Size Awesome

Steady As She Goes, Except her Bank Account...

2015-01-20T19:30:00.002-08:00

Hey all, popping in to report that I have been holding relatively steady for the past while. I am unfortunately not hitting the gym as much as I would like, mostly due to scheduling and work being extremely busy but also because I am throwing a bit of a "I'm sore...boo hoo" pity party.

Since the accident, I have completed 12 weeks of physiotherapy which really, really helped a lot. I was almost unable to move my head and neck at all, but after physio I had a lot more movement. But it was not the same amount of movement as before. Now I get really sore if I am on my feet for too long, or if I am doing too much, or if I am lifting or carrying heavy stuff. Certain exercises are painful or more difficult. I have been having numbness and weakness coming down my arm and into my right hand, specifically the pinky and ring finger. (That makes weightlifting a frustrating process!)

I am wondering if some yoga or pilates would help, as I make the assumption that it is actually my neck or back that is the originating issue. Problem is I hate yoga because it hurts, hahaha! If I was leading a yoga class, it would look something like this:

But as much as I am sulking about this ongoing annoyance, I am at least keeping my food relatively in check. I slipped out of keto for a bit, but have been working my way back into it this week. I really do feel better when I stick to the plan. I have to commit to meal planning and grocery shopping on a regular basis, now that I cannot fall back on my old "No lunch packed? Just spend whatever on a restaurant!" And speaking of that...

One new thing that I have started doing is using You Need A Budget (aka YNAB) on my phone, ipad and laptop. It's dramatically cut the amount of times I eat out during the week, as I can actually look at the amount I have left for the rest of the month. I haven't been anywhere NEAR overdraft, I have almost all of my next month's bills ready to be taken care of even with another paycheck to come this month, and I am killing off my credit cards left, right and centre.

But the one thing that I have to say about YNAB is that it sometimes makes me very uncomfortable. I know, that sounds weird, right? But the truth is, I love to spend money when I want, on what I want, and I am SO USED to not having to think about it. Of course, I was also used to living in the land of overdraft by the end of the month too. (When I added up my overdraft interest for last year, I wanted to punch myself in the neck.)

It's only been a month since I started using the program with any seriousness, and as much as I am coming up against my bratty, impulsive spending self, I think I am going to be much happier and more comfortable knowing where my money is going in the moment, not after the credit card statements roll in. I want my money to go into my goals, not the bank and credit card companies' pockets.

I already cleared one credit card, the second will be done next month, and the last one will be done within the next 2 years, although I am going to see if I can cut that down to a year. Once the cash flow from paying those debts is freed up, I plan on ramping up my mortgage and emergency fund payments, and maybe save for a vacation with the kiddo.

Bring it on, 2015.

Post-Accident Fitness Frustration

2014-10-20T03:11:00.001-07:00

Just checking in. I am now back to being able to do some swimming, cardio, and as of last week, some weights, provided that I modify any moves that involve neck/shoulders.

I am still getting massive headaches after I do any upper body movement that is beyond gentle stretching - and I mean anything from cleaning my fridge, to carrying a load of laundry, to light workouts. It sucks, but I have to keep moving. I think I have taken more ibuprofen in the last few months that I have for the entire rest of my life. Oh, my liver!

Anyway, it is 6 a.m., and I cannot sleep for the life of me. I got my old Ipod Shuffle restored, after a year of it not working. So now I am throwing some Pantera on, and I may run over to the gym before everyone in the house wakes up. I'm thinking I want to roast in the sauna and do some foam rolling and stretching to ease up my back and neck.

The DietBet is going well, I have hit my goals for the first 2 rounds. I have noticed that after doing some weights for the first time in a while, my weight has gone up and and I am SO SORE. Even with glutamine in my shake post-workout and all the ibuprofen I choke down, I have to take a few days in between right now.

But I gotta keep moving!

Since I am being light on the upper body, I have been considering trying out the "Strong Curves" program. There is a few workout programs on it, including a beginner and advanced program for the gym, a lower body only workout, and a home bodyweight work out. I grabbed the book from the library to comb through and will try out some of the routines in the next few weeks. If I like it enough, I will grab my own hard copy. A lot of reviews of the book explain that the ebook edition is hard to flip through, is not indexed well, and does not have links to the exercises, so hard copy it is!

I will try to be better about updating here. I have just been very down and very keeping-to-myself for the last few months. I guess it is a side effect from the accident, but still, I should snap out of it already!

Talk to you soon.

Keeping on Ketoing on

2014-08-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I logged in here, I have been doing keto on and off for most of the summer, not being particularly motivated. I have managed to stay within 5-7 lbs. of the weight that I have not been able to break past, which is amazing.

I've decided that I've had enough of treading water with keto, so I have decided to joining a Dietbet 6 month competition. Basically, you pledge a set amount of money per month for 6 months. Every month you have to reach a certain milestone to win. If you hit the milestone, you split the pot with the other winners, and if you don't hit that milestone, you forfeit your money for that month. The overall goal is to lose 10% of your body weight.

