fear ...

I think fear and weight loss go hand and hand to some extend. I know personally I have a fear of gaining the weight I've lost back and not keeping it off (this has happened in the past and it happens to a lot of people!). That being said we can't live our life in fear or worry. If anything we should be fearful of an inactive lifestyle full of unhealthy eating .. because that in itself (put bluntly) can be a death sentence.

This post was inspired by the following quote that I came across today ..

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

So get up today and look fear in the face. Tell yourself that you will not become another statistic (heart disease, high blood pressure, disabetes) that are associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. Everybody deep down is scared of the challenges associated with changing your diet and exercise so have the courage to do it and make the change ... because the reality is .. you can!!

35 is a great number!!

I think today I have to celebrate because I've passed the 30 mark and I'm on my way to 40 as to total weight lost since I joined the gym in February and changed my eating habits to eat clean. It seems like 7 months is a long time and the negative side of me that creeps up sometimes feels I should have lost more than 35 pounds. However I'm just focusing on the end goal and celebrating the small successes along the road. I've read that this is what keeps us motivated.

Speaking of motivation .. if you ever need to feel motivated .. just go to the canfit pro conference. I went in Toronto this year and found it to be fantastic!! I saw Tosca Reno speak - who is an inspirations to me.

I wanted to share the following ideas that really struck a chord with me ..

Silken Laumann (Canadian gold medalist in rowing) said a few things (and was very inspiring):

• "what you believe about yourself and your abilities is directly connected to
  
  
  your successes"
• The most profound point she said was that your goals should be what matters most in your life .. reflect and ask yourself "what do I want from my life?"  ..WRITE IT DOWN. She says you would never go to a grocery store without a list and goals should be no different.
• My favourite was her story of the first summer she learned to row. In those two months she fell out of the boat 21 TIMES. She never gave up and look where she went with that. She ended with this .."have the courage to get back in the boat .. get back o
  n track .. and do it...believe in yourself and you will do amazing things"

The biggest loser winner (Patrick House):

• There is no finish line .. weight loss and maintenance is an everyday battle .. you have to keep  exercising and eating healthy for the rest of your life .. those fat cells are screaming to get out.
• He talked a lot about the importance of food journals and recording what you eat.
• He was also big into accountability. Have somebody like a work-out buddy or a trainer that will keep you accountable for showing up.
• He also said you need to find exercise you enjoy and have fun while doing it. Mentally we have to keep going and it's much easier to do this if you're enjoying what you do.

Then .... there was Tosca!

• she said she was sick and tired of always being sick and tired ... which inspired her to change her life ..
• Do you have your life and your goals as clear as the vision of what you're going to wear tomorrow ... your vision and goals SHOULD be clear
• Everybody's busy .. make yourself, your health and the vision of your life a priority ... NO EXCUSES
• Positive language and positive people will get you through. Look for people around you to be positive

I hope that some of these ideas were inspiring to you as they were me! I loved every minute of the canfit pro conference and definitely plan to go next year for more inspiration and ideas.

By the way I worked out with Richard Simmons who was hilarious, soooo fit and highly entertaining. Not a bad work out either ;)

the deadly buffet ... maybe it doesn't have to be?

Okay so I was away all week at a conference for work and the ladies I met wanted to go to a buffet... CHINESE buffet at that. My first thought is ... ugh I don't do well at all you can eat. If I could actually reflect and respond appropriately and not LITERALLY eat as much as I possibly can then I wouldn't be in the shoes I am today.

However strategies are important ... if there's anything I learned ... for long term success you have to find ways to cope in these types of situations.

First of all I knew anything deep fried would just be disaster ... I found this online ..
For one dinner sized plate with fried rice, noodles, 1 spring roll, lemon chicken and sweet & sour pork it is 900 calories and 40 grams of fat. Now that's only one typical sized plate at a chinese buffet. Even after eating one plate it's SOOOO easy to go back for more ... or another 900 calories .. then you're looking at almost your healthy calorie count for the WHOLE day...scary stuff.

Fortunately somehow I was able to just avoid deep fried stuff .... even chicken balls (that was the hardest!). I just didn't think it was worth it (it helped that I had been feeling under the weather). So I stocked up on salad bar stuff, veggies, fruit etc. and I felt great after it all .. not bloated .. not like I had just eaten as much as I could .. I just felt satisfied.

MY BIG HINT FOR BUFFET goers. Take a plate but only put 2 tiny servings of something on it ... I started with a small serving of a green salad and a few tablespoons of chick peas. The beauty in this .. was that when the people I ate with got up to get their 2nd plate of 900 calorie meal .. I TOO could still go up and get some things ... which is still part of the whole buffet experience .. (being able to go back for more!). Nothing worse than filling ever part of your plate with your healthy choices and seeing the people you're eating with coming back for plate after plate of fried food .. so I took very SMALL servings of the healthy food so I'd be able to get up when they got up.

I found this to be really helpful .. on my second trip I went back for cooked veggies etc. and it was great and I truly did not feel like I was missing out on the buffet experience.

If anybody else has strategies that help them during buffets. Please comment and share!

