New goals

I definitely love a good goal. The challenge was so fantastic to have; so concrete. I have trips to think about, skinny jeans to wear, size 10s to fit into, but I really liked having a totally fitness-oriented goal.  My friend, Nikki, has been setting mini goals, which I love. Such a good idea. I'm stealing it.

In the next week, Jordan and I are going to Seattle/Olympia for an important Residency interview. Thankfully my Dad has about a million air-mile points, and so we are flying for FREE! Oooh yes thank you to Dad's job, that makes him fly SO much! It'll be nice to get out of the city and go on a little trip for 3 nights. Then a couple days after we get back, we are having our annual Christmas gift exchange with the Christensen family, Christmasen. The actual night falls in the next week, but all the prep is this one. Busy week, with a few high-calorie meals. 

Mini goals- Friday, December 7- Thursday, December 13

1. Workout 3 times (Saturday, Sunday, Thursday): minimum of 45 minutes

2. Track all food on myfitnesspal

3. Stick to my calorie allowance every day. (When I know a high-calorie dinner is coming, have a low breakfast and lunch) 

4. Do 20 pushups a day (Nikki's arms are inspiration. I WANT NICE ARMS!)

5. Lose 1.5 lbs (which will mean I will have lost OVER 50 pounds)

We will be eating here. And I will be eating this.

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35 is my new favourite number.

The 12-week fitness challenge I was in ended on Tuesday.

My measurements, weight and photos were taken, and I submitted my testimonial. All of which will be taken into consideration to determine the winner. Found out that we have to wait until February to hear who the winner is. I am not a patient girl, so this is going to kill me.

I had mixed feelings about my results for the challenge. My goal was to lose at least 40 pounds, and that didn't happen. I did lose 35 pounds during the 12 weeks, though. Theresa (personal trainer) reassured me that it's more about the inches, and that the weight loss is important, but the changes in your body are measured more accurately in inches. I ended up losing 35 inches, which is pretty exciting. Previous winners have lost anywhere between 19-28 inches, so I'm liking my chances. I did what I could. The logical side has to talk to my competitive side: this isn't about winning a prize.

Here's a link to a past contestant. And another.

Not only do I love losing 35 pounds in 12 weeks, I also love hockey. This seems fitting. 

Looking to be normal: BMI Goals

I am fast approaching the fifty pound mark, which is so exciting and I'm so proud. It's been hard, but I know the next fifty is going to be harder. I obviously have the pound goals, but I hope that I've conveyed that I am mainly concentrating on my health, not my weight. But the fact that I look better as I've lost more weight doesn't hurt. 

With that being said, it's hard to measure health. 

I'm considered to be obese according to the BMI index.

So the big and obvious goals? Becoming "overweight" and then "normal" (according to the BMI index). 

It's kind of funny to state it in that way.
My goal is to become overweight.
My goal is to become normal. 

To get there? 

22.5 lbs until I'm overweight

58.5 lbs until I'm normal

Women's BMI Index: source

"Normal" is lower than my goal weight; even when I was in great shape I was heavy. So getting to that final goal might be quite difficult, but we'll see how it goes. I like to think I have a healthy perspective on reaching my goals. I am not going to be defeated (although maybe a little disappointed) if I don't reach them. There are certain times in life where anything but 100% is just not enough, but in this casse, how can I be frustrated if I miss a goal by a few pounds if I've lost so much, and done what I can. 

I won't do any extreme diets. It's not worth it. I'm eating the way I will for the rest of my life, and I'm happy with it. I'm at peace with food. 

"Diets"

I don't like the implications of the word 'diet'.
Everyone has a diet. It's what you regularly consume. It may be a crappy diet (for example: my pizza-based Brooklyn diet), but it's still a diet. It actually makes me angry that there are such ridiculous diets out there. In my experience, from what I've read online or in books, and heard from friends, they are all quick fixes and that's only if they work.

It took me a long time to figure out a plan that works for me. I tried Weight Watchers (twice), the Best-Life Diet (twice), detoxes (which were great for a short-term, but ridiculously unhealthy for long), etc. In theory, they should have worked for me, and maybe it wasn't the right timing, but they didn't work. In fact, Weight Watchers made it easy for me to cheat. I write about all of that here.

So for months, I've been counting calories, using myfitnesspal and a calorie dictionary (this one is great) or just eating what I should. This is hard to describe because there is no plan. My trainer, Theresa, is also a nutritionist (I am that lucky) and made it easy for me. Told me what to avoid and when, what to focus my meals around, and eat when I'm hungry, but eat the right things. It all became common sense pretty quickly. For the duration of the challenge, I decided to be strict and eliminate certain foods from my diet. But the thing about exercising, and watching your calories is that you can eat what you want, when you want.

I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the desire of what I wanted to eat, and how many calories I'd have to burn. Or even before that, feeling lost because I didn't know how to stop eating.

It really is the most simple of the difficult realizations. You eat less calories than what you burn. You will lose weight.

Here's what works for me
- plan meals
- stop eating at least 3 hours before bedtime
- drink 3 litres+ of water on a day when I exercise and 2 litres+ on days when I don't
- drink a large glass of water before/during every meal
- no fried foods
- no sodas, especially diet ones. (learning that diet soda is a never again thing kind of broke my heart)
- drink as much tea as I want (sometimes with a little honey)
- plan to excercise more on days you know you'll be consuming more calories (for example: when my Grandparents took my family to the most incredible, gourmet buffet at the Fairmont Banff Springs)
- get excited about salads
- eat 4-5 times a day: breakfast, lunch, supper and 1-2 snacks.
- consume the most calories for breakfast and lunch
- focus dinner on delicious veggies
- eliminate alcohol (during the challenge)
- when I am craving anything naughty, I make a small portion work into my calories, or have parmesan pita chips or a tbsp of peanut butter with a banana/apple (these two things will cover any of my cravings)
- make it easy on yourself. don't have junk food in your house.
- prepare anything you can in advance.

I am telling you that in every way, if I can do this. Anyone can.
But if you take anything from this, don't take the easy way out.
Easy way out. Easy way back.

just a pretty photo with a good thought. source

RunWild!

I've decided to try another running challenge. In May 2013, I'll be running the RunWild 10 km race in Edmonton, Alberta with my friend Nikki. I am so excited to have another concrete fitness goal. I'm even more excited that I've been a little more reasonable with this one. Someday I will try a half marathon, but that will be when I am at my goal weight. My goals are important to me, but so is a working knee.

trying a "papple"

a papple is a fruit. the combination of a pear and an apple. 

i love these two fruits. how could it go wrong?

me tasting a papple. 

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