The Morning After...The Oscars

Hollywood stars are gorgeous.  It's hard to imagine being at the Oscars and surrounded by such people.  It would be like being in a china shop and being afraid of breaking everything.  Not that I would be touching the movie stars...that would be weird.  Mind you, if I had a few drinks in me, I bet I would be doing a lot of touchy-talking. Okay, this post is rapidly moving away from my point.

I am inspired to look at my own health and re-begin my quest for satisfaction in my own body.  But, you know what? This morning I was looking at the pictures from the red carpet and after parties and quite frankly I don't want to have bodies that look like that.  Well, not everyone, but the majority of them look too thin.  I don't want my bones showing that way.  Sure, I would love to be not have a double chin and to able to wear a dress without random bulges in places, I would prefer they weren't, but so many of the women looked too skinny.  I won't name names, as I'm not trying to be mean.  I'm simply saying what has become the norm, is too much.  It's pushing the skinny envelope too far.  Like watching Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club and being distracted by his appearance, I felt the same way watching these women.  Yes, they are all beautiful and I admire them for many reasons.  I admire their speeches.  I admire their self-expressionism. I admire the fact that they made it in business in which it is ridiculously difficult to succeed. Such a poetic life they all seem to lead.

Cate Blanchett's acceptance speech touched on the fact that women-centred films are not just a niche, but box-office powerhouses.  I can only hope that these strong, determined women will eventually stand up to the conventional rules of Hollywood appearance and put on a few pounds.  It will be healthier for them and healthier for the future generations of girls, wanting to follow in their footsteps.

Setting Goals

Now that it is 2014, it's high time that I set some new goals. I have recovered from my tumble down the stairs and the holiday gluttony/season is over. Time to crack down on my healthy eating and exercise. (See Confessions of a Social Butterfly for a description of my wonderful evening) 

Of course, I write this entry the day after a huge eat-fest at a fancy restaurant last night, but technically that was a belated Christmas dinner, so I am filing that under holiday gluttony. 

Goal #1 is to restart my exercise program on Monday. 

Goal #2 is to lose two pounds by my son's birthday at the end of the month (going for 5 by Valentine's Day). 

I figure if I eat sensibly, exercise regularly and set realistic goals, I can whittle musket down quite a bit by my cousin's wedding in May. I really want to wow all of the relatives! 

Fifteen Pounds!

I have officially lost 15 pounds! Can you believe it?!

With my birthday looming around the corner, I am hoping to lose a pound and a half this week.

I had been exercising religiously and then I fell down the stairs, which hampered my ability to work out for over a week. Of course, I have found that losing weight is secondary to the changes that I am seeing and feeling in my body. I feel stronger and fitter, which means more than the number on the scale (but I really want that number to go down too).

On the inside, I have been just plain grumpy. I'm hoping that the Christmas spirit will soon take over and cheer me up. I think it's because I feel very unorganized this year. Should have cruised through the holidays with Flylady. There is still time to get out of this Scrooge-y mood!

The challenge will be to not indulge too much over the holidays. All that yummy food and drink.....my mouth is watering just thinking about it! That reminds me, have you had your water today?

Ugh....My First Official Diet.

Long time, no post.  So much for my no excuses policy.  Unfortunately, I didn't forsee such a emotionally draining event happening in my life, so I was forced to use my other motto, of "Forgive yourself for any small setbacks".

Now I will admit that I still kept eating well, I just didn't exercise, so I didn't gain any weight back, but I didn't lose any either.

This upcoming weekend, I have a wedding to go to, so I am doing the unthinkable (at least to me), and trying a very low calorie diet for the week.  And I have been exercising like mad!  Of course, this is the hottest week of the year so far, so I think I have set a world record for the amount of sweat one person can produce, but after 2 days, I am down 4 pounds and my muscles hurt like crazy, so I must be doing something right!

The plan is to do the diet for this week, then go back to sensible eating next week, while continuing my intense exercising.  I have a family reunion in two and a half weeks, so I have more incentive to get in shape.  I wish that just wanting to be in shape was enough incentive, but I'll take what ever incentive I can get!!