I was recently involved in a car accident and had very little ability to move my neck, shoulders, arms and back, so needless to say the gym has been a no-go for a few weeks. I have been seeing a physiotherapist and doing my physio exercises at home, so as of Friday I was cleared to do walking, some gentle specific stretches, and once the burns heal, swimming.

I got my walking desk aka battle station back up and running, as this was the perfect reason for me to start cleaning my super cluttered room. I had to brace the legs on the laptop stand, as one had collapsed from too much weight (my laptop is a monster), which I managed to do with a bit of twine.

So here she is, ready to go. I am resetting my FitBit goal to work back up to 5000 steps per day, and will be able to supplement my activity at work, which is limited at this time, with extra steps to hit my goal.

This week coming, I am going on a trip for work, and planning food ahead is going to be very, very difficult as I have no access to the menus that will be available. I am going to bring some supplies to help me get by, and so far have been able to pack some beef jerky, pepperoni sticks, mixed nuts, tea, and will be making 4 of my Promasil Chocolate Chia Shakes (sans water), just in case there are meals being served that I can`t eat.

New Gadgets are New!

2014-04-15T20:16:00.001-07:00

I've been struggling a lot with my scheduling. I am working seven days a week at 2 jobs, and attending school 2 nights a week. (It was 3 days a week but I finished one of the courses.) Combined with running the house, paying the bills, parenting the kid, and my social life, my food planning, grocery shopping and coking food ahead has been a struggle/non-existent.

So I have decided to step a bit back from keto, though I love it, and ease up to a mostly slow carb diet. I have 6 weeks left of this gruelling schedule and will shift back until then. On the bright side, my weight has been maintained within 5 lbs. despite my struggles. Last night I made a big batch of Vegetarian Chili from the Eat Clean Diet book by Tosca Reno. Despite having no meat in it, it remains one of my favourite recipe in the world.

I also managed to lose my heart rate strap in a zipper malfunction on my backpack, which resulted in me purchasing the Polar H7 Heart Rate monitor, which has bluetooth capability. Now I can use my phone or ipad to connect with my HRM which in turns allows me to feed my gadget addiction.

I also went out and got myself a Fitbit Flex. I really enjoyed my Shine activity tracker until the clasp malfunctioned and I lost it. Customer service at Shine never bothered to respond to my email, so fuck those guys.

The Fitbit was really easy to set up, and I have my profile set up on the ipad and android phone, so no matter where I am, I can compulsively check it allll day long. I've set my first goal to 5000 steps, which I beat into the earth today. That being said, I am having a lot of pain in my lower legs today.

My next fitness gadget is a no-electricity required one. I am considering the Rogue Fitness Voodoo Flossing bands, to see if they will help with my lack of ankle mobility, shin and leg pain. I want to get back to squatting and deadlifting, but without the horrific pain!

That's it for now, I will update on my Fitbit goals soon!

I have what I have, what I have is enough.

2014-03-08T10:45:00.001-08:00

I have a great job. I have an awesome kiddo. I have the knowledge to eat well. I have the ability to move my body. I have access to the gym. I have what I need.

So why I am resisting so hard?

Holiday Reset - Fat Fast day 3

2014-01-09T12:51:00.001-08:00

Well, the good news is that I made it through day 3, and the bad news is that the weight shifted up a bit. That being said, I always go up a bit just before my period, which of course is this week, so I will actually have to wait a few days to settle back down to my non-bloated state. On the bright side, my body fat reading came down on the scale. I know a lot of people complain that their body fat scale is not accurate, but I have to say that when I went to get a DEXA scan done, the body fat reading was within 0.2% of my home scale so I trust it. If you want to know a bit more about DEXA scans, check out the video below.

I ended up at a sushi place, Noka, for dinner, which could be really good for keto if I ate fish and was not allergic to scallops, lobster, shrimp etc. Although I had a few non-keto eats, I did keep much of my meal keto. I also tried raw beef sushi for the first -and not last- time! I sometimes have a hard time trying new foods, but my friend convinced me that I should at least try it. Seeing as I like my steak bloody and rare, it's not that much of a stretch so I gave it a go and I have to say I like it.

Other keto eats were short ribs, chicken wings, bacon wrapped asparagus and peppers and seaweed salad. The food is always really good here, but the service is a little frustrating. If you order 10 items, you will only get 8 or 9 of them, so we had to ask several times for them to go and get the missing items. This would not bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact that last night's missing items were all keto friendly and I am the only one at the table trying to keep as keto as possible!

So I survived the three days of fat fast, I tested positive for ketones this morning, despite having a few not-keto eats last night, and I think I may try doing another fat fast next month, although maybe not during shark week.

Holiday Reset - Fat Fast Day 2

2014-01-08T05:01:00.001-08:00

So it's morning of day 2 and I hop on the scale, and it reads -2.6 lbs, and 1% bf. Awesome. I have now shifted below the weight I keep getting stuck at. Now I just have to keep my momentum going!

My sleep is still off quite a bit, and I was in bed late, so I managed to sleep through 4 alarms, so no, no morning cardio.

