2.5 years in the making

Today I stopped and questioned how long I have been on this journey to better health ... it seems like it has become such a part of my every day I couldn't remember. 

I determined that it was January 2011 that I finally said screw it .. I need to do something for me and I finally joined the Gym. Personal training was something I never considered nor had it ever interested in. That being said I'm glad I did my trial with Shawna in March 2011 because my life has changed so much since then.

The big "ah-ha" moment for me was that I couldn't just count points and do the occasional walk in order to lose weight. I had tried for years to cut calories without much success. I needed the exercise component to get my metabolism going, build muscle and make my healthy lifestyle happen.

Now that I have fully embraced my exercise routine in COMBINATION with a healthy diet I have seen maintainable success .. I sleep better, I'm happier and generally a more productive person .. I can run with my students and I can keep up with them too... something that was eye opening for me was seeing Jillian Michaels speak and having her admit that she doesn't really "LIKE" exercise but she has grown to love how it makes her feel and who it has made her become. 

I can relate to this . .because if I had the choice between being at the gym or catching up with a friend I'd obviously chose the latter. That being said I have made exercise a priority and I have had to make it a priority in order to stay healthy and feel good.

I'm almost at 70 pounds lost and 2 weeks ago I ran a 5km in just under 30 minutes. I was in tears at the finish line realizing I had beat my record which was so symbolic in my journey towards a healthy life.

It has been 2.5 years and there is NOTHING in this journey that is easy ... so for anybody who's struggling out there ... if there was one thing I could tell you it is this: It is so hard .. you will doubt yourself, you will want to give up, you will get emotional, you will purge eat .... but in the end with enough dedication, will power and time and energy you WILL be successful. It is so worth all the low points of self-doubt when you reflect on how good you feel both physically and emotionally once you've embraced a healthy lifestyle.

I'm so thankful for all the people that have helped me on this journey because I couldn't do it alone... I'm pretty sure they know who they are.

68.5 pounds lost and feeling great!! 

This girl is on FIRE!!!!

Well everybody .. I've been pretty bad about updating ... the good news is I have been good about staying on track - yay ...

I really love LA fitness as a fitness facility and am really feeling at home there. I have fallen in love with spinning all over again and have also gained more confidence in doing some of my own weight exercises that I do with my trainer.

However today I had a fantastic moment. I finally decided it was time to splurge and buy some new dress pants for work. The ones I have are too big on me and it was getting a tad rediculous. I was shocked when I found out that I fit comfortably into a size 10 pair of pants. I actually almost cried ... what was more I ended up buying medium shirts too. It was such a great moment. I was on cloud #9 and felt like a new woman ... I did a happy dance in the change room and squelled a bit .. I didn't care if people heard lol
best part was ... the song that came on the radio when I left the store was "This Girl is on Fire" .... I blasted it and screamed it the whole way home! :)

Proud day ... people around me .. friends, family, my trainer and some of the instructors I've met at the gym have helped inspire me too ..

I end with a great quote from my spin instructor today (not sure what it is but when I spin with him .. it's like a whole new world of feeling motivated and pushing myself) ... this was today's quote:

"You walked into this room to achieve your goals .. you DID NOT walk into this room to quit ... push hard and DO NOT.. I repeat DO NOT give up on the most important person in the world"

a motivational quote

Jillian Michaels' said it so well in this week's episode...it was so powerful to see Dani who has lost 93 pounds on the show...she started around the same weight as I did and I have watched her push herself through guelling exercises and put everything into her healthy lifestyle. She has been truly inspiring...

Alas - in the episode I watched tonight - Dani makes it to be the final 2 and Jillian has such an inspiring response...she says..

“You try and you fail, you try and you fail...but you know why you get up everyday and you try again?..you do it for this moment ..this moment right here.. this is what you fight for..and it doesn't happen very often, but when it does happen, it's magic and it's worth it.”

