The Ups and Downs Of Shopping

19 Feb

Shopping, ugh, I have such a love-hate thing going on when it comes to shopping. As a  girl I am supposed to love! love! love! shopping for pretty much everything buuuuuut I don’t. 😛

The things I love to shop for? Gear for my various sports/activities, books, shoes, jewellery, purses, techie stuff…but since I don’t have a lot of money I usually end up buying stuff for my sports/activities and shoes lol

Things I hate shopping for? Clothes.

Yes, I admit it, I am a female who hates shopping for clothes…well, unless it’s clothes to be worn when exercising, hiking, dragon boating, running, basically sports clothes. But clothes for work or general socializing? Nuh-uh, don’t like it.

I’m never happy with what I look like hence hating to shop for clothes.

For the last couple months or so I’ve been oh so amazingly unhappy with my clothes. Every time I get dressed for work or to go hang with friends I feel ugly. I don’t like how my pants fit, I don’t like how they look, they make me miserable and self-conscious and eager to return home and put on some sweats or yoga pants. My tops I’m ok with, it’s the pants that are a problem.

I was convinced it is because I am too big…huh, I’m trying to find a nice way to say this, *deep breath* I was convinced I felt this way in my pants because I was too fat for them. I wasn’t when I bought them, they fit great, so obviously if I don’t fit perfectly in them anymore it must be because I got too fat for them, right? Right. It’s depressing, and made me even less eager to shop than normal. I kept telling myself that if I am so unhappy with how I look in my clothes then stop being a dumb ass, lose the weight I so obviously gained, and fit back in to them. If I ate something I shouldn’t, then felt uncomfortable in my pants I would mentally yell at myself (cause yelling out loud to myself is just weird 😛 ) and basically tell myself my punishment for eating something bad for me was feeling so miserable in my pants. Not the healthiest way to be looking at things…

maybe this should be my new plan? ;)

maybe this should be my new plan? 😉

Couple months or so ago I bought two new pair of pants, a pair of jeans and a pair of cords. I bought them both a size up from what all my other pants are because I thought that must be what I needed, a size larger. I’ve been having trouble with both those pairs of pants though because they are too big, after about 20 minutes of wearing them they have become so loose I am constantly having to pull them up – soooo not an attractive thing to be doing. *rolls eyes* and under normal circumstance they’d be donated to a thrift store or relegated to “fat day pants”. Thing is, I don’t own enough pants to be giving any away or wearing certain ones so infrequently.

So I was confused, how could one size fit too snug and the next size up fit way too loose? Then I had a realization…except for those two pants that I bought in the larger size I hadn’t bought pants (except yoga or hiking or dragon boat pants) in three years. THREE YEARS!! I’ve been wearing the same freakin pants for years! No wonder they aren’t fitting properly anymore! They’ve been washed how many times? Worn how many times? Sat in, run in, moved around in, lived in for how long? Oh yeah, that’s right, 3 years.

That little tidbit of info made me feel not quite so bad about how my pants are fitting. Have I changed since I bought them, well yeah, sure I have. But so have the pants. They don’t hold their shape as well as they used to, over time the leg length has shrunk so it’s a good bet the rest of the way they fit has shrunk, they are old, and while I keep my clothes in as good condition as possible they are showing their age. I’d say they are due to be retired.

I decided with this paycheque I would buy myself a pair of pants, maybe two if I could find a good sale somewhere. I had almost convinced myself the shopping might be fun and not horrific since maybe I’m not the monstrous size I feel I must have become since my pants haven’t been fitting me but then reality set in lol Dragon boat season is starting early this year, a whole month earlier and I needed new water proof pants cause mine became un-water proof by the end of last season and while yes, this is a water sport so I should expect to get wet, being on the water at 7:30pm at night in February is damn cold and it’s sensible to wear water proof gear until the weather warms up. No point getting drenched and cold and being sick when you don’t have to be. I was at Mountain Equipment Co-Op, shopping for the water proof pants (which I found, and while I bought the cheapest pair they were by no means cheap, ugh) when I saw some sweet hiking pants on sale for $20. I figured I’d try them on since they were such a great deal and omg they fit beautifully! It’s amazing how good I felt about how I looked when I wore them! I didn’t feel self-conscious or ugly or fat or like I wanted to hide, I felt like I looked good. 🙂 It’s been a looooong time since I’ve felt that. Obviously I bought them. Oh, and the size? The equivalent to the size of the pants that no longer fit me. Weird.

