Tag Archives: food

Awesome Sunday

1 Apr

Why can’t every day be like this past Sunday? Seriously, it was so much fun! Well…for me, others might not be that impressed with it lol 😛

It started off with something that wasn’t funny at the time but now is so sit back and enjoy a story that clearly shows you juuuuust how dumb I can be! 😉

cant brain today

I didn’t have to work on Sunday, I had booked the day off so I could attend an Acting Workshop. The class didn’t start till 11am which meant I didn’t have to be up until 8:30am which is sooooo lovely compared to my normal wake-up time of 5:20am on a Sunday cause of working at 7am. Ugh.

Anyways!

So I get to sleep in which right there is a great improvement to the day lol I set the alarm for 8:30am the night before and blissfully drift off to sleep. Cue the morning when the alarm goes off. I couldn’t believe how tired I felt considering I got 6 hours of  sleep but oh well, I roll out of bed, stumble my way to the shower and attempt to wake myself up while not drowning under the water spray. Next comes uber careful make-up application. More careful than normal since I am about to spend the day in front of a camera and I want to look good lol. After the make-up is complete I head towards the bedroom for hair and clothing. On the way I check the clock on the microwave to make sure I’m not running late and the time says, brace yourself!…6:22am. Um, what? That can’t be right, I didn’t get up till 8:30am. So I check the time on the stove clock, 6:22am. I start to get suspicious, they can’t both be wrong, can they? So I then go and check the one clock I know will never lie to me, my phone. Whaddya know, it says 6:23am.

What?!?! What is going on?? I check the alarm and there it is, my alarm is set for 8:30am so how in bloody hell did I end up with an alarm going off at 5:20am?

Turns out that while yes, I did set an alarm for 8:30am I forgot to turn off my alarm for 5:20am. Ooops! I was so tired when the 5:20am alarm went off, what with that being my approx 3 hours asleep mark I didn’t look at the clock, I just got up and started to get ready. I jipped myself our of 3 hours of sleep! *groan*

I did what any sensible person would do, I dried my hair, put my pajamas back on, crawled in to bed, spread my hair above my head on the pillow so I wouldn’t dent it while sleeping (just go with it, it’s a long-haired person thing), sternly lectured myself about not rolling over and ruining my make-up, and went back to sleep. Ahhh sleep! Since I was more than half ready for the day I got to sleep till 9am, wOOt!

*rolls eyes at self* I couldn’t believe I did that! Well, actually, yeah, I can lol but still!

What could have been taken as a bad omen for the day totally wasn’t, phew! My day was awesome – hence the title of this post lol 😛

The workshop was amazing!! As in completely, utterly, I wish I could do that everyday, amazing! The two ladies that ran it are Casting Directors so the workshop was half about getting to work on acting stuff and half about networking. Sometimes I suck at networking, I get stupidly shy at the worst moments and as a result come across as an idiot, or a bitch, or people thinking that I think I am better than everyone when that isn’t the case at all. It’s just that I’m a bit of an introvert and am socially awkward. I work really hard at being human when being social, I’d usually much rather be watching, not participating. But sometimes you just can’t do that, ya gotta participate. And I have to say, I did a damn fine job of it this time. The ladies were great, I made them laugh, they seemed to like me, they seemed to really like my acting. It was all kinds of perfect. 🙂

The hope is that now that they have seen me on camera, worked with me, met and hopefully liked me, next time my agent submits me for a project they are casting they will be all “oh hey, it’s H! we like her, let’s bring her in!” See how that works? Networking!

I was going to go for a run in the are afterwards but it was raining and I forgot about one important thing. Hunger. I often forget I am going to have to eat throughout the day, I really wish I didn’t since it takes up so much time, sigh. I drove home, made a delish wrap (I put honey glazed chicken, Mediterranean and stir-fry veggies in it, oh and I spread two triangles of Jalapeno Laughing Cow Cheese on the wrap), called and chatted with the parents for a while, attempted to digest what turned out to be way too big of a wrap (I put way too many veggies in there, so good but omg my poor tummy lol). Then I basically chilled with the cat before I went out in the evening.