I feel like I've had a few of those moments that Jillian Michaels speaks of...this past week I fit into a size 10 dress....I felt on top of the world ... I  felt fantastic ... for me it was one of "those moments" that Jillian refers to.  I can't remember ever wearing a size 10 .. not even in high school. This is an example of one of those moments  that keeps me going and waking up to get to the gym. It's what inspires me to push that little bit harder in a work-out. It's the reason why when I fail miserably and overeat at a party, I start again and continue to fight.

Jillian's right in that these little moments of success are magical ... and we should do everything in our power to fight for them!

What has been your "moment" on your journey? Think about it and continue to fight for it. From my experience Jillian is right in that all of the hard work is sooooo worth the way your body looks and how your mind feels. Love it!

woo hoo

crazy week full of bad food due to parties and baby shower, not as much exercise as usual and it's crazy what even 4 days "off plan" does to your mind set and body. It made me feel awful physically and emotionally. It was a great reminder of the importance of staying true to clean eating and regular exercise. 

On the bright side - good news is that a lady at the baby shower I was at made a comment about my "muscles" and asked me flat out if I worked out. It was a fantastic moment for me that somebody thought I looked toned and muscular. It was a happy day. It motivated me to move on from the 4 days of bad eating and get back on track. Never in a million years did I think I would be on my way to a toned body.

On biggest loser tonight one of the contestant's is talking to an overweight family friend ... and she says 

"Every day matters... you have a bad day, get up the next day and do it again. Make every day matter."

Just some food for thought .. :) - well said I thought.

tea back then and tea today ...

A great moment happened this week and I can thank my lovely friend Mike Plumton for that. He surprised me with a belated birthday celebration of going to the Windsor arms in Toronto for a Twlight Tea. 2 years before that .. I had taken him to a similar experience at Royal York for a tea.

As we are sitting enjoying our tea .. .he said to me .. I have something on my phone you should see. Then he shows me his phone .. and there I was ... the old me ... the almost 260 pound me .. the unhealthy me. I was slightly shocked and did have trouble looking at it.

Then he thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of the 2 years later me .... same situation (tea together) ... different body and different mindset.
Here it is (too bad it's not a full body .. but still kinda exciting!).

March 13, 2011 on the left .. February 20th, 2013 on the right ...

who knew there was something crazier than a burpee....

there is ..........

burpee with a push up ... who knew this existed ?

I didn't until I started boot camp....

It's a typical burpee except when you bring your legs out you go right into a push up before coming back up again ... it's like the ultimate body experience ..

I hurt ........

body ... muscles ... rebuilding ...........ugh

=)

feelin' good

Down a pound .. this week and feelin' fabulous :)

Just gotta keep this up .. unfortunately my boot camp ends on March 5th - going to miss it, but it's $200/month which I can't afford .. SO ... back to a gym I go! I'm thinking LA fitness .. heard lots of good things and they have a ton of great classes. I'm REALLY missing the spinning so that will be good and lots of people rave about their instructors. I'm also a lot more confident than I was before about doing weights etc. on my own .. so that could be good. I know I need to be doing more of this strength building ...........

Change can be good .. but I was pretty successful with training 2x a week and boot camp 3 or 4x a week .. so I just hope I can maintain this level of activity once I join a gym.

Will keep you posted ...

Sharing a delicious and fabulous recipe I tried tonight. It's vegetarian too .. but you'd never know as I felt SO FULL afterwards. It was FANTASTIC :) !!!

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/quick_and_easy/stewed_kale_and_lentils.php

Last point of the day ... I have always wanted a kettle bell .. SO .. right now I'm at 55 pounds lost ... when I lose 60 pounds I will buy myself a kettle bell ;) good present I'd say ..

That being said I'm going to force myself to remain at 60 pounds lost for a month before I buy it .. I think that's fair.!

Quinoa garden burger

THE GARDEN BURGER

 

-labelled as kid friendly and can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free bread crumbs

-even Nick liked it and I LOVED IT!