So now I don’t have the money to replace my work/socializing pants because I bought the water proof pants and the hiking pants but the water proof ones are a necessity and the hiking pants were too good a deal to pass up, shrug. Guess I’ll have to keep battling the feelings I get in my three year old pants until I have another paycheque that has some money left over and I can go find some new clothes. If I can hold on to how I felt when trying on the hiking pants then maybe I won’t even mind going shopping for new work/social pants…maybe! 😉 lol

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Stir Fry Sunday: A Gifted Sauce

18 Feb

2014-02-17 18.02.05I was talking stir fry with a friend of mine on Sunday while I was at work and sauces came up. She vocalized the crazy assumption she had made about my weekly stir fry dinners by saying something about my home made sauces. I looked at her like she was nuts and said “What? Made the sauce? Do you not realize who you’re talking too? I’m the girl who only figured out a month ago how to cook raw chicken. And who did a happy dance at figuring out how to hard boil an egg…remember??” To which she started laughing, made a “oh yeah!” face and then wondered where I get my sauces from. I told her all my sauces come from the same place, the Asian Food Aisle at the grocery store. She started laughing again. Apparently that is funny? *confused face*

Then she walks in to the fridge (I should point out she is a chef, we were in a professional kitchen so the fridge is massive, seriously, it could fit a bed), comes out with a container and says she is giving me some of what is inside. Turns out one of the other chefs had made a ginger and orange sauce that she figured would be good with stir fry.

Sauce…not from a jar…ok, I’m game! 🙂

It was quite tasty, though a tad strong, I blame that on my using too much of it lol.

So my stir fry last Sunday (I’m writing this on Tuesday, I’m such a slacker! 😛 ) was shrimp with a mixture of traditional stir fry veggies and mediterranean veggies with the ginger & orange sauce on top of brown rice. Mmm!

Using the home made sauce made me think I should look in to learning how to make my own sauces. I’ve been reading up on it a bit and apparently a good stir fry sauce is all about the spices used, that and an apparent magic touch lol I can’t afford to go buying a whole bunch of new ingredients right now but it’s something I’ll keep in mind for a future hobby…making sauces…can’t be any weirder of a hobby than whatever other people do, maybe lol 😉

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Chewsday Tuesday – Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Bake

18 Feb

Mmm! This sounds delish! Thanks Little Runner Girl! 🙂

littlerunnergrl's avatarRun This Mom

Apple cinnamon quinoa bake

What you need:

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 apples, peeled, diced
  • 1/4 cup raisins ( I didn’t have any, so I used a mixed berry blend)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups vanilla soy milk (can substitute regular milk)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup almonds, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 7×11-inch baking dish an 8×8 works too.  I used a 7×11 and wish that I’d done the 8×8 because then the bars would have been thicker.

In a small bowl, mix the uncooked quinoa with the spices. Pour into greased dish.

Sprinkle the apple and raisins on top of the quinoa.

In that same small bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the soy milk and maple syrup.
Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top of the fruit and quinoa.

Lightly stir to partially…

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Chatty Cathy Corner…Only I’m Not Cathy…

15 Feb

I don’t usually use my blog to talk about movies or tv shows. I have occasionally posted a link to a youtube video for a song I abso love but that’s about it.

Well, I just finished watching the movie Captain Phillips and am so blown away by it I feel I have to say something, to someone, and since my computer is within easy reach, and all of my friends are sleeping, you dear readers are the people I am going to tell. lol. So why don’t you grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy my random chattiness…

captain-phillips-poster

Go watch Captain Phillips. It was amazing, incredible, gripping.

Tom Hanks has a way of making you believe right from the moment he shows up on your screen that he is that character. And as Captain Phillips he humanized the Somali pirates and helped me (if only briefly) feel pity for them. This movie, while being about the first American ship being taken over by pirates in 200 years wasn’t all Pro-America-aren’t-we-great yadda yadda yadda. It was about normal people, put in a crappy situation…but that description right there, about people being in a crappy situation, describes both the Americans on the ship and the pirates who boarded them.