TOFU CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

My friend Jane had me over for a lovely lunch yesterday and I was on dessert so I thought .. PERFECT! I'll try out a new eat clean Tosca recipe. It was a RAVING success. Even my friend Jane's teenagers liked it. Nick enjoyed it too and said it was really good .. so I think that says something too. I adapted this a bit by using strawberries instead of raspberries (as shown in the picture) as a little add on. YUM .. guilt free pleasure dessert filled with the protein of tofu (you would have NEVER known).
Tofu Chocolate Mousse
YIELD: 4 servings (mine actually served 6.. it's rich so big servings not needed)
PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup / 180 ml dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars, broken into pieces
• 12 oz / 336 g silken tofu* at room temperature, drained
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml warmed skim milk or soy, rice or almond milk
• 1 tsp / 5 ml best-quality vanilla

*NOTE: You must use silken tofu for this recipe. (I  bought SOFT silken tofu at Fortinoes, in the health food section, not kept cold ... only 2 bucks too so it didn't break the bank)

Preparation

1. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Make sure to let the chocolate melt slowly. Stir until chocolate is uniformly smooth.
2. In a food processor, combine tofu, melted chocolate, warmed milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place tofu mixture in fine-mesh strainer or sieve, pushing through with the back of a wooden spoon, into a medium decorative serving bowl. Serve from the bowl or ladle into individual serving bowls. Chill and serve.

Tosca's Tip

Make this recipe with white chocolate chips for a different spin on decadence.

Emily's Tip

Don't worry like me when it was slightly liquidy ... I just put it in the freezer to have it chill for 30 minutes or so.

my stolen tidbit for the day ..

I start most mornings by checking my email. Typically a quite inspiring young woman named Carrie who has lost and kept off 200 pounds updates her blog with great, inspiring information. Today the main message was as follows ....

You cannot out train a bad diet. 

Now I went to my personal training less than an hour after reading this and was discussing with my trainer the summer difficulty with healthy eating .... she said the EXACT same thing ...

You cannot out train a bad diet. 

I found it interesting that 2 of my motivators were aligned in their thinking today and told me exactly what I needed to hear. Who has given themselves the excuse well I can have that ice cream because I'm working out tonight ... or sure I'll have a second serving .. I did work out today. I am 100% guilty of being there and I think that's definitely a road block in any weight loss journey. Moral of the story .. you must have a healthy diet AND work-out .... exercise is NOT the only answer. Tosca actually says it's 10% exercise, 10% genetics and a whooping 80% nutrition (just shows how important it is to be conscious of what goes in your mouth every day).

Today was also an eye opening experience for me. My trainer put on a 25 pound weighted vest on me .. I thought okay sure I can do a few squats and lunges with this on. THEN I find out I'm wearing this vest for the WHOLE hour training session.

I think the most emotional, yet inspiring part of this was 3 months ago more than 25 pounds were on my body, stressing my heart and my joints. When I worked out today it was difficult....more difficult than usual and it made me realize I NEVER want to go back to carrying those 25 + extra pounds ... it just didn't feel good on my body and everything ached.

This picture is similar to the vest I wore except my face sure didn't look as relaxed as the people in this picture..

I looked like a member of the swat team and felt like I was on that challenge on biggest loser where they have to exercise while carrying all the weight they lost. However it worked .. more than ever .. after today I NEVER, EVER want to have that extra weight on me. 

In order not to steal others' ideas I must mention Carrie's blog if you ever want another inspiring read. I love it!   http://www.thebootcampblog.com/ 

Thanks for reading :)

can fit pro Fitness and Wellness show

At the Toronto Convention Centre on Sat August 20th there is a can fit pro Fitness and Wellness show .. looks fantastic and includes speakers such as Tosca Reno (my personal favourite!), and a biggest loser winner too. Richard Simmons is also speaking/ running an arobics class which is pretty cool even if it is Richard Simmons. I hear it's quite the event.

Very excited to go!

Wag jag has a deal on ... $10.00 for one ticket. check it out if you're interested..2 days left!
http://www.wagjag.com/?wagjag=31147

weight loss isn't easy!

I wanted to share some insight I have learned while on this journey. I think the main thing I've discovered in life is anything good and rewarding takes work.

My personal example is 3 gruelling years of finishing my masters. This was rough but in the end the outcome was great ...  helped me get a permanent teaching job, pay raise AND most importantly it gave me more knowledge to better reach my students with special needs. BUT anybody that knows me well .. knows I did not find this EASY.

Now my life aside... think about all the good things in your life .. your marriage/relationship, friendships or your job ... all of these things take work and time. Having a successful relationship isn't a piece of cake. You have to put effort into communicating with each other, spending time together, and compromising.

A healthy life and weight loss is no different. It is NOT easy and it shouldn't be easy, because if it's easy then it means your body and health isn't changing for the better. I wish there was a magic pill and a magic solution but there isn't.

It's NOT easy to say NO to the unlimited refills of the hot, steamy breadsticks at a restaurant. It's NOT easy to dedicate 4-5 days a week to exercise. It's NOT easy to push yourself when working out to lift a bit of a heavier weight ...and it's NOT easy to avoid fast food and chocolate. It's also not EASY to wake up on a Saturday morning to work out. These are the things I don't find easy ... but I think in the end we all have to realize that good things come to those that work hard.

So I challenge you to do something today that isn't easy for you .. not convenient ...maybe it's parking further away from the entrance at a store (tip from my trainer), maybe it's getting one entree and splitting it with somebody at a restaurant (Cathy and Mom tip) or maybe it's just saying No thank you to dessert. 

You have the power to make a change and it's not going to be easy. But like all the good things we have in our life they take time, perserverance and dedication. The outcome of a healthy lifestyle and healthy body is worth it! You will live a longer and healthier life if you chose to take the route that isn't so easy.