bing bang bong

i started this post yesterday and never finished ... here is what i wrote on monday:

how is it october 5 already? life is really rushing by.

i had a nice weekend. friday a friend's husband's birthday party SURPRISE! saturday a short run followed by a trip to a l'oreal canada make up sale (i can't believe someone is trying to sell that ticket on craigslist ... my mom gave me mine) with my bff, saturday night another birthday party, sunday a blogger meet-up (organized by angela at oh she glows that you can read about here (more about this later). can you see me in any pictures? i was staying at my bf's and forgot my camera at home. and THEN band practice.

oh yeah i forgot to mention I JOINED A BAND!


obviously i am veronica lodge, hahaha. we don't have a name yet but we do rehearse in a proper studio and we have a gig scheduled for sometime in november. i do some singing, some keyboard playing and lots of tambourining. fun times!

in other news i am going on a business trip this week - i leave tomorrow night and come back thursday. where am i going? peterborough!


and now back to real time, tuesday:

yes, so tonight a business trip. i am accompanying one of my authors for some publicity. we are filming some tv news segments tomorrow morning and in the evening, she is speaking at a women's business meeting. i think it will be fun. i am bringing my laptop and episodes 1 to 4 of veronica mars (never seen it ... but want to!) that i recently got from zip.ca - so i won't be lonely at night. i'm just kidding, i won't be lonely!

this week's training plan is:

monday: run 30 minutes
tuesday: cross-train 30 minutes
wednesday: rest
thursday: run 40 minutes
friday: rest
saturday: run 4 miles
sunday: rest

i ran 30 minutes last night and my right knee is bothering me. this only started after the half-marathon. it's even stiff now after i've been sitting in my office chair all morning. i was supposed to swim this morning but i felt too lazy, so i'll either do it tonight before i leave or make my rest day today and swim/workout tomorrow in my hotel. i want to follow this recovery plan but i want my knee to feel better. i keep telling myself to take some advil before my runs but i never remember.

do any of you take painkillers before your run? does it help? for some reason i feel like that's cheating - i hate popping pills if i don't have to ... but, maybe i do!

a week of firsts

i think i've finally recovered from my race on sunday. except for the extreme laziness that is lingering over me! i have a training plan (part of the online plan i got when i registered for the race) and it continues for three weeks post race, to help your body get back to a regular work out schedule.

here is what this week looks like:

monday: rest
tuesday: 20 minute cross-training (i swam)
wednesday: rest
thursday: 30 minutes running
friday: rest
saturday: 3 miles running
sunday: rest

i think i can handle it. on monday i was SO STIFF i could hardly move. i wasn't in pain when i was sitting, but getting up after an extended period of sitting, or going up and down stairs (why am i on the second floor of my office, dammit!?) was brutal. i bought some epson salts and took a bath. i felt a bit better.

yesterday (on tuesday) i was feeling less stiff, but i went for a massage after work. my benefits have massage coverage (my boss reminded me) so i thought why the hell not?! i have never had a massage before because i don't like strangers touching me but it was quite heavenly and my masseuse was really nice. i booked it at the same place i went for chiropractic treatments in the summer of 2008 when i had extreme bum pain. very professional and nice smelling too. when i left my contacts were stuck to my eyeballs like i just had a nap, haha!

tonight is date night and i am taking my bf on a surprise date. he doesn't read my blog so i can tell you. we are going to see jerry springer the opera. it's supposed to be hilarious - this review told me. it's being put on by the university of toronto so i bought student tickets for $10 each instead of the regular $25 adult ones. i still look young and my student card doesn't have a date ... mwa ha ha. hey, i'm on a budge here! i hate watching jerry springer on tv (what a waste of time!) but i love musicals and parodies too.

in other news, work is still crazy busy. insane! but good insane. i am going on a business trip next week. for one night. to peterborough, ha! are you jealous?

and finally, i am on a mission to declutter my apartment. i have so much crap - there isn't enough space for everything. i am going through it room by room and deciding what must go! well, first i'm cleaning room by room, then decluttering. i can't declutter a mess ... that's gross. so on monday i did the kitchen and last night the bathroom and vacuuming. the bedroom will be the biggest project because i hoard clothes like they were precious jewels. stuff that's ugly and doesn't even fit. i don't even want to sell this stuff - i will give some to my sister and the rest can go to goodwill. the end. have a nice day.

look at this cat hoarding his toys! hahaha mine all mine. stop looking at me!

drowning in a sea

a sea of business.

