Leg Day Baby!

Sunshine, pilates, baseball, friends & a kick-ass leg day!  What more can you ask for on a long weekend!?

I started my day at the studio teaching two amazing classes filled with hard working people!  I was so pumped after working with these guys!  Right after work I headed to the London Major's Baseball game with my dad & sister.  It was a great game and a beautiful way to enjoy the sunshine (I even had to get the aloe out for the first time this year - YIKES, I thought I did a good enough job with the sunscreen).  I finished up the day with a pretty intense leg day, check it out...

2:00 minutes tabata sprints, 30 sec on, 10 sec rest

Back Squats 10X5

Tabata Sprints

Weighted Hip Presses 15 w/ Walking BW Lunges ~15/leg X5

Tabata Sprints 

Prone Hamstring Curl 10 w/ Lateral Side Steps using a flexband 15/leg X5

Tabata Sprints 

*Insert exhaustion*

I also met a HUGE fitness milestone last week that I forgot to blog about - I did my first UNASSISTED Chin Up!! And I mean a REAL "chin up" with my palms facing towards me and/or hands facing each other (see picture below) 

I am feeling pretty awesome and STRONG (I give credit to the Jillian Michaels hat...).  My nutrition was a bit off but nothing worth mentioning - I have a meal plan ready to go for tomorrow!  It all balances out!

Jillian Michaels!

Last night I had the privilege of doing to Jillian Michael's Maximize Your Life Tour, right here in London with my good friend Bee, from Bee Goes Bananas!  We had a great start to the night with a surprise ticket upgrade that brought us from our 3rd level purchase right down to the 1st level!  We were both beaming with excitement!  We even splurged and both purchased the signature JM "STRONG" hat and Jillian Michaels Maximize your Life tee!

All of the pictures below are from Bee's camera, my iphone did not pick up the lighting well!   

Maximize You Life!

Nutrition Labels

JM

Hilarious!

BMR

AMR

Myself & Bee with matching JM hats & GRINS!

Some key points from the show: 
- The show was broken up into 3 main segments: nutrition/fitness & self
- For nutrition she stressed the importance of quality food (organic, avoid pesticides, etc) and the quantity (the importance of counting calories and understanding your basal metabolic rate, etc)
- During the fitness segment she talked about getting the most out of your workouts by using HITT training, working multiple muscle groups at once and tracking how many calories you are burning for that lovely calories in vs. calories out "secret" to weight loss/maintaining your current weight. 
- When it came to the self aspect, JM shared just the right amount of her personal story, struggling with obesity as a teenager and shared some of the tools she used to work through that stage in her life.  The biggest message I got from this portion was to BE PRESENT!  Something I am always struggling with.  Be present, think things through and always have a goal in mind so you know where you want to go, how you are going to get there and that oh so important WHY do you want to get there part (after-all, that's what keeps your going).  For me, being present is also going to mean letting go of the old habit of "when I loose that last 2% body fat, I'm going to do ______", when I am back down to ______lbs, I will finally feel confident enough to wear _____, to do ______".  It's a waste of time!  Yes, have goals but stop replying on the numbers on the scale to determine whether or not I am in a good place in my life to accomplish what I want to do.  I have goals.  I have personal goals, I have fitness goals, I have work goals and being 5lbs lighter or down 2% BF would not make me any more deserving than I am right now.   

I can out of the show refreshed, super star-struck and as motivated as ever to take control of my thoughts and take responsibility for my own health and happiness. 

Thanks Jillian for a wonderfully entertaining night and the perfect kick in the ass that I needed to move forward! 

Happiness!

Today was totally refreshing!  That SUNSHINE was amazing & exactly what I needed to refuel!

I started my day off with my weekly pole dancing lesson.  It was such a great workout today & I am starting to feel a tad more graceful (as I continue to struggle with getting rid of my flat-foot horseback riding feel and find my inner dancer with a pointed toe).  We are starting to work more on combos which means I am constantly moving & trying out new things - it's so, so amazing and very rewarding! 

After my pole session I headed to the studio to teach my 9:30am Matwork class and then stuck around until 2ish working on some paperwork & what not!  One of the girls at work brought her puppy and I was able to go on a nice long, 45 minute walk with her in the sun!  It was so warm and beautiful out - even with the wind threatening to pick me up and carry us away. 

