not weighing in

this not weighing myself weekly is the best thing i've done in months (in regards to my personal health). it is so wonderful to wake up on friday morning, not dread getting on the scale, congratulate myself on a week of good food choices and hard work in the gym, and move on. this morning i looked in the mirror and was very pleased with what i saw. if i got on the scale and saw that i was two pounds above my maintenance range, that would put a damper on my whole morning.

i'm going to have to weigh myself sometime i guess. maybe at the beginning of every month. how does that sound?

today is a good day. it's freezing outside, but sunny. nothing is worse than freezing and gloomy. i went to the gym early and did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and then some sit-ups and bum exercises. working out in the morning really takes a lot of effort. my heart rate was pushing 170 the whole time, and after 23 minutes, i thought i might faint. i lowered the resistance and i was able to complete the 30 minutes.

today is also a good day because on the way to the office, my mom called and asked if i could stop by my dad's work and pick up a pill she needed. i did and my dad gave me a bottle of blueberry mead. oh yum! it's from the trafalgar brewing company. here is a description:

"Blueberry Mead: 9% alc/vol.

Blueberries, from the fields of PEI, are blended with fermented honey and water then cold aged to become unique melomel style mead. Blending the most “Canadian” of berries with the oldest style of beverage alcohol results in a drink that is surprising in its refreshing dryness. Blueberry mead is enjoyed over ice or well chilled."

for lunch today i am really vegging it up. i have a baggy with chopped carrots, 1/2 red pepper and 1/2 zucchini. and hummus for dipping. sabra hummus - the most magical of all hummuses. and i also have a hummus and veggie wrap. last night i sauteed the other half of the red pepper and zucchini, and 1/2 onion and some mushrooms. what a delicious wrap it's going to be.

and finally, my hair turned out really fab. i will try to snap a photo on the weekend. i didn't have to go "natural" or really short. my stylish just cut it shorter at the back, and gave me highlights and lowlights, which looks rad and choppy(ish). and when my hair grows out a little, it will blend better and i won't look like a reverse skunkhead.

workout songs

great workout songs can really make all of the difference. or a great magazine. last night i added two new songs to my playlist:

1) all the single ladies by beyonce, and

2) live your life by ti and rihanna

amazing! nothing like getting your groove on to make working out fun. it will be heaven when no doubt releases a new album. HEAVEN.

last night i did about 36 minutes on the elliptical (burning 300 calories), and then moved to the mat for some stretching, sit-ups, and more bootylicious exercises. my bee-hind is definitely feeling the burn.

i wanted to write a little bit about heart rate monitors. mine has really opened my eyes to three important things:

1) the number of calories i'm actually burning. i find the estimates on the treadmill and the elliptical to be grossly overestimating how many calories i'm burning. i used to walk for an hour and think i burned 600 calories. HA! of course, the number of calories you burn doing any exercise varies based on your own weight, height, and age. i burn a lot less calories than a 200-pound man would doing the exact same exercise.

2) the level of physical exertion i should be aiming for and maintaining. after you input your stats into the monitor, it gives you a range to aim for and maintain during cardio exercise. for example, my resting heart rate is in the upper 50s. this is pretty low. my "cardio" zone is between 125 and 165 beats per minute. when i used to run, my heart rate would stay around 140 beats per minute, unless i was running up hill. on the elliptical, it's about 150 because i'm pushing myself hard. sometimes it goes up to 165, and i know it's time to back off a little.

3) what exercises are good for cardio and not as good for cardio. i'm not saying bad, because any exercise is good. but i now know that even walking on an incline doesn't pump me for maximum burn. and that tony gazelle machine (my parents have)... worthless! unless there is some way to turn up the resistance that i don't know about (there probably is).

my dinner last night was ridiculously low in points. i roasted an entire acorn squash, scooped out the insides (1 point for the whole thing) and covered it in 1/2 cup cottage cheese (1.5 points). since i had leftover points i enjoyed a 50 oz. glass of wine. 50! and now i'm dead. i meant 5 oz. i measured it on my kitchen scale and 5 oz. is a lot. i was underestimating my wine consumption before. not anymore haha.

this morning i thought about swimming but that didn't seem very appealing, so i did two pilates videos instead. the first was a beginner 25-minute "band exercises" workout, and the second was the 20-minute circle workout. my hips are very flexible but my hamstrings are NOT and both these videos stretched them out a bit.

wrap it up

i am addicted to making wraps with the "flat out" brand of tortilla wraps that i bought in the united states a couple of months ago. i bought four packs and froze them, and now i am into them with a vengeance. for breakfast i make egg and cheese wraps, and for lunch, tuna and hummus wraps. today's lunch wrap also included onion and zucchini that i sauteed this morning. each wrap is only 90-100 calories and 9g fiber, which is only 1 weight watchers point. amazing! it's nice to get the taste of bread without going crazy on the carbs.

