It can be a slippery slope

Tonight feels like it could go sideways. Not too sure why. Good workout this morning, got my cardio in and busy but productive day at work.

Finished dinner – Kale salad with tuna, tomatoes, cranberries, seeds and little bit of poppyseed dressing – and I still feel like something sweet. Pull out ketchup crispy minis, ok not sweet but carbs. Had a few handfuls. Still searching, raisins sure! Let’s “fill up” my sons 1/4 empty bin 😉 handful, few more, close the lid. But this is how it starts, little bits of things.

My husband is heading downstairs with my son leaving me in the kitchen alone. Dangerous. I have to do a little cooking tonight for the rest of the week. I made a coffee, almond milk latte actually with a bit of chocolate protein powder, ah this is satisfaction!

And I write about it, of my fingers are typing I certainly can’t be eating too 😉

My view

I have come full circle

It was a year ago today that I received an email from my (now former) boss to see her first thing Monday morning when I arrived. I had no idea what was about to happen. I could never imagined the hell I would go through that day, the next day and the months that followed.

Fast forward a year, Nov 30, 2014 – WOW – what I have accomplished over the last year. First I won the fight, then I landed on my feet. Quickly after I started to get serious about my training. I stayed focused for 9 months, focused on the journey, the stage, the process. I had my ups and downs, my highs and lows. But if I could get through this last year and end up a better, stronger person – I am unstoppable.

I don’t know what is next for me, but I like the feeling of choice and the ability to make a decision that best suits me. There will be more change in the next few months, but not forced change.

Dec 2, 2013 was one of the worst days of my life, but after they beat me down, but man did I GET UP!

Saje Crave Away

I LOVE the SAje Natural Wellness store! My sister-in-law introduced me last fall when we were downtown Vancouver. I had seen it before, but never been in one.

Now I own, 3 Nebulizers and a variety of difference essential oils. We use one in our master bedroom, one in the kitchen and another in my son’s bedroom.

The last time I was in, I came across a new product that I hadn’t seen before. Crave Away which is an essential oil that helps to deal with food cravings – Sign me UP!

“A wholistic way to transform your relationship with food and support balanced eating habits. Inhale deeply an essential oil blend of pleasant food aromas to signal contentment to the brain and satiation to the body. The sweet aroma of benzoin and the licorice spice fragrance of fennel blend to calm the nervous system, minimize emotional eating, and prevent overindulgence.”

I smells amazing, and I now keep it in my purse so that I can grab it quick and inhale deeply when I feel a craving coming on. You can also dab a bit on your wrist, and smell when needed – I do this in the car 🙂

 

 

7w 1d – let the mind games begin!

It has been a weird week, I was explaining to a friend of mine this morning that I have been coming home after work and questioning if I cheated on my meal plan that day?!? I have to stop and really think about it. I know I didn’t but my mind is playing tricks on me. I have been taking a break from the office daily to grab a coffee, or go for a drive and every time I think – hmm I should get a treat. One cookie, doughnut or pack of Twizzlers is not going to kill me. I don’t act on these thoughts, I order my black coffee and go but for some reason my brain thinks maybe I did!

Each time I have these thoughts, I make a choice. My choice is not to give into my temptations. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, I am not depriving myself of food – no one needs doughnuts. I choose to fill myself up with vegetables, protein and good carbs.

 

There is a lot going on in my life right now, between work and home. We have decided to sell our house in the middle of my prep, smart – probably not but it is time and needs to be done. Will it throw off my prep? Maybe! But I will try my best not to let it. I will keep focused on my prep and hopefully everything else will fall into place. This show gives me something to focus on, to take my mind away from all the realities of life. Because I know that what I am doing is not reality, it is a dream. A dream that will come true, but then fade away.

 

How do you weigh your food?

I discovered something interesting this past weekend that got me thinking!?! I use yams or sweet potatoes for one of my starchy carbs during my day and the amount changes weekly. This particular day I needed 108g of yams/sweet potato. I normally have been taking the easy (lazy) way to cook them and putting them into my slow cooker when I cook my meats. When I weigh them out I get about 2-3 1″x1″ cubes – hardly enough to even count! And trust me some days I think “what is the point!” but as the weeks go on I will take every gram I can get.

This time, I used my new fancy Spiral Vegetable Slicer to make sweet potato curly fries. I was super excited and I believe I used 2 small sweet potatoes to fill a baking tray. I popped them into the oven for about 10 mins, watching carefully because they cut very thin. When I took them out to weigh them, to my surprise the WHOLE tray weighed 107g. How could this be??