Following my time at the studio, I made a very quick trip to the bank & then the mall to check out Titika's latest clothing!  Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything!  I know they have some really fantastic stuff coming out for summer, so I am looking forward to purchasing a few new summer items!

I spent a fair amount of time outside during the afternoon, sitting in the sun and studying for my STOTT Pilates Exam coming up in June. To polish off my evening I participated in the 5:30pm Mat/Reformer Combo class at the studio before teaching my 6:30pm Advanced group of Jumpboard & Reformer!  I plan to take it easy for the rest of the night.  Tomorrow I am participating in my first spin class in MONTHS!  I am looking forward to getting my sweat & leg burn on!

Gotta love the magic of the sun! 

That's ED Talking

As of Saturday night, I was a failure.  I had totally screwed up, went against everything I was working towards, everything I believed in and I was a failure.  Not only did I have some of Aiden's fruit snacks, but I had the majority of his mini order of fries at McDonald's and I had 2 of the turtles chocolates and 3 junior mints.  That was it, I had failed myself.  I obviously didn't want to be slim enough, I obviously didn't care about how hard I had worked during my workout.  I didn't deserve to look good.  That was it, I couldn't eat for the rest of the night because I had already consumed way more junk than I should have and it was embarrassing.  

Can you imagine if I talked to you this way?  

This is how my ED (eating disorder) talks to me.  It is incredibly rude don't you think?  This is the little voice that I was battling with on Saturday night and a little into Sunday morning before I basically told ED to fuck off.  Enough was enough, I didn't want to listen to this.  I didn't want to be totally miserable because I ate a few fries.  My self worth does not get to be determined by what food I do or do not consume.  I am not a better person if the number on the scale is lower.  I am a good person because I care about people and would certainly not want anyone else to talk to themselves in this way.   

It was a rough night and mentally, it was exhausting.  I have not had this strong of a battle with myself in a very long time.  My trigger was McDonald's.  I didn't even order anything for myself but simply taking Aiden into the building set me off.  To be honest, I can't fully explain what it is about McDonald.  Wendy's, Harvey's - you name it wouldn't have set me off.  I think it is just the stereotype surround how brutal the food is there nutrition wise, etc - who knows.  

This little "episode" showed me two things:

1) I still have some work to do on myself.  I deserve to be happy and healthy.  

2) I have come a long way since the first development of my ED.  

 - When I was in the midst of my ED, I wouldn't have realized that it was ED talking.  I would have taken that little voice seriously.  I would have thought about what I ate Saturday night all day Sunday, doing whatever I could think of to compensate for the "food" I had consumed.  Instead, Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little crappy because of the amount of salt and sugar I had consumed but I made a point to eat HEALTHY, clean food that would help to fulfill the nutritional requirements of my body.  I had a great and fun workout with Wes and enjoyed a quiet evening celebrating mother's day with our moms!  

Writing this in my post now - it seems silly.  It is unfortunate that I still struggle with ED traits, especially when I have so much to look forward to.  The moral of the story is not to avoid McDonald's.  The moral of this story is to take care of myself - mentally, socially, physically.  I matter.  And whether or not ED thinks so, I get to be healthy and I get to be happy in my own skin.  I eat the foods I enjoy and workout because it feels SO GOOD! Those are the things that matter and I only have room for positivity in my head & in my heart! 

My Feel Good Workout with Wes

Dips

Bosu Burpees!

Getting Ready for Push Planks

Smile for the camera!

Wes' fridge & sweater.  It's a super-sized world. 

                 

Just a Little Off

Hello all!

So I guess the claim I made in my last post has not been followed through with very well.  I said I was going to blog more and obviously have not followed through with that...until now! 

There are two reasons for my blogging absense:
1) It has been SUPER nice out and I simply could not bring myself to sit inside any longer
2) I have still been pretty busy even though school is done.

Things have been going well!  My workouts have been nice and consistent and I have been trying to focus on doing things that are going to make me happy.  My only complaint is that I have been feeling a little "off".  Now this is especially frustrating because I have felt this way since Easter.  I have made several trips to clinic to get things check out and have come back pretty pissed off from residents not taking my concerns seriously.  At first I thought I was just burnt out from the stress of exams but now that we are a few weeks into May and things have slowed down significantly, I still find I am a little sluggish, experiencing some headaches and feelings rather foggy at times.  The really annoying part is that it comes and goes and I'm never really sure what sets it off or what helps to make it go away.  I have made an appointment with the REAL kidney doc on Tuesday & am looking forward to getting some answers hopefully!

