smart man.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
2013 - Week 23 Recap
So you know all those motivational posters that say how you won't regret your workout?
You get the gist, right? Well, today I really put those sayings to the test. After another week of three really tough double days, I wasn't in the mood to go for a run this morning. I was super unmotivated and I even tried to entice Hubs into being bad with me and asked him if he really wanted to run or not...aren't I awful? Hubs, being the good egg that he is, just matter of factly said yes. Bah.
As we headed out on our run, it felt like my legs were made of lead and they were so sore and tired. The first few hundred feet were just painful, and I thought well, maybe I'll just do a few kilometres and let Hubs run the rest. I was feeling out of breath and just wasn't in the mood to run so most of the first few kilometres we ran in silence as I suffered quietly. Then slowly as my legs and body warmed up, I felt a bit better. I still didn't feel great, but I didn't feel like the big pile of crap like I did earlier. Then Hubs and I started chatting as we plodded along, and I began to feel better and better, and by the end I actually felt pretty good and was so glad that I made myself lace up my shoes and get out there...Hubs was a big part of it, so I thanked him for not letting me be a total jam tart. So even though those motivational posters might seem all cliché and simplistic...alls I gotta say is that they're the truth.
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
First double day of the week. Evening class at PISE was our second class with our new trainer and I commented afterwards that I thought I only had burning stumps left for arms. Hah! It was all about the arms that night and they were just vibrating afterwards. We started the class with some work with the prowler (prowler is a weighted sled type thing that you can either pull or push) and it was hilarious because for the first round, I could honestly barely move the thing. Thankfully we dropped the weight so it was a bit more doable...anyways, it was awesome working with the prowler for the first time. After this class, I was girding my loins for Wednesday's double day as Jason would surely be in fine form and Dania was proving to be quite the asskicker.
Tuesday: rest
Must start going to yoga again. Must.
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Second double day of the week. Brutal day. Morning class with Jason was hundreds, so we did a hundred pushups, tricep dips, these half burpee things and sit ups and then afterwards headed out on the trails for a bunch of hills and sprints. I could barely stay upright Wednesday afternoon, and somehow managed to make it through PISE at night. Woohoo! Done like dinner.
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Third double day of the week. Made it through morning bootcamp (a run around the lakes) but I was again, *this* close to jamming for the evening workout but I made myself go. Once again, I was so glad that I did...do I sense a recurring theme this week? Anyways, just two of us made it to class Friday night at PISE and it was an awesome, fun workout that we did out in the sunshine.
Saturday: rest
FOOD:
Food right back on target...staycation slide is officially over.
RECIPES:
Roasted cauliflower, garlic and leek soup from Food.com and sesame noodles with roasted tofu from Clean Eating 2.
You get the gist, right? Well, today I really put those sayings to the test. After another week of three really tough double days, I wasn't in the mood to go for a run this morning. I was super unmotivated and I even tried to entice Hubs into being bad with me and asked him if he really wanted to run or not...aren't I awful? Hubs, being the good egg that he is, just matter of factly said yes. Bah.
As we headed out on our run, it felt like my legs were made of lead and they were so sore and tired. The first few hundred feet were just painful, and I thought well, maybe I'll just do a few kilometres and let Hubs run the rest. I was feeling out of breath and just wasn't in the mood to run so most of the first few kilometres we ran in silence as I suffered quietly. Then slowly as my legs and body warmed up, I felt a bit better. I still didn't feel great, but I didn't feel like the big pile of crap like I did earlier. Then Hubs and I started chatting as we plodded along, and I began to feel better and better, and by the end I actually felt pretty good and was so glad that I made myself lace up my shoes and get out there...Hubs was a big part of it, so I thanked him for not letting me be a total jam tart. So even though those motivational posters might seem all cliché and simplistic...alls I gotta say is that they're the truth.
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
First double day of the week. Evening class at PISE was our second class with our new trainer and I commented afterwards that I thought I only had burning stumps left for arms. Hah! It was all about the arms that night and they were just vibrating afterwards. We started the class with some work with the prowler (prowler is a weighted sled type thing that you can either pull or push) and it was hilarious because for the first round, I could honestly barely move the thing. Thankfully we dropped the weight so it was a bit more doable...anyways, it was awesome working with the prowler for the first time. After this class, I was girding my loins for Wednesday's double day as Jason would surely be in fine form and Dania was proving to be quite the asskicker.
Tuesday: rest
Must start going to yoga again. Must.
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Second double day of the week. Brutal day. Morning class with Jason was hundreds, so we did a hundred pushups, tricep dips, these half burpee things and sit ups and then afterwards headed out on the trails for a bunch of hills and sprints. I could barely stay upright Wednesday afternoon, and somehow managed to make it through PISE at night. Woohoo! Done like dinner.
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Third double day of the week. Made it through morning bootcamp (a run around the lakes) but I was again, *this* close to jamming for the evening workout but I made myself go. Once again, I was so glad that I did...do I sense a recurring theme this week? Anyways, just two of us made it to class Friday night at PISE and it was an awesome, fun workout that we did out in the sunshine.
Saturday: rest
FOOD:
Food right back on target...staycation slide is officially over.
RECIPES:
Roasted cauliflower, garlic and leek soup from Food.com and sesame noodles with roasted tofu from Clean Eating 2.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
2013 - Week 22 Recap
I think that summer might possibly be on it's way...
OK maybe not summer, but definitely warmer, sunny weather. Bring it on, folks...bring it on.
Sunday: 30 mins treadmill
After volunteering at the Oak Bay Half, I was absolutely freezing cold...my feet were soaked and I could barely move my hands when I got home so I thought what better way to warm up than a workout? I did a quick 30 minute run on the mill and did a few pushups and other bodyweight type stuff and I was toasty warm by the end.
Monday: PISE p.m.
Wah! Second to last class with Josh. We did a circuit that included the lovely airdyne bike, which I absolutely despise...probably because it's hard. Ha! Oh, and no morning bootcamps on Monday/Wednesday...D had a busted glute muscle that she was letting heal up. Not gonna lie, I was a bit glad to ease back on the double days this week.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: PISE p.m.
Sigh...last class with Josh...sad face. We did a repeat of the circuit and at the end of the class the group of us hung out for a bit, had some goodies and treats that some of the ladies brought and we took a bunch of awesome photos with some of the equipment as props. Yes, I ate a mint chocolate cupcake, but I had a bunch of veggies beforehand...it's all about balance, right?