Food for the day:

Brekkie - 1 cheesecake muffin, 2 bacon
Lunch - 1 lemon cheesecake fat bomb, add 1/2 tsp xylitol, 1 pepperello
Dinner - 4 keto jalapeno poppers
Snack - slice of roast beef
Lots of water

1073 cals
17g carbs
5g fiber
97g fat
36g protein

I am struggling a lot with the psychology of not having a huge amount of food on my plate. It's really, really weird to experience but I have this undercurrent of "this is not enough, I can't do this" running on tape through my head all day. I was thinking to do a 5 day fat fast, but I am not sure that I can maintain that without panicking. Sounds cowardly, I know, but it's this very scary, primal fear going on.

Day 3 for dinner I am going to break my fat fast with some Pho (extra meat, hold the noodles, extra sprouts) but I am concerned that I will have a hard time during the day. The key is to plan ahead and bring some food with me.

I am going to hold off on the gym today too. I don't think I want to spend an hour doing cardio on this amount of calories, and I also don't want to add to my insane fear of hunger. I will talk to one of my coworkers about hitting a cardio class Thursday on our lunch.

Holiday Reset - Fat Fast Day 1

2014-01-06T21:05:00.002-08:00

So I have been maintaining around the same 7 lbs. for months, and although there were many days over the holiday that I ate keto, there were many, many more that I did not. Thus the up and down float of 7 lbs.

So Sunday I got my baking on and made myself a batch of Cheesecake Muffins and Lemon Cream Cheese Fat Bombs. In my head it all seemed very simple, only pack this, everything will be fine. I woke up this morning, did 20 mins of TurboJam (I don't care how dorky I may look doing that workout, I effing love the TurboJam. Effing. Love. It.) and then ate before I left. I think tomorrow I will try the same cardio but eat just before I get to work to stave off the mid-day "Hooongrays."

Anyway, meals for the day:

Brekkie: 1 creamcheese muffin, 2 slices PC Bacon
Lunch: Lemon Creamcheese Fatomb, add 1/4 packet splenda (I had to. I never splenda but I did not taste the recipe in my rush to cook/substituting 1 tbsp. xylitol for the 50 drops stevia. I dislike stevia, but was too light handed with the xylitol.)
Dinner: 1 creamcheese muffin, 2 slices PC Bacon
Snack: 1 creamcheese muffin, 2 slices Country Naturals Roast Beef

I'm not faint with hunger, but my head is having a really hard time wrapping itself around eating so little food. I love my big ass salads with a crap ton of veggies, smothered in bacon and ranch.

But I need. NEED. Need psychologically to get off this plateau (which yes, I get is caused by me giving up and cheating.) But really, if I eat at a deficit but too many carbs, the scale is going up. I don't know why, I don't care why, I just need to create some momentum.

Tomorrow I have the evening at home and will make my keto jalapeno poppers. It will make my day 2 so very much worth it.

TMI time, my pee is going a funny color again and I am testing 3/5 on the keto strips. Last time I did a fat fast it turned orange/pink and I went to the doctor's. Nothing came of it, so I figure I am okay to try it again. Yay kidneys! If it goes a fuunny color again I will see my doc again.

Stupid Brain a.k.a. Dammit, I am gonna learn to lift!

2013-11-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading about StrongLifts, Starting Strength and New Rules of Lifting for Women. I've been reading a whole whack of posts about people adding lifting to a keto diet and thinking "Man, I should try that!"

But my stupid brain kept saying fun things like, "You can't go to the gym and try that, you'll do it wrong and look like an idiot", or "trying that yourself is going to result in pain/injury because you are too inexperienced to try this."

Stupid Brain.

Hiring a trainer is not a possibilty money wise, so I had to keep thinking about how I was going to get this done. Then it hit me. I can ask someone I know for help. (I am not great at this, I love to do for other people, but have this 'I can do it all myself!' thing going on.)

I asked a coworker if we could meet up so that he could show me what to do and check my form. And he said absolutely, AND came to the Goodlife closest to my house on a Saturday afternoon.

Turns out I was able to follow instruction well, and my form is fine for a beginner. (I can't go to low in my squats yet, but I can work on this.) After a few sets, I was confident enough to do the rest of my sets on my own. Aaaaallllright! I am going to have to work my way up in weights, but I think I am ready to go!

Day 2 - So far, so good.

2013-10-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying the end of my day, and although there have been a few hiccups, I think the pre-cooking and pre-planning helped to move things along. I kept my meals really simple, with some cream cheese cupcakes for 2 of my meals, and some Shirataki Chicken Carbonara for the other two meals. Hop over to www.nuttyabouthealth.com for the cupcake recipe.

Try the cream cheese cupcake recipe from Nutty About Health!

The shirataki noodles are a great find for me. In Toronto, you can get them at T & T Supermarket, or in Kensington Market at Essence of Life. They have 20 calories and 3g carbs per 1/2 bag, last a really long time in your fridge, and cook up really well. They do have a few drawbacks, the first and most obvious being that they smell like old socks when you first open the bag.

For the love of FSM, rinse and boil your Shirataki noodles!