This whole week has been pretty frustrating with little things not going "perfectly".  I am taking today for myself in hopes of letting go of the past week and coming into a fresh start to the next week.  My focus has very much turned to myself and trying to get everything functioning again.

Here are my main focuses: 
1) Drink more water (optimal health but specifically targeting kidney here) 
2) Get more sleep (I seem to be constantly run down and dragging, so I am looking to meet at least 8 hours of sleep every night) 
3) EAT MORE VEGETABLES (for the past couple of weeks my veggie intake has been low for me, and being a gluten free vegetarian, low vegetable intake pretty much means I haven't been eating enough)
4) Do things that will enrich my happiness (I have been reading a NOVEL, spending time at the barn, spending time outside, hanging out with friends & family, etc). 

I am looking forward to putting it all together, starting NOW!

Things that make me happy: 

Walking puppies in the sunshine!

SWINGS!

Delicious salad from Williams!

Happy Ponies :)

     

I'm BACK!

Starbucks love!

Starting every morning with a glass of lemon water!

Green (pink) smoothie breakfast!

Triple Fisting getting ready for the gym - water, lemon water & post-workout shake

LUNCH! Egg white & spinach salad!

My version of a microwave dinner: Oven roasted Brussel sprouts with 1/2 of a baked sweet potato & tilapia!

 I realize I have not made a post since EASTER, but in all honesty I haven't had time - none - what-so-ever!  Today is in fact the first time since Easter that I have had time to blog because I just finished my LAST EXAM & am officially FREE for the summer!  I have decided to NOT sign up for intersession courses like I usually do and instead am going to take these next couple of months for myself.  In addition to work, pony rides, LOTS of working out & beach days I plan to do a fair amount of blogging!

As you can see from the pictures above, I have had a pretty good eating week!  There were a few questionable decision BUT some really, really great food choices that I am very proud of!  I have the motivation and I now have the time to get my butt into the best shape I can over the next few months!  My workouts have always been my strong point in this on going battle and I am looking forward to cracking down on my nutrition.  Three major things I am focusing on to help with the process:

1) Not picking up meals throughout the week.  A lot of the time I won't leave myself enough time in the evenings or mornings to prep my food and I will end up going to Remark or Williams to pick something up on the way to work.  While there is nothing wrong with picking up a salad from Williams and asking them to put the dressing on the side while not including the garlic toast, it's the additional things that I usually pick up on the way that cause the questioning.

2) Crasins...MONITOR INTAKE!  I have an addiction.  It isn't even to crasins specially, it's the snacking on sweet things constantly that's the problem.  To compromise, I can have 2 tbsps/day, where I choose to eat them is up to me!

3)  WEEKENDS = 1 cheat meal/day...not Friday evening, all day Saturday & Sunday...ONE!

Don't get me wrong, I am all for indulging and enjoying myself, I have a goal here people - 17-18% BF that I have been putting off for far too long!  I have been hovering at that "oh so close" range and am now ready to complete the task!

Like I said, this week was pretty good - but still a tad scattered at times, especially due to exams!  BUT it's SUMMER and I have so much to look forward to and try.  It's going to be good :)      

Easter Weekend & a lovely start to April!

A weekend away in Collingwood! 

Our own fridge so we were able to prep our own meals and get away only eating out once!

A lovely treat!  Chia tea latte made with skim milk!

How to feed a Wesley & a Megan!

How I walked around Blue Mountain!

Blue Mountain in sunshine!

Me & Wesley

A great start to my week :)

Got my yogini today :)

Yogini

This is 100% a bragging post!  So far April is treating me like a VIP!  I had a lovely weekend OFF for Easter and decided to take a mini-vacation to Collingwood with Wes.  We stayed at the Westin and spent our time relaxing at the Scandinave Spa in Blue Mountain.  For those of you who have not been to the spa, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it!  It was $48 for all day access to the thermal bathes and we just packed our own lunch & snacks to save us the extra cost of food.  We could not have asked for better weather - I actually got a TAN from being outside all day in my bathing suit.  I cannot remember the last time I was that relaxed!  We have decided that we need to make the trip 3-4 times a year - I can't wait until next time!

