First day out of the province for work....

...and the lunch that was provided was quite balanced - the hotel supplied soup, sandwiches, salad and small deserts. Front reception at the hotel even has bowls of apples!! I brought a bag of rice cakes with me to get me through the flight yesterday, but was glad to see not only a fridge, but also a microwave in my room. I plan on hitting a grocery store tonight to pick-up some fruit/veggies and some snacks to get me through the week.

I'm heading down now to the workout room to the treadmill, as I have an hour before my next meeting!

Inspiration...

Last night I went with two of my bridesmaids to order their dresses for the wedding and while I was there, I got the owner to re-measure me. I wanted to see if I was any smaller then when I was there in September - and my hips were down 1.5" !! Talk about an uplifting moment, now that is incentive!

When time gets scarce......

....it's very hard to maintain a diet. I've gotten slammed at work over the past couple of weeks - typically working until 6:30 pm-7:00 pm and I definitely don't feel like cooking a balanced meal when I get home. We also missed a week of getting groceries and had no fresh fruit/veggies for snacks - although I have been maintaining my "snacks" from the pre-approved snack drawer, instead of going to the vending machine.

A lack of time also means not getting to the gym for my required # of times - something else I am struggling with - it's either get all three visits and ball hockey or just ball hockey, there doesn't seem to be a happy-medium.

One thing I am nervous about is that I feel great just being down five pounds - and I don't want to stall in the weight loss. To reach my goal, I need to lose approximately another 10 pounds!

I also have a challenge next week as I'll be out of the province for work, which means lots of restaurants..... I'm going to have to be very conscientious in what I eat and snack on! We'll have to see if I have a fridge in my hotel room and I can buy some snacks when I get out there. I know at the breaks they typically always have cookies/danishes, etc. for snacks!

Muscles weighs more than fat........right?!

As of this morning......
Weight: 163.8
Body Fat: 33.2
Water: 48.7 %
Bone Mass: 6.5

How is it that the week that I actually make it to the gym 3 time's (and have great workouts) + play ball hockey - I gain weight??!!!!! GRRRRRR..........

KitKat & Aero "Singles"

So I was out at lunch buying some things at Shopper's Drug Mart and noticed that KitKat and Aero now have "Singles" - a serving of their chocolate bar that is advertised as 80 calories per bar. I bought one of each kind for me to try, and another two for Sean and brought them back to the office. I ate the KitKat one, which was a nice treat, then thought I'd try the Aero one and felt almost sick with all that chocolate! I ended up only eating 1/6 of the Aero bar and gave the rest to Sean.

I haven't eaten a lot of sweet stuff in the last 3 weeks and was shocked to find how turned off I was by the chocolate bar (although as previously admitted, I am a "salt" lover) - I then proceeded back to my desk to munch on carrot sticks!

Yeah me!!!!

Fruit Smoothie's

So I'm eating my first fruit smoothie this morning - this one is a mix of raspberries, strawberries and cranberry juice. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to add a 1/2 banana to sweeten it up a bit - this one is a bit tart (but still tasty)! I made two this morning and brought one into Sean at the office - if you're going to make one, you might as well make two.

Luckily it is cold out - my three (3) km's to work took me a half hour and they barely started melting in the car while driving! These would be very refreshing in the summer - I've got the heat blasting in my office to counteact the cold outside and the cold smoothie!

Another smoothie tomorrow morning and I've reached my goal for the week!

I made it through another weekend

So it was Super Bowl weekend - not that I am any sort of fan of football, but I did get together with a couple of girlfriends to watch "Never Been Kissed", amongst other TV shows throughout the night. While the men gathered around the TV for their annual fill of football (seriously, I don't think Sean watches football on a regular basis, except the couple of weeks prior to Super Bowl) with their steaks and snacks, we had our own munchies to snack on!! I then proceeded to eat pizza, hickory sticks, pepsi and to top it off with a chocolate pudding dessert - while all scrumtious, not on my "plan" to lose weight before the big day.

