"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" ~ Seneca

Saturday, December 31, 2011

See you next year!

As 2011 draws to a close and we reflect on the past year, I reflected on the 3 main highlights for me.

1) February 2011, I left my job at An Apple retail store to return to the University in an admin. assistant position.

2) April, 2011, we took the family trip of a lifetime and spent 2.5 weeks on the Big Island of Hawaii, and thoroughly enjoyed island life.

3) October, 2011, I ran a 10K

Overall, not a bad year. Hope you had a good one as well!

Here's to a great 2012!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I'm alive & kickin'

I've been remiss in posting but will try to do better.
But I did have 33 posts so far in 2011, an all time high. I know I can do better in 2012.
Gearing up for a Resolution Revolution challenge & get the scale moving in the right direction.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

So you think you can run a 10k? Why yes. YES I can!

Today was the day I've supposedly been training for. Run the Hood '11. I had signed up to run a 10k. I haven't run that distance before. In fact, the farthest I've run is 5k, except for the 4.75 miles I ran on a treadmill a few weeks ago (my only training for this race-oops).

This was a virtual race and what appealed to me was it was just a run. Just me versus the clock. Virtual means a little less stressful. Not the whole travel to someplace new at o'dark hundred and wait in line for a port-a-pottie.

My goals for this race were to:
1) Finish the 10K
2) Aim for a time of 1 hour 15min.

I mapped out a couple of different runs using map my run. I chose this one last night as I didn't have to cross too many roads.

Route I mapped out

Here I am just before heading out. I'm not wearing my race t-shirt 'cause I was too cheap to have the Sisterhood send two shipments to Canada, so I'll get it with all the other goodies, post-race.



It was a cooler day here in Calgary, partly sunny, ~5.5 C(~42 F).

Like I said before, I mapped my run, but I didn't read it well- this is what I actually ran

Mel's Run the Hood '11

So I ran 11.34 km (7.05 miles) in 1:16:52, average pace was 10:54 min/mile.



I ran 20 min, then walked 1 min. I walked several other times, usually 30s or so, but lost track. So I would have had a rockin' good time if I had actually run just 10k. But even better is I broke through the psychological barrier of 10k. Yes. Yes I can run 10K (and then some)!

Hope everyone else had a great run as well!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

RIP Steve Jobs


"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life," he'd said, in the 2005 Stanford commencement speech. "It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."

RIP Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Week 1- Tribal Council Fears

Will I survive tribal Council? I'm not sure...
I had decent workout minutes: 350 min for the week, but no change on the scale. I am always happy to see a maintain and not a gain. But obviously it means I need to revamp my food and workouts.
Team Lime pulled some HUGE losses! WTG Suzanne, Michele, & Colleen, as well as some BIG exercise Numbers-Jill, you animal!

WTG TEAM LIME. Have a great week

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Shrinkvivor Begins!

Let the games begin! I am part of Team Lime and this may be our logo:

Time to get our exercise on! Currently doing some resistance exercises. My goal this week is to hit a minimum of 60 min active steps on my pedometer each day.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Finally!

I got my butt of the couch & to the Y today, to 'officially' start training for my 10k on Oct. 22. Better late than never. I know I can run 5k in the 30-40 min range, but I've never gone beyond that distance. Not that there wasn't a desire to, just the not sure I can.
So to see if I have what it takes, I signed up for a virtual 10k. Check out Run the Hood 2011 . Today was my first run in a while. At least 2 months. I just can't seem to get into a groove. I ran for 60 min, and covered 4.75 miles. Not bad for my first hour long run.
My speed varied between 4.5-5.5 mph.
My goal is two fold:1) to finish, 2) to finish under 1h 15 min.
My first task is how to make the treadmill let me run longer than 1 hour.
And if that wasn't enough, I just signed up for this:
SHRINKVIVOR
The Tribe Has Spoken

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Virtual 10K

I've just signed up for this race





A virtual 10K! How about you? Will you join the fun?