We spent the rest of the weekend with my family for Easter dinner.  I was pretty happy with my eating over the weekend.  It really helped that we were able to bring our own meals for breakfast & lunch.  We ate dinner at Tesoro  a lovely little Italian restaurant that severed GF options and was peanut free!  I absolutely allowed myself a few treats of GF cookies and some lemon mousse for Eater dinner.  Other than that, I pretty much stuck with the food I had prepared for myself!

Coming into this week I felt rested and ready to finish up the school year.  With only one more week of classes left I am attempting to catch up on several readings I am behind on and enjoying keeping my meals on track!      

When you forget what "good" feels like

Lunging a sick Indie over the weekend.  Nothing makes me happier than pony-time, even if they are sick. 

Back on track with meals!

I feel like it has been a very long time since I have felt good! I am slowly but surely catching up on sleep and am starting to ween myself off of my caffeine dependency that developed over the past month or so.  Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying my daily tea, but I am at the point now where I can function without it!

With all of my major assignments completed & submitted, I am taking these next couple of days to BREATHE, something I forget to do often...hence the "breathe girl" tattoo!  Once I have fully recovered, I do have a fair amount of readings I need to catch up on, which only means one thing - STAIRMASTER study date!

I have several exciting things lined up for the weekend including the following:
Date night with my favourite 3 year old, Aiden, on Friday 
Nutrition & Exercise Symposium at Western all day Saturday
Riding two ponies, Vix (of course) and Marshmallow!
An opportunity to get organized with LIFE - laundry, food prep, SCHOOL!

It's going to be good :) 
    

No Numbers Allowed

One of my favourite lazy lunches - bun-less veggie burger & steamed edamame!

Selfie at the gym - holding plank until fatigue, I had some time to kill!

A couple of things:
1) Gluten and I do NOT get along.  I have been so terribly busy that I didn't have time to pick up groceries yesterday and ended up having some shredded wheat cereal with regular milk.  TWO double whammies - gluten & more dairy than I have consumed in a very long time.  I looked approximately 5 months pregnant I was so bloated!  Lesson learned, gluten & overeating diary does not work well with my body.
2) Stress does not work well with your body!  I had clinic Monday and all of my numbers were up.  I have been pretty stressed for the past two weeks and it definitely took a toll on my body.   Creatinine 101 compared to 77, BP 135/75 compared to 117/70 and I didn't even bother looking at the scale when it was time to get my weight.  
3) Handing in projects and working out will help to LOWER stress and your numbers!  After my clinic yesterday, I handed in my assignment and headed straight to the gym.  After a fantastic run & leg workout, I tested my BP again and it was back down to 119/65...MUCH better!  
4) Motivation to RUN!  I have taken on the learn to run program at the studio beginning in April.  Generally this means I need to make sure I can run my 5k effectively, something I worked really hard to achieve last year.  As previously mentioned, I did go for my first run (on the treadmill) yesterday and felt GREAT!  My cardio is still up but I am a lot slower than where I left off in October.  You will be seeing a lot more "Cardio" listed until my workout log!  

I am slowly gaining control over my nutrition this week.  I finally went grocery shopping yesterday and spent almost two hours last night doing food prep!  Now I just need to get my sleep pattern back to a normal time and maybe even put away my laundry! 

*3 more weeks of class* 

Up All Night

Today has been an odd one!  I was up to an embarrassing hour of the night doing last minute edits on my essay due today.  Not only did I have a big essay but I also had a big presentation to do...for the same class!  Needless to say I did not get enough sleep but did make it through my class presentation and handed in my essay on time.  There was a blessing after class when my second class of the day got cancelled and I was able to go home and take a fairly lengthy nap.  Once I got up I felt completely energized and ready to fit the gym for a good sweat session!  I did 40 minutes on the incline elliptical and then finished off with 10 minutes on the stairmaster!  I followed up with a few stretches and then headed to the studio to teach a few classes.  I was teaching from 5:30-8:30, a very awkward time to fit in a good dinner.  I settled by making a green monster smoothie with kiwi, pineapple, spinach, bee pollen, vanilla protein powder, some orange juice and some chia seeds!  It was super tangy and delicious!

My diet was a little bit better today.  Unfortunately, there were a few chocolate eggs at the studio for SOME terrible reason and I did have a few before setting them on the OTHER desk.  Once I got home I started to clean like a mad women!  The house was a disaster after a few late nights and early mornings working to finish up my projects.  After two hours, I had the laundry done, dishes done, tidied up and completed my food prep for the rest of the week.  Ah, finally organized!

My goal now is to get my sleep schedule BACK on track :)