3 months and then some...

I've been quiet.  No reason but lots of reasons.  Coming soon...

Running Playlist 2013

I love my current playlist.  Like LOVE.  So much so that often when I'm running, I think delusional thoughts about bottling it and sharing it with all my running friends.  It's such a weird & random mix of music.  It's got my skid roots covered as well as my 93.5FM guilty pleasures.

With a whole lot of help, I managed to post my current & top 100 songs that are pushing me to run this season.  Without further ado, behold my Running Playlist 2013.

Killin' It

Day 14 of 15 and I'm STILL at it!  Pat, pat...  on my back.

I *think* I'm seeing some good things happen, too.  My jeans are feeling a bit looser in the butt and I can tell I'm losing around my ribcage.  That said, would love to actually see some progress in my midsection and less in my butt.  I really don't have much of a butt to lose so yeah, I'd like to see the weight fall from the other areas that need some assistance.  Specifically, the areas that give me great anxiety and lead to crap self esteem.

Moving on...

We're officially done with M's visits to the 3 private schools we've applied to and we've now heard back from two with a promise of paperwork from the 3rd.  The one we love love love has accepted M BUT it's also the one that doesn't necessarily work with our hours.  It's close to home and on the subway line but means we'd have to seek out before school care.  The other one we love love (note the missing love?) has wait listed M because they're already at 50% boys.  They have offers out to a bunch of girls right now and we should know shortly after March 1st if they've got a spot for M (and the Admissions Officer did say they're cautiously optimistic and that M is at the top of their list...  yeah, yeah...  I'm sure she says that to all the parents).  This place works for us for so many reasons -- hours, on the subway line just in case one of us is stranded elsewhere with the car, etc.  It also goes all the way to grade 12 should we decide to go that far.  And the last one?  It's in last place for a few reasons but we still liked it.  I'm pretty confident the offer is on the table but I'm also pretty confident it isn't for us.

I'm looking forward to an evening out with girlfriends tonight.  Dinner, drinks...  just being out with some of my BFFs.  It's been a long time since we've gotten together and I can't wait.  I'm hydrating already!

Other than that, life revolves around work these days.  Family, work, schools and working out.  My brain is pretty full right now but for the first time in a very long time, I feel settled and content.  Things are in a good place.

Finding My Religion

I'm not Catholic.  Heck, I'm not even religious.  Or even close to being a believer in anything.

Lent.  I don't know the ins or outs but I know that you're supposed to give something up until Easter.  Right?  That IS it, right?  Anyway...

I gave up popcorn for Lent.  Really, it should only be the salted butter that I'm giving up but I boldly proclaimed that both were on the naughty list.

I regret this decision.  Very much so.

Is it still considered cheating if I eat popcorn tonight seeing as I'm not Catholic?

7 in 7

Last weekend, I (apparently) decided enough was enough and that I had to do something about my body.  My body image & self esteem sucks carrots and I'm fed up with feeling like I need to hide behind Spanx-style tank tops with lots of tugging up & down and tucking in & out just to feel like I'm looking decent.

So, I decided that I'd do 7 workouts in 7 days.  And know what?  I did it!  Today is day 7 and here is what I filled my week with in terms of exercise:

Sunday/Thursday/Friday:  Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 1
Monday/Wednesday:  5.3km & 5.6km run respectively
Tuesday:  In-home personal training session (ouch!)
Saturday:  Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 2

Now what?  15 in 15.  Gotta keep it going and right now, I don't want to stop because I'm loving the muscle hurt and the determination I feel.  The Shred videos take 25 minutes tops so there is no reason why I can't work those into my day.  I want to push myself for some further runs and ideally, I should be out there 3 days a week.

Stay tuned for an update on Sunday, February 24th for the 15th update!

Pet Peeves.

I have lots of pet peeves.  Almost too many (if you were to ask D) but in general, lots of things bug me.  As of late, here is just a taste of what's getting on my nerves...