sorry for lack of updates. well, who can blame me? sunday was father's day so i went to the burbs to visit my daddio. it was good - we shared this amazing cake (birthday and father's day). i went back to the city on a time schedule because i had to pick up a prescription (now that i have benefits). i thought the drug mart closed at 8 pm but it closed at 6 pm - dammit! the shoppers drug mart by my house is the WORST. only open 8 until 8 and 6 on sundays. some are 24 hours or at least open until midnight. gee whiz.

monday was the photo shoot. LONG DAY. i left my house at 7 am to be there by 8. outside all day, doing manual labor in the hot sun. it was fun though and of course a valuable learning experience. it was still going when i left at 6:30 pm, but i had to make sure that i'd be back in the city by 8 pm - when the drug store closed!

i realized on the weekend that i forgot to renew my license plates. man, it's one thing after another, isn't it? i would have just mailed in the form when it came, but every two years you have to get your emissions tested before you can renew, and it was my time. so i did that tuesday at lunch, and today i'm going to actually renew the plates. yabba dabba!

yesterday was my first day of half-marathon training. it should have been monday but i was too exhausted after being outside all day to go running. it's supposed to look like this this week:

monday: running 30 minutes
tuesday: 30 minutes another activity
wednesday: rest
thursday: running 30 minutes
friday: 30 minutes another activity
saturday: 2-mile run
sunday: rest

i think the training is beneath my level at the moment so i'm going to stick to my current length and then increase my distance on the schedule later.

my week will look like this:

monday: rest
tuesday: 5-mile (50ish minutes) running
wednesday: 30 minutes swimming
thursday: 5-miles running
friday: 30 minutes swimming
saturday: 5-miles running
sunday: rest

am i going to screw myself up? yesterday i ran right after work and it was HOT. dayum. i wore my fuel belt so it was ok.
that's that. my birthday party on the weekend was a smashtacular success but i'll post about that tomorrow.

and my other special bf gift which i have not revealed yet. i will say, however, that it's already motivating me not to mindlessly snack at nighttime. yippee skippy!

back in the game

i am back in the game with exercise. on saturday i had a 40 minute swim, yesterday i walked for 40 minutes (2.5 miles) on the treadmill, and this morning i had another 40 minute swim. after my saturday swim, i could really feel the burn in my arms and back muscles. this is great because i know that swimming is really doing something for me. i feel really motivated to keep it up this week. PHEWF. i thought i was becoming a bump on a log.

monday is the only day of the week that i don't go and work for my mother out in the burbs. i still need some time to work on job applications and get everything in order. without this time i would be too stressed. but for some reason, whenever i have something to do at home like applying for jobs, i feel like i can't get down to business until my house is clean and tidy. it's like i can't feel organized and in control in a messy environment. it's always been that way... like in school studying for exams and writing essays - i just couldn't even start until my surroundings felt serene.

time to get down to business. oh but first, a review of those greek yogurts i got in the states. the plain is BY FAR the best yogurt ever, but i could take or leave the mini flavoured ones. the plain is so thick and delicious. i have one container left. ok now time to get down to business.

to-do list for tuesday

i've decided that today i really need to take care of business. yesterday i 1) didn't leave my apartment and 2) didn't put on any makeup or get fully dressed outside of comfy clothes. how depressing! actually it wasn't that bad. i went swimming, finished a book, went through the copy of "veganomicon" that i took out of the library that is due today and copied a few recipes i wanted to try, cleaned up a bit, etc.

but today is a different story. today i am going to:

1) apply for at least 5 more jobs.

2) walk to the library (to return books and get one or two on hold).

3) do day one week one of the couch to 5k program.

yes, it's true. i am going to try running again. for the most part my bum pain is gone. i feel really stiff in the mornings but by the end of the day fine. i could probably run for longer but i don't want to give my body a shock. i want to ease into it. i am really nervous because my bum pain was really the worst pain i have ever experienced in my whole life and i don't want it to happen again. it was worse than fracturing my elbow, worse than piercing my tongue, worse than having an operation on my jaw and having it wired shut. yes, bad! i would gladly do all of those things again to avoid the bum pain. maybe not "gladly" actually.

the biggest loser starts tonight, doesn't it? i am not sure how i feel about the "family" aspect of it. why can't it just be individuals competing? that's still interesting enough for me! who is excited?