I rinse and drain the noodles 3 times, then boil for 3 minutes before adding the sauce and eating. (Trust me, this makes a difference.) The other drawback is that the noodles have a little more "chew" on them than regular noodles, which I think for most people will not be a big problem.

For the sauce I was lazy. I cooked up and shredding some chicken breasts on Sunday to keep in the fridge and use for the next few days. I threw 1/2 a breast into President's Choice Carbonara Sauce, covered it an nuked it for 2 minutes while I finished cooking the noodles, then mixed it all together and fell into a bacony/chickeny/cheesy coma. It was pretty delicious, so much so that I went out and bought more chicken for this week so I could have it a few more times.

Now I am sitting at my desk trying to type for as long as I can, as I am trying to not work out. I really, really don't want to at this point in the evening, so I am fighting the guilt of not going to the gym for almost 2 weeks, and the exhaustion that is racking my brain and body. (And I wonder why I am so unhealthy! Whether or not I realize it every time, I am pretty sure I do things like this a lot!!)

I will have to post tomorrow so you can find out which way my brain and I decided to go...

Poor Life Decisions

2013-10-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays, mostly because I get drunk on turkey and stuffing. This year I was a "turkey orphan" as my family cancelled the big family shindig, so I cooked up a feast for some friends and I to enjoy together.

I've been struggling to eat keto consistently, mostly because for NO REASON AT ALL I stopped meal planning and shopping on a regular basis. So since I was struggling I thought, "Screw it. Doing a carby thanksgiving!"

And I did. Pork sausage stuffing, jalapeno citrus cranberry sauce, maple buttercup squash. It was a delicious meal (and series of leftovers.) But then I couldn't get back into eating keto and I have been sugar and wheat binging for over a week, and MAN does my body feel it. Oh, and I have also discovered that when I eat larger amounts of wheat my stomach goes apeshit. And yet what was I eating all week? Yeah. Poor life decisions.

Anyway I spent this morning looking up recipes and will be meal planning for the week. No one is going to do it for me!

I am also thinking of getting back to lifting weights again, but I am having a huge amount of anxiety around going to the gym and teaching myself. I am not in a position to pay a trainer either. I will have to keep lurking /r/xxfitness until I can get my head right.

I'm going to do a quick 3-day fat fast to kick myself back into ketosis. Hell if I add a little cardio in I can get there in a day and a half. My body likes keto I don't know why I keep sabotaging or failing to plan.

A Slight Stall, a Gain, a Major Refocus

2013-05-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

As per my usual way of operating, I got really frustrated getting stalled at the same 5 lbs. lost and regained, and my stress response to bad news was to stop any and all routine that I had around keto. Couple this with my love of stress eating and penchant for self-destruction, I have been less than stellar with eating keto.

And while I gained some of the weight back, I'm not feeling terrible or guilty about it. I *am* finding it interesting that I can eat the same amount of calories a day (1600-1800), but if I eat lots of wheat, I gain pretty consistently. What the hell is that all about?

Gym wise, I am going several times a week on my lunch break. I need the stress relief and there are 5 that are fairly close to where I work. I particularly love BodyCombat, and have discovered the addictiveness that is Zumba. I am mosdef not a fan of BodyAttack because it is too much jumping for my legs to handle.

Anyway, I had a number in my head that once I hit the scale, no more slacking on my weekdays, back to Keto Business. I hit that number last week, so I planned out my meals for the rest of the month, and decided to do a 3 day Fat Fast to kick my ass back into ketosis. I started today. This morning I was not in ketosis, this evening, I am. I did a light workout at the gym as well, just to help kickstart the process a little faster, but I did not expect to switch up within the first 12 hours!!

I didn't relish the idea of macadamia nuts and cream cheese for the next three days, so I am trying several foods out. I am especially excited to try Keto Alfredo meal idea, but with some Shiratake noodles. I don't eat a huge amount of cheese day to day, but I do like it. Shove 3 types of cheese and make it into keto pasta sauce? Yes please!

Today I did:

4 slices bacon
Cream cheese and Cucumbers
Coffee with Heavy Cream and Almonds
Another coffee with heavy cream

I haven't managed to get home and make dinner yet, but I will definitely eat. I'm not hungry despite sitting at 800 calories for the day so far, but the aim of the game is 1000, so I am going to go for it.

I will update after the fat fast to share the results. Also, to bitch and complain if I hate doing a fat fast.

Sabotage

2013-03-12T16:16:00.001-07:00

Just an angsty check in. Keto rocks my world, it's been incredible how easy this has been.

I am with 4 lbs. of my lowest body fat % in years. I can run for the bus and not feel like I'm going to die. I'm wearing clothes that I haven't fit into for years.

So last week I got some good news/bad news about a friend. The good news is that he was not angry at me and ignoring my phone calls/emails. The bad news is that he's dead.

This has thrown me for a loop. Completely. The reason keto has been working is in part, because of the routine I have in place for things like grocery shopping, making food ahead, planning, and a few workouts a week. That is all out the door, along with my sleeping schedule, so I'm up 4 lbs. and having trouble with all of it.