I loved Sunday. Not because I got to sleep in – sorta. Not because I got to not be at work – though that was nice. Not because I had an interesting start to the day which gave me a funny story to share – that’s a bit of a bonus. But because for a chunk of my day I got to be an actor. I got to play. I got to be in front of the camera, working on scenes, some improv, some scripted. I got to meet two amazing casting directors who gave me great feedback, constructive criticism, and who provided an open and safe environment to act in. I got to hang with other actors and talk about the industry. I got to feel like I was being pro-active towards my acting career. I got to feel alive. *happy sigh*

I wish everyday could be like Sunday. 😀

happy

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Middle Ground

15 Mar

I’ve got a pair of pants that when I bought them I thought they fit but once I got them home and wore them out for the first time I realized they were actually a bit too big. The crotch (I hate that word! lol) was too low so it rubbed against the inside of my thighs causing pain and raw skin…too much info? only happens to me? Yeah, sigh, figures… 😉 lol

Anyways! I put the pants in the dryer, a calculated risk, that I hoped would prove to be a smart idea. It did, sorta. The pants, after a couple runs through the dryer fit better around the waist, butt, hips and leg areas. They were a tad shorter than I like but not so much shorter I can’t still wear them with a variety of shoes. Phew! My legs are so long I hang to dry all pants because they can very quickly become too short and I look like that person who is expecting a flood 24/7 lol 😛

So today for work I wore the pants. I was maaaaaybe an hour in to my shift and every time I was standing or walking I was also pulling the pants up a bit and wishing I’d worn a belt. They were fitting looser in all areas but of course were still the tad too short they had been since the dryer stints.

I don’t know if this means I have lost a little bit of weight (please oh please mean I have lost some weight! *crosses fingers*) or if it means my pants have stretched out a bit or didn’t shrink quite as much as I realized. Obviously I’m hoping I got smaller not that my pants got bigger.

I seem to appear to be back in the middle ground of clothing sizes. I hate the middle ground. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, it is that stage where you are becoming too small for one size but are still too big for the next size down so your clothes don’t fit nicely no matter what you wear. It sucks even if it is an indication you’re on the right track.

this goes for all clothes

this goes for all clothes

Thing is, I can’t think of anything that would have made me slim down a bit so I’m leaning towards the pants stretching out, which sucks.

I’ve been working on making small changes with my food, cutting out the processed foods I’d been enjoying during my off season, drinking more water, making sure to get protein in at every meal (well, ok, almost every meal, this is me after all lol), and, the big one, I’m eating less peanut butter! Shocking I know! I mean c’mon, I am the person who happily eats a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter and considers it a meal lol But yeah, small changes to my eating, nothing major, nothing to warrant slimming down enough to make pants fit looser.

One happy bonus to the pants fitting loosely this evening was it made it easier to resist bad-for-me-foods cause I kept thinking “if I have lost some weight I don’t wanna gain it back by making a stupid food choice” lol Oh the things I use for increasing my willpower! 😛

I have noticed lately that I am finding it easier to resist the foods that usually have me caving. Weird huh? Weird but awesome! If I walk through the bakery section at the grocery store I may glance at all the bakery items I usually drool over but I don’t pause and I definitely don’t buy. I contemplated pizza earlier in the week but easily managed to not order it. I’m finding it easier to not eat the foods at work.

I’m not sure where this increase in willpower has come from but I like it! 🙂 Maybe it’s because it’s dragon boat season again and I want to be in peak condition for practices and for the upcoming race season. Maybe it’s because I am “training” for the BMO Run and keep having horrifying images of a fat me being the last to cross the finish line at the run. Maybe it’s because I have had two auditions in the past two weeks (hoorah!) and want to look better and better for each upcoming audition. That and obviously the more confident I feel about how I look the less I will worry about it when in front of the camera meaning the more I can focus on my acting…and the  more I will look “right” according to casting directors.

It’s probably some combination of all these things and more, who knows what is lurking in my sub-conscious? lol 😉

Whatever it is, I am glad for it. Glad to be that person who easily walks past all the high calorie, processed, so tasty but so bad for me foods and buys the healthy stuff. Glad to be getting back to the way I used to be. Glad that this juuuuust might be the first step towards a healthier, stronger, slimmer me. *crosses fingers*

take the first step, put down the cookie!

take the first step, put down the cookie!

 

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A Helpful Tip?

15 Mar

I read a lot. For the most part I read whatever I think looks interesting, which, given my innate curiosity is pretty much everything lol. Something I read a fair amount of are articles, books, studies etc on eating healthy, fitness, getting in shape, losing weight…anything that somehow relates to leading a healthier lifestyle.