-delicious even on it's own (Without a bun)

 

This recipe is inspired from the Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood.

Burger is delicious includes some great veggies! comes out at 276 calories, 5 grams of fat and a great 14 grams of protein! It said serves 6-8 , I was able to make 7 decently sized burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/4 cup dried green lentils
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, lightly mashed
• 3/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped red (or green) bell pepper
• ground black pepper and garlic powder to taste

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over high heat, combine quinoa, lentils, and water.
2. Bring to a boil, cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
4. In a large bowl, combine walnuts, bread crumbs, chickpeas, celery, onion, bell pepper, and lentil/quinoa mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Use your hands to mix ingredients and form 7 patties.
6. Place patties on the prepared baking sheet (using 1/2 cup of mixture at a time) and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately with your choice of bun and toppings.

Try it out - enjoy (I know I loved it!)

burpees!!!

If you asked me 2 years ago if I would ever be able to do 100 Burpees I probably would've laughed and said never. In fact I don't think I even knew what a Burpee was. I was thinking back to some of my first weeks with Shawna and I remember when she introduced me to the burpee.  I think I was able to do one barely and after doing it I thought who in their right mind would want to participate in this crazy maneuver? Is this actually fun? I was breathing heavily, completely exhausted and was barely physically able to do even the one burpee. Don't get me wrong burpees and I still have a love-hate relationship, but times have sure changed which I learned tonight at bootcamp. 

Back to present day.. I walked in and saw on the whiteboard the following workout which she called "Turbo work- out"

20 jumping jacks

20 high knee

20 squats

20 mountain climbers 

20 burpees

5 times...

Okay until I noticed the five times at the bottom I thought I can totally do this. Then in my head I did a bit of quick, mental math and the sheer understanding of the number of exercises that would occur overwhelmed me.

Now there is a happy ending to the story. I did it! Yes that is right world, I did it! This girl- Emily Moxey completed 100 jumping jacks, 100 high knees, 100 squats, 100 mountain climbers, and worst of all 100 burpees. I did all this in the designated time that she gave us which was 12 minutes. 

Boot camps are typically 50 minutes long. You do the math. This 12 minute turbo work out was only the beginning of craziness. I feel great. I feel happy. And I feel accomplished.

I felt like I was going to die at the end of just the turbo workout but I also felt huge sense of accomplishment. While I was doing them I was thinking back to that first day when I was introduced to what the heck a Burpee was. 

I couldn't be happier or more proud right now. I never thought I would say it...but I'm so glad I learned to love and embrace the world of the burpee.

For anybody that doesn't know what it Burpee is and wants to try it look at this video. I never thought I could do one and today I did 100. Get off the couch and give it a try, you won't regret it.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=Pf7wZvraWV0

28 years young

This past weekend was a FANTASTIC birthday weekend - amazing. I think the thing that made me the most proud was that I got up ON my birthday for a 6am boot camp. 

I had "met" a new friend at the Friday 6am boot camp and was telling her my dilemma about whether to go to the 6am boot camp because it was going to be a busy weekend. On Wednesday night she said to me "have you decided about Friday's class? - I'll be here". It was funny because it motivated me to get my butt out of bed and go.She said to me at the end now wasn't that a great birthday gift to yourself?

Then I reflected and realized it really was a great birthday gift to myself. The gift of health and exercise. Nothing else is more important for my future. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying this bootcamp and it is completely pushing me to my limits. I'm realizing that with exercise a lot of it is mental and your body can do so much more than you think.

Below is a picture of one of the obstacle courses the instructor made us do - it was nuts. 

It included a line of jump squats on the bosc ball, bear crawls, ladder runs, jump squats, push-ups and sits up. I participated in the course continuously for 10 minutes I believe - NUTS!! (but damn a good work-out!). 

