Challenges

Today is the last day of the month so you are probably wondering how I did on the ab challenge?  I completed 16 out of 30 days.  I did modify the challenge instead of doing 300 repetition a day I did 125 to 150 reps.  I have noticed a difference in my stomach, it feels tighter even under the layer of fat.  I am glad I took a picture at the beginning of the month so tomorrow I will take another and compare and keep you posted.    Since I didn't get 100 percent on this challenge  I am going to do a re challenge myself  and try to increase my reps complete the 30 days.  

 

I have decided to also add a food challenge.  NO FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.  I thought this was an appropriate challenge since Rob and I are starting our spending money budget tomorrow.  We are really trying hard to pay off our debt this year so we now have to have an allowance :(

 

On Friday my sister and I went apple picking!  That was quite an adventure we got lost going to the orchard so instead of  taking 30 minutes to get there it took over an hour but I really can't complain it was a beautiful drive.  The leaves are starting to change colour which is always so beautiful!   When we finally arrived it also turned out to be a farm.  We got to see cows, goats, and chickens.  We picked 60 apples in total and they are delicious!    We also bought honey that was fresh from that day yum!    I would definitely do this again.  First time for everything.  Here is few pictures my sister took of the day. 

 

These baskets are not ours I had a lulu bag and a zebra print bag I guess my sister thought these baskets looked better lol

Fall is here!

 



Yum!



This cow was totally chowing down!

 

I was trying to be "one" with the apples I was high up in the trees! 

I got a haircut and colour for fall.  Here's a picture.  I love the cut but I am still getting use to the colour in few washes I think I will like it better. 

 

 

See you tomorrow for my workout update. 

 

Who will join me again for  the ab challenge?  or The no fast food challenge?

 

 



 



 

Weekly Update

Weekly Workout

 

Monday- Walk/Jog (20 mins)

                  Dodgeball (60 mins)

 

Tuesday- Weight Circuit (20mins)

                  Walk/Jog (20 mins)

 

Friday- Elliptical (30 mins)

 

Total Calories- 1180

 

Monthly Weight In

 

+3 pounds  I am not happy about this but there is nothing I can do but move forward and try harder and learn where I went wrong.

 

Starting Weight on WW: 241

Current Weight: 239

 

Since starting WW two months ago here is how many cm's I have lost.

 

Waist: -2cm

Hips: -4cm

Bust:-10cm

Arms-1cm

Thighs-0

 

I am still feeling pretty down.  I basically slept all day until I had to go to work  but sometimes sleep is a good thing for me.   I worked from 4pm to 12:30am and I was busy the whole night n0 sitting down for this girl!  After work I was dead set on going to the gym but I thought since Rob doesn't have to work in the morning maybe we could do a 20 minute walk/jog outside.  I asked him and he said "maybe??  NCIS premiere is on tonight"  I told him I needed a commitment to jog  and it was only 20 minutes.   I  suggested forced us to  change out of our work clothes and quickly put on our work out clothes and go straight outside otherwise we would be in a vegatative state on the couch.   We alternated from two minutes of walking to two minutes of jogging.   It was hard for me but I was super happy we did it.  I needed to be outside in the fresh air and it really helped with my mood and to top it off I got to jog with the love of my life.  Even if  he was sulking at the beginning.  Thanks Robby for being such a wonderful and supportive boyfriend.

Crappy week

I don't know where to start on this post it has been kind of a crappy week.   I went on a bender on Friday and did not stop till today. My drug of choice was food.   I just was fed up of tracking, fed up of not losing weight, fed up of trying so hard and not seeing any concrete success.  I know it's a pity party for me.   I ate my emotions this week and that kind of defeats the purpose of trying to lose weight.  You might be thinking what's "eating" at you?  Well let me tell you a couple of reasons why?

 

1.  Weather is a huge factor for me.  If I do not get enough sunlight I am miserable.  ( I know I had a plan to fight this but then depression sets it and I don't want to do anything.) 

 

2.  My Manager at work got fired which has been due to happen for a long time!  I am happy he is gone but with this comes change and although I think most will be positive, it is still change and I never do well with any sort of change.

 

3.  I have been working a lot of hours.  In the summer I was getting three days a week off but now with two jobs I am down to one. 

 

4.  Rob and I sat down to start a new budget to pay off our debt this in itself was very stressful and makes me look at how much debt we have, well more like I have since it's my school debt etc.  Don't get me wrong we are very good at paying our bills on time and paying more then the minimum on our credit cards.  But since we will need a new car next year and I will be starting nursing school.   I really want to focus on paying off as much debt in the next year as possible so we do not to have to add to are up coming expenses.