I read all these articles, books and studies for a couple reasons. One is because deep down I am still hoping for some sort of miracle-super-easy-quick-fix to my fat problem. Hey, if I can find something that can actually legit get me in shape faster than what I am doing now sign me up! Also, I read these various pieces for information, to learn what is best for my body, what I might be doing that is actually causing harm, tips and tricks, ideas…things like that. There is no way any one person can know everything about a topic, definitely no way I know everything about getting fit, so why not keep reading everything you can get your hands on? Keep learning, keep expanding your ideas, keep opening your mind to suggestions, keep trying new things…what could it possibly hurt?

So the other day I am reading an article titled: 8 Clever Tips For The Body You Want. If you read enough of these articles you’ll find they mostly all say the same things. Apparently there aren’t that many easy suggestions to pass along *rolls eyes* but one of the suggestions in this article caught my eye, caught it enough I took a screenshot of it so I would be able to reference it later.

my screenshot

my screenshot

The gist of this tip is, ready for it? Dun-dun-dunnnnn…eat the same things daily. Repeat the same exercises over an over. Basically bore yourself to tears by doing the same things over and over again. Apparently, “in one study, less food variety was associated with successful weight loss maintenance” and according to Dr. Oz (yeah, that guy from tv) “research is showing that putting a cap on the variety of foods and tastes you experience will help you control your weight. Find a healthy lunch you like – salad with grilled chicken and olive oil…and have it every day…”

Every.Day.

Basically bore your taste buds into submission. Oh and doing the same workout over and over? Suuuuure, I mean it’s not like you have to worry about your body getting minimal benefit from an oft repeated workout because our bodies are smart and quickly figure out how to get through a workout routine they recognize by doing the least amount of work….oh wait, yes we do have to worry about that! *rolls eyes*

Seriously Dr. Oz? Seriously??

I don’t know who came up with this particular article, I didn’t screenshot that part, oops! But I am baffled by this tip.

How is a person going to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle if their main way of eating is to eat the same thing everyday? All you’re doing is finding a couple healthy meals and hitting the repeat button every time you enter the kitchen. Sure, that may work for a little while, but what happens when that person goes to a potluck? To a restaurant? To a birthday party? To a work function where there is food? Basically, any social situation where you do not get to pick the exact meal put on your plate? How does someone navigate these food danger hot spots? If I only eat salad with grilled chicken for lunch and then my work puts on a lunch function and there are soooooo many tables of super tasty foods in front of me, how have I picked up the skills needed to help me (1) make a healthy food choice using the foods available to me and (2) resist all the super tasty but bad for me foods that are there?

Maybe it is just me but if I was eating the same thing day after day then was put in a situation ( like the work lunch function, or a potluck at a friends place etc) I’d cave faster than a dog that smells steak and basically eat whatever looked tasty. For me, if I deprive myself of the majority of foods out there then am exposed to them I have no willpower to resist them because it’s been so long since I’ve tasted something different than my routine food. I will want nibbles of everything and we all know those nibbles add up quickly! *cough*stupid nibbles*cough*

Granted, this could just be because I have ridiculously weak willpower but I feel it is a valid point.

Wouldn’t it be better to learn one new healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner meal per week, slowly integrating the new healthy meals in to your life so that you get to eat healthy, experience new foods (or at least foods cooked in different ways than before) and bonus you actually enjoy eating instead of dreading it because you’ve been eating the same foods day in and day out?

When I did my super strict Paleo Plan I ate the same foods everyday, in the same order, cooked the same way, nothing ever varied. Did I lose weight? Well, technically yes, I actually built muscle so I lowered my body fat % but my scale had me going up a bit (ya know, cause of that whole muscle vs fat thing). Did I enjoy my food? No. It became a thing I had to do, had to deal with, and I couldn’t wait for each meal to be done because by week two I was so bored. For a while my willpower saved me from cheating. If I was out for dinner I’d order a salad, no dressing, grilled chicken breast on top. I can’t believe I’d pay $16 or so for something so basic but I did, all because it was as close as I could get to what I “should” be eating. I hadn’t learned from my strict Paleo Plan how to navigate eating in a restaurant, what to do if I was at a friends, how to grab something to eat on the go. All I had learned was to eat the same thing over and over and when I was in a situation that varied from my normal day-to-day schedule the Plan abandoned me to figure things out on my own…it’s like kicking a kitten to the curb when it isn’t yet weaned, no way I had the skills or know-how to figure things out on my own.