i just had a delicous egg muffin for breakfast. one whole wheat english muffin, with 1/4 cup egg whites microwaved in a small bowl for 45 sections, one slice of fat free cheese (kraft) and ketchup. 3 points and very filling :)

where the sky meets the sea

 

i haven't really sorted through the photos yet, but here is a nice one. it's somewhere on the road between san francisco and santa cruz. it doesn't look like a real photo because the ocean and beach shouldn't connect like that... i'm actually standing on the edge of a giant cliff (scary). it was so windy but beautiful. this is the just after we drove away from the san francisco fog and gloom. it was so weird how the division between fog and sun was so drastic and obvious. i got these purple pants in san francisco... love them!

yesterday i tried swimming but my leg was really hurting so i had to stop. my mom wants me to visit a chiropractor and i am seriously considering it. my boyfriend and i cleaned his apartment pretty much all afternoon - until about 7. i did the whole bathroom and under the stove elements. we might go back today... i'd rather just get it over with. he is so excited about it and so am i because it's in my old neighbourhood which i miss a lot. it's a bustling area... people are always out doing things on the street.

so i have the choice to see two movies. 1) mama mia and 2) the dark knight. what should i choose?

even with no exercise, my weight is going back down. thank you fibre :) i hate not being able to do hard core exercise. maybe this injury is my body's way of saying it was too much. when i feel better again i will definitely ease into something. being hardcore was fun while it lasted.

i also wanted to mention that the egg on oatmeal was totally delicious. people eat eggs on toast - toast is a grain like oatmeal... what's the difference? it wasn't flavoured or instant oatmeal people - i am not crazy! ;o)

my plan worked

yes that's a pogo stick a.k.a. corn dog. it has been a very long week and it's almost over... hallelujah! last night i got a lot of stuff done. it's true, i am very organized. but i have to be because i know myself and i tend to get really flapped out about not having enough time to get everything i want done. i used to have a problem with anxiety and i think the main reason that i'm cool as a cucumber all the time now is because i burn off all my energy at the gym. seriously, like my dad says, if i were any calmer, i'd be dead!

i almost freaked out last night. i got home from work, and decided to clean the inside of the fridge before i went shopping for any party foods. so i cleaned it, and then was taking a coffee break on my balcony, when i realized how much i had left to do. too bad i wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor, because i'm sure my bpm was going up and up. it ended up alright though. i went to the dollar store and the cheap ass no frills for party supplies. then i came home and cleaned until 2am!

the only things i didn't do are a) wash the floors b) sew/fix this tiny hole in my couch and c) windex the balcony doors - there are doors in the living room and the bedroom. i figure why bother washing the floors now when i can do it on saturday, and my boyfriend can windex the doors. "is there anything i can do to help?" why yes, yes there is!

so. all clean, laundry is done, speakers set up and songs uploaded, food and decorations bought. now i need booze. BOOZE.

obviously i didn't work out this morning because i was up so late. but my internal alarm woke me up at 6:45. stupid internal alarm. i tossed and turned for a while and then got up. friday is weigh-in day. last friday i was 121.8, on saturday 123, on monday 122.8 and today.... 117.8! yes people, that's a 5-pound drop from monday to today. i really stopped the madness.

today on the menu is:

coffee
more coffee

cherries

protein oatmeal:
1 scoop protein powder (vanilla)
1 packet pc blue menu multigrain oatmeal
1 T flax
cinnamon
splenda
1/2 banana

carrots with hummus
peanut butter and 1/2 banana sandwich on whole wheat
source yogurt and grapes

granny smith apple (why is called "granny smith" anyway?)

dinner ?
have a great weekend everybody :o)

in a haze

i'm really out of it this week. is it tuesday already? last night i came home from work, promptly jumped into bed with some giant wheat goldfish crackers (yummy yummy), did a bit of reading, and napped for an hour. then i went downstairs to the gym and walked for 5 miles on the treadmill. i didn't really want to, but i didn't do anything on sunday and the slope to lazyville is pretty fast and slippery if you know what i mean. this morning i went for a 5 mile run. i was feeling really lazy before i did this, so i'm glad it's out of the way.

i think it's so funny how many of you were shocked about my dress-buying experience. i will take a picture of myself in the dress. i was feeling too lazy last night to even think about that. i have to say, i am more dumbfounded than offended. i mean, how could anyone be so ridiculous? that being said, i think i would have a much different reaction if i were still trying to lose weight and having someone say i was popping out of my dress. my coworkers thought it was so funny that she said i should skip a few lunches, especially since we all went out to this mexican place together and i definitely didn't skip lunch. i had a sauteed veggie burrito, and it came with rice and beans on the side. i ate the whole burrito (i think because i was so tired...) and half the rice and beans. i'm sure it wasn't that healthy of an option...