If you followed the news in 2009 then you already know how the movie ends, but in case you are like me and didn’t follow the news, or just forgot how it all turned out, I won’t spoil the ending by saying what happens. All I will say is I 100% recommend you (yes, you!) watch this movie, the acting alone makes it worth it, but the acting combined with the story will keep your eyes glued to your screen for the entire length of the movie, and how often does that happen? 🙂

On a completely different note, the trainer my lil sis and I worked with emailed us pictures he took of us while we performed various exercises so we would remember what they looked like. I printed them out today and stuck them on my fridge so now I have no excuse to not do them. I also printed a copy for my lil sis but doubt she’ll be happy to see that lol. All the exercises are designed to be things that can be done in a gym or at home, hence sticking the print out on my fridge where I will see it everytime I go to get food. There are a couple I can’t reeeeally do here but only because they involve my arms stretched straight above my head and my ceiling is too low for that, I could go on my knees for those, I think that’ll get me the same benefit as standing…maybe…I don’t really know…maybe I’ll just stand in the hall outside my door and hope my landlord doesn’t walk by lol

My Squat Circuit Challenge is going well, Saturday will be Day 7. So far I haven’t had any problems with my knees which is a relief. I think because instead of doing only the standard squat I am doing the 5 different squats it is somehow easier on the joints, I don’t know why I think that makes sense but in my head it does so I’m going with it lol

One Week Done!

One Week Done!

I’ve really got to decide what I am doing about this Ripped In 30 Jillian Michaels dvd challenge. Every now and then I pull out the dvd, pop it in and do the workout for Week 1. It is a good workout and weeks 2, 3 and 4 hold the promise of a real ass whooping but since I never do the first full week I’ve never bumped myself up to the next level workout. There is also a meal plan that I have yet to access online cause ya know, that’s how I roll apparently lol I should have started the Squat Circuit Challenge and the Jillian Michaels challenge on the same day then I could use the one to prompt the other buuuut I only just came up with that brilliant idea *rolls eyes* When I google results from her workout dvd there are amazing pics online, people seem to do really well following her workout dvd and meal plan so you’d think I’d be right on that but for some reason I’m not. I don’t even have an excuse for why I haven’t started the challenge, I just haven’t…sigh…

Why oh why haven't I seriously started this yet??

Why oh why haven’t I seriously started this yet??

My last bit of news is I got woken up by a phone call from the doctor today, oh joy. They got the results from my most recent x-rays and blood tests in and I yet again have to go in to talk to her about them. Ugh. I’m so done with that, can’t I just wait to see the specialist? Oh but wait, no, no I can’t cause she says I have to go in to talk about them. I’m not a big fan of doctors and all these repeated visits are irritating me. I’m not nervous this time about what she is going to say, she seemed to get all the scary words out of her system last time *rolls eyes*, I figure she’ll use the same scary words this time, or it’ll be worse (which I doubt due to my being very much aware of the pain level in my hip at every second of my day) or it will be magically better (which again, I doubt since I’m the one feeling the pain in my hip and that isn’t going anywhere). What could she possible tell me she hasn’t already? Aaaaand, I suppose by typing that I am tempting fate now aren’t I? sigh. I just want it fixed so it doesn’t cause me problems during dragon boat season which, oh yeah! That was my other news! lol

Grr! I am dragon, hear me roar!

Grr! I am dragon, hear me roar!

My team signed a new coach, yay! Who has decided we are starting our on the water training Feb 27th instead of mid to late March like we normally do. This means (1) I’m super stoked to be getting back on the water! (2) my first practice of the season is the day prior to my meeting with the hip specialist which is not the order I would have preferred that to happen in and (3) I’m gonna have to hurry and buy my new water proof pants (mine stopped being waterproof part way through last season, it was weird)

All done your tea? Good, so am I! 🙂

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V-Day an Stuff

14 Feb

Ohhhh Valentine’s Day, sigh, the day when single girls can’t catch a break. Either people shoot looks of pity your way because you are single and *gasp* not doing anything social on this oh-so-red-infused day or they read into everything you say/do and nod sagely while calling you out on your so-called bitterness. *rolls eyes*

my surprise valentine present

my surprise valentine present

People don’t seem to understand the concept of a single female who is happy being just that, single. It’s ok for guys to be single, people don’t go around thinking they are running out of time to get married, they don’t assume a guy is bitter about being single, they don’t even seem to feel the need to reassure the guy that they’ll meet the right one soon.