 

5.  The car was in the shop (again) I was hoping it was going to be something simple and cheap to fix but no such luck.  $525 later......  I asked my mechanic (we are besties now since I see him all the time) when I get my next oil change if he can check out the car fully to see what in the future might need to be fixed and his respond was "I see in the future a new car"  lol 

 

6.  I have had to re-evaluate some relationships in my life and this is never easy

 

 

I know my problems are not earth shattering but it's enough for me to have anxiety and to eat them away.  I know this is not the answer, but sometime it sucks when I am truly trying so hard!  

 

Rant over. 

 

Thanks for reading! 

 

How is your week going?

 

Truck'in along

Weekly Workout Update 

Monday- Skip Circuit (60 mins)

Thursday- Walking (70 mins)

Friday- Elliptical (30 mins)

Sunday- Walking (42 mins)

Total Calories Burned: 1610

Abs Challenge Update

I have tried to do the ab workout everyday but I slipped up a few times especially when I was  in NYC but so far I have done 10 out of  17 days. I might moan and groan about doing my monthly challenges and think to myself why am I putting myself through this but in the end I love that it shows my drive to complete something and it also is helping me live a healthier lifestyle.  I am still searching the web to find a new challenge for October, when I do I will let you know. 

 

 

( I would love to have abs like this women someday!  Something to work towards)

 

New Activities

I signed up for another 5 km race it is at the end of October which gives me  exactly six weeks to train.  I started my training today it was a little rough.  I am starting from scratch so I ran one minute, walked one minute for a total  of 20 minutes.  I will increase my running time as the weeks get closer  to the race.  The Race  is called "Rattle me Bones"  it's on the Halloween weekend so most people dress up in costume which sounds super fun to me!  http://ohfoundation.ca/our-events/rattle-me-bones

Rob and I put a team together with a  Dodgeball league we played for the first time tonight.  I have to say I was a little nervous I didn't know what to expect?  Since the last time I played I was 12 years old and I was one of those kids who always got out first.    I was shocked to discover how much I loved it.  I even got a few people out.  It's a great game to play with a group of friends and a good way to get out your aggression.    I can't wait to play next week! 

Weight Watchers

 

As I have said before I love how WW has helped me learn about portion control and I  have noticed an improvement in my veggie and fruit consumption.  My regularity is working like clockwork now!  ( I know T.M.I. but it is important when you are living a healthy lifestyle)   I am having a bit of trouble staying within my daily points but it's a work in progress and I am trying to focus on the positive changes.   

What new activity are you going to try this fall?  and Does anyone have a  suggestion for my October monthly challenge?   

Thanks for Reading 

 

 

 

Fall and Weekly update

Fall is just around the corner and for me it means: 

 

1. The Restaurant will be super busy again, more money but longer hours.   Working till Midnight or 1 am will be the standard.  The past week has started to get busy and my body has to get  use to running around for 7 to 9 hours again.  (One of these days I will wear a pedometer and tell you how much I walk in a shift)  

 

2.  My love for television shows.  I barely watched any television this summer but I do have a soft spot for quite a few shows such as Mike and Molly, 2 Broke Girls, Grey's Anatomy and The Biggest Loser.

 

3. Lastly fall means shorter light hours in a day.  Which means I have to be extra concerned about my SAD disorder. 

 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195

 

November is usually one of my worst months.  I start feeling anxious, fatigue and extremely depressed which then leads to overeating.   This year instead of waiting for these symptoms to occur and I am going to be proactive and use the tools I know have worked in the past.  I am going to workout as much as possible, take yoga once a week,  start taking vitamin D, go tanning or try to be outside when it is sunny and write on my blog when I am feeling blue.   I am not going to lie I am starting to get nervous because these symptoms can be so severe and scary because my SAD disorder intensifies my panic  disorder but I am hoping this time around having a plan in action will help subside this.   

 

Weekly Workouts

 

Tuesday- 6 hours of walking (In NYC)

Wednesday- 2 hours of walking ( In NYC)

Friday- Sha'bam 40 mins

 

 

Does anyone else suffer from the lack of light in the winter?   I would love to hear your experiences too. 

Thanks for Reading!


 

NYC Trip

It has been such a busy and wonderful week.  Rob and I went to NYC for three days.  It was a little nuts!  We drove 16 hours round trip, walked countless hours and saw our very first NFL game.   