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Gorgeous morning for a workout! We ended up running around a trail and then doing some work with bands. Evening class was our first class with our new trainer, Dania...I really enjoyed this class because we had a good mix of strength mixed with cardio and yep...I was sore this weekend, which is a good sign! We ended up chatting a bit after class and it sounds like Dania wants to show us a bit of barbell work like Olympic lifting, which is awesome! I'm always up for learning something different.
Saturday: 10K run
Ran with Hubs on a local trail...man, it was nice out. It's interesting, both of us were saying how good we've been feeling on our runs lately...I think that after we really cleaned up our diet, we've had less "bad" runs. I clearly remember going on some of our weekend jaunts and we'd be dragging our asses twenty feet behind us, but lately all of the runs have been feeling good. Another win for the clean eating camp! Next few weeks we're thinking of going just a titch farther, and maybe inching up to 15K over the next while.
FOOD:
Mea culpa...coulda been better. I think I still have a bit of a staycation hangover, so need to clamp down as it's a slippery slope.
RECIPES:
Pizza with whole wheat crust from Clean Eating, which you can find the recipe here. Just wanted to say that this is a fabulous whole wheat pizza crust and I'm thrilled that it's clean. I rolled this puppy out super thin (one recipe will make two 12 inch pizzas with very thin crusts) and topped it with some homemade pizza sauce (two 28 ounce cans of no salt added Eden organic roma tomatoes, oregano/basil, olive oil and garlic, cooked down until super thick) and then put on whatever toppings your heart desires. It's fab. Other new recipe I tried was for my parents...my dad is like the plant whisperer or something...he can grow anything, I swear. He knows we like rhubarb so started growing some for us, so I decided to whip him up a strawberry rhubarb galette as a thank you. I gotta say, I'm a wee bit proud of myself because I've always been a bit afraid of working with pastry/dough and yeast (all that kneading and rising made it seem so complex and intimidating!), so I attacked two fears this week! The galette was super tasty, so if you're looking for an easy, delish and rustic dessert that looks impressive, make this one (recipe found here.
what's that round thing called again?
OK maybe not summer, but definitely warmer, sunny weather. Bring it on, folks...bring it on.
Sunday: 30 mins treadmill
After volunteering at the Oak Bay Half, I was absolutely freezing cold...my feet were soaked and I could barely move my hands when I got home so I thought what better way to warm up than a workout? I did a quick 30 minute run on the mill and did a few pushups and other bodyweight type stuff and I was toasty warm by the end.
Monday: PISE p.m.
Wah! Second to last class with Josh. We did a circuit that included the lovely airdyne bike, which I absolutely despise...probably because it's hard. Ha! Oh, and no morning bootcamps on Monday/Wednesday...D had a busted glute muscle that she was letting heal up. Not gonna lie, I was a bit glad to ease back on the double days this week.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: PISE p.m.
Sigh...last class with Josh...sad face. We did a repeat of the circuit and at the end of the class the group of us hung out for a bit, had some goodies and treats that some of the ladies brought and we took a bunch of awesome photos with some of the equipment as props. Yes, I ate a mint chocolate cupcake, but I had a bunch of veggies beforehand...it's all about balance, right?
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Gorgeous morning for a workout! We ended up running around a trail and then doing some work with bands. Evening class was our first class with our new trainer, Dania...I really enjoyed this class because we had a good mix of strength mixed with cardio and yep...I was sore this weekend, which is a good sign! We ended up chatting a bit after class and it sounds like Dania wants to show us a bit of barbell work like Olympic lifting, which is awesome! I'm always up for learning something different.
Saturday: 10K run
Ran with Hubs on a local trail...man, it was nice out. It's interesting, both of us were saying how good we've been feeling on our runs lately...I think that after we really cleaned up our diet, we've had less "bad" runs. I clearly remember going on some of our weekend jaunts and we'd be dragging our asses twenty feet behind us, but lately all of the runs have been feeling good. Another win for the clean eating camp! Next few weeks we're thinking of going just a titch farther, and maybe inching up to 15K over the next while.
FOOD:
Mea culpa...coulda been better. I think I still have a bit of a staycation hangover, so need to clamp down as it's a slippery slope.
RECIPES:
Pizza with whole wheat crust from Clean Eating, which you can find the recipe here. Just wanted to say that this is a fabulous whole wheat pizza crust and I'm thrilled that it's clean. I rolled this puppy out super thin (one recipe will make two 12 inch pizzas with very thin crusts) and topped it with some homemade pizza sauce (two 28 ounce cans of no salt added Eden organic roma tomatoes, oregano/basil, olive oil and garlic, cooked down until super thick) and then put on whatever toppings your heart desires. It's fab. Other new recipe I tried was for my parents...my dad is like the plant whisperer or something...he can grow anything, I swear. He knows we like rhubarb so started growing some for us, so I decided to whip him up a strawberry rhubarb galette as a thank you. I gotta say, I'm a wee bit proud of myself because I've always been a bit afraid of working with pastry/dough and yeast (all that kneading and rising made it seem so complex and intimidating!), so I attacked two fears this week! The galette was super tasty, so if you're looking for an easy, delish and rustic dessert that looks impressive, make this one (recipe found here.
yum yum...
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
2013 - Week 21 Recap
Oh le sigh. Staycation is officially over and it was a great, great week. We were only off a little bit longer than a week, but it was very much needed time off and Hubs and I made pretty good use of our vaycay. We did tons of stuff around the house but also fit in lots of relaxation time too, and...drumroll please...booked a vacation for Maui this year! Wheeeeeeee!! We were both thinking of only doing staycations this year and saving our money for Europe in 2014, but we just figured you only live once, and why deprive yourself of the things you love? And we definitely love Maui. Can't wait to get back there and smell the plumeria in the air. Love.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: 30 mins treadmill
After hours and hours working around the house, Hubs and I were exhausted but we dutifully worked out in our home gym. Not gonna lie, I was this close to blowing it off.
Monday:
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Killer upper body workout today day! Jason was back from completing Ironman Texas in a kickass time and was still recovering (thankfully...hee hee!) so didn't take us around the lakes for a run, but we did hill repeats with exercises thrown in after each repeat. So the first upper body killer was two rounds of pushups, 25 each round. At evening class with Josh, he had us do four exercises (overhead farmer walk, T-pushups, thrusters and renegade rows) ten times each, ten sets...so quickly doing the math, that was 100 pushups so 150 pushups for the day, all from the toes and I tried as hard as I could to keep good form. I actually remember laying down outside of PISE, staring up at the sky and thinking eff me, I'm tired! My arms seriously felt like they were going to fall off...I basically went home, threw some dinner at my face, crawled to the couch, curled up in a ball and fell sound asleep.
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Turkish getups! If anyone's never seen these before, here's a crazy video showing how it's done...