But single women? Oh man the comments that I have had thrown my way, a girl needs kevlar just to survive out there lol 😛

I don’t see why my being single gives everyone around me the self-appointed right to judge every aspect of my life. Although, to be fair, I judge a lot of people I know who are in disfunctional unhappy relationships but who aren’t taking any steps to get out of them because it is more comfortable to be un-happy but know what to expect then to make a drastic change with only the hope of becoming happy…I guess really, we all judge each other, it’s just so much more apparent at certain times of the year or at certain social situations.

I, as a single woman, am not allowed to make any sarcastic comments about Valentine’s Day, I can’t make rude jokes about it, not one snarky comment can pass my lips because I will be instantly branded as bitter. Which, believe it or not, I’m not. On the reverse, I also can’t make sappy remarks about it, I can’t want to see the newest romantic comedy that is in theatre and I can’t buy any of the chocolate for myself because I will be instantly branded as someone pining for love and pitied. Which again, I’m not.

There’s no winning!

So on that note, I am without sarcasm or sappiness wishing you all a Happy Valentine’s Day, I hope you spent the day eating whatever you wanted, hanging out with whomever you wanted (or avoiding all those you didn’t want to see) and I hope you were legit happy for at least part of the day. 🙂

Onward to more exciting stuff!

Look what came in the mail today!

Armpocket 1-30

Armpocket i-30

*insert girly squeal here*

I’m sooooooo excited! I ordered this a while ago but it had to clear customs (it came from the states) so it took a bit longer than normal to receive. It is an arm band to hold my phone, keys and other small things while I am running. Lame to be excited? Maybe…but I don’t care, I’m excited! 😀

Every time I want to go running it is a juggling act of what goes in to which pocket and then when I am running I am constantly checking my pockets to make sure I haven’t lost anything. On top of that I usually have my phone in one hand (I use an app on there to track my distance, speed, calories burned etc) and in my other hand is my iPod so I can listen to music. I look ridiculous and never really feel comfortable when running because I am always worried about losing things. But this new toy will fix all that!

The one I bought is the i-30. I chose it because it was on sale. Yeah, really awesome research right? lol I did research it in 2013, and even went so far as to ask for it for Christmas but I didn’t get it. I figured oh well, maybe in summer I’ll buy one buuuut since I have to train for this run I signed up for (it is in May) I took a look at their site again and the one I wanted was on sale because they’d come out with a new version for 2014. Sweeeet! Since I didn’t care about the minor tweaks they made for the new version I bought the one I originally wanted but for cheap…well, cheaper. 😛

The specs:

-The fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles – which I love!

-It has a touch-through cover so I’ll be able to use my phone’s screen without taking it out of the armpocket.

-It has 3 interior storage compartments so you can carry your phone, keys, ID, energy bar etc – no more juggling things in my pocket for me!

-It is water proof.

-Ventilated straps so my arm won’t be a nasty sweaty mess under the strap when I’m running.

There are of course other things that the pamphlet and website say are awesome about it but these are the reasons I chose it. 🙂

The only thing I’m not so impressed with are the pockets inside. There are three interior storage compartments to securely hold your items, the pic shows your credit card and ID fitting nicely in to one pocket while your keys and cash go in the second and then your phone is in the third. Well…hmm…those interior pockets that are supposed to be for my plastic and keys are small, as in narrow, as in I don’t think my ID or credit card would fit in one…it’s not like American ID cards or credit cards are different sizes so I don’t know why the pockets are so narrow…I’ll be fiddling more with it tomorrow and I’ll see, maybe my stuff really will fit in there ok? Even if they don’t fit perfectly I am still happy with it. Course, I’ll be happier after I’ve gone for a run with it on my arm and I know how well it feels and if it really doesn’t slide down the arm like they claim. lol

Shoot, I had other things I wanted to write about but this is already really long…sigh, I guess I’ll have to write a separate post *rolls eyes*

Cheerio!

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30 Day Challenge Confirmed

13 Feb

It seems that I am taking part in the 30 Day Squat Circuit Challenge…I’m still mildly confused by this even though it was my decision to do it lol

I'm doing this??

I’m doing this??