Sidenote, the kitten to the curb analogy made me look at my cat and get all “oh that’s such a mean thought” so I paused to cuddle my cat…something he doesn’t appreciate cause I woke him up lol 😛

Realistically, how long can a person eat the same foods on a daily basis?

I have to say I think this point, written up how it was written, is flawed. If they had said eat the same meals daily for two weeks than slowly add additional healthy meals that’d be ok. But this makes it sound like you should be eating the same foods daily for ever.

It’s way healthier to learn what foods are healthy, then learn how to cook a variety of dishes using those foods, eventually ending up with an arsenal of go-to meals that are healthy, tasty and varied enough you aren’t (1) bored to tears or (2) so deprived of taste variety you end up going overboard food-wise when put in a situation that is full of temptations. Well, in my opinion anyways…I’ll stop ranting now lol

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Flyer Scouting

21 Feb

I never used to bother with flyers, if I lived somewhere where I got them I’d just toss em in the recycle box cause what’s the point? Going through a bunch of flyers from a bunch of different stores, trying to figure out what you are going to buy and which store you are going to buy it at…like I’m going to go to multiple stores to buy all the items I need? Nope, not likely. I’m all about convenience, if I’m in Safeway and they are selling avocados and I want avocados, I’m gonna buy them at Safeway instead of going to a different store that is selling them for a dollar cheaper. Cause no way I want to use my time store hopping.

where I find my flyers at

where I find my flyers at

Welllllll, let’s just say that has changed. I don’t always check flyers before I go shopping but lately I have been and not only that I’ve been making lists of what I am buying, at which store, and how much it says it will be in the flyer (I tend to look for the sale price on the shelf, makes the specific item I am looking for easier to find).

I shock myself every time I do it lol 😛

This evening after work I went grocery shopping and I gotta say, I get a little kick knowing that I saved money on this item or that item cause I bought it cheaper at the second store I went to rather than buying it at the first store. Weird huh? Luckily, I work right across the street from a Safeway and I pass by a Superstore on my way home so it makes it easy to go to the two stores. If only I passed a Wal-Mart Supercentre on my way home, I’d be covered for everything! lol

On weeks I shop with knowledge of what’s in the flyers I have to write a list, I always feel grown up when I am shopping with a grocery list, and yet, I don’t cook meals like a grown up, or at least I don’t think I do…

My mom can open a cupboard, glance at whatever is inside and boom! create a healthy meal. Just like that. No planning, no digging up a recipe, no googling for how to cook something, she just knows how. And has the creativity to see what various ingredients can become without freaking out and calling someone for help. I don’t know how she does it. I know every food item that is in my kitchen because I buy a lot of the same things and if I buy something not on my normal list it is because I have a recipe I am going to try or because someone has convinced me I really can cook item X. Only very recently have I tried buying items I didn’t already have a plan for and what do you know, I either ask my friend whose a chef, call my mom in a mild panic or google.

I didn’t start checking flyers because of an article I read but after I read it it made sense. This article was about how the poor and the rich shop differently. They didn’t mean which store the two demographics frequented or brands of items they purchased. What they meant were the shopping habits.

People love a good deal no matter how much money they have. Everyone feels better about buying an item they need when it is on sale cause saving any amount of money is always nice. Unfortunately, not every item is on sale every time a person goes shopping and we’ve all been in the situation where something goes on sale that we bought a week or so prior so we don’t need it now but by the time we run out and need to purchase it again it may no longer be on sale. Sucks right?

Well according to this article, if let’s say the jumbo size package of toilet paper is on sale but the smaller size isn’t, someone with money who is shopping will be all “oh hey, the jumbo pack is on sale, I’ll buy it now even though I don’t need it cause it’s a good deal and I’ll need it eventually” a person with less disposable income will think something like this “sure the jumbo pack is on sale and will last longer but I’m tight on money so I’m buying the smaller package cause it is cheaper”.

Unfortunately, the smaller package will run out sooner, which means it will have to be replaced sooner and in the long run will end up costing the consumer more. It would have been the more financially sound move to buy the larger package that is on sale buuuuut if you only have $40 to do your shopping you don’t want to spend $10 on toilet paper when you still need to buy enough food to feed you and your family for the next week or two. Is this making sense?