Note, I did this with a five pound weight and not a girl on my arm and it was kinda hard. Ha!
Saturday: 10K run
FOOD:
Being that we were on staycation, we eased things up a bit this week with our food but never went crazy nuts. A few more restaurant meals but we really tried to choose wisely...I'm all over healthy eating, but sometimes you have to enjoy life too! It's all about balance, right?
RECIPES:
Thank god our oven is fixed...$600 later...gack! Some crazy circuit board thingie blew so we had to do it as I needs my oven. New recipes this week were a farro risotto from Clean Eating and a mediterranean chickpea lentil salad.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: 30 mins treadmill
After hours and hours working around the house, Hubs and I were exhausted but we dutifully worked out in our home gym. Not gonna lie, I was this close to blowing it off.
Monday:
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Killer upper body workout today day! Jason was back from completing Ironman Texas in a kickass time and was still recovering (thankfully...hee hee!) so didn't take us around the lakes for a run, but we did hill repeats with exercises thrown in after each repeat. So the first upper body killer was two rounds of pushups, 25 each round. At evening class with Josh, he had us do four exercises (overhead farmer walk, T-pushups, thrusters and renegade rows) ten times each, ten sets...so quickly doing the math, that was 100 pushups so 150 pushups for the day, all from the toes and I tried as hard as I could to keep good form. I actually remember laying down outside of PISE, staring up at the sky and thinking eff me, I'm tired! My arms seriously felt like they were going to fall off...I basically went home, threw some dinner at my face, crawled to the couch, curled up in a ball and fell sound asleep.
Thursday: rest
Friday: PISE p.m.
Turkish getups! If anyone's never seen these before, here's a crazy video showing how it's done...
Note, I did this with a five pound weight and not a girl on my arm and it was kinda hard. Ha!
Saturday: 10K run
FOOD:
Being that we were on staycation, we eased things up a bit this week with our food but never went crazy nuts. A few more restaurant meals but we really tried to choose wisely...I'm all over healthy eating, but sometimes you have to enjoy life too! It's all about balance, right?
RECIPES:
Thank god our oven is fixed...$600 later...gack! Some crazy circuit board thingie blew so we had to do it as I needs my oven. New recipes this week were a farro risotto from Clean Eating and a mediterranean chickpea lentil salad.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Oak Bay Half Marathon - Race Recap, Volunteer Edition
I haz me the itch back...the racing itch that is.
This past Sunday I did my second volunteer stint for 2013 at the Oak Bay Half Marathon and I gotta say...watching all those half marathoners come down that last hill with that look on their faces like "holy eff, I'm so glad that's over!" totally made me want to race again. However, patience young grasshopper...this year is fully dedicated to volunteering, but I've made up my mind that Oak Bay Half 2014 is my first run back. Don't worry, I won't be going nuts or anything and having a repeat fainting episode...I plan on running it with Hubs the whole way so he can keep an eye on me...I know myself and I'll want to gun it!
Anyways, volunteering again and it was super awesome! Well, except for the weather. I woke up Sunday morning to this...
I had to laugh a bit because the last time I ran the Oak Bay back in 2011, it was a torrential downpour from beginning to end. At least I didn't have to worry about heat or dehydration, right? Ah-haha...
The race started at 8am for the half marathoners, so I headed down to meet my group at 7:30am. Ummm...except I couldn't seem to find anyone so wandered back and forth until finally I managed to connect with someone who vaguely looked like they knew what they were doing. Being rainy, everyone was bundled up so I couldn't see the red volunteer shirts that we were given. The race is fairly small at around 1500 participants, so there wasn't a ton to do...well, except for the medals. Apparently each medal comes wrapped in a little teeny eeny weenie tiny plastic bag that's like opening up those plastic bags you get in the grocery store...in short, these things were a total pain in the ass to open, but we thought it was lame to hand everyone their medal in a plastic bag. People want someone to put it around their neck, amirite? So we had about 20 minutes to take out 1500 medals out of their packets...luckily we had lots of hands to help!
It was really cool to hand out the medals and congratulate people as they came in...I even got to put the medal on my Mindful Strides coach, Marilyn! I think she was so exhausted that she didn't know it was me at first...she ran a kickass 1:17:33 so kinda can't blame her! First woman finisher too...she's so amazing.
Rest of the race was fairly uneventful (only one barfer, yay!)...lots of wet, elated runners...what I loved about this race was the smaller, more intimate feel. I had quite a few people come up and shyly ask if they could give their medals to their loved ones...of course! One guy wanted to give the medal to his fiancé, which totally brought tears to my eyes...geez, getting verklempt again! The only little event that we had was one lady had just finished the race and as I went to put the medal around her neck, her legs started to buckle beneath her. Again, knowing full well what that felt like, another volunteer and I took her to the medical tent where I left her in good hands. I looked over at the tent a bit later and she was gone, so I think she was fine...whew!
After most of the marathoners came in, the Kids 2K run and 400m dash were on...now we had a ton of medals left, so the race director said we could give each kid a medal. Now seriously...I'm not a kid person...but this was so.much.fun and the total highlight of the race for me! As they came across the finish line, I'd run up and hold the medal up to them and the kids would just beam with the biggest smiles across their little faces as I put that medal around their neck! So, sooooo sweet, it melted even this cold little Asian heart. Heh.
So all in all...a great day! Again, I met some really awesome people and it was a fun group to work and hang out with for the morning. Seriously, all things happen for a reason, and maybe what happened last Fall was kinda good in a way because it's introduced me to volunteering...I'm kinda really getting into this volunteering gig!
Oh and Oak Bay 2014...here I come. Hee hee.
This past Sunday I did my second volunteer stint for 2013 at the Oak Bay Half Marathon and I gotta say...watching all those half marathoners come down that last hill with that look on their faces like "holy eff, I'm so glad that's over!" totally made me want to race again. However, patience young grasshopper...this year is fully dedicated to volunteering, but I've made up my mind that Oak Bay Half 2014 is my first run back. Don't worry, I won't be going nuts or anything and having a repeat fainting episode...I plan on running it with Hubs the whole way so he can keep an eye on me...I know myself and I'll want to gun it!
Anyways, volunteering again and it was super awesome! Well, except for the weather. I woke up Sunday morning to this...
boo urns! blechhhh poooey....
I had to laugh a bit because the last time I ran the Oak Bay back in 2011, it was a torrential downpour from beginning to end. At least I didn't have to worry about heat or dehydration, right? Ah-haha...