 

 I truly love travelling with Rob we really enjoy doing the same things.  We really only had two days to tour the grand city but we did has much as we could.  On the first day we went to Times Square,  toured the wax museum, walked through the beautiful Central Park and saw The Rockfeller Center. 

 

On the second day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge which was one of the most beautiful walks I have ever taken.  We also went to the Financial District and saw the 9/11 Memorial Site which almost brought me to tears.  (The energy there was just so sad)  We strolled in a park along the water (I can't remember the name of it)  but we could see the Statue of Liberty.  Then we hopped on a subway to Canal st. and did a bit of shopping and ate the most delicious piece of pizza.  (I'm sure it was a lot of points but it was worth it!)     Then we headed back to the hotel to relax for an hour and then got into a  cab to The MetLife Stadium to watch The Giants vs Dallas.  For those of you who don't know Rob he is a HUGE Giants fan and this was a dream come true for him.   He has been a fan since the young age of 9 (He is 36 now).  We even have a Giants Room at home lol.   I never in my life saw Sports Fans like I did that day.  It was a site to see and a day I will never forget.  Even if The Giants lost :(  

 

When we first arrived I was committed to logging all my food but sadly the Wi-Fi wasn't working at the hotel which was frustrating.  I did indulge a bit but I really tried to make healthy choices minus the pizza we had ;)  I did however get back on track on Friday and started to enter all my food.  

 

A few things I noticed about The States Vs. Canada pertaining to food

 

1.  The food portions are HUGE compared to The Canadian standards

2.  When you are ordering at a fast food chain the calories content is right on the board compared to having a nutrition board

3.  Food is really cheap except at The MetLife Stadium

4.  You can ask for your hamburger to be cooked the way you like it (In Canada that is a big no-no it has to be cook well done)

 

Here is a few pictures of our trip.

 

Wax Museum

Wax Museum

Central Park

Central Park

Times Square

Brooklyn Bridge Amazing View!

Heading out to the big game

Our view from the stands



 

 

 

 

Tracking other things

This week was an interesting one.  I was feeling pretty down and I know part of the reason was my period was coming soon and the week before my period I am cranky (sorry Rob), impatient, tired and lose control over my food.   I have never been one to to keep track   of  "that time of the month" but in the last few months I decided to change that.   In the next few weeks I want to research how to control my craving in that week.   Does anyone have any suggestions with this problem?? 

 

This week my workouts have been fabulous and I am proud of that.  

 

Weekly Workout

 

Monday- Stationary Bike (54 mins)

Tuesday- Stationary Bike (43 mins)

Wednesday- Stationary Bike (50 mins)

Thursday- Stationary Bike (45mins)

Saturday- elliptical ( 20 mins)

                 Treadmill (15 mins)

Sunday- Bike ride (1 hour 45 mins)

 

Total Calories Burned- 2200 Calories

 

I am still pretty sore from yesterday's bike ride.  I have been trying to do a lot of stretching. 

Rob and I leave tomorrow for New York City!  I can't wait it's an 8 hour drive so I hope it flies by.   I just want to blink my eyes and be there already!

 

I hope everyone has a great week. 

 

Bike Ride Along the Canal

Rob and I conquered another activity on our summer bucket list.   For those who are familiar with Ottawa.  We biked from Mooney's Bay to the walking bridge downtown.  It took us 45 minutes and was about 6.5 miles.  The whole trip was 13 miles or just over 20km.  Some of the hills were challenging for me but the view was breathtaking and made me appreciate the city that much more.   There were people of all ages out biking, roller blading, running and walking.  I saw a couple holding hands while rollerblading, a women who had a unique bike who used her hands to move her bike instead of her legs and a man who was paraplegic going down the road on his wheelchair with fire speed.  You can tell he was extremely fit!   The weather was perfect and we treated ourselves to a yummy breakfast!  I didn't feel an ounce of guilt because I knew I would burn it off on the ride home.    

 

I have such a loving boyfriend, I told him if I was biking to slow for him that he could go ahead of me but he said it was fine and  he was happy biking along side me and if I did get far behind he would always wait for me.

 

What activities do you enjoy doing with your significant other?

 

Here are some pictures of our bike ride today

 

 

Just after we arrived downtown

 

 

 

 



I just adore this bridge it's so pretty!

 

 

Rob locking up our bikes so we can have some breakfast!

 

 

Relaxing in the grass after a great afternoon!

 

 

For my friends who do not  live in Canada here is a link to the Rideau Canal

 

http://www.ottawatourism.ca/en/visitors/top-attractions/rideau-canal