last night after work i headed right downstairs to the condo gym. i did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then some sit-ups and bootylicious exercises. i wore my HRM and overall my calorie burn was over 300, and my heart rate stayed in the upper 150s and 160s during my cardio. that is a high heart rate! last spring when i was running 5-6 miles, my HR would stay about about 140. am i grossly out of shape? i know swimming cardio is different than sweaty running/elliptical cardio, but still.

on the elliptical i played this game with myself to pass the time. 2 minutes using arms, and then 2 minutes without arms, or "running" on the spot. both are very effective. i can really feel the burn in my arm muscles when i'm using the arm ski poles (or whatever they are), and it's much harder on the legs to not have any arm help. i had so much energy it was hard to get to sleep last night!

today i have more big exercise plans. either swimming or using the elliptical again. i want to get it done before watching the biggest loser. i'm going to watch it tonight (instead of taping) and do some trinket organization. desk drawers, makeup cases, jewelry boxes. a major purge is needed. yesterday i bought some cheap makeup on ELF so i need to make room. aren't you supposed to throw out makeup that is 6-months old? i still have eyeshadows from HIGH SCHOOL. yes, that's ten or more years people. scary thought.

this week the plan

monday: 40 minutes swimming

tuesday: 30 minutes elliptical, sit-ups, lunges

wednesday: 30 minutes swimming

thursday: 30 minutes elliptical, sit-ups, lunges

friday: 30 minutes swimming

saturday: 30 minutes elliptical, sit-ups, lunges

sunday: rest day.

i am going swimming in a few minutes, and then i finally get to try out my new rice cooker. i am probably more excited than i should be :)

much better hair day

today i am feeling much better. last night i got home from work starving. if i am working out at night, usually i like to work out first and then eat dinner (because eating feels like a reward, don’t you think?) but last night i felt so hungry and weak that i decided to eat first and it gave me a lot more energy for the workout. and it’s better that way anyway because then i can avoid eating too late.

at the gym i did 20 minutes on the elliptical, then stretches, sit-ups, lunges with 5 pound weights, and girl push-ups, 10 more minutes on the elliptical, and then i walked up the stairs (10 floors) to my apartment. good workout and it burned about 350 calories. (i was wearing my HRM). i like to break up the cardio on the elliptical because a) it’s really hard! and b) it's better to pause and keep your heart rate up for longer. i don’t know what it is about the elliptical machines in my condo gym, but they are really tough. a lot less smooth than really nice elliptical machines i’ve used at professional gyms, but they work nonetheless. and i know this because my heart rate is out of control. usually around 150-160 and sometimes bordering 170 if i am really pushing it. now i wonder if i just liked other machines because they were easier... who knows, whooo whooo? (owl)

after the gym, my legs felt wobbly and jiggly. obviously i need to do more lunges with weights. i haven’t been doing very much weight training lately because of all of my swimming. my upper body muscles are definitely getting bigger from all of that resistance water training, but i guess since i’m not running (more on that another time) my legs are feeling left out. i’m going to incorporate more leg work at the gym: lunges, squats maybe, some press machines... that sort of thing. anyway after the gym, i felt all wobbly and jiggly and even though i wasn’t hungry, i had a source yogurt with ½ scoop vanilla protein powder. i felt so much better! obviously my muscles needed some protein right away. i’ve read that you should eat a protein-y snack right after doing any muscle-tearing activity to help the rebuilding process.

this morning i did 30 minutes of swimming even though i didn’t want to. i was a bit stiff from my workout last night, but i don’t want to wimp out on exercise during the week. i want to exercise at least five days a week, six if i am feeling energetic.

this morning i also made regular oats (1/3 cup) with tim horton’s pumpkin spice tea that was brewing (steeping?) during my whole swim. with ¼ cup all bran, ¼ cup pumpkin, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice it was a breakfast sent from autumn heaven. i ate some strawberries too.

tonight is date night and we are having poutine and watching top model. my boyfriend begs for poutine. what a sad addiction ;). it’s actually not bad at all. mccain low fat fries, swiss chalet gravy from the powder (pretty light), and served with a turkey grill ‘em or two if you are really hungry and love sausages. sometimes we have cheese (light mozzarella) and sometimes we don’t. it doesn’t make that much of a difference anyway because the gravy is deeeeevine.