1. People who constantly thank their spouse on FB or Twitter for doing simple things like making dinner or putting the kids to bed.  They're your SPOUSE -- not your employer.  They are a parent.  It is their responsibility to do that stuff.
2. And on that note, if your spouse requires such constant reassurance and recognition, I'd flag that as weakness and that in itself bugs me.
3. Whining.  From children or adults.  Co-workers, too.
4. People that hold doors to busy restaurants wide open during the winter while they peek in to see whether or not it's worth coming in to wait for a table.  Shut the f*cking door!  
5. Lego hats.  Everywhere but where they should be -- on Lego men heads.
6. Picking food up off the floor.  This was C's job.  Having to do it myself just makes me sad and annoyed.  More sad than annoyed but still...
7. The sound of winter boots smacking & shuffling on the sidewalk behind me.  Pick up your feet!  Flip flop wearers (yes, I am one but I consider myself a courteous flip flopper) get lumped in with this one, too.
8. Co-workers who come to your desk and acknowledge that you're eating your lunch yet continue to talk talk talk and demand enough attention that you have to stop what you're doing to go elsewhere when it isn't even urgent.
9. People who talk to me before I've even taken off my coat when I get to work.  
10. Line ups at Shoppers Drug Mart.  You have a hundred cash stations yet one person working and a line wrapping around the store.  Why?!

Over and out...  

Favourite.

I love making bean salads because they make great lunches and side dishes for all things grilled.  My (current) favourite dressing is one my mum shared with me.  Super delicious over chick peas or black beans with diced peppers & green onion, feta and a handful of toasted nuts (usually slivered almonds).

1/8 cup oil (I use olive but you could use anything)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 - 1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp cumin

So good.

Fatty Train!

So, the diet train completely derailed after my last post on the 10th and I'm basically hanging by a finger off the caboose (or maybe I am the caboose?)...  needless to say, I gave up.  Again.

Whatever.

I've been slacking with the meal planning lately and we basically ended up eating out or grabbing take-out way too much over the last few weeks.  It tends to be a January thing for us.  All that eating and meal preparation over Christmas & NYE leads to laziness and general slacking during the first few weeks of the new year.

My plans to do a true grocery shop were thwarted by a last minute guest on Sunday so I ran out to a few local shops and grabbed some essentials.  I threw together a quick meal plan in my head and so far, we've enjoyed good meals at home for 4 nights in a row plus lunches for work.  This is a pretty big deal!  As I type this, water is boiling on the stove and I'm about to cook some pasta to use up with left over meat sauce (from our spaghetti squash dinner last night...  more on that later) and we'll have a pasta/veggie bake with salad tomorrow night.

So what have we eaten this week?

Black sea bass with arugula & sprout salad on Sunday.  Monday was Welsh rarebit with salad tossed in D's avocado dressing (my favourite!).  Tuesday?  Meat sauce on spaghetti squash.  Perogies (alright, a freezer cheat) with beet salad.  Tomorrow will be the pasta bake and I've got grilled chicken breasts with a goat cheese, dried fruit & nut salad on the menu for Friday.  Add in a chickpea salad (already gone) and a black bean salad and leftovers with bean salad lunches are done.

Back to the squash...

I don't think I ever tried squash until I met D.  No really.  We were so not a squash family and to be honest, the thought repulsed me.  I've since come to love butternut squash soup (so easy, cheap & makes great leftovers/lunches) and just this week, I made spaghetti squash for the first time.  Loved it.  Will do it again as M inhaled his pasta alternate no questions asked.

I'd read that I had to bake it for a good 45 minutes before shredding but after a bit of googling, I found out I could make it in the microwave.  I NEVER cook with the microwave but we were late getting home & D was working late.  Basically, slice it lengthwise in half, seed & clean it out and put one half in a snug microwave-friendly dish (so it can't fall over).  Add 1/2 cup or so of water to the cavity and top with the other half.  Throw it in the microwave for 10 minutes (maybe more if it's a big one) and then it is done.  Seriously.  Amazing.  In that 10 minutes, I reheated the meat sauce I'd made the night before.  Dinner was ready in no time!