I did the first day thinking something along the lines of “I can do this but it doesn’t really mean anything…I can still not do the challenge…” then I did day two and three and well, it seems I’m committed now lol. 😛

I’m glad I’m doing this challenge, it’ll be good for me, and will hopefully push me to get to the gym more often, and the mountain! We got some fresh snow the other day up on the mountain so guess whose hoping to go snowshoeing tomorrow? If you guessed me you’d be riiiiight! 😀

Today was spent with my lil sis at the gym working with a trainer. He focused on showing us solid, full body moves that we can do in gyms or at home (so we have no excuse to not work out lol) and I felt like I got a good workout. Not as good of a workout as it could have been but that was because it was a learning workout so there were more pauses than there normally would be as he explained things, or corrected form or took pictures. Yes, took pictures, weird huh? He took pictures of us doing various exercises that he will email us so we will remember what the proper form looks like for various exercises. Smart man.

He also gave us a suggestion for a workout to do together next week (this week was our last session with him, sadness), he suggested we do the Widow Maker. Neither of us had heard of it, it is basically a freakin huuuuuge outdoor staircase that equals to 12-13 flights of stairs. Huh. We promised we’d do it next wednesday and have also promised to email him to let him know we did it so we really do have to do this thing, we’re accountable to the man…I think that was his sneaky plan to make sure we kept working out…

He also suggested we go back in 3-4 months and have another fitness evaluation so we can see how far we’ve come (this is of course assuming we get better and not worse lol). I think it’s a great idea! My lil sis wasn’t quite as excited at the idea but maybe she’ll warm to it…I was hoping to magically find the money to be able to meet with a trainer from there every three weeks or so, to help me stay on track, learn new things, and to eventually re-evaluate my fitness levels. I can’t sign up with the trainer we’ve been working with cause he charges $75/hour and you have to book minimum 2 sessions per week with him, eek! Sooooo can’t afford that! He said other trainers there charge $65/hour and don’t have minimum amounts you have to work with them. I’d rather stay with him cause I’ve been working with him but I’m sure the others are just as good. However, I have decided I can’t afford the expense, boo! But am more than willing to take up his offer of another fitness evaluation in 4 months time. This will give me something to work towards and motivation is always a welcome thing in my world lol

I find I have a tendency to lose motivation, I still have all the reasons I have always had to get in shape buuuuuut my laziness takes over and I forget in the moment why I should work out instead of go to a movie with a friend, oops? lol Adding another reason for why I should work out is good, but what will make the difference is that he will be seeing me in a relatively short amount of time and I want to be able to show him I’ve gotten better, not stayed the same or gotten worse. I think knowing I will be tested will help me to not eat the bad-for-me-food and will also help me get out there and exercise. *crosses fingers*

Oh, and don’t forget that 8km I signed up for…I should really start training for that soon…maybe that should be my motivation? 😉

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Olympic Stories

12 Feb

Alrighty, so, I have a cat on my head right now…yes, you read that right, On.My.Head. I’m grateful he isn’t using his claws but I am also aware that could change at any moment so I’m doing everything I can to not move my head and mess with his balance…

Anyways, on to other stuff…Olympic stuff!

sochi olympic rings

I’m still completely addicted to watching the Olympics, just can’t get enough! It’s on my tv right now, it is almost always on my tv lol While I’m loving watching the sports, well, most of the sports (some of them I find kinda boring, ssssh! don’t tell any athletes! 😉 lol) my favourite part is seeing the really awesome displays of great sportsmanship, for example…

(1) Canadian coach giving a ski to a Russian skier so he can cross the finish line. This warms my heart for two reasons, the first is because kudos and deep respect to the athlete who falls, breaks his ski, and keeps going! So many people would just stop, and I’m sure he wanted to, but he was determined to cross the finish line. Wow! The other reason I like it is because of the coach, from another team, running to give him a ski so he can finish on two skis. Sure it’s great it was a Canadian coach but it could have been a coach from any team and I would have loved it just as much. Helping a competitor out so they can have a smooth finish to their race, classy, and I love it! Here is a link to a video of it…

Canadian Coach Helps Russian 

(2) Gilmore Junio giving up his chance to race so his teammate Denny Morrison can race instead. Who does that? Who gives up their chance to win an Olympic medal so their teammate can race instead? Gilmore did, and for that I think of him as a hero. Here is a link to a video about it…

Gilmore Offering His Olympic Spot

Things that aren’t necessarily just sportsmanship moments that are making me smile…

Marie-Michele Gagnon dislocated her shoulder when she fell Monday when competing in the slalom portion of the Women’s Super Combined and yet she is going to compete in her other events starting on Saturday (I believe her next event is Saturday,  the time change is kinda messing me up). I don’t think anybody would have questioned her if she chose to not continue but she’s all “it’s good, a little stiff but we’re looking into getting some light weight padding to help protect the shoulder and I should be ok to compete” Tough.As.Nails. Aaaand as expected, here is a link to a video showing the fall…

The Fall, Ouch!