=) will keep you updated ... so far I'm down 3 pounds but still doesn't feel significant because I'm still losing the Christmas weight - boo! Regardless I'm feeling fantastic with a more regular exercise system in place. :) 

planning

So after all this time I have realized that the key to success is to plan ahead. Just when you think about leaving the house without a water bottle or without a ziploc of almonds in your purse - go right back into the house and plan ahead.

Planning ahead has helped me a lot such as meal planning, and freeze ahead meals. The weeks where we meal plan for the week and I plan my work-outs for the week I am much more successful. This is something I want to look towards in the new year and stick to. It takes a bit of planning ahead and extra work, but the outcome is fantastic.

I'm pretty excited that the boot camp I've joined requires you to register online for the classes beforehand which will make me a lot more accountable - again - planning - woo hoo!!

Speaking of planning ... below is my planning for soups and lunches for the next month or so ... :) Vegetable Gumbo, Creamy Potato and Pear, Creamy Carrot and Cauliflower and Coconut Chickpea. When I just don't know what to take for lunch I will rely on these freezer meals - yum (and healthy). I've seen the same success by planning ahead and freezing my green smoothies.

These planning ideas are good if you are trying to eat healthy and stay dedicated to a weight loss journey.

Another good example of planning ahead is to look at menus before going out for dinner and knowing what you are going to order so you aren't tempted by other items (I try and do this and it's great!).

Share any other ideas that you do to plan ahead by commenting below ...

Make it a goal this week to ensure the planning sticks and you are accountable for your plans  too :) This is my "plan" hehe

"He who fails to plan, plans to fail." 

feelin' fantastic!

I'm so excited and have to share my excitement.

I bought a groupon for a boot camp and am completely loving it (day 2). It's funny though because I more so love it AFTERWARDS and I'd say I love it 50% of the time DURING it ha ha ... I think it's because during the 50 minutes of pure insanity I feel like I'm pushing myself to my limit times 10. I'm so fortunate that I've had so much time with Shawna (my trainer) because my time with her has taught me how to properly do the exercises form wise.

One thing I'm excited about is that everybody at this boot camp is all ages and all sizes. It's not like some bootcamps where most people are already fit, slim and toned. This bootcamp has such a positive vibe and feeling with people encouraging each other and trying their best.

A few girls at work have decided with the stop of extra curriculars we are going to use the empty gym to our advantage. Our new goal is to do walks around the gym with music blasting 4 nutrition breaks a week for a solid 20 minutes. It's just another way to get movement in and have the support of others.

I saw this picture on the clean eating facebook page and it really resonated with me.
I have put it as my lock screen and background on my iPhone - I figure I look at my cell phone so many times during the day, it will be a great reminder :) Hope this picture can provide all of you with motivation too!

green smoothie deliciousness!

okay so with my lovely gift of the green smoothie bible - I have been reading up on it.and decided to go for it. I already basically do green smoothies every morning with flax seeds, large flake oatmeal and protein powder... but just having a basic green smoothie as a snack could be a great, quick and easy idea ?

So here's what I did

STEP ONE - Get all you ingredients. You can use any dark green ( collard greens, kale, spinach, bok choy to name a few). I've used all of these successfully in the past. If you are new to the green smoothie world I suggest you start with baby spinach.

STEP TWO -  put 1 cup of water, 1 cup of milk (regular or almond) into a blender with 2-3 cups of greens of your choice.I blended these 2 ingredients in my magic bullet for a good 2 minutes to ensure all the small green bits were chopped up. If you have a higher end blender or a "Vitamix" you obviously won't need to blend as long. At this point you could also add chia or flax seeds for extra healthy fats but I get that in my morning smoothie and these were meant for a snack.

STEP THREE - add 2 servings of fruits of your choice into the blender with the greens. I find bananas best because of their delicious flavor but any fruit works. Typically I put 1.5 banana and 1 orange in each smoothie. The picture below of the redish brown smoothie was 1 cup of berries and 1 banana. I also did some that only had banana. Whatever fruit you have around the house and Fortinoes has bananas on for 39 cents a pound right now ;)

STEP FOUR - great suggestion on a blog I found is shown below. Put a zipbloc bag in a glass measuring cup to make servings - I did 1.5 cup servings so I know that I got almost a full cup of greens in every smoothie.