That article got me thinking. There are a lot of times when I buy the smaller sized item for multiple reasons, (1) there is only me and buying jumbo or large sized packages of things often doesn’t make sense (2) I live in a super small apartment and don’t have a storage space so if I stock up on something I literally have nowhere to put it and (3) I often find myself trying to stretch my money to be able to afford rent, bills and food so while the larger package might be a better deal I just can’t afford the deal.

Flyers help me find the deals and capitalize on them. Go flyers! lol. I check out the flyers online after I have a rough idea of what I need to buy. I make a list for the first store of not only items I know I need/want but items I am close to running out of that have gone on sale or items that intrigue me and are cheap enough I might be able to afford trying them. Then I do the same for the second store. Then I cross check them and see if there are any items that are on sale at both stores and which has the better deal. This helps me plan my shopping in terms of what I get where, it also helps me see where I am saving money, helps me stock up on non-perishable items and helps me be a smarter shopper in the long run. I knew I was starting to get low on toilet paper so I kept an eye out and what do you know, both stores had the same type on sale this week. If it is on sale this week it won’t be on sale next week and if I wait until next week then I’ll have to buy it no matter what, whether it’s on sale or not. So sure, I used money from this pay cheque to buy something I don’t technically need right now, I got it for cheaper than if I had waited till I needed it sooooo in the end I saved money.

Does any of this make any sense? Or are you all just going “omg it took you this long to figure this out? the rest of the world has known this for freakin ever!”

This isn’t a completely new mindset for me, but it’s the first time I have had it so solidly figured out in my head and actually plan my shopping based on it. Make fun of me if you will, I am enjoying my little bit of new knowledge, it’s making me feel a tad more grown up…now if only I could figure out how to cook like my mom! 😉

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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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Stir Fry Sunday: A Day Late

27 Jan

Alrighty, so it’s not that I didn’t want to make a stir fry last night for dinner, I like the idea of Stir Fry Sunday buuuuuut after work I had a long phone convo, when that was over I wasn’t hungry so thought I’d wait twenty minutes or so before making dinner and I uh, hmm, kinda…well…I fell asleep…oops? 😛 By the time I woke up from my unplanned nap I was in no mood to cook, or eat. I eventually had toast and some warm almond milk with nutmeg and even that seemed like a lot!

Soooooo, I made stir fry tonight, yay! A delayed-by-one-day Stir Fry Sunday! 🙂

This weeks stir fry had the same frozen stir fry veggies as last week (why wouldn’t they? the package is already open and I gotta use em up lol), extra water chestnuts cause I have a weakness for them, mushrooms, fresh red and yellow peppers thinly sliced, beefless tips, shrimp, peanuts and a sweet and sour sauce. This was all served on top of vermicelli noodles. Mmm! Well, I think it was Mmm! lol You may not, shrug, but that’s cool, we all have different tastes after all.

I was a little let down by the vermicelli noodles, the package said put in boiling water for a couple minutes then add to the stir fy pan so that is what I did. The noodles tasted good but were so entangled with each other when I put them in the pan they didn’t really mix well with the rest of the ingredients, nor did they move around the pan easily. I’ll keep using them, mostly because I love that particular type of noodle, but next time I might not put them in the pan after boiling them, I might put them directly on the plate then top them with the vegg mix. I’ll keep trying new things till I figure it out. 🙂

I was happy with the veggies, how could I not be? lol There was a nice combo and I love veggies so it was a win-win.

I am oh-so proud of the shrimp! As in ridiculously proud! I was back to worrying I’d screw it up, give myself food poisoning or maybe over cooking them to the point of them not being edible buuuuut I did neither! How awesome is that?? I put the amount I wanted in to a ziploc bag and had them sit under running cold water for 7 minutes (as the package instructed), then tossed them in to the pan when the veggies were at an almost done stage and go fig, it worked…weird…but sweeeeeet!

The beefless tips, you’re probably thinking that is a typo lol but nope, it is not! They are made by a company called Gardein (www.gardein.com). The product looks like cubes of beef that you sautee, they have a texture of tender beef and almost taste like beef, kinda…I tried them on a whim years ago (I wanted beef but was scared to cook it and poison myself lol) so I tried these, figured I couldn’t mess up a fake meat product and so far I haven’t. Each time I cook them they turn out perfect even though each time I cook them for a different amount of time and have cooked them in varying ways. Versatile, I like that in a fake meat lol. I randomly tossed some in to the pan (as a back up in case I messed up the shrimp) but ended up with the bonus of having two protein sources in my stir fry cause both the shrimp and fake beef were great.