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, wow. Is any other word needed to describe their long program? For any that don’t know they are figure skaters and they did an amazing job. I loved their music choice and despite some tiny flaws in their program they were, well, the best lol hence the gold 😛 I’m having trouble finding a video of their performance but here’s a pic…

sochi 2014 russian pairs skaters

 

Considering Maxim at one point was living in an ice rink sponsored by the Russian Army and he only got one free meal a day, often surviving off of the pickles his partner was able to smuggle in to him (pickles? weird choice but okaaaay lol), I’d say he earned it. No special, carefully calculated meal plans for him, no coddling, no nothing. Just determination, hard work and an amazing job done. I hope his life is better now than when he was living in the rink and eating hardly anything for a normal person but reeeeally nothing for an athlete.

sochi 2014 russian pairs skaters 2

 

Tell me this isn’t the face of a person who earned his gold medal?

Qing Pang and Jian Tong had an amazing skate of their own, and not gonna lie, knowing it was to be their last time competing had me rooting for them a little extra. How great would it have been for them to have their last time on the ice earn them a medal? Sadly it was not to be, they came in fourth place. Their long program was beautiful to watch, they are so elegant and move so well together. They have a happy-ever-after ending though, they are getting married (to each other!) and are retiring so they can move on to the next phase of their lives.

sochi 2014 chinese pairs skaters

 

This picture isn’t from their Sochi 2014 performance, for some reason I am having a ridiculously hard time finding a picture from either of their programs so here is a shot from a previous performance.

Some random tidbits that make me go wtf?? A snowboarder from Great Britain put off having knee surgery so he could compete, so the whole time he was competing his knee was all wrapped up in a crazy awesome brace in the hopes he wouldn’t make it worse. Dedication! A Canadian snowboarder competed with a fractured rib, and won bronze!

I also saw a quick image of three skiers who crashed (had to have been cross country of some kind) and one skier was on his knees super upset (who wouldn’t be?) and one of the other skiers crawled over to him and hugged him. I can’t find the story to explain the image so I don’t know who they were or the particulars but the image is sticking in my head. Comforting each other when their Olympic dreams are shattered. Only another Olympic athlete could understand what the feeling of losing your chance at a medal is like and seeing one athlete comfort another, right there on the track, brought a sad smile to my face.

There are so many amazing stories during the Olympics, these are just a handful, and I’m sure I’ve most likely bored you all to tears because it’s not like I am writing anything you haven’t already heard about on your local newscast or read online but shrug, these are all stories that have inspired me in some way and make me realize that I just might be capable of so much more then I sometimes think. And if the Olympics don’t inspire you to be nicer, work harder, and be better, well…what will?

Quick sidenote: The Americans just swept the podium in Men’s Freestyle Skiing (slopestyle), that just might be a record, has any country ever done that in any sport? I dunno, but Congrats!

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Another 30 Day Challenge?

11 Feb

The other day I was bored and started searching for 30 Day Challenges. I was actually thinking I’d redo the 30 Day Squat Challenge I did last summer because I liked the results I got from it and well, I know I can do it lol Nothing like going in to a challenge knowing you’ve done it once and can do it again! lol 😛 Also, I’ve gotta get my act in gear and get in shape, these challenges are nice additions to an already existing work out plan but they are also a great motivator. I mean, if you go and do a bunch of squats well, you’ve warmed up your body, you’re revved up and thinking you can handle anything which in turn can quite easily lead to a gym session or a jog (weather permitting) or at least working out to an exercise dvd, right? Right!…well, at least for me…

So I was searching for the 30 Day Squat challenge from last summer and came across this little gem…

30daysquatchallengeSorry it is so blurry, I’ll try to get a better image up but for now this is the best I could find.

In some ways it is the same as any other squat challenge, it gets you up to doing 200 squats in a day within 30 days buuuuut the main difference is that instead of just doing your standard squat you do 5 different squat poses per session. I love it! This way you are getting a more well rounded lower body workout because you are working different parts of your legs by doing the different types of squats! Yay!