STEP FIVE - End result - success. They say they freeze well - we will see. Take out the night from tbefore so it is able to
Generally I found you could get 3 servings out of each blender.

Positive Attitude

I think I've noticed that the more time I spend around negativity and individuals that don't see the importance of a healthy lifestyle the more negative I become.

It's a difficult situation because there are friends and loved ones you care deeply about and want to spend time with...however I find the negative attitude can rub off on me. I wish I didn't let it.

Negativity is the last thing I need on the journey that is probably one of the hardest ones I've been on. I have never worked so hard at something in my life and to be around people that bring me down just doesn't do it for me.

In general my goal is to embrace the positivity that I know is around me. I have some wonderful friends, family, a kickass trainer and a wonderful fiance who really show me the positive sides of life.

So this post may come across as negative, but I want there to be a positive spin on it. I was able to reflect and realize the importance of the positive people in my life and that I need to ensure I'm putting myself in those positive situations.

I read this online and thought I've share some of the tips .... #6 really hit close to home for me. here's to a POSITIVE 2013 :) Bring it on!
Simple tips for developing a positive attitude:

1. Choose to be happy. Yes, it is a matter of choice.
2. Look at the bright side of life.
3. Choose to be and stay optimistic.
4. Find reasons to smile more often.
5. Have faith in yourself and in the Power of the Universe.
6. Associate yourself with happy people.
7. Repeat affirmations that inspire and motivate you.
8. - Visualize only what you want to happen.
9. Learn to master your thoughts.
   
   

it's a new year ...

okay ... so I've fallen into the guilt of it being a new year and new resolutions ... so here I am on my blog - updating after FAR, FAR too long. I apologize to my avid readers (if I have some lol).

My update is generally a happy one though. Although I've gained a bit over Christmas, I still feel great about my healthy lifestyle and continued work with my trainer. Like most people over the holidays, one cheat day turned into cheat weeks (which does not equal success).

Now here I am .. putting it all out there. I think the realization as to where I was and where I am now was when I was looking at my friend Laura's scrapbook on New Year's Eve. The picture was from 2010 and I was probably at my heaviest (258 ish) mark ... now I'm still teetering on the 200 mark .. back up to 206 (grr) .. but generally over the last 8 months I've maintained a 50 pound weight loss and stayed between 198 and 207.

Ideally I would like that number to go down .. and I'm sure in time it will .. but the fact I've maintained the weight loss and exercise regularly is what I'm so excited about. I never thought exercise would become part of my life the way it has.

I watched this great movie tonight that partly inspired my blog post (thanks Mom for the suggestion) - one thing it talked about was loving yourself unconditionally. My self love has definitely improved over the years, but I still don't think it's where it should be .. so I'm going to promise to do the task they recommend in the video. Look at yourself 2 times a day in the mirror and say "I accept myself unconditionally right now". They say by day 28 you will have more self love than you had and self love = healthier being. If you are on any sort of self love journey, weight loss or otherwise - I challenge you to say that positive message everyday with me ... see if you notice a change!

To kick start I thought of the whole idea of "love yourself naked". I said I'm doing it .. I will take a picture of my exposed self and see where I am next month. I kinda jumped for joy when I fit into my size 10 bikini from first year university (although don't think the top quite fits). I'm putting this picture out there.. more for myself. Do I LOVE the picture of myself in a bikini? not quite yet ... can you tell I work my ass off and try and build muscles ? probably not like most woman body builders but hell I'm still proud of that body and I know the crazy things I have done to start and tone my muscles.


Remember ... you have the power to change yourself.
A quote worth remembering as we head into the new year
"My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today."


and here it is .... it seems crazy for me to "put myself out there" like this .. but I am!! .... stay tuned ...