Monday, August 8, 2011

Refocused

Yes, refocusing once again. Wasn't this supposed to happen back in May? Whatever happened to my 'fitafterfitbloggin' pledge?
Let's just say I lost my way and found a few unwanted friends, approximately 8-10, along the way.
But who's counting?Me.
And you know why?
This is my first 'slide' in the wrong direction, since I began my lifestyle change in Jan. 2009. I'm scared.
And it is interesting that this change came about when I was holding steady at 148 lbs and thought maybe I should consider entering maintenance. I thought, 145 sounds like a good place to be. I like how I feel and how my clothes fit.
Then June & July hit. A little bit of work stress, schedule changes for the kids and there was 1-2 weeks where I split a beer with dh, or made myself a margarita and less than perfect food choices and voila-here I am. But this is where it stops.
I had a great final meeting with my coach approach coach Joanne. I am committed to taking the kids to the Y for free swim at least once/week and getting myself there for a class or some resistance training again once/week.
It's not a lot, but it's a start. And I refocused.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Feelings

Feeling disconnected from myself.
I feel betrayed by body as it gains weight- how dare it.
My dh is driving me nuts. He thinks I can read his mind - how dare he.
But what am I feeling inside? Lost

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

MyTrak, part 2

Thanks to the comments from Rita at Fitblogger
and Karen at Waisting Time who confirmed my upset with the ridiculous first week daily caloric limit of 905 as the MyTrak device got used to me. Now it up to 1687, which seems high but I must be eating somewhere in that range of calories, if not more since the scale is not moving down, but up. Hmph.
On the positive side, I've moved from a cute bunny which represents moderately active to a dolphin representing active. I'm hitting green on most days, especially after changed my goal from wanting to lose 20 pounds by the end of August to 10 pounds. But who am I kidding, I only lost 14 pounds in all of last year. I think even the 10 is a far stretch.
So why don't I feel any 'better', why do I have a constant guilt nagging at me that I'm not doing enough excercise wise and why don't I feel that I can change that?
I'm wearing the MyTrak every day plus I'm still wearing my Omron pedometer. Something about seeing the number, the green ring just isn't enough. I guess it's like weighing myself everyday. Old habits die hard.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Curve ball

Well as life is want to do, it throws a curve ball every once in a while, just to make sure we are paying attention. Well I am paying attention, or at least I am now! We added a new addition to our family just yesterday. We adopted a friends Bearded Dragon named Scritch. We've never had a reptile before, so we're on a steep learning curve. It's like having a new baby in the house- on watch 24/7. But so far so good, we all seem to be adjusting. This is in part a birthday gift for my eldest daughter who turned 11 today (how did that happen?)

The end of the school year is always a hectic time. 5 days of school left for the kids, not that much changes once school is done. They'll go to summer camps, I'll still make them lunches, I'll go to work & then pick them up. Hopefully they'll have fun.

Work is a bit more stressful with lots of changes coming down the pike, but I'm trying to be open & accepting to it, rather than let it get me down.

Tomorrow is one week with the MyTrak. I've hit green everyday, so well see if it gets harder now that it has measured it's baseline. Since I'm not journaling my food, I'm going to let the recommended caloric intake slip for now.
And that's all for now, though here is a picture of Scritch

Photobucket

Thursday, June 16, 2011

MyTrak- first impressions

So I started wearing the MyTrak yesterday. I've heard the first week is quite easy to 'go for green'. This morning I had the ring of green before lunchtime which I thought was odd. I'm still wearing my my Omron pedometer to compare the two.
I don't really enjoy having to plug in the MyTrak to the computer to upload the data, but so be it. What I found interesting was when I logged in online and looked at my profile,


Okay- that information I can live with, but it was this next bit that really got me peeved:

Your maximum recommended daily caloric intake should be: 905 Calories per day
Um- Excuse me?
No one, who is actively seeking to lose weight (and keep it off) can do so on 905 calories a day. Now granted I put in that I wanted to lose 20 pounds between now and Aug. 31st which is a huge stretch for me (I didn't even lose 20 pounds last YEAR) But who are they kidding? I plan on writing to Mytrak and complain, because that is not healthy.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

MyTrak

My MyTrak that I won from Fitblogger arrived last night. I'm currently Syncing & Charging it in the hopes I can start using it today. I'd like to compare what it says versus my current OMRON pedometer. I'll post an update later.
Thank you Fitblogger & MyTrak!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Making time for me

This is probably the toughest thing to do as a mom. Kids, husband, job all seem to take priority and then some days you feel as though you need to schedule when to take a shower.
Especially at the end of the school year, there are multiple activities and year end events to attend. It’s a careful orchestration of daily activities to ensure the kids are where they are supposed to be as well as the requisite number of adults to get them there. That can be an issue when there are only 2 of us and three of them.
But back to me- as I’m the one who’s whining & crying.
I want to start running (again), but the dog needs walking and I hate running with the dog ‘cause once he stops, then I stop running and I have the hardest time starting again. I keep dropping the word treadmill around the house and am scouring kijji & craigslist, but I’m not sure that is the answer either.