To give you an example yesterday I did 6 each of the five different squats:

-narrow squat (feet together)

-narrow squat with a kick back (legs together, do a narrow squat, when you come up lift leg backwards)

-standard squat

-standard squat with side leg lift (do a standard squat, when you come up lift leg to the side)

-sumo squat

For the narrow squats with kick back and the standard squat with side leg lifts one rep is both legs, for example, you do a narrow squat, get to standing position, lift right leg back, then do the same thing but lift the left leg back, that is one set. This way a set of 6 means each leg gets lifted back 6 times. Does that makes sense?

I haven’t done my squats yet today and it is already 1:30am, doesn’t mean I won’t do them once I finish typing this and right before I go to bed but they sure will suck that little bit more because I left them so late lol My own fault though, sigh. 😛

A friend at work saw the print out and asked what it was so I showed her and she asked for a copy, she seemed really gung-ho about it which inspired a sorta brilliant idea in my head. Why not invite the staff at work to take part in the challenge, we can all do it together! I don’t mean we all get together daily and do the squats at the same time, lol, that’d be weird! 😛 Just that if we all know each other is doing the challenge then it might make us more likely to finish, we can encourage each other and we can bitch to each other about how hard it is lol, stuff like that.

I thought it was a great idea, the others? Not so much. sigh. One of the girls said no, her reasons ranged from she is too fat to do squats, to she is too short to do squats to just plain no. Another girl already had a work out plan she follows and doesn’t want to add to it (fair enough). One wants to do it and was all “yeah, I’m in!” but when I asked her today how her squats went yesterday she was all ready with reasons why she couldn’t get them done. The girl who initially was all gung-ho didn’t start yet but said she would today after work so next time we have a shift together I’ll ask her how it is going…at this point I am wondering if any of them will actually do it, sigh.

oh so true

oh so true

I get it, you have to want to work out in order to work out, at least initially. You have to have something inside of you driving you to be uncomfortable, to get sweaty, to force you up off the comfy couch and out the door to the gym or at least to the middle of the room where you then start doing squats which, even if you are in shape are hard work. All sorts of things can be a persons motivation but if you don’t have at least one thing motivating you juuuuust enough you aren’t going to change your habits and actually find the time and energy to do the work. I firmly believe you can always find some time in the day to exercise, it is just a matter of using that time for exercising and not for resting, or reading, or watching tv, or napping, or talking on the phone, or checking facebook or or or. There are a lot of things pulling all of us in a million different directions and almost always the first thing to get dropped when you have a lot  of things to juggle is working out. Like we all forget taking care of ourselves is more important than going on facebook or watching tv.

I used to be good at prioritizing working out, I always found time for it. If my social plans couldn’t be worked around my working out then I changed the social plans, not the work out session. Whereas lately I’ll cut the work out session at the drop of a hat and find a way to make any excuse sound legit. *rolls eyes* Pathetic. 😦

I’m trying to fix this, and I’m hoping this new 30 day challenge will help me. I hate failing and that will help push me to complete the challenge. Also, I am looking at this as work towards training for the 8km I signed up to run, as well as helping me get back in shape for dragon boat season (which starts soon) and just in general helping me feel better about myself. I always feel better about myself when I am living a more active lifestyle but I am a naturally lazy person and have to really fight my lazy nature to get out there and do stuff lol. Since I can do the squats at home I have no excuse to not do them each day and the confidence I will start to feel the farther in to the challenge I get is something to look forward to!…so is the muscle definition! Don’t forget the muscle definition lol Last time I was surprised at how noticeable the change was in my thighs for muscle definition, it’ll be nice to get that back. 🙂

 

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A New Fruit, A New Chocolate

11 Feb

I got given a new-to-me fruit today, I thiiiink it’s a papaya?

What are youuuuuu?

What are youuuuuu?

Luckily I was given instructions on what to do with it, I was told to peel it, cut it in half, scoop out all the black seeds, and enjoy. Sounds easy enough right?

And guess what? It really was easy lol

The poor fruit had an unfortunately hard ride home in my purse so there were some super soft spots but hey, it happens, shrug. I used a carrot peeler, for some reason I was expecting the skin to be thick like an orange but it wasn’t, it was thin and really easy to peel.