The race started at 8am for the half marathoners, so I headed down to meet my group at 7:30am. Ummm...except I couldn't seem to find anyone so wandered back and forth until finally I managed to connect with someone who vaguely looked like they knew what they were doing. Being rainy, everyone was bundled up so I couldn't see the red volunteer shirts that we were given. The race is fairly small at around 1500 participants, so there wasn't a ton to do...well, except for the medals. Apparently each medal comes wrapped in a little teeny eeny weenie tiny plastic bag that's like opening up those plastic bags you get in the grocery store...in short, these things were a total pain in the ass to open, but we thought it was lame to hand everyone their medal in a plastic bag. People want someone to put it around their neck, amirite? So we had about 20 minutes to take out 1500 medals out of their packets...luckily we had lots of hands to help!
medal me, baby!
It was really cool to hand out the medals and congratulate people as they came in...I even got to put the medal on my Mindful Strides coach, Marilyn! I think she was so exhausted that she didn't know it was me at first...she ran a kickass 1:17:33 so kinda can't blame her! First woman finisher too...she's so amazing.
Rest of the race was fairly uneventful (only one barfer, yay!)...lots of wet, elated runners...what I loved about this race was the smaller, more intimate feel. I had quite a few people come up and shyly ask if they could give their medals to their loved ones...of course! One guy wanted to give the medal to his fiancé, which totally brought tears to my eyes...geez, getting verklempt again! The only little event that we had was one lady had just finished the race and as I went to put the medal around her neck, her legs started to buckle beneath her. Again, knowing full well what that felt like, another volunteer and I took her to the medical tent where I left her in good hands. I looked over at the tent a bit later and she was gone, so I think she was fine...whew!
run like the wind...or pour like the rain maybe?
After most of the marathoners came in, the Kids 2K run and 400m dash were on...now we had a ton of medals left, so the race director said we could give each kid a medal. Now seriously...I'm not a kid person...but this was so.much.fun and the total highlight of the race for me! As they came across the finish line, I'd run up and hold the medal up to them and the kids would just beam with the biggest smiles across their little faces as I put that medal around their neck! So, sooooo sweet, it melted even this cold little Asian heart. Heh.
So all in all...a great day! Again, I met some really awesome people and it was a fun group to work and hang out with for the morning. Seriously, all things happen for a reason, and maybe what happened last Fall was kinda good in a way because it's introduced me to volunteering...I'm kinda really getting into this volunteering gig!
Oh and Oak Bay 2014...here I come. Hee hee.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Three Things Thursday
1. Nourish
Hubs and I have been on staycation this week and so far it's been fabulous! It's been a real mishmash of relaxing and working around the house...we've powerwashed, cleaned, purged and weeded every inch of the house (wheeee, feels awesome!) as well as spa'd (OK, that was just me!), lounged, slept in and noshed on some really good eats. One place that I really wanted to let everyone know about is a wee little place called Nourish. Having heard rave reviews about this place from our Mindful Strides coach Marilyn, my interest was piqued and I kept putting this on the list of places to try one day, and this Sunday was that day. Having just spent a dreamy three hours at the spa getting exfoliated, massaged and pedicured to death, I met up with Hubs and we decided to hit Nourish for lunch. This place just won a local foodie award for one of the best kept secrets in Victoria...they focus on quality wholesome and healthy meals that taste delicious...sold!
Here is the view from where I sat...this place is actually set right in the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, where the gardens are a-maz-ing...
And here is the food:
Hubs had the Sleepy Beauty, which was spiced oatmeal pancakes with coconut whipped cream, fruit preserves, maple syrup and pumpkin seeds, and he threw in a chipotle chicken sausage on a whim. My meal was the Benny's Gone Nuts...poached eggs with a vegan cashew hollandaise, kale mushroom sauté on a perfectly baked sweet potato...I was a copycat and also threw in a sausage. After the first bite, I was in heaven...the cashew hollandaise was fantastic, lightly lemon-y and perfect as I've been trying to avoid dairy...a totally healthy and delicious meal. Hubs really liked his pancakes too, which were more like an oatcake and he loved the sausage. As we sat there, I just kept sighing and think how beautiful this spot was, how yummy the food tasted and how happy I was to be sitting with Hubs. I'll be back.
2. Macaron
I had my first macaron today and I just gotta say...I don't really get what the big deal is. A macaron store just opened up not that long ago in downtown Victoria and we always walk past it to get our morning coffees so I decided one day I would try one...I mean, being a foodie and all, it's like my job, right? So dutifully I tried one today and meh...they weren't bad but not something I'd seek out.
OK, and for those of you who are thinking those coconut things? That's a macarOOn...believe me, I was confused too because when I first heard that a macaron store was opening in Victoria, I remember thinking that's weird...a whole store for those coconut chocolate things? Hah!
3. Volunteering Again!
Second volunteering gig of the year on deck this weekend! I'll be helping out at the finish line again at the Oak Bay Half Marathon, so I'll be helping to set up, take down and hand out medals! I gets to hands out medals, people! I'm so excited, I'll even put up with barfing again.
Hubs and I have been on staycation this week and so far it's been fabulous! It's been a real mishmash of relaxing and working around the house...we've powerwashed, cleaned, purged and weeded every inch of the house (wheeee, feels awesome!) as well as spa'd (OK, that was just me!), lounged, slept in and noshed on some really good eats. One place that I really wanted to let everyone know about is a wee little place called Nourish. Having heard rave reviews about this place from our Mindful Strides coach Marilyn, my interest was piqued and I kept putting this on the list of places to try one day, and this Sunday was that day. Having just spent a dreamy three hours at the spa getting exfoliated, massaged and pedicured to death, I met up with Hubs and we decided to hit Nourish for lunch. This place just won a local foodie award for one of the best kept secrets in Victoria...they focus on quality wholesome and healthy meals that taste delicious...sold!
Here is the view from where I sat...this place is actually set right in the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, where the gardens are a-maz-ing...
truly gorgeous setting...so peaceful...
And here is the food:
zomg...that's all I gotta say...
Hubs had the Sleepy Beauty, which was spiced oatmeal pancakes with coconut whipped cream, fruit preserves, maple syrup and pumpkin seeds, and he threw in a chipotle chicken sausage on a whim. My meal was the Benny's Gone Nuts...poached eggs with a vegan cashew hollandaise, kale mushroom sauté on a perfectly baked sweet potato...I was a copycat and also threw in a sausage. After the first bite, I was in heaven...the cashew hollandaise was fantastic, lightly lemon-y and perfect as I've been trying to avoid dairy...a totally healthy and delicious meal. Hubs really liked his pancakes too, which were more like an oatcake and he loved the sausage. As we sat there, I just kept sighing and think how beautiful this spot was, how yummy the food tasted and how happy I was to be sitting with Hubs. I'll be back.