So for those of you that have kids & pets and other priorities (read-everyone)- how/when do you get your exercise in?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

All this talk about the heat

Everyone seems to be having a heatwave, except us. We have rain which is typical for June with intermittent sunny days. One thing I've noticed is that the older I get, the harder it is stay warm. When I was younger I never understood why people would leave the colder climates during winter for southern, more temperate climates. These snow birds who migrate much like our wildlife. Now I'm beginning to understand the draw.
Here we are in mid- June and I can still wear 2 layers, sometimes 3 and be just right temperature-wise. Will I ever be warm again?

Monday, June 6, 2011

I won?

I'd like to thank the academy- whoops wrong acceptance speech. Seriously though, thanks to Rita and all the folks at Fitblogger and of course the sponsor MyTrak
I can't wait to start using the lifestyle activity coach. It should be a huge improvement over my basic pedometer.
A rainy Monday morning to start the week off here, they are forecasting rain for most of the week. Shuldnt affect my plans though, which include continue to climb the stairs at work and walk the dog & start training for a 10K. I was a bit off plan on eating towards the end of last week, but my weight held steady, but I will start food journaling again, get back on track and pull the trigger and sign up for a 10k. No fear, no hold barred. And if you're looking for a treadmill (like I am), visit Mizfit for a chance to win one!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

I've been zumba'd

Well I went to the Zumba class last night and I'm still trying to decide if I liked it or not. It wasn't what I expected, and I'm not sure if it was me, the instructor, or the class itself. It could have been since we were a beginner class the instructor was giving us a sampling of the different styles of music and moves, but it felt very disjointed to me. The only introduction we got from the teacher was to keep our knees soft.

Meanwhile, little stressed organizing my first board meeting which takes place tomorrow. (whew- thank goodness for undo as I just deleted my post by mistake-spaz). Then, I helped dh book a flight for the end of June for business and that sent me into an emotional eating frenzy-along with TOM. I ate 5 girl scout cookies & 2 mini candy bars- ugh. Luckily, I had my wits about me and took the dog for a 'spirited' walk.

I think it's time to call it a night.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

My #FitAfterFitbloggin Pledge

My #FitAfterFitbloggin Pledge:
I CanadaMel do solemnly swear I have finally learned after 43 years I can not let my workouts plateau and expect to grow more healthy, fit and strong.
I recognize the importance of cross-training, of trying new things and of letting go of my vice-like grip on my self definition.
I will greet each day with a renewed commitment to my overall health & wellness and remember I am never as far away from my healthy living path as my very.next.choice.


I'm cruising the upcoming race lists, afraid to commit & push that register button, yet I know that registering is what it takes to kick my butt in gear.
Meanwhile, tonight I'll be zumba'ing for the first time. Better late than never.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

I'm a member, are you?

I applied to become a member of the National Weight Control Registry to help keep myself accountable. I learned about the registry through the site Refuse to Regain. Filling out the various questionnaires is a good chance to self asses and see how far I've come.
I started my weight loss journey in 2009. Not that this was the first time I was on a diet. Hell I went to my first weight watchers meeting when I was 9! But this time was different. I was choosing a lifestyle change. Not just changing they way I ate and what I ate (thank you food journaling), but also changing my activity level (not difficult when it's nearly nil). I started wearing my pedometer ever day and still do. After a month into this lifestyle change, I started the Couch 2 5k running program. I took a few weeks longer than the usual 9, but completed the program and ran in the local Mother's Day 5K! I was 186 pounds and finished the 5k in 36 minutes which was under my goal of 40 minutes. I continued running through the summer months and the weight melted off. In the fall/winter I stopped running (weather weanie) but continued to walk and go to the occasional step aerobics class. By January 2010 I was at 167 pounds, a 43 pound loss in one year, I'll take it. 2010 showed me a 16 pound loss, bringing me to 151. And now here at the end of May 2011, I'm currently hovering between 148-151. Hence the previous post on being stuck

