This is NA-CHO average diet

I know, I know…it’s been a while since I have updated everyone. I am sorry but life has been a bit chaotic lately. Aside from work travel and being sick, our office also had a flood which put my work life in disarray and it still is but it’s getting better slowly. Not to mention that I still haven’t unpacked my bags from Christmas, which is a bit ridiculous (probably shouldn’t have even admitted that to anyone, but there it is).

To add on to all of this chaos, I have also just been really busy on a social level recently which is throwing my new gym schedule out of whack. Had my classic Wednesday night gathering with friends last night, hanging with an old friend tonight that I haven’t seen in years and then Saturday I am heading out of the city to see the one and only Glen Campbell…don’t be jealous all your life!

So, although my workouts have taken a hit, I am still for the most part staying within my daily recommended calorie range which means that I am still continuing to lose. I am now down 19 lbs since October 5, which I guess isn’t anything to write home about but it’s still better to be down 19 lbs than up, right?

I haven’t really been snacking at all, which is good but I do still eat some foods that I know are really bad for me, but I love them so I can’t give them up. For example…on Sunday I went to the movies with a friend. I had the nachos (naturally)… but I hadn’t had breakfast (slept in) and this was counting as breakfast and lunch. So then I just had a light dinner, tomato soup with some whole what crackers and that was it. So even though I splurged on the approx. 1000 calories of nachos (didn’t eat them all), with the soup and crackers I was still only at about a maximum of 1350 – 1400 calories for the day….sweet!

My brain is so funny though, because I just finished telling you that I had no problem eating those nachos but yet this morning I borrowed a yogurt from a colleague and stressed about those 100 calories and 3 g of fat. I am not used to yogurt with fat, so I couldn’t even finish it. It was too sweet for me. It was strawberry flavoured…guarantee if it had been nacho cheese flavoured I would have had no problem downing the thing…interesting how that works…hmmm…

From Spongebob to Jessica Alba

I guess it’s about time for a status update…considering the whole goal of this blog thing was to give me some accountability with this whole weight loss journey, it would be good for ya’ll to know whether I am actually succeeding at it or not. So before the Christmas holidays I had my final weigh-in and measurement check as part of that fitness/nutrition class that I was taking. I was pretty happy with the results actually. I lost 15 lbs in the 12 weeks and 7 inches…I can’t tell you exactly where those 7 inches came from, some off my hips, some off my waist and some off my chest, but I don’t remember the exact break down. Whichever way it shakes out is cool with me. When they did my measurements for the first time on Week 1, I was pretty psyched to find out that I am pretty much Spongebob Squarepants. My measurements were pretty much the same (within a few inches) across the board. That’s cool…and I wonder why I can never find clothes to fit me properly. Perhaps I should start shopping at stores where the models are actually just cardboard boxes…you know, classy places like Giant Tiger…I am sure their stuff would fit me nicely…or should I say squarely hahaha…I kill me…

Well my course is over now so I have to come up with my own plan of how to stay on track….this should be an adventure. I am still eating the same way as I was before…3 meals and up to 2 snacks a day, about 1500-1600 calories or so. I am going to the gym 6 days a week, alternating between upper body and lower body strength training and of course, gotta do abs and cardio. Let’s hope this little routine turns me a little less square, a little less round and a little more Jessica Alba like…what?

I am heading out to Alberta for 5 days on a work trip, so I won’t be updating you all on the latest and greatest moments in my life…please try not to miss me too much!

xo

New Year...New Me!

Well my loyal blog followers, it has been a while, and I apologize for leaving your stomachs in knots awaiting my next post. Truth is, I was away for Christmas back home in NB and in our humble little town, the Internet connection is glacial on the best of days and I didn’t have the patience to wait 3 years for each page to open. That’s seriously how long it takes, I managed to read War & Peace and knit a King-sized quilt the one day I checked my email at home. Lengthy apology, eh? If I were writing this form my computer back home I would have simply said, sorry suckahs and in that time I could have also re-organized my mom’s pantry into alphabetical order.

Well, I am sure you’re all wondering how many times I dropped my cell phone when I was home and let’s just say that there were times when I thought I wouldn’t be able to pick it up, but eventually I did and all is well now and I am back on track. See, my Christmas holidays didn’t go exactly as I had planned. The first week was fine. I mean I still had turkey dinner and Christmas breakfast but I ate smaller portions and even used the treadmill once…but get this, I also shoveled off the deck one day and burnt a whopping 175 calories in 15 minutes…take that, Jane Fonda! So the first week of my holiday was not too bad, I pretty much practiced the 2/3 healthy meals method, but there were a few wrenches thrown into my plan. For the first time ever my aunt made home-made peanut butter cups…are you friggin’ kidding me? I may have pretty decent willpower but nobody is strong enough to turn one of those down. The first time I picked one up, I was fooling myself thinking I would only eat half. I took one bite and passed it off to my dad…but not long after, my gut got the best of me and I was back for more…as in 2 more.

So aside from the great peanut butter cup debacle, things were going pretty well. Until New Years Day…my Grandmother got pretty sick and ended up in a coma. I spent the next 8 days sleeping off and on in the family room and at my Gram’s place and eating everything from pizza to Dixie Lee Fried chicken. Not even because I really wanted it but more so because I knew that Grammy couldn’t have it so I did some sympathy eating on her behalf. How bad is that? I am blaming my sick Grandma for my gluttony? My grammy is getting better day by day and is now awake and able to sit up and eat and everything. I have been back in Toronto for 2 days and my eating is back to normal and I am back to the gym which feels really good. Seeing my grandmother laying in that hospital bed broke my heart but let me tell you…seeing someone come out of a coma and quickly progressing to being able to speak and then on my last day there having her waiting for me with her arms open when I came to visit was pretty incredible. The entire experience was pretty eye opening. My grammy has diabetes, along with a lot of other people on both sides of my family. I cannot let that happen to me. As much as I like my food, don’t get me wrong, my health has to be at the top of my priority list for the rest of my life. You always hear health experts saying that you only get one body and in 2010 I am making it my goal to look less like 2 bodies and more like one!

Happy New Year, friends!
xo