2. Macaron
I had my first macaron today and I just gotta say...I don't really get what the big deal is. A macaron store just opened up not that long ago in downtown Victoria and we always walk past it to get our morning coffees so I decided one day I would try one...I mean, being a foodie and all, it's like my job, right? So dutifully I tried one today and meh...they weren't bad but not something I'd seek out.
OK, and for those of you who are thinking those coconut things? That's a macarOOn...believe me, I was confused too because when I first heard that a macaron store was opening in Victoria, I remember thinking that's weird...a whole store for those coconut chocolate things? Hah!
3. Volunteering Again!
Second volunteering gig of the year on deck this weekend! I'll be helping out at the finish line again at the Oak Bay Half Marathon, so I'll be helping to set up, take down and hand out medals! I gets to hands out medals, people! I'm so excited, I'll even put up with barfing again.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
2013 - Week 20 Recap
OK, I'm gonna start this post with a rant.
Why, oh why do running and athletic stores always carry such awful colour choices for women's runners? This has driven me crazy for ages...the guys all have the cool colours like neon yellow, turquoise and orange, whereas the women's shoes are all these awful "girly" colours like muted purples, pinks and mauves. I'm sorry, not all women want to wear pink and purple shoes!
Case in point...here are my ugly ass shoes (can we say blah? and yes, I have freakishly long thumbs):
Come on, people! Seriously? Why do guys get the cool colours with the cool styles!? I know, I know...it's not about the look but geez. Every time I put my shoes on, I think blech...I hate the colour (or lack thereof) and even asked if they had anything different but I decided to go with it because I needed new runners badly and figured most stores would carry the same colour. Today I happen to drop by a local boutique running store where the buyer isn't some old dude with milquetoast taste, and happen upon my runners but in awesome, cool colours...
Bah.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Start of a busy exercise week! Three double days this week...I know, crazy right? I just hate missing morning bootcamps with D, and love the PISE classes too so double days it is for now. This week's workout at PISE was a killer...
One of the ladies emailed me this photo, but before she did that I wrote it out from memory in my iPhone and actually called it "The Killer". So it looks rather innocuous...what's five pushups or five push presses, right? Except we did each set for five minutes straight, twice through. Josh is a big meanie.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Crazy workout day today...morning was bootcamp with a substitute for Jason...at first I was relieved but she was tough as nails for a wee thing. We ran around one of the lakes and would stop intermittently and she'd throw in some exercises. Normally it probably wouldn't have been that bad but I ended up running with a few other girls, one of who was really pushing the pace. At the end of the class as we walked back to the cars, she mentioned that she was going hard, which kind of relieved me because I was thinking either I was totally out of shape or we were running awfully fast. Awesome though, as I like getting pushed! PISE workout was the same as Monday's, but we ended up increasing the weights so by the end, I was absolutely dying. Usually there's a bit of funny chatter and joking during our workouts...not so, that night...all you could hear was us all gasping for breath and the occasional groan. It was a great workout and I loved/hated it at the same time. After I went home, I basically ate dinner and fell asleep on the couch. Did I mention that Josh is a big meanie?
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
More running with the pushing-the-pace lady at morning bootcamp. Seriously, this lady is speedy...I was struggling to keep up with her as we ran some local trails. I was looking forward to a fairly relaxed class that night but nope...we ended up doing some weights, similar to what we did at the beginning way back in January. And then...cue scary music...we did assisted pullups. Ack! Not gonna lie, I found them tough after not having done any lifting for awhile and was crazy sore for days afterwards (love it).
Saturday: 10K run
I was so not into this, but Hubs and I went out and ran a very, very, very pokey 10K. Like I probably coulda walked faster, but whatevs, man...we did it. Seven workouts this week, yeehaw!
FOOD:
Food was on target. Next week's recap might not be quite so stellar though...Hubs and I are on staycation and we've loosened things up for the week. Sometimes, ya gotta live a little.
RECIPES:
Mea culpa...I've made no new recipes the past few weeks as I've had no oven...darn thing was busted but we got it fixed, so I'm back in business this week.
Why, oh why do running and athletic stores always carry such awful colour choices for women's runners? This has driven me crazy for ages...the guys all have the cool colours like neon yellow, turquoise and orange, whereas the women's shoes are all these awful "girly" colours like muted purples, pinks and mauves. I'm sorry, not all women want to wear pink and purple shoes!
Case in point...here are my ugly ass shoes (can we say blah? and yes, I have freakishly long thumbs):
These are Hubs' awesome shoes (set against a mountainscape, no less):
Bah.
WORKOUTS:
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Start of a busy exercise week! Three double days this week...I know, crazy right? I just hate missing morning bootcamps with D, and love the PISE classes too so double days it is for now. This week's workout at PISE was a killer...
One of the ladies emailed me this photo, but before she did that I wrote it out from memory in my iPhone and actually called it "The Killer". So it looks rather innocuous...what's five pushups or five push presses, right? Except we did each set for five minutes straight, twice through. Josh is a big meanie.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Crazy workout day today...morning was bootcamp with a substitute for Jason...at first I was relieved but she was tough as nails for a wee thing. We ran around one of the lakes and would stop intermittently and she'd throw in some exercises. Normally it probably wouldn't have been that bad but I ended up running with a few other girls, one of who was really pushing the pace. At the end of the class as we walked back to the cars, she mentioned that she was going hard, which kind of relieved me because I was thinking either I was totally out of shape or we were running awfully fast. Awesome though, as I like getting pushed! PISE workout was the same as Monday's, but we ended up increasing the weights so by the end, I was absolutely dying. Usually there's a bit of funny chatter and joking during our workouts...not so, that night...all you could hear was us all gasping for breath and the occasional groan. It was a great workout and I loved/hated it at the same time. After I went home, I basically ate dinner and fell asleep on the couch. Did I mention that Josh is a big meanie?
Thursday: rest
Friday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
More running with the pushing-the-pace lady at morning bootcamp. Seriously, this lady is speedy...I was struggling to keep up with her as we ran some local trails. I was looking forward to a fairly relaxed class that night but nope...we ended up doing some weights, similar to what we did at the beginning way back in January. And then...cue scary music...we did assisted pullups. Ack! Not gonna lie, I found them tough after not having done any lifting for awhile and was crazy sore for days afterwards (love it).
Saturday: 10K run
I was so not into this, but Hubs and I went out and ran a very, very, very pokey 10K. Like I probably coulda walked faster, but whatevs, man...we did it. Seven workouts this week, yeehaw!
FOOD:
Food was on target. Next week's recap might not be quite so stellar though...Hubs and I are on staycation and we've loosened things up for the week. Sometimes, ya gotta live a little.