The flesh was firm on the outer parts, the parts that were right under the skin but the farther inside you go the softer the fruit. I didn’t handle it very gently so it kinda turned partially mushy by the time I put it in the bowl, hence the unattractive picture below…

not the prettiest looking food...

not the prettiest looking food…

I’m not sure if I like it or not lol At first I was all “hmm, ok, it’s alright” but the more I ate the less I enjoyed it. I also got a tummy ache out of the blue, not sure if it was from the fruit or not but the pain coinciding with the eating of the fruit makes me suspicious. I ate a little under half of it and then quit it. I’m tempted to chop it smaller and put it in oatmeal tomorrow for breakfast, maybe it’ll be better then…or maybe it’ll ruin the oatmeal? Oh the horrors! lol 😛

I also tried a new hot chocolate this evening and Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! 😀

My Uncle (who is all kinds of awesome!) sends me various goodies from England. He knows I am trying to lose weight, actually, I don’t know if he does know that…but he knows I like Weight Watcher products and that every other country in the freakin world has a wider variety of Weight Watcher foods than Canada. sigh. What’s with that??

Anyways!

He sends me these great hot chocolate packages and this evening I tried a new one, it is Caribbean Coconut and holy cannoli did it smell delish right from when the water hit the powder!

2014-02-10 16.04.50

 

It had a subtle coconut flavour, oddly enough the coconut smell was stronger than the taste but that’s ok cause the taste was still good. They have an orange chocolate that is da bomb! I only have one of those left so I am holding off on drinking it cause once it is gone it won’t be replaced soon and that is all kinds of sadness. 😛 The packages are small, and I like my hot chocolate to be strong so I either use one package and only half a cup of hot water or two packages and a full cup of hot water. This evening I did two packages, to be honest I usually go the two packages route, I mean c’mon, who wants half a cup of hot chocolate? Not me!

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Stir Fry Sunday: A Cancelled Guest

10 Feb

I had a friend coming over Sunday evening, I warned her Sunday is Stir Fry Sunday in my world so if she came over at dinner time the food I would be offering her would be stir fry. She was cool with this so yay! Or not yay? Gotta say, I was pretty much instantly worried that (1) I would kill her with food poisoning or (2) it would suck and I’d be feeding her something disgusting. Neither was really something I wanted to happen so I almost chickened out and suggested the veggie soup I made but then I decided to suck it up and make the stir fry.

Turns out she had to cancel so I was making the stir fry just for me, which while it sucked she couldn’t make it I’m not gonna lie, I was a bit relieved I wouldn’t be potentially poisoning my friend. I mean c’mon, I like her, I don’t wanna make her sick! lol

This weeks stir fry wasn’t all that exciting, and yet it was tasty. 🙂

It had chicken that had been marinating overnight in a tangy Thai sauce, Mmm!

2014-02-09 19.49.13

I was short of cash so the only fresh veggies in the stir fry were sliced mushrooms. The rest of the veggies were frozen Europe’s Best Imperial Blend, which is a mixture of edamame kernels, snow peas, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots and red peppers. I also added some grilled red and yellow peppers, the combo was quite good though I would have liked more water chestnuts.

2014-02-09 19.49.20

topped with peanuts of course

topped with peanuts of course

I cooked some brown rice, added a bit more of the Thai sauce once the veggies were cooked then topped with peanuts cause I like peanuts in stir fry, and if that isn’t the perfect reason to put them in there then I don’t know what is lol. 😛

I’m getting better at knowing how much to make. What you see in the pan was split in two, I had half Sunday for dinner then the other half was my lunch Monday. When I ate it Sunday it was perfect but when I warmed it up Monday at work the chicken was a bit dry. The flavouring was still really good but yeah, the chicken was a bit dry and chewy…I don’t know if that means I overcooked the chicken or if that is just because of heating it in the microwave. Anyone know?

For dessert I had a mini Panettone, quite possibly the cutest thing ever! lol I love Panettone but they are always so huuuuge that I don’t buy one for myself when they come out at Christmas time but from work I got this mini one. Turns out the mini one is better than the large ones I have had in the past. It was more moist (generally I find them a bit too dry), was just the right size so I didn’t have to worry about weeks of eating the same thing everyday or freezing it and it was cute. Hey, there is something to be said for enjoying what your food looks like lol

Look how cute and adorable!

Look how cute and adorable!

So there we have it, one more successful Stir Fry Sunday, wOOt! wOOt! 😀

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