It's been quite the journey (still ongoing). While I wish I could say it was this one thing that did the trick and has made this weight loss successful, but I know that isn't true. It has been a little weight watchers skills, a little Jillian Michaels, a little mizfit, and many members of the 3 Fat Chicks community and a lot of perseverance, that have helped to make me who I am today. And for that I am extremely grateful.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Stuck

Does your body choose your ideal weight or do you? I used to think that I could choose what weight I should be at, hence my goal weight of 130 pounds. But when is a plateau just a plateau and when is it your body saying, 'Thanks, I'm good here?'. I'm not sure how to tell these two scenarios apart. I would like to say my multiple weeks spent at 148 pounds is a plateau, but I just feel stuck.
I KNOW I have the power to break out. It involves switching up my diet and my exercise. Well- good thing I went to the Y tonight for my CBC Live Strong Now group.
We did resistance exercises and I got my ass kicked! Whew- who knew an exercise ball could be so cruel. I just hope I can walk tomorrow.
What do you do to change things up?

Monday, May 23, 2011

I'm back!

Amazing! Time certainly flies when you're having fun.
Since my last post, we spent 2.5 weeks house sitting on the Big Island of Hawaii! We snorkeled, boogie boarded, and enjoyed all aspects of island life- we've been bit by the bug. Now my days are spent trying to figure out how to move to the tropical paradise and make a living there.
But back to reality. When we returned from said trip, it was snowing here. Not that we didn't expect it. Spring has been slow in coming to the northern cities, but it is here as we now have tulips and daffodils blooming. Plus it's raining today rather than snowing, hooray!
Today I am renewing my commitment to my health- which means- start moving!
I have been flaking out on my live right now club, but so glad I went last week as we did step aerobics which I LOVE. This week we're doing resistance training, which I'm trying to like.
I haven't done my Yourself Fitness since we got our xbox repaired- time to dust off that baby.
I'm still doing the stairs at work 2x per day and I throw in some lunges while walking the dog. How do you squeeze your daily exercise in?

Saturday, March 26, 2011

RIP Geraldine Ferraro

Just learned she passed away. I'll always remember her as a fighter

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Ouch!

I went all weekend warrior at the gym last night (for me at least) and am paying the price this morning. I hopped on the treadmill after my CBC Live Right Now team had a presentation by a dietician. My first intention, lets do a run. So I walked for about 5 min and then upped the speed and started jogging. I increased the speed steadily until I was at 5.6 mph.
I was able to maintain this for 30 min (33 to be exact) and ran 5k (3.1 miles)
I'm pretty proud of myself, so this pain is good in that sense. Now can I motivate myself to run outside? Or more importantly, do I want to?

Saturday, February 26, 2011

I did it!

My personal goal of climbing the stairs at least once per day last week was achieved. Partly due to the fact that Monday was a holiday! So for the four remaining days I climbed to the 8th floor 7 times which equals 1,274 stairs climbed!
So I'll up the ante this week and see if I can commit to 2x per day to go up the stairs. It has the added benefit that I get up from my desk & away from the computer screen. I'll check back in next week to report how I did.

Friday, February 18, 2011

182 steps

This is the number of steps to get to my office on the 8th floor. While I'm more than happy to take the steps down, I'm less enthusiastic to take them up. In fact, vie been at this new location for 1 week and I've only gone up the stairs twice. I have a mini-goal to try & take the steps up once per day. Let's see if I can do it- good thing it's only a 4 day work week next week.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Live right now

Tonight was cardio night.
Of course I was running late- seems I always am...
It was pretty funny as there we all were and our cordinator for the evening (I can't even remember his name) said, okay go do cardio for 30-40 min. That's it! Ummm, okay?
So I rode a bike at level 7, hill interval workout for ~30 min, covered 6 miles. Then went to the treadmill and ran 1 mile. All in all, not a bad workout, but I don't think I elevated my heart rate enough, but I guess you don't want to over do it.
Note to self-pick up new schedule.

Coach Approach

Met with my goal coach last night at the Y.
We set a few long term goals, answered some questions/self assessment style, and then she gave me some suggestions on what exercises to try.

Long term Goals

1) Improve overall cardiovascular endurance

2) Improve overall muscle mass

3) Improve overall body composition (decrease body fat, increase muscle mass- see goal #2, toning)

We will meet again in ~ 2 weeks to reassess and refine those goals.