RECIPES:
Mea culpa...I've made no new recipes the past few weeks as I've had no oven...darn thing was busted but we got it fixed, so I'm back in business this week.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Eating Clean: Step One
OK, finally...here is the food post that I've been meaning to write for weeks! So just to recap...back at the beginning of March, Hubs went to go get his regular annual physical done, and the doctor ordered some bloodwork for him. Not really thinking this was a big deal, I wasn't that worried...until the results came back and they were a little less than desirable. Not crazy bad, but bad enough that we went into action right away on changing things up, particularly when it came to our diet. I really, really, really don't want him to have to go on meds, so figured we'd start with making some lifestyle changes and see what happens. So some of the things he was dealing with? Elevated cholesterol levels (high LDL/low HDL), high triglycerides, slightly high blood pressure and blood sugar sensitivities. Poor Hubs comes from a long line of family with poor health histories, so I'm glad we're getting this under control earlier rather than later...being a health nut, a stubborn Taurus and a feisty little Asian lady, there's no way I'm letting go of this now!
I gotta admit...when we first started thinking about what to do as far as diet went, it was confusing. Are beans OK? How about fruit? Do we have to cut back all fat or just certain types of fat? We were caught in a bit of a circle because we had to cut back on meat due to the cholesterol, but this would likely mean an increase in carbs, which can be bad for someone with blood sugar issues. Argh! Anyways, I'm so glad I did that grocery store tour put on by PISE (all things happen for a reason, amirite?) because it helped me really figure out food labels and gave me some stuff to think about. Overall, I thought we ate fairly well, but now looking back we definitely had room for improvement. Never to go halfway, we made some pretty big changes over the past ten weeks. So...what have we been doing?
Reduce meat intake
Oooooh...at first when we decided to cut back on the amount of meat we ate, I thought it was going to be tough. We had a fairly meat-centric diet...always some kind of protein at lunch and dinner and we weren't strangers to the occasional steak every now and then. In the last two and half months, we've had chicken or turkey maybe half a dozen times, cut out red meat completely but have really increased the amount of fish and tofu we eat, particularly oily fish like salmon...all those good fats and omega 3s. To be honest, we haven't really missed eating meat that much...Hubs was just commenting on this the other day, which is really eye opening for us. Some weeks the majority of our meals are vegetarian or vegan, and we've enjoyed them just as much as meated meals. While I'm not sure if I could go 100% vegan/vegetarian, I'm totally on board with adopting a more plant-based diet for sure.
Lots of fruits, veggies and healthy fats
Every week I steam up huge amounts of veggies so we can eat them all week with our dinners, and we quite often have yummy fruit like strawberries for dessert. I keep an eye on how much fat I use when I'm cooking and only use extra virgin olive oil which is heart healthy...and we're eating healthy fats like those in avocado (looooooovvve) and nuts.
Eat more whole grains, nuts/seeds and lotsa beans - in other words...fibre, fibre, fibre
We were always pretty good with whole wheat products, but are now focussing more on whole grains, eating more almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, and the big one...we are now huge consumers of beans, chickpeas and lentils. With cutting back on meat so much, I really wanted to make sure we were both getting enough protein in our diets. I initially wasn't sure if beans would be good for someone with blood sugar issues, but apparently even though they are high in carbs, they're also high in fibre and are OK for people with diabetes. The other switch up is steel cut oats for breakfast.
Cut back on sodium
Oooooch! This one was tough for me. Super tough. A total salt hound, I admit I seasoned our food quite liberally and loved salty foods like chips and instant noodles. Loved them to pieces. At first it was hard for me to not reach for that salt shaker at the dinner table or sprinkle salt on food during cooking, and slowly I've gotten used to it but I admit, it's hard for me. Really hard. Like crazy ridiculously hard and some days I've succumbed to the devil, the salt shaker. But I know it's something that we really need to change for Hubs' blood pressure...and honestly, once we started looking at the amount of sodium in foods, it was absolutely jaw dropping. The maximum daily amount is 2300 milligrams, but apparently what people should strive for is 1500 milligrams. This is nothing! We were looking at some bread the other day, and each slice itself was around 200 milligrams. So a sandwich with a bit of deli meat, cheese and some mayo or something and you're already there. I watched a really great segment on Marketplace that talked about the amount of salt Canadians eat...check it out here to watch the full video. The other thing I notice now? When I do eat something from a restaurant, I am insanely thirsty after and kinda don't like it...makes me wonder why I never noticed this before?
Cut out all processed foods and refined sugars
Coming from two people who love their chips and sweet, sweet nothings, we thought this would kill us. No more chips? No more cookies? What good is left in the world?! Honestly...and I never thought I would say this, but we haven't really missed it. OK, sometimes we have a bit of a craving every now and then and Hubs has been absolutely stellar in this department...I've had the odd thing (or two, tee hee) slip past my lips, but overall, we've stuck to this one. I think maybe once your body gets rid of the dependence on sugary goodness, it gets easier and the cravings go away. The one thing that we do to help keep the sugar cravings at bay is have a square or two of good quality dark chocolate every night...antioxidants, folks...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Ha!
Cut back on dairy and limit eggs
This one was kinda hard too as I loves me my cheese-y goodness, but the extra fat and cholesterol wasn't good for Hubs. After doing some food sensitivity testing back in 2009, I discovered I was very sensitive to dairy and eggs...and guess what I was eating every morning? Cottage cheese, yoghourt or eggs for breakfast. I used to have horrible GI issues but since I've done away with dairy, stomach issues are pretty much non-existent and some persistent eczema I was battling with completely disappeared. So a win-win! My one absolute weakness though? Cream in my coffee. Sob.
More exercise
Hubs has increased the length and intensity of his workouts...and I've even introduced him to Spartacus. You're welcome, honey...har!
Cheat days
Hubs and I were always big on our cheat days...we still sorta do these, but instead of going out all with burgers and fries, we might have an ahi burger with salad instead, or homemade pizza instead of ordering something from the local pizza joint. So basically still treating ourselves but just being smarter with our choices. We both love food, and to be honest sometimes you just have to live a little!
Sooo...after all these changes, what have we noticed? Hubs' has lost some weight and his blood pressure has dropped...he's been testing himself at the drug stores and logging his numbers. He's getting more blood work done at the three month point to see what difference, if any, these changes have made to his numbers. I'm hopeful that we'll see some good results...and if not, we're going to make an appointment to see the dietician that took us on that grocery store tour to see if she can help us make even more tweaks....I'm on a mission to get Hubs' numbers down using lifestyle changes and am pulling out all the stops! The other thing Hubs' has noticed is that his energy levels are better...he would always get that afternoon dropoff and could barely keep his eyes open, and doesn't get that so much anymore. For myself, I'm noticing I'm sleeping like a rock now and less water retention, especially around the eyes. Seriously, some days I used to give Bill Clinton a run for his money and would wake up with hugely puffy eyes, swollen cheeks and sausages for fingers...