what else? i finished last week’s audiobook and went to the library on monday to exchange it for another. i pretty much only listen in the car. i picked up teacher man, by frank mccourt . it’s great but read by the author and his voice can be really annoying when he imitates students. i have read his other books and they are awesome as well. have a great wednesday bloggers.

i broke my bowl

remember my new oatmeal bowl from ikea? well, i broke it this morning. i was excited because i was going to try microwaving oats instead of cooking them stovetop. i thought that maybe the bowl would be big enough to avoid the boiling over that usually happens in the microwave. but now i'll never know. it just jumped out of my hands. and it broke on the countertop... not even the floor. it must have been crappily made, because things normally don't break on the countertop.

everything is breaking for me lately. my phone is broken... it's been sent out for repairs and i have a weird replacement phone. last night my cat knocked over a glass on my bedside table and it shattered (on the laminate wood floor... also weird) and today the bowl. everything is destructing!!!! ahhhhh!!!!

anyway, my weekend was pretty good. i pigged out at the girl's sleepover on friday night, but did 20 minutes on the elliptical on saturday AND went swimming so i'm hoping i canceled out some of the bad. the rest of the weekend was kind of lame. except last night i had dinner with my parents and my mom made the best fresh pasta - spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli with roasted red peppers and mushrooms, and meatballs. and then we made brownies after dinner. wa wa wee wa.

today i am at home organizing my life. i applied for some jobs, and i have to organize some paperwork for a meeting i have at the unemployment office tomorrow. fun times... oh boy!

this morning i went swimming... it felt really good. i might walk to the library later and get another book on CD if i have time. i just love listening to them in the car. it's very relaxing!

i have a problem

and it's my love of coffee. i love coffee. it's so warm and yummy and makes me feel good all over. right now i am halfway through reading skinny bitch, which tells you that coffee is bad (and everything is bad...) and if you *need* coffee then you have a problem. well, i don't think i need coffee. i don't have it everyday, and sometimes i only drink half a cup and forget about it. and i make a point not to drink more than 2 cups per day (if i'm really jonesing for coffee), and now that i'm in my almost mid-late twenties, i try not to have coffee at night. it doesn't keep me up at night but the tables could turn at any moment.

in other news, this morning i did an anti-boredom workout: bike, arm weights, elliptical, more arm weights, treadmill, stretching it out. i also did this new arm free-weights move that i read about here on fit celeb. except i used 5-pound weights because my gym doesn't have 3-pound weights... and 3 pounds is too light for me. i think jessica biel (from the fit celeb link) has a superfit, awesome body. she is feminine, but also hardcore... that's what i want. although i'm sure some people might think she is too buff, i am not one of them. see!:

weird how that picture is from chinadaily.com, haha. anyway.

i just noticed yesterday that erin from going skinny tagged me for a meme game. here are the rules:


1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

my five:
1) some of you may know that i am learning to sew... i took a class and made a pillow (and haven't done anything since)... until now! on facebook i won a $100 prize from the sewing studio, and i've signed up for the "how to make a summer dress" class... isn't that rad? it's 4 classes and doesn't start until mid-june. but a summer dress? hooray! just think... once i've made one... i can make a thousand, and wear something different every day of my life.

2) i was a very picky eater as a child. my mom would say stuff like, "if you don't eat that broccoli, then you can't have dessert" and i'd be fine with that. now i can't imagine not wanting dessert, hah. i hated all green veggies, most other vegetables, salad, rice (who hates rice?), and all seafood.

3) i ride my bike to work everyday, if it is not raining, or winter. i love riding my bike but only at a comfortable speed. i am not afraid of going fast... just lazy. i work out hard in my actual workouts, so i want bike riding to be something enjoyable and relaxing. i have a cruiser... here i am last summer - now i have a blue milk crate basket at the back to put my stuff in.


4) i have workout ocd. for example, when i'm running, i have to know a) exactly how far i'm going or b) how many calories i'm burning, but not necessarily both. it's a bummer too, because i live really close to lake ontario, and wouldn't it be nice to go for a run by the lake? but noooooo, since i can't plan my route on mapmyrun.com, i haven't even tried it yet. how crazy is that? that being said, the weather hasn't been *that* nice yet... so hopefully this summer i can overcome this ridiculous idea.

5) i was really obsessed with getting a papasan chair and so i got one, in black, and now i hardly ever sit in it... go figure. it's too comfortable. once i sit down, it's very difficult to get up out of it. my dream is to bring it out on the balcony in the summer and read, and it hasn't really been warm enough yet to do that (because of wind) so hopefully soon.

and now i have to tag five people, so randomly i'm choosing: shelley, crystal, mandy, shirls, and laura. tagging people is a lot of work.