No point to this post other than to remind myself that meal planning works.  It's controlled what we've eaten and what we've spent.  Both pretty good things.

Whoa! Cheat.

I lasted 4.5 days before blowing the diet.  We went to the Raptors game last night and met friends at Jack Astors beforehand (side note:  I will forever be boggled that people pay to eat their overpriced and revolting food) where D & I shared nachos.

Fail #1:  Nachos.  Cheesy nachos.  With sour cream.  And guacamole.  Lots of nachos.

Got to the game and went for the 9oz red wine.

Fail #2:  Wine.

Ordered a beer before last quarter.

Fail #3:  Beer.  12oz.

Came home and ate some leftover popcorn.

Fail #4:  Stale popcorn.  Maybe 3 cups?

Drank two vodka sodas.

Fail #5:  Vodka.  Sigh.

Went to work this morning and ate my lunch at 7:30am.  Who eats chickpea salad at that time?  Ugh.  Ate my veggies and ignored my fruit.  Had co-worker pick up some onion rings on his lunch run.

Fail #6:  Onion rings.  MASSIVE portion.

Seriously, 6 fails in less than 24 hours.  I'm starving now and not in the mood to cook.  I want snacks!  Chips!  Junk!  Sigh.  I do not want to get on that scale tomorrow.  I'll have to though...  punishment.

Desperate Times = Desperate Measures?

Sort of.  But not really.

On Friday night, I signed up for 3 months of Weight Watchers.  What?!  I wasn't even drunk!  Anyway, I had to guess my weight because at 9pm on a Friday, there was no way I was getting on a scale so I entered 150lbs.  On Sunday, I hesitantly stepped on the scale and found that I *only* weighed 138lbs.  Phew.

My ultimate goal?  125lbs.  My realistic goal?  130lbs.  God, I'd love to be (and STAY) under 130lbs but I just don't know how realistic that is for me.

I created a new amazeballs 100 track running playlist to motivate me to get out and pound the pavement.  Tonight, I did just that and went for a brisk 4.5km.  I hate winter running so I'm not going to set a minimum amount of kilometers to run but I will aim to get out twice a week.  Reasonable.

This Friday is my next weigh in and I'm not expecting miracles but I am expecting some sort of give.  Anything.  I'll take what I can get.  For true.  I know the last 10lbs is supposed to be hard so I know it's not just going to fall off.  If I could be around 134lbs by my birthday at the end of this month, I'd be happy.  My next milestone would be 128lbs by M's birthday in early April.  125lbs by June?  Yes, please!

Anyway, counting points is sort of addictive and I'm digging the fact that I can still eat things like popcorn with butter (salted...  yum!) and have wine & beer.  I am (as usual) starting my new year off by scaling back (waaaaaay back) and cutting out the alcohol for a bit or really limiting myself to when out with friends or for a special occasion.  You know, keeping it clean.  Or attempted to anyway.

So?  Stay tuned.  I'll post a weigh in update on Friday.  Fingers crossed it's a positive one.

Resolutions 2013 - Kitchen Edition

Panna cotta.  Perfect panna cotta.
Beef Wellington.  Sans mushrooms because mushrooms are gross.
Butternut squash & goat cheese lasagne.
A turkey.  By myself.
Meal planning.  Weekly.  Again.

Resolutions 2013 - Home Edition

Purge.  A lot.

Complete M's 'big boy' bedroom.  Finally.

Redo our bedroom.  New bed, custom wall unit, paint...  the works.

New siding & windows.

Replace basement carpet & repaint that area.

Finish the downstairs bathroom.  Towels, art, paint touch-ups...  all of it.

Professionally clean the carpets on the stairs.

Entry table at front door.

Console & art for dining area.

Purge some more.

Resolutions 2013

Eat less.
Run more.
Purge the clutter.
Clear my mind.
Improve my relationship.
Be a better mum.
Work on ME.