Stir Fry Numero 2

Stir Fry Numero 2

On a whim, and after I snapped the above pic, I decided to put half an avocado on top. Why did I do this? Cause I had half an avocado in my fridge and didn’t think it would last another day lol. I figured it’d either taste good or I wouldn’t like the combo of flavours so I’d eat the avocado pieces first and as alone as I could get them on the fork and it wouldn’t contaminate the rest of the stir fry. Turns out I liked the flavour combo, avocado makes everything better! 🙂

I’d like to think that even with the one day delay my second Stir Fry Sunday was a success…it must be, I ate until I was stuffed lol 😛

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A New Beginning?

23 Jan

I volunteer as a Big Sister, my little sister is 16 and we get along really well. The Big Sisters Organization sent us some gift certificates for a local gym that specializes in you working with a personal trainer. The gift certificates entitle us to an assessment, having a program made for us (individually I mean) and two training sessions. It’s a pretty sweet deal actually. 🙂

Today the lil sis an I went for our first consultation and oh wow were there a lot of questions lol The entire time was spent answering all types of questions about well, anything and everything concerning injuries, past and present physical activity levels, eating habits and more.

We were given homework, we each have to keep a food journal for a week and take it to the trainer when we see him next Wednesday so he can see what our eating habits are like and give us advice on them. He said there are two ways to go about the food journals, (1) eat what we think he wants us to eat and write that down, the trick there is that we have to be able to maintain those eating habits for longer than the week or (2) write down the truth. 😛

I have opted for writing down the truth and I’m almost looking forward to seeing the reaction he will have when he reads my eating habits lol Except for when I tracked my food for weight watchers and wrote that down on this blog waaaaay back in the beginning of this blog nobody has seen what I eat on a day to day basis. Which admittedly isn’t all that odd cause really, how often does somebody see or read about every morsel of food you put in to your mouth? 😉 I know my eating habits are all over the place and I’m actually looking forward to having an expert help me figure out what I should be doing food wise. Mildly nervous but still looking forward to it lol

Next week we will undergo physical fitness assessments, so we’ll have to do a bunch of different activities that will measure cardio, strength, flexibility and, hmm…I’m sure there is one more…nope, totally blanking on what that is, shrug, oh well. lol We will also have our body fat % figured out and we’ll each be given an exercise plan and taught how to do the various exercises in that plan. Then I guess we go back once per week for the next two weeks to actually work out with the trainer and after that I dunno what happens, I guess that is when we decide if we want to keep working with him and paying for his services our go our own way and hope we learned a lot.

I know my lil sis won’t be able to stay with him because even though I don’t know what he charges I know it’ll be a lot and she most likely won’t be able to afford it. Frankly, I can’t afford to work with a trainer on a regular basis either, which kinda sucks cause I really wish I could. I think knowing I was accountable to them, knowing I had to show up or lose the money I was paying for that session, knowing that someone was actually tracking my improvements or lack there of would help me to stay motivated on my lazy days, heck, on every day not just the lazy ones. If I like how the rest of our sessions with him go I might see about meeting with him once a month to keep me on track, depending on how much that would cost. But that decision is a while away so no need to really think about it yet! 🙂

I’m trying to look at this personal trainer experience as a new beginning in my weight loss/strength training world, I’m hoping what I will learn from him and knowing I will be seeing him again in a week and wanting to be slightly better than the last visit will help get me on track. I think once I am back in a routine, back on track so to speak, I will be able to maintain it, I usually can. I do so much better at exercising regularly during dragon boat season, I just need to get that drive back and have that drive push me in to the gym, or on to a hiking trail, or running around the neighbourhood lol Anything! *rolls eyes*

I keep trying to remember this

I keep trying to remember this

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Driven To Eat

13 Jan

I am not a huge alcohol drinker. I’m not that person who has a glass of wine every evening, or who when out for dinner automatically orders a highball and I’m definitely not that person who when stressed/irritated makes the comment “I need a drink!”

I completely understand the urge to reach for something to take the edge off though. What do I reach for?