Tonight we have our first group workout for Live Right Now. Not sure what we'll be doing if it's a class or if we'll be on the weight floor. If we're on the weight floor, I will try to do a combination of either a bike or treadmill for cardio and then some upper body (and maybe lower body too) machine work.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Live Right Now


Here I am modelling my new t-shirt!
I'm part of the Crowfoot YMCA CBC Live Right Now team. We had our first meeting tonight and will meet weekly for 6 months to become healthier together!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

February means turning over a new leaf

February 5 already and this is my first post for the month. Life feels like it's spinning wildly out of control and luckily I've got my seat belt on or I'd be thrown off into some crazy trajectory that I may not recover from. Will it ever feel like I'm in control? Has it ever?
Big changes are coming down the pike. New job, new fitness challenge, what else does this year hold in store? Can't wait to find out.
New job-begins mid-month. More of a desk job, it'll be interesting how it affects my daily # of steps. I'll try to take the steps to the 8th floor, rather than the elevator. Maybe use an exercise ball chair thingy(such a scientific term) to develop stronger core muscles?
New fitness challenge begins Wednesday. Not sure what it will involve but I am VERY excited to be working out at the YMCA each week. It should keep me accountable and let me focus a little on me each week. I need to work on not feeling guilty when I do something for me.
OH! I hit a huge milestone today, 60 punds lost!!! Pats self on back!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

in a rut

Not sure why I blog- mostly to amuse myself I guess, 'cause there are a lot of blogs out their re: weight loss. What's so special about mine? Seems I'm perpetually on a plateau, losing weight at a snail's pace. Hey, but at least I'm losing.
Not sure if I'm getting anything out of the blogging, except the guilty feeling that I should be writing more often.
Ever try to keep something going that is potentially good for you, but the guilt was overpowering?

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Feel it again

Whew! I can feel my thighs again, thanks to the likes of the cardio & sculpting workouts of your fitness evolved & the xbox kinect. In just a mere 2 days it has proven to me that
1) I'm not really in shape and
2) I need to be doing more than just walking the dog.
Walking is good for maintaining weight loss, a minimum amount of energy expenditure. I need to bring out the big guns and kick this weight loss into high gear.
I've given myself a modest challenge to burn 900 calories via the xbox in one month. I'm hoping to use it a minimum of 3 times per week more if my schedule allows. Trouble is, once the kids see me on there, they want to play video games, while I want to work out- can't we all just get along?
Here's to tomorrow and some more cardio workout!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Looking back

This time last year I weighed in at 167. Currently I'm weighing in at about 151. So I only lost 16 pounds this past year, but I figure it's better to be down than up. For comparison, the first year of my lifestyle change, I started at 210 and lost 43 pounds over the course of the year.

I feel the past year was all about lose a pound or two and then spend a month at that new weight getting used to it. I think this is because I wasn't doing a high intensity exercise program. This is why I'm contemplating running again. Of course-I'm still just contemplating. I did get a copy of a 10k training program out, but it's just sitting on the counter. How do I take that first step and get going? Plus I should get a new pair of running shoes, but don't have a spare $100 sitting around. What to do....meanwhile maybe I'll start the 200 crunch challenge-again.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A new leaf

What better time to start blogging again then on the first day of the New Year. I'm sure the bloggesphere is inundated with posts about resolutions, hopes and fears for the upcoming year. I've read a few here and there, and if anything they have prompted my own introspection as to what I hope to accomplish this year.
I am pleased with my continuing focus on my health. While I am not a dedicated exerciser- I try to keep my end of the bargain with the dog and get a minimum 45 min walk in daily. I hope to increase my daily exercise when my copy of your fitness evolved for the xbox 360 & Kinect arrives sometime this week.
I am contemplating the thought of running again and have pulled out a training schedule for a learn to run 10K. I enjoyed learning to run a 5K and continued to run into the fall. Once the weather turned cold & my schedule got less flexible, my running dropped off.
So here it is January, not exactly the warmest month in Calgary, but this is when started couch to 5k 2 years ago, so why not now? I'll let you know how it goes.
I will attempt to be a 'better' housekeeper this year. I do a darn good job keeping up on the mountains of laundry & dishes- but this allows me to be a total slacker on vacuuming and other assorted chores (such as bathrooms & mopping). I've tried to follow fly lady before and fall apart at about the second week. We'll see how I do as I attempt a regular cleaning schedule.
so other than the regular run of the mill resolutions, nothing too out of the ordinary here. I'll strive to be a better mom to my kids through bettering myself. All the best in 2011!