Ha! Anyways...so far, even though some days it's not easy and it takes a lot more planning around meals, it's worth it if I can have a healthy Hubs...and I benefit from it too so it's all good in the hood. Stay tuned for an update!
I gotta admit...when we first started thinking about what to do as far as diet went, it was confusing. Are beans OK? How about fruit? Do we have to cut back all fat or just certain types of fat? We were caught in a bit of a circle because we had to cut back on meat due to the cholesterol, but this would likely mean an increase in carbs, which can be bad for someone with blood sugar issues. Argh! Anyways, I'm so glad I did that grocery store tour put on by PISE (all things happen for a reason, amirite?) because it helped me really figure out food labels and gave me some stuff to think about. Overall, I thought we ate fairly well, but now looking back we definitely had room for improvement. Never to go halfway, we made some pretty big changes over the past ten weeks. So...what have we been doing?
Reduce meat intake
Oooooh...at first when we decided to cut back on the amount of meat we ate, I thought it was going to be tough. We had a fairly meat-centric diet...always some kind of protein at lunch and dinner and we weren't strangers to the occasional steak every now and then. In the last two and half months, we've had chicken or turkey maybe half a dozen times, cut out red meat completely but have really increased the amount of fish and tofu we eat, particularly oily fish like salmon...all those good fats and omega 3s. To be honest, we haven't really missed eating meat that much...Hubs was just commenting on this the other day, which is really eye opening for us. Some weeks the majority of our meals are vegetarian or vegan, and we've enjoyed them just as much as meated meals. While I'm not sure if I could go 100% vegan/vegetarian, I'm totally on board with adopting a more plant-based diet for sure.
Lots of fruits, veggies and healthy fats
Every week I steam up huge amounts of veggies so we can eat them all week with our dinners, and we quite often have yummy fruit like strawberries for dessert. I keep an eye on how much fat I use when I'm cooking and only use extra virgin olive oil which is heart healthy...and we're eating healthy fats like those in avocado (looooooovvve) and nuts.
Eat more whole grains, nuts/seeds and lotsa beans - in other words...fibre, fibre, fibre
We were always pretty good with whole wheat products, but are now focussing more on whole grains, eating more almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, and the big one...we are now huge consumers of beans, chickpeas and lentils. With cutting back on meat so much, I really wanted to make sure we were both getting enough protein in our diets. I initially wasn't sure if beans would be good for someone with blood sugar issues, but apparently even though they are high in carbs, they're also high in fibre and are OK for people with diabetes. The other switch up is steel cut oats for breakfast.
Cut back on sodium
Oooooch! This one was tough for me. Super tough. A total salt hound, I admit I seasoned our food quite liberally and loved salty foods like chips and instant noodles. Loved them to pieces. At first it was hard for me to not reach for that salt shaker at the dinner table or sprinkle salt on food during cooking, and slowly I've gotten used to it but I admit, it's hard for me. Really hard. Like crazy ridiculously hard and some days I've succumbed to the devil, the salt shaker. But I know it's something that we really need to change for Hubs' blood pressure...and honestly, once we started looking at the amount of sodium in foods, it was absolutely jaw dropping. The maximum daily amount is 2300 milligrams, but apparently what people should strive for is 1500 milligrams. This is nothing! We were looking at some bread the other day, and each slice itself was around 200 milligrams. So a sandwich with a bit of deli meat, cheese and some mayo or something and you're already there. I watched a really great segment on Marketplace that talked about the amount of salt Canadians eat...check it out here to watch the full video. The other thing I notice now? When I do eat something from a restaurant, I am insanely thirsty after and kinda don't like it...makes me wonder why I never noticed this before?
Cut out all processed foods and refined sugars
Coming from two people who love their chips and sweet, sweet nothings, we thought this would kill us. No more chips? No more cookies? What good is left in the world?! Honestly...and I never thought I would say this, but we haven't really missed it. OK, sometimes we have a bit of a craving every now and then and Hubs has been absolutely stellar in this department...I've had the odd thing (or two, tee hee) slip past my lips, but overall, we've stuck to this one. I think maybe once your body gets rid of the dependence on sugary goodness, it gets easier and the cravings go away. The one thing that we do to help keep the sugar cravings at bay is have a square or two of good quality dark chocolate every night...antioxidants, folks...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Ha!
Cut back on dairy and limit eggs
This one was kinda hard too as I loves me my cheese-y goodness, but the extra fat and cholesterol wasn't good for Hubs. After doing some food sensitivity testing back in 2009, I discovered I was very sensitive to dairy and eggs...and guess what I was eating every morning? Cottage cheese, yoghourt or eggs for breakfast. I used to have horrible GI issues but since I've done away with dairy, stomach issues are pretty much non-existent and some persistent eczema I was battling with completely disappeared. So a win-win! My one absolute weakness though? Cream in my coffee. Sob.
More exercise
Hubs has increased the length and intensity of his workouts...and I've even introduced him to Spartacus. You're welcome, honey...har!
Cheat days
Hubs and I were always big on our cheat days...we still sorta do these, but instead of going out all with burgers and fries, we might have an ahi burger with salad instead, or homemade pizza instead of ordering something from the local pizza joint. So basically still treating ourselves but just being smarter with our choices. We both love food, and to be honest sometimes you just have to live a little!
Sooo...after all these changes, what have we noticed? Hubs' has lost some weight and his blood pressure has dropped...he's been testing himself at the drug stores and logging his numbers. He's getting more blood work done at the three month point to see what difference, if any, these changes have made to his numbers. I'm hopeful that we'll see some good results...and if not, we're going to make an appointment to see the dietician that took us on that grocery store tour to see if she can help us make even more tweaks....I'm on a mission to get Hubs' numbers down using lifestyle changes and am pulling out all the stops! The other thing Hubs' has noticed is that his energy levels are better...he would always get that afternoon dropoff and could barely keep his eyes open, and doesn't get that so much anymore. For myself, I'm noticing I'm sleeping like a rock now and less water retention, especially around the eyes. Seriously, some days I used to give Bill Clinton a run for his money and would wake up with hugely puffy eyes, swollen cheeks and sausages for fingers...
hiya bill...I feel your puffy pain...