Chocolate! 😀

Yes, that’s right, when I am done dealing with a super stressful/annoying situation I think (though rarely say) “I need chocolate!” and heaven help me if there is any nearby *rolls eyes*

I used to reach for fast food, so I suppose reaching for chocolate is a bit of an improvement?…ok fine, I know it’s not but let me have my illusion k? 😉

Today I had to deal with this one resident who tests my patience like nobody else on the planet. She tests everybody’s patience so don’t go judging me and thinking I’m the only one who has an issue here lol She’s a nice lady, just…shrug, high maintenance? Something that should take less than 5 minutes to sort easily takes 30 minutes cause of how she does things. If it is quiet then it’s fine but today I had line ups at the desk, every phone line ringing and she was being super high maintenance, as in suuuuuuper high maintenance! As in omg I want to hit my head against a wall to get out of this situation because that would be less painful!

After I was done helping her I actually sat at my desk, head in my hands, exhausted from the ordeal. I also actively had the thought “I need chocolate. Desperately need chocolate.” Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending how you want to look at it) we had some lovely Purdy’s chocolates at work and oh boy did I snack! Three! I ate three amazingly delish chocolates, they are two layers of chocolate with a layer of mint in between, it was my first time having them and I can easily say they are ranking up there as a new fave. Mmm!

Mmm! Chocolate and mint, one of the best combos ev-ah!

Mmm! Chocolate and mint, one of the best combos ev-ah!

I know it isn’t good to have food as a release valve when stressed, just like it isn’t good to use food as a reward or a way to celebrate something or provide comfort for something going badly…and yet! lol

I don’t use food for any of those reasons as much as I used to, or at least I don’t think I do, but I can definitely remember a number of times when I used food for those reasons. I remember after a photo shoot a couple years ago, it ended around 9pm and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I was starving, as a way to celebrate an awesome shoot I bought pizza and dessert breadsticks on the way home from Panago. I justified the meal because (1) I hadn’t eaten in a freakish long time and (2) celebrating a great shoot. Ridiculous right? I’ve had other similar situations and it’s, sigh, it’s just a dumb way to use food. I try to get my thinking to change to “food is fuel” but it’s hard. So many people socialize around food, or celebrate around food, or mourn around food, food is used in so many situations that I guess it’s a natural progression to food becoming a source of comfort, a stress reliever, a way to celebrate.

Just because it is a natural progression doesn’t mean it isn’t stupid though. 😛

Speaking of stupid…I was supposed to go to the gym today after work. It was to be my first time back since being sick and then the hip injury. I had my whole workout plan figured out, was actually pretty psyched to be going back and what happened? I ended up napping when I got home, then taking forever to properly wake up, then taking forever to figure out what to make for dinner and making it and eating it, then I got wrapped up in watching the new episode of Law & Order SVU and then it became now and it is too late to go. Crap. I know it’s my fault I didn’t go, I should have gone right after work, or forced myself to get up from that nap, or something but I didn’t and now I have yet one more day under my belt of not hitting up the gym…and what makes it worse is that one more day under my belt involves three Purdy’s chocolates! *groan*

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An Awesome Christmas

25 Dec

It is ten to midnight which means Christmas is almost over…wait! no, I’m wrong, damn. My laptop is still on BC time so in this time zone Christmas is already over. Boo!

I hope everyone out there had a great day doing whatever it is you do on Christmas. You may celebrate it or not, that doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you had a good day. 🙂

Mine went a little something like this…

Mimosa in a nutcracker glass? Don't mind if I do!

Mimosa in a nutcracker glass? Don’t mind if I do!

I feel I should insert here, I did actually eat prior to Christmas dinner, I just forgot to take a picture of the food lol My mom made me a croissant-wich, super yum! Basically a croissant with an omelette, melted cheese and turkey bacon on it. 🙂

Mmm! Christmas dinner!

Mmm! Christmas dinner!

Let’s see, that one plate held turkey, vienna sausage, carrots and parsnips, mashed yam, stuffing, sauteed mushrooms, two roast potatoes, cranberry jelly and gravy. omg talk about a lot of food! I ate every single bite! I really wanted seconds but didn’t want to risk not having room for dessert which was…

Traditional Christmas dessert, sherry trifle made by yours truly!

Traditional Christmas dessert, sherry trifle made by yours truly!

It is now my responsibility to make Christmas dessert. 🙂 I’ve been making it for about three years now. You may not think that is a big deal but you don’t understand how important this dessert is to my family lol It is cake mixed with fruit and of course sherry for the bottom layer, custard, then whipped cream.  To. Die. For.

Pretty Christmas tree

Pretty Christmas tree

Me fiddling with filters lol

Me fiddling with filters lol

An epic dinosaur battle!

An epic dinosaur battle!