i finished reading lullabies for little criminals already. it was that good... i couldn't put it down. i was addicted. and now i'm so sad that it's over. luckily there are 50 million kabillion trillion other books left in the world for me to read... maybe more. i am 3/4 of the way done this book called the elements of style but i wouldn't recommend it. it's ok... about nyc rich people - a lot of he said she said blah blah blah. i'm only finishing it because i started it.

tonight i am going to do a bit of strength training in the gym downstairs and i am also going to clean my kitchen in a major way. it really needs to be done. last night i accidentally knocked over this nice skinny beer glass my bf got from one of his students as a gift and i noticed that the cabinets need to be wiped. i will clean the stove, the insides of the cupboards, the fridge, the floor, behind the fridge and stove (which won't be too bad because i did this recently), and then i will be happy with myself.

i feel so lazy though. i keep thinking about going back to bed. obviously i can't because... i am... at work. time to take care of business. (TCB)


today i'm eating:

1/4 fibre source bar (pre run)
1/4 fibre source bar (post run)
handful of shreddies (post run)
coffee
(2)

more coffee
blueberry pomegranate nestea single (0)
oatmeal with flax and shreddies (3)
source yogurt (1)
berries (0.5)
(6.5)

yesterday's sandwich (6)
source yogurt (1)
berries (0.5)
(14)

berries (0.5)
source yogurt (1)
apple (1)
(16.5)

dinner:?

monday again?

yes, it's monday again. i took the weekend off from exercise because i was pooped and needed a break. friday night was my boyfriend's show at the rivoli and that was fun. i tried to take a nap before it started but i couldn't which was really annoying. i don't like taking naps and i hardly ever do. why? because i always lie there like a flopping fish, trying to sleep but thinking about nonsense instead. but the show was good. saturday we slept in (big time) until 1:30pm... can you believe it? i can't. alright i can. we were supposed to go to ikea and exchange these bedroom curtains i got which don't block any light but i was too lazy and we just did nothing.

actually that's not true. i walked to the grocery store and got lots of stuff. my boyfriend made us breakfast (at 4:30pm!!!) while i cleaned the apartment. then i transformed a package of lean ground chicken into two delicious hamburger patties (for dinner) and meatballs (which i have frozen). touching raw ground meat really grosses me out haha but the outcome is rather nice.

this week i am going to try and take care of business. i really need to clean my bathroom... tonight! in terms of eating i am going to try again to only eat when i'm hungry. last week i did a lot of mindless snacking, or just eating because the food was there in front of me, which isn't a good habit to get into.

today i'm eating:

breakfast:
weight control maple brown sugar oatmeal
clementine

lunch:
lean cuisine mushroom something pizza

snacks i brought:
2 fat free yogurts
fiber one peanut butter bar
another clementine

fabulous friday

between last night and this morning i really tcb. (takin' care of business.) after work i couldn't go home because my landlord was showing the apartment (again!) so i went to the mall to try on my new coat in a size smaller. the smallest size was really too small so i'm happy with the one i have. i also got new winter boots. they are great. they come almost to the knee and have a small heel, so they are comfortable and stylish. and they zip up over my skinny jeans and make me look like a somebody. my winter outerwear wardrobe is complete!

after the mall i returned some library books and hit up the gym, where i used the elliptical, did weights, and did day two week six of the running podcasts. hardcore! then i went home, started taping grey's anatomy, put some brussel sprouts in the oven, and walked to shoppers drug mart to buy some hair dye. then i came home, ate dinner (with leftover shepherd's pie) while watching the biggest loser i had taped previously, did two loads of laundry, sprayed my leather (fall) coat with protective spray, and crashed. then this morning i did another load of laundry and dyed my hair. (my hair is medium brown and i dye it dark brown.)

guess what i found in dominion yesterday...

this:


and this:


Hungry Girl is always talking about them. you can find nutritional info here. i love making lattes at home with soymilk because it gives them a nutty flavour - i can't wait to try it with these.

friday is weigh in day and this week i lost two pounds, so am still in my comfort zone.

today's menu:
breakfast:
chocolate chip banana bran muffin (1)
1/19

snack:
1/2 cup oatmeal (3)
1/3 cup pumpkin (0)
1 T slivered almonds (1)
5/19

lunch:
lean cuisine (5)
10/19

snack:
raisins (2)
12/19

dinner: who knows.