 

Yes, it was too good to be true – but luckily I found that out AFTER I ate them – LOL! I thought that maybe I had weighed them wrong before – out of the slow cooker with all the extra moisture. But no sadly, that is the correct way to weigh them and the way I had done it in the oven dehydrates them so the macros would be as if you are eating the whole sweet potato – obviously right?!!

Here is an article I came across that explains it as well – The Right Weigh and the Wrong Weigh: Should Food be Measured Before or After Cooking?

Oh gosh, I hope my Mom doesn’t read this! Hasn’t she taught me anything! And geez my husband too, I can see his head shaking already….oh well! Learn something new everyday I say!

Fast approaching 8 weeks

At night is when I question this process the most. I guess because I have time to think about it.

Normally, my day is so busy, I focus more on remembering to eat than think about the why? I don’t question so much the program, the workouts, food or supplements; after all I go to reputable people who have been in this industry for 20+ years and I trust them. I think it is “how is my body going to get there in that amount of time?”

I am approaching 8 weeks out from competition and to some that sounds like a long time; 8 weeks, 2 months, 60 days. A lot can happen in that time! I think what I have learned so far is that it goes in waves, highs, lows and plateaus. Your body either reacts or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t you change, modify and continue on.

I am so curious to see what the next 8 weeks brings and what my “package” will look like.

 

Vision Board

 

My vision board speaks to a lot of different aspects of my life. It sits in my closet and I look at it everyday.

“Maintain your Balance” – Something that is a constant struggle for me

“A Healthy You” – My life since my son was born 25 months ago, both physically and mentally

“Homemade Chills and Thrills” – I love creating, I love being in the kitchen

“We’re in it Together” – My husband and I are a team, we are pushed but almost 13 years later we still stand

Have you ever created a vision board? Try it out and see where your mind takes you.

Sunday Funday!

I am officially 9 weeks out from my first competition and this is where it starts to get interesting. My week consists of workouts (5 days of weights and 7 days cardio), food prep, meeting with my coach, posing class and then all the normal things like being a wife, mom and employee.

This Sunday was no different, except that this is the only day that I don’t set an alarm! I had my breakfast before hitting the gym, egg white pancakes – YUM! Then it was off to the gym around 9:00am on the agenda was triceps and cardio, I have 1:20 of cardio to do on the weekends.

As soon as I get home, its a shake and then a Gatorade, this is part of my meal plan as per my coach. We had plans to go out that day so food prep was super important. I ate my 3rd meal in the car…

Ground Turkey Quinoa Salad

I spent the next 4 hours touring around Granville Island with my husband, son and friends. I managed to consume only a coffee in that time period and I had my next meal waiting for me in the car on ice! It was turkey, cabbage and mustard – a staple right now.

Dinner was up next almost as soon as we got home. My go to right now is stir-fry, it simple and tasty!

Now keep in mind, I have a two year old so in between all of this he would like my undivided attention. I don’t remember if he ate his dinner, probably not, but he most likely stole off my perfectly portioned plate of food! After bath, stories and cuddles he normally goes down around 8pm. Then I get to get creative with my select ingredients for my last meal of the day. Tonight, I wanted to try something a little different than my normal protein lava cake so I made FROSTED protein cake!

I think my head hit the pillow around 9:30pm, my alarm goes off at 4:10am…you can read all about that tomorrow!

 

Hump Day – March 19, 2014 – Day 11

Well, it is coming up on the end of Day 11 and the best advice I was given, was take it “day by day”. And tonight I thought, I just have to get through a few more hours and then it is off to bed and a new day starts. Not, oh my gosh I have 200+ days and 8 months of “dieting”, no that is not the point and I am not dieting. I am trying to be the healthiest me I can be, one day at a time.

This is a true test of one’s mind, I have spend 30+ years doing things one way, change is not going to happen over night. This has already been a 19 month journey for me, I can get through a day 🙂

But seriously, I can taste my egg white pancakes topped with blueberries, Almond Butter and SF pancake syrup already! LOL! I am going to bed now – good night!

Sunday March 16th – Day 8

The weekends are big eating days! 4 large meals and two shakes. Along with BCAA and Glutamine three times. I make sure that these are good workout days too, just mentally makes me feel better.

Here is one of my meals, mid afternoon. It’s basic; chicken, rice and veggies but it’s good!!

 

I don’t go too crazy trying to think of new and exciting ways of cooking my food. I have enough going on in my life, food = fuel. It has to taste good, but I am about quick and easy!

All of my food gets prepared in advance, except some dinners I like to have something that hasn’t been previously frozen at least a couple times a week  – usually weekends when I have the time.

 

It has been a good week though, feeling really good. It is amazing what a few days, or weeks does of clean eating. It wasn’t that I was eating bad before, just not paying attention and slipping back into the processed foods. We will see what this next week brings, and how my first check in is with my coach next Sunday!