On the inner finding myself front, I have been working on that throughout the past few months.  I am currently trying to be more conscious of my thoughts and feelings.  I think that in our lives, we tend to put up walls to protect ourselves (or at least many of us do), maybe they are put up after a particularly hurtful event, but then it becomes a habit, which we use constantly.  That is the trap that I fell into, and I am determined to stop living my life hiding from myself.  Unfortunately, all of this conscious thought is at times overwhelming which makes my walls become solid again.  But I will persevere and keep trying to bring them down.

Found My New Shoes!

I went shoe shopping today for a good shoe to replace my old running shoes.  I had thought that I would get a pair of fitness walking shoes, but the salesgirl at the New Balance Store recommended a pair of "neutral" running shoes instead.

I initially tried on and almost bought the 1080 (above), which was perfect for me, except that it really pinched the top of my foot.  Apparently, I have a high instep.  I loved how light weight it was and the heel felt amazing (the heel is the problem with my current running shoes).

I then tried on another shoe, whose model I can't recall.  This shoe fit perfectly on the top, but my heel didn't feel quite right. If only I could have blended the two shoes together!

I was so close to getting the 1080, when my lovely salesperson, who was so helpful, suggested the w890v2.  Well, my feet were in love the moment I put them on!  Of course, after walking around the store, my pesky top-of-foot problem re-emerged.  Hmmph.  I was not happy, but I was shown a different way of lacing the shoe which helped relieve pain to that specific spot.  The only problem left was that the store didn't have it in the colour that I wanted.

The pair that I tried on was a fluorescent pink colour, which isn't really to my liking. It seems as though others in the Ottawa Area have the same admiration for the grey/purple version (above, though the shoe looks nicer in real life), as all of the stores were sold out in my size.  So, I am currently waiting on a pair from the New Balance Warehouse.  Let's hope that they arrive quickly!

To Weigh or Not To Weigh, That is the Question...

Earlier this week, I decided that I would no longer do a daily weigh-in, but instead weigh myself weekly.  This decision is driving me crazy!  I keep wanting to check and see if I have made any progress!!  The decision to no longer weigh-in weekly is because depending on what exercise I have chosen to do, I actually can gain weight.  For example, I always am up a pound after a kettleball workout.  I have read that this is normal, so I'm okay with it, but still seeing the number go up, is not reassuring to a struggling person like myself.

I really am proud of the fact that this inactive, weak person, with no desire to exercise, has turned into someone who has exercised every day in the past two and a half weeks (except for Sunday, when I was incredibly ill and could barely move).  I feel stronger, and I don't get out of breath anymore doing simple tasks.

I think that if I weigh myself weekly, then I will be able to save myself from fretting over the small stuff.  Now, hopefully Friday's weigh-in will reflect all the work that I have put into reclaiming my body and my health!

Getting Back on The Horse

Day 2 post-kettlebell workout from Hell and I can walk a bit better.  Stairs and sitting down on (or getting up from) the toilet, are my nemeses.  But, I am able to walk a tiny bit better. And if I press on my legs, beneath the layer of fat, I can feel muscle, but it isn't as hard as rock like yesterday. Progress, I say!

I decided to get back on that kettlebell horse and do the workout again.  Granted, the Dead lifts and squats were definitely not as low as they were in workout #1. That would be impossible.  I did manage to do the workout twice, so I was proud of myself.

I, also, dusted off the ol' Tony Little Gazelle and did 20 minutes on that.  I didn't want to go outside and walk because  a) it's cold outside and I really don't want to walk in the cold today and b) Walking Buddy was helping out at a birthday party, so I didn't have anyone to walk with.

I went to a cool website called Fatburn.com which has a nifty little Fat Burn Tool to calculate calories burnt during different activities.  Based on their numbers, a 25 minutes moderate Gazelle workout is equivalent to an hour walk.  So, I plan to add some gliding to my fitness plan on the days where I don't actually feel like leaving the house and walking.

Next week, I need to work harder on a meal plan.  I seriously failed in the food department this week, and given the fact that tomorrow is St.Patty's Day and will be filled with yummy stew, shamrock shakes and a beer or five, I won't fret about the food/drink until Monday. I'm still proud of myself, though.  I really can't believe that less than two weeks ago, I never exercised at all.  Like, at all.  AT ALL.  This two-week challenge has made me realise that I can put myself first and that I actually can do things that I didn't think I could, if I set my mind to it.  And that's much more rewarding than the 3 pounds I have lost so far.