I’d say obviously we have children in the family but the dinosaur battle was between my six year old nephew and my over 40 year old brother sooooooo it’s not just the kids in this family that like to play lol

Guinness and scrabble

Guinness and scrabble

What better way to end a day then in similar fashion to how I started it? By that I mean with alcohol lol. Prior to the scrabble there was a Wii bowling competition in which I slaughtered my brother…not that I am competitive or anything! lol 😉 To be honest it took no skill, I have no idea how I got so many strikes except I must’ve found a sweet spot for the sensor but hey, I’ll take it! 😛

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank Goodness For Wifi

22 Dec

All I can say is thank you to all the various entities out there for wifi! I have been at the airport since 5:30pm, it is currently 9:22pm and I have no hopes of getting out of here any earlier then midnight. Oy!

I shouldn’t complain, I mean really? What do I have to complain about in the grand scheme of things? That I’m tired? Well sure, but lots of people are tired, trust me, I’m looking at a lot of them lol That my flight isn’t on time? Being able to afford to fly home to see my family at Christmas time is a privilege not everybody has so instead of being cranky the flight is late I am grateful that I will eventually be on a plane headed home for a short but lovely visit. That I don’t have a strong enough wifi signal to stream a movie? People at the other end of my country are suffering massive power outages due to severe winter storms, I am lucky to be inside, where it is warm, there is ample food and drink (sure it’s over priced but that’s airports for ya!) and the wifi signal is at least strong enough to blog. Oh and there is enough electricity flowing around here my phone is currently plugged in to a post right beside me charging while I blissfully type away.

…

Oh dear, new update is departure at 12:47am with arrival sometime after 3am…

…

There is something soothing about airports, I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, just that I always like being in them. Sure sometimes you are rushed and stressed but for the most part (in my experience anyways) it’s a bunch of walking, interspersed with sitting and lots and lots of people watching. Something I love to do! And hey, all these people are trapped in here with me which means I get to spy on a lot of them for a long length of time bwahahahahaha <– that is my evil laugh 😉

This dude knows how to people spy...er...watch!

This dude knows how to people spy…er…watch!

I do kinda wish the lady sitting next to me who seems to be trying her best to cough up her lung would go away but since we are both using the charging station for our phones odds of that are slim to none. Ah well, shrug.

So far my time in the airport has been great! It usually is. 🙂

I am incapable of packing light and always am a little over weight with my checked luggage, which I was this time, no surprise. What I am proud of is for the first time I brought a fabric shopping bag with me specifically for the items I would have to take out of the suitcase, yay for thinking ahead! I even knew what I was going to take out lol It sucks that I am hauling around a second bag to take on the plane with me but whatev, I knew it’d happen, it is practically inevitable in the land of me. 😛

When I saw my flight was delayed by a couple hours I decided I’d head in to White Spot and get a real meal instead of something fast foodie from the food court. I got a chicken burger from the healthy section of the menu but it wasn’t very good, sadness. When the waitress finally came back I asked for the yam fries to be boxed but not the burger because it wasn’t good (I left half of it on the plate), she then asked if I wanted anything else which is such a dangerous question for me lol I got a blueberry cheesecake (hey, don’t judge! it’s small!) and highly enjoyed that. When I got my bill she had taken off the entree since I said it wasn’t good, nice huh? I never mean to be that person who complains to try to get a lower bill so when I saw the bill I felt a little bad she had done that but like I am gonna complain? Nuh-uh! I tipped her based on what the bill would have been though, karma ya know?

Then I re-checked the flight board and saw my flight was delayed even more so I went to the check in counter cause I had a question and because the flight was delayed they gave me a $10 voucher to use at any of the vendors as a “sorry you are stuck here” kind of thing. See why I love WestJet?? I went to Tim Horton’s (a tradition when I travel lol), got a donut and tea and then bought a bunch of Timbits for the WestJet staff, I figured they were gonna have a lot of cranky people on their hands due to the flight delays and sugar might help lol

Yum! I hope they liked them!

Yum! I hope they liked them!

Now I’m sitting in the boarding area, and they just announced that everyone on my flight will get a voucher to use at any of the vendors due to the flight delay. I know they are doing that to try to keep us from getting cranky but I don’t care, I still think it is nice. Some companies don’t care if you are cranky or not, least WestJet cares.

My only pressing thing to contemplate right now is do I risk losing a seat near one of the charging stations so I can go pick up my voucher or do I wait a bit and get it later?

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