Ha! Anyways...so far, even though some days it's not easy and it takes a lot more planning around meals, it's worth it if I can have a healthy Hubs...and I benefit from it too so it's all good in the hood. Stay tuned for an update!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
2013 - Week 19 Recap
Man, we've had some pretty amazing stretch of nice weather lately! Things are a bit rainy and cool today, but it's all good as things were getting a bit dry and we needed the rain. With all this great weather, I've had the itch to enter a race again...not so much to race because...well, to be honest, I'm running as slow as molasses these days but I'm cool with it. Anyways, I picked up the latest Runners' World magazine and they were highlighting colour runs and I kinda thought that would be a fun thing to do. Intrigued, I looked into it and found one in Vancouver called the Colour Me Rad 5K...looks pretty awesome, no? Now just to convince Hubs that he wants to do it with me and get covered in coloured cornstarch in places where the sun don't shine. Poor Hubs...always getting dragged along with his crazy wife. Heh.
WORKOUTS
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Grooooaaaan. Man, 5:00a.m. sure comes fast. Not sure what's up, but I've been battling some pretty rough headaches lately...I had one come on strong Sunday evening and I kept waking up throughout the night as it was throbbing so badly. Luckily when I got up to go to bootcamp, it had mostly gone away which was good...I'd promised D I would meet her and I hate jamming on her! Great workout out by Esquimalt Lagoon...I'm truly amazed at how much the strength has made a difference in my running. We started off our workout with a really long gradual hill that normally would have killed me but I was actually able to run all the way up while chatting with the trainer. I couldn't believe it. Seriously, am a fan of strength now. Evening at PISE was another circuit done outside, so we could enjoy the gorgeous weather.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
OK, doing two double cardio days right away may not have been such a great idea...I should have maybe gotten back into it slowly. Jason taught the morning class and the location was a local park called Thetis Lake...I shoulda know better as all we did that morning was hill after hill after hill after hill with pushups, tuck jumps and squats thrown in for good measure...was absolutely exhausted after. Again, I couldn't believe how good I was feeling and was rocking the hills when a pretty cool thing happened...I was running up the steepest part and one of the newer ladies in the class said that I inspired her...my first thought was to look around and think that she must have meant someone else, but I realized I was alone and she was talking to me! Seriously made my day...OK maybe, my year. Evening class at PISE was a similar circuit to Monday, but we got to get out some of our frustrations as Josh busted out the sledgehammers and tires...woohoo! It took a little getting used to and I'm not coordinated at the best of times, but it was fun to vent out some latent frustrations on that tire. The only non-fun moment came right at the end when I accidentally smashed my shin with the sledgehammer after I'd finished taking a swing and was switching arms. Yep, smashed myself real good...it seriously took every ounce of willpower in my body to not scream out a long string of obscenities as I bit back the pain and tried to not crumble into a girly pool of tears and run blubbering to Josh. Bruise made me look kinda badass though.
Thursday: rest
So tired from Wednesday. Sooo tired.
Friday: PISE p.m.
All the hill work this week after not having done any for over a month wreaked some havoc on my right quad...Mr. Quad was feeling pretty sore and tender, so I was doing RICE on it since Wednesday and decided to not bootcamp Friday morning. Friday night was TRX and a HIIT session...I've worked with TRX before but liked it so much that I went and bought the kit so I can do it at home...such a keener.
Saturday: 30 mins Spartacus
Finally, the week is over! Hubs wasn't in the mood for a long run after playing hockey Friday night and I was exhausted, so we did three rounds of Spartacus and called it a week.
FOOD:
I know...I keep promising a food post! It's been 10 weeks since we started our super ultra clean eating so was going to recap how things are going. A little bit of good news? Hubs took his blood pressure today and it's dropped...makes it all worth it.
RECIPES:
Veggie tofu stir fry from Power Foods.
WORKOUTS
Sunday: rest
Monday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
Grooooaaaan. Man, 5:00a.m. sure comes fast. Not sure what's up, but I've been battling some pretty rough headaches lately...I had one come on strong Sunday evening and I kept waking up throughout the night as it was throbbing so badly. Luckily when I got up to go to bootcamp, it had mostly gone away which was good...I'd promised D I would meet her and I hate jamming on her! Great workout out by Esquimalt Lagoon...I'm truly amazed at how much the strength has made a difference in my running. We started off our workout with a really long gradual hill that normally would have killed me but I was actually able to run all the way up while chatting with the trainer. I couldn't believe it. Seriously, am a fan of strength now. Evening at PISE was another circuit done outside, so we could enjoy the gorgeous weather.
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: bootcamp a.m./PISE p.m.
OK, doing two double cardio days right away may not have been such a great idea...I should have maybe gotten back into it slowly. Jason taught the morning class and the location was a local park called Thetis Lake...I shoulda know better as all we did that morning was hill after hill after hill after hill with pushups, tuck jumps and squats thrown in for good measure...was absolutely exhausted after. Again, I couldn't believe how good I was feeling and was rocking the hills when a pretty cool thing happened...I was running up the steepest part and one of the newer ladies in the class said that I inspired her...my first thought was to look around and think that she must have meant someone else, but I realized I was alone and she was talking to me! Seriously made my day...OK maybe, my year. Evening class at PISE was a similar circuit to Monday, but we got to get out some of our frustrations as Josh busted out the sledgehammers and tires...woohoo! It took a little getting used to and I'm not coordinated at the best of times, but it was fun to vent out some latent frustrations on that tire. The only non-fun moment came right at the end when I accidentally smashed my shin with the sledgehammer after I'd finished taking a swing and was switching arms. Yep, smashed myself real good...it seriously took every ounce of willpower in my body to not scream out a long string of obscenities as I bit back the pain and tried to not crumble into a girly pool of tears and run blubbering to Josh. Bruise made me look kinda badass though.
Thursday: rest
So tired from Wednesday. Sooo tired.
Friday: PISE p.m.
All the hill work this week after not having done any for over a month wreaked some havoc on my right quad...Mr. Quad was feeling pretty sore and tender, so I was doing RICE on it since Wednesday and decided to not bootcamp Friday morning. Friday night was TRX and a HIIT session...I've worked with TRX before but liked it so much that I went and bought the kit so I can do it at home...such a keener.
Saturday: 30 mins Spartacus
Finally, the week is over! Hubs wasn't in the mood for a long run after playing hockey Friday night and I was exhausted, so we did three rounds of Spartacus and called it a week.
FOOD:
I know...I keep promising a food post! It's been 10 weeks since we started our super ultra clean eating so was going to recap how things are going. A little bit of good news? Hubs took his blood pressure today and it's dropped...makes it all worth it.
RECIPES:
Veggie tofu stir fry from Power Foods.
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