I'd gotten on the scale on Saturday morning (which I am vowing never to do again during the week and to wait until Thursday mornings) and I was up a couple of pounds, which set the tone for the weekend of "while I might as well snack since I'm having a bad week". We also went for lunch at Swiss Chalet on Sunday and I'd enjoyed my usual - quarter chicken with fries/salad, again not with the plan!

One bonus, I did manage to pick up some additional groceries on Sunday afternoon - including veggie/fruit snacks and my frozen fruit (due to the pitiful state of veggies/fruit when the snow flies) for the smoothies. My plan is to do some damage control the next three days, by exercising and being really conscious of what I eat, prior to hitting the scale Thursday morning (you know that whole, getting back on the horse thing.....).

Tonight, we are again going to the gym right after work, but have plans to leave work a bit early so we can work out, then get home early enough in the evening to eat (i.e., not at 9 pm) and of course watch one of our favourite shows - Prison Break!

Tomorrow morning begins the fruit smoothies - I promise, I'll let you know how it goes!!

Eating Fruit in the Winter

One of the things about living in Canada in the winter is the abysmal state of fresh produce. We have to get creative when it comes to getting in our 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables. During our last coaching call Becky and I talked about some other ways to get our 5-10 fruits and vegetables when the produce section looks in such a sorry state in January and February. Consider eating canned and frozen fruits and vegetables in the winter months. Don't forget dessert recipes such as apple crisp as a way to eat apples that aren't as crispy or tastey as they are in the fall. This makes a huge quantity to be enjoyed throughout the week. Or, consider halfing the recipe.

Apple Crisp
(Taken from The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil & Rosie Daley – thank you Carolyn Fiset)

12 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour

Topping:
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil or grapeseed oil
1/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375
Toss the sliced apples in a large bowl with the cranberries, lemon juice, 1/3 cup of light brown sugar, 1 tsp. of cinnamon and the whole wheat pastry flour. Pile the apple mixture into an 8x10 baking dish.
Mix together the ingredients fro the topping and spread over the apples. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 minutes more until the apples are soft.

How is this part of a nutritious meal?
• Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan. Since 1963, study after study has proven the beneficial effects of this special fiber on cholesterol levels. Studies show that in individuals with high cholesterol (above 220 mg/dl), consuming just 3 grams of soluble oat fiber per day (an amount found in one bowl of oatmeal) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%. This is highly significant since each 1% drop in serum cholesterol translates to a 2% decrease in the risk of developing heart disease. High cholesterol levels correlate with the build up of plaques in blood vessel walls. If these plaques become damaged or simply grow too large, they can rupture, blocking a blood vessel and causing a heart attack, stroke, or blood clots elsewhere in the body. Lowering high cholesterol levels can therefore significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
• Apples contain both insoluble and soluble fiber. One medium (5 ounces) unpeeled apple provides over 3 grams of fiber, more than 10% of the daily fiber intake recommended by experts. Even without its peel, a medium apple provides 2.7 grams of fiber.
• Cranberries have long been valued for their ability to help prevent and treat urinary tract infections. Now, recent studies suggest that this native American berry may also promote gastrointestinal and oral health, prevent the formation of kidney stones, lower LDL and raise HDL (good) cholesterol, aid in recovery from stroke, and even help prevent cancer.

Woo hoo!!!

As of this morning......

Weight: 162.4

Body Fat: 32.9

Water: 48.9 %

Bone Mass: 6.5

Do I feel good!!!!

GREAT ball hockey game last night - we lost, but was I sweating! I've gotten over being sore from playing (the first week was brutal), and now I'm totally pumped when I get off the court!

Tonight, Sean has hockey - so I'm heading to the gym (after dinner) and I'm aiming to spend an hour on the treadmill, all so I can watch Grey's Anatomy! After missing the gym all last week, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time there tonight!