But this too shall pass.

Down over 7% Body Fat since Nov!

2013-01-29T16:09:00.003-08:00

So as I mentioned before, I have been eating a Keto diet, which is a high fat/mid protein meal plan. I typically aim for 65% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs, although there are certain days where I might be a few percentage points, overall I've been within the ballpark. I get most of my carbs from vegetables, nuts, cottage cheese and berries. To meet my fat content, I've been cooking with butter and coconut oil, and eating lots of bacon and sausage. It's not hard to do, as my brekkie is almost always bacon and eggs, and my lunches a huge salad with protein and dressing. On the weekends I tend to get a little more adventurous with recipes, and have found several great sites with keto-friendly fare. When I'm itching for noodles, I've discovered that T&T Supermarket carries Shirataki noodles, which are made from tofu. They smell like socks when you first open the package and drain the water, but I rinse several times before boiling them for 6 minutes or so. They can also be dry-fried instead of boiled, and there is macaroni, spaghetti and fettuccine shape noodles to choose from.

I've dropped over 7% body fat since late fall, which is a huge shift for me. I'm eating the same amount of calories as before, but for some reason my body is happy to continue dropping fat. I've even put on a few pounds of muscle, although it must be noted that I am not killing myself with exercise, just walking and some short Turbo Jam workouts.

Drinking and Keto, I have discovered, do NOT go well together, or they really do depending on how you look at it. I can drink. I can drink a boatload. But since November, I have had 3 incidents of "lost time" after drinking the same amount that I normally would when not eating keto. Since that scares the crap out of me, I have been cutting my consumption WAY WAY DOWN. This is good for my calories for the day, my aching liver, not blacking out, my wallet, and staying in ketosis, so I am okay with it.

I am still avoiding the gym and all the New Year's Resolutioners. One of my coworkers is still going and has been infuriated at the lack of equipment from the influx, so I am waiting for another few weeks before I resume. I am going to try the spinning classes again. Wonder how different it will be with the fat/weight that I have taken off since the last time I went? (Thank you, Keto!)

Here's a new webseries by a dude that has switched to keto, in case you want to check it out:

Treadmill Desk - Phase 1 Complete!

2013-01-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

There is something different about this post...I am typing it while walking on the deck of a treadmill. That's right, I was able to find a treadmill to take apart for phase 1 of building my walking desk.

I started by trawling on Craigslist for used treadmills. I looked. I looked and I looked and I looked. There were lots of big machines with big decks, but nothing that seemed just right. Then I did a search for what other people used, and found models I could not get up here in the Great White North, or that cost a bundle AND had huge shipping costs.

Finally I figured I would just go for a new, cheap and cheerful model. I ended up with an Exerpeutic Walking treadmill, which only goes up to 4.0 (fine by me, I get pain at 2.8 or above!) with a really small deck, perfect for my small desk area.

It was also a bonus, as they only delivered to my front door and I had to drag it up the stairs and to my bedroom by myself. Thank spaghettimonster for the nifty white packing straps that I was able to use to do this.

Unpacking was fairly easy to do. Those little short arms are for the bottom of the stand to help stabilize it. Since that's not the game I was playing, I just chucked these out of the way.

One of the reasons that I chose this treadmill is because the connector from the arms and the deck looked fairly simple. I was not completely wrong about this, but it took more than a wrench to undo the side bolts.

I had to undo the screws holding the plastic paneling over the motor, but overall it only took a few minutes. I was then able to undo the bolts holding the arms to the deck.

Easy peasy!

Next I took off the bar that raises and lowers the platform, as I had no further need for this.

The wires were not hard to locate, as they were not down in the tubes of the arms as you might expect from a finished product. But then again I cheaped out, so...I really should be making snarky remarks.

Some of the wiring needed to be disconnected and reconnected later. There are only 3 connections, all which appear different, so my super-anal "label them with masking tape" was a little overkill.

There was a small screw on the underside of both arms that I had to undo to be able to thread the additional controls out of the stand arms. One side is the speed control, the other is "On/Off" and "Mode".

Finally I had to add a few blocks of wood to the bottom to accommodate a small metal tab left of the underside of the deck, from the arm that allowed you to store it standing. I guess I could have sourced a metal grinder and taken it off, but well, gluing wood to the bottom and getting a bit of an incline was just as easy.

I haven't yet made a new housing for the controls, so they are floating around my desk, but I am a busy girl and won't do that for the next while. So there you have it, phase 1 of my tread desk.

Happy 2013!

2013-01-02T04:14:00.002-08:00

Though I would check in for the beginning of the month.

I continue to eat Keto for the most part. I am pretty quickly getting the idea that cheating always shows up within 3 days on the scale, except if I only have a few Vitamin V's (Voda/Soda) once a week. Breads/Pastas/Rice carbs show up, vodka does not. I can live with this.

I'm down over 16 lbs. of fat and up just over 3 lbs. of muscle, which I understand is pretty hard to do (lose fat and gain muscle at the same time) so I will take it with a grin on my face.

Did a lot more walking in December, and threw in 6 cardio workouts. I think for January I will aim to do 8 workouts, as a way to complement Keto eating, and to kick my ass back into ketosis when I've cheated. Basically I can do 2 workouts over 2 days and get back into ketosis, as long as I am really focused on sticking to the food.

Food wise, I have to mix vegetables into the mix to be able to lose. For some strange reason if I do nothing but meat/eggs/bacon/cream/coconut oil, my loss slows, but if I throw in a salad for lunch and some veggies in my stir-fry, my body responds. This is good, as a keto newb I was nervous that I would not be able to have my veggies!

That being said, I am a very happy girl to be able to eat bacon and eggs every day. (And yes, I pretty much do this every day for breakfast or lunch. Yum!) If I know I will not be near a kitchen, I will do hardboiled eggs and some bacon in a ziplock. Portable, and delicious hot or cold.

I am also still using Nexercise, which is an app that lets you earn points for working out, and competing with your friends. They have also started letting people earn rewards from different sponsors, such as free eyeglasses, amazon credits etc.

New Game: Find a treadmill to make a treadmill desk

2012-11-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

I want to play video games AND I want to get exercise. So the new aim of the game this month is to find a treadmill that I can use for a treadmill desk. I have been thinking a lot about the desk portion, and decided rather than build one, I am going to research them and figure out which one to go with.

My favourite is the GeekDesk, a nice, clean and simple design, however they are a little larger than I am looking for, so the dear continues.

I've done enough research to know that I don't want a manual/crank adjustment sit-to-stand desk. I think the motorized adjustable is probably the best way to go at this point. That's also why I wouldn't be trying to build one; I have no idea what to do to motorize it going up and down.

Looking at the results so far, I think it's harder to find a sit-to-stand desk in Canada, and I think it's a lot more expensive than I would like to spend, but c'est la vie.

What else is new?

I've been struggling here and there with the food, but it was Halloween season, so I had a few pieces of candy every few days, and that showed up as stalled fat loss. My own responsibility. Regardless, I was definitely feeling the whole Halloween dress-up this year. Here is my second costume, as I had three throughout the weekend and on Halloween itself.

This week I have started back on eating really, really clean, and will be doing a low carb eating plan, as opposed to a slow carb eating plan for the next 2-3 weeks to jumpstart. It's not for everyone, I know, but I actually really enjoy the challenge of hitting my macros, and I figure if I gear down to slow carb every few weeks, I can make this work better. And of course, I get my free Saturdays still so I can indulge if I choose

My downfall as always is planning, so I have to commit to setting my menu and making sure that my food is available to cook, pack, or bring to work with me. For now I am going to use My Fitness Pal, as I can adjust the Macronutrients in the tracking section.

Word, nerd.

News Anchor calls out Weight Bully, and Spinning to Win

2012-10-02T19:45:00.001-07:00

So I just went to a spin class, even though my intent was to do a much easier cardio class.

I took it on even though I was scared I would pass out/throw up. And I almost threw up, at least three time in fact! But I sat where I had to sit, I turned down the tension when I needed it to be turned down. My heart rate monitor reported 592 calories for the 50 minutes that I tracked (I always forget to start it!)

Afterwards the instructor came over to talk to me about how the class went, and to give me some tips. I was really surprised and happy that she went out of her way to do so! I've promised her that I will come back for at least FOUR more classes, to get acclimated to the activity.

On another note, I saw this amazing video today:

An occasional watcher of this show sent her a letter calling her out for being obese, and encouraging her to be a "better example" to the community, particularly young girls. In the spirit of Anti-bullying week, she did a piece on the letter, on the impact to her and her workplace, and to how people who are engaging in bullying behaviour have an impact on others around them, especially if it is a parent setting that example to a child.

Ch..ch..check it out!

On the down and down

2012-10-01T04:30:00.002-07:00

I just realized how long it's been since I checked in, so here I am!

I had a minor hiccup here and there (for instance, a week of stomach flu) however that's not been in my way at all. I've just been rolling with the punches, and eating on plan as best I can.

I'm finding it easier to stick to the routine, now that I am paying a lot of attention to packing my lunch for the day. That way I don't get to work unprepared, and get tempted to eat junk/fast food. I've been sticking to the while salad with protein combo for lunch, and will use lots of different nuts and seeds, sprouts, vegetables, sometimes bacon tempeh, and usually a chicken breast on top with an oil and vinegar dressing. I'm not sure I can ever get sick of salads, and mixing up the toppings every few days keeps it fresh palette wise.

I'm pretty lucky to have access to a full kitchen at work, and as you can see, I am trying to take advantage of that!

I've been using my heart rate monitor a lot lately, and trying to get the amount of time in the 3 heart rate zones on a more consistent basis. I've also been doing fun stuff to get in my cardio; I tried a Zumba class at the gym, playing Just Dance 3 on the Wii, going for a walk with the kid, etc. I also have to rejoin the challenge at work, where some of the staff and clients are doing a certain amount of minutes on the elliptical per day.

The muscle activation stuff is going well, I have been doing hamstring activating exercises since the last session. It's had an impact on how my calves react when I walk, and there is a lot let of the crazy shooting pain in my legs the past two weeks. Bonus!

Holding Steady

2012-09-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

Food is off and on, mostly due to poor planning. Last night though, I put together a huge crockpot of sprouted lentil and black-eyed pea soup, so that should help out for the week. Not all the food has been bad, just here and there. One of my challenges is eating out where I can do the lean protein, greens, and legumes. Thank goodness one of my favourite restos, Sneaky Dee's has the perfect meal for me, Spicy Eggs!

I've also committed to doing weight loss and nutrition coaching with my muscle activation guy, who is also certified as a personal trainer.

I also can't for the life of me find the DEXA scans that I did, which has been really pissing me off, and also hightlights to me how my level of disorganization just doesn't work for me.

First day back at school for the kiddo today, and I couldn't be happier. Also, I am getting back into my really early morning workout routine. This week I have a goal of 4x20 min cardio to start off my day.

I will also try to get a yoga class in this week at the gym. Although I say I hate yoga and it is the bane of my existence, I actually feel much better overall when I work it into the mix.

Anyway, off to ship the kid off to school!

MAT, Dexa and more!

2012-07-26T22:02:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a really quick, point form update, as it is WAY past my bedtime.

1. I am continuing to see my Muscle Activation Therapist, Alan Thrasher, and continue to be amazed at the small but powerful changes. I am also mostly remembering to do the exercises every day.

2. I sorted out the mishap with the gym membership through work, and yesterday I went to a BodyFlow class. It's a mix of yoga, pilates, balance, and stretching. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. I was super duper sweating buckets, and watched at least 4 people bail on the class. I couldn't do all the moves, so I modified as many as I could and just stretched or rested on the few I couldn't. I was sore today though, boy and how!

3. Went and got my inital DEXA scan done at the Bone Wellness Center, which was completely awesome. I called for info and managed to get an appointment the same day. The office was easy to find, and had a big poster about the DEXA process while I waited.

The lady doing the scan was great, and sat down to review the results with me even though it was past closing time. The scan itself took less than 10 minutes, and apparently has gives off less radiation than a cross-country flight. Here's a look at the scanner:

Basically you strip down to your skivvies and put on a nifty paper gown, lie down for a few minutes, and VOILA! Scan complete! I can't wait until next year to get another one and compare to this one. Stay tunes, I will post more on the scan in the next blog entry.

4. I am continuing to work on my rollerblading, and will be taking a third class with Stephen Fisher, but this time I am moving up a level. I am going to be able to rollerblade down the Lakeshore path by September, I swear!

Cycling and Learning to Rollerblade

2012-07-15T19:55:00.001-07:00

This week I have been bike riding three times, just to work in some exercise. It's been a long time since I used my bike, and it was a really nice way to get around. Plus I got to use my heart rate monitor a bit!

I was without a helmet for a very long time, so I headed over to a few places to check them out. At Mountain Equipment Co-op, there were lots of cool designs, and great prices (think $35 and up!) however because I have a gargantuan noggin, there were no helmets on the shelves that would fit me.

I then started home, and passed a new bike store on the way, so I pulled over. It was a great store for bikes, but he had no helmets in stock yet! Ooopsy! I ran my kiddo over to his Jeet Kune Do lessons, and on the way back I tried to stop in at Broadway Cycle, but I had missed closing time by a few minutes.

The next day, Saturday, I decided to check out a new little place called My Roll Life, a niche rollerskate store in the west end of Toronto. And then I saw it...the wall of helmets!

Actually, there were two walls, but this was the first one that I saw. The gentleman working was really, really helpful and laughed at and with me about how rotund my head is. (I could put some of the XL helmets on, bend over so my head was upside down, and not have it fall off. Hahaha!) I ended up getting a Smiths Scabs Safety Gear helmet, black with blue straps. And then I decided to get a bunch of rollerblading pads (elbow, knee, wrist) for the roller blading lesson I was planning on attending the next day. One thing I have always wanted to do is learn how to roller blade.

The guy was SUPER patient with my pickiness, and I ended up with Triple Eight wrist guards, which I loved because it has three straps you can adjust, not the uncomfortable slide-on sleeve design. I also got some Capix elbow and knee pads. These things are SO crazy. I can drop my full weight onto one knee, and not feel anything but the squishy, fuzzy sensation of "landing on a care bear." And yes, I stole that phrase from the guy who was helping me.

So today, Sunday, a friend and I headed out to a class run by Stephen Fisher, an all-around nice guy and very patient instructor. I did a lot better than I thought I would, and I chalk that up to ice skating when I was a kid. I had to remember to do the left side oblique crunches and toe raises before starting, as prescribed by my Muscle Activation Therapy guy, but I did them and off I went!

We went to a city arena, which is smooth and easy to learn on. At one point, a pretty sketched out shirtless guy wanted to come into the rink too, and he was so twitchy we thought "no" would not be received well, so we said "yeah, go ahead man" and stayed away from him. He ran around the west end of the rink, yelling, screaming and singing, then just as abruptly he left. Bizarro.

I'm looking forward to the next lesson, which will be next Saturday. That will give me more time to work on getting back into the self-defense course on Sunday afternoons. My goal for the end of the summer/beginning of fall is to be able to go along the waterfront trail.

21 Days Make a Habit...I love this Habit!

2012-06-28T21:20:00.004-07:00

The first day of June this year marked the day I was at my heaviest weight and body fat percentage EVER in my life.

So I made a few changes. Remember me trying to remember to pack a lunch for work? Now I make sure that there is food in the freezer and cupboard at work that I can eat. I also pack a serving of Vega One (Vanilla Chai flavour) and usually two hardboiled eggs for breakfast, if I don't have time to eat at home.

I also made a $250, one-sided bet with a friend. If I didn't re-comp 20 lbs. by September, I would owe her the money. If I DID recomp 20 lbs., she owed me nothing. (I got the "Slow Carb" eating and the money tips from the Four Hour Body book by Tim Ferriss. Watch the neato video below.)

I also started seeing a Muscle Activation Therapist, Alan Thrasher, to see what could be done about the crazy pain in my legs. I have had a lot of issues with my legs for many, many years. I can't walk fast, if I try jogging or running, I last no more than 10 minutes, and the sides of my lower legs swell for 3-5 days. I have trouble being on my feet for long periods, have to sway when I stand, can't do lunges, have trouble with squats, hell, I can't even bend forward at the waist with my legs straight after a shower to put a towel on my hair.

In an earlier post I outlined many of the things that I have done to address my leg problems, and I mentioned that it all started in my upper back, but no one could figure it out. Well, Mr. Thrasher was able to figure it out in something like 30 minutes to an hour. (This was a few weeks ago and I forgot to write it all down.) Turns out my upper back is like that because my left hip was "locked", causing my right side to take most of my weight, my back to torque to the right, my neck to the left etc. He demonstrated the lack of range of motion in my left side compared to my right, and spent some time working on the left side only.

(Keep reading, CRAZY results are at the bottom!)

After the first session, I was sore for a few days. My knees were popping, my shoulder was sore, my calves were twitching randomly. Also, something kinda crazy happened. I could walk up stairs without having to walk on the balls of my feet only. I know it sounds like a little thing, but trying hiking a huge hamper of laundry up the stairs with all that weight, ya get a little unsteady! After a few more days, I noticed that my arms were actually swinging when I walked, albeit with a click in my left shoulder, but yikes! (For years, my friends have been able to identify me from afar by the way I walk - my arms don't swing and I look like Lurch from the Addams Family)

Anyhoodles, I have not been doing my workouts other than walking, but I have been eating amazingly well Sun-Fri, and loving the "refeed" day on Saturdays. On my refeed day, I can have anything I want, as long as I make sure I overeat my calories for the day. Pizza? Yup. Chocolate? Yup. Grilled Cheese? Yup. In fact, this Saturday, I will be attempting to destroy the Cancer Bat's creation, the Destroyer, superloaded nachos on a bed of Fries. A billion calories, and a challenge to complete solo!

The Destroyer, presented by Sneaky Dee's

It's been 28 days since that highest weight and body fat percentage ever. I am down 18.3 lbs of fat, or to put it another way, 4.8% body fat. I've taken 2 inches off my hips, 1 off my waist, and 0.5 off my arms. In a fricken' month. That is extra weight that will not continue to stress my hip, back, and legs.
Since it's been 28 days, I can officially say that I am in the habit!

I have been felled by a Migraine! Ack!

2012-06-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

Hello kids.

It's 6:11 p.m. and I am just getting up and out of bed for the day. That's right. I woke up at 4:30 this fine morning because my head was POUNDING. I forced myself to drink a crap-load of water and take some ibuprofen, but by 6:30 a.m. it was pretty obvious that I was not running into work. Luckily one of my coworkers was able to cover for me.

I may try some low-impact stretching or (ack) yoga a bit later, to see if I can't help out my poor head a little more.

I have been having a lot of fun with the new heart rate monitor that I got, but I am now 2 days behind for doing any activity. I am also loving the Nexercise app on my ipod. I have a few friends that I am competing against for minutes per week. I'm winning so far, ha ha ha.

I also have started a bet with a friend over a 20 lb recomp goal for September. If I don't recomp 20 lbs. (get rid of fat and gain muscle) then I owe her $250 bucks. That's gonna hurt if I don't get it, so I really better tighten up on the food and exercise.

Speaking of food, I made a bunch of Lentil-Loaf cupcakes this week. They're fairly tasty (especially with the Daiya! It's a non-dairy cheese alternative which is really, really tasty to cook with,) and easy to take with you. Throw some veggies in on the side and you have an easy meal. All I need now is a new lunchbag, as the zipper has completely detached itself from my little neoprene bag. I was eying the one over at Not An Effing Diet, but I will probably hit a local place, maybe see if the Good Catch General Store has some in stock.

Anyway, the computer screen is not helping the headache situation. I think I might crawl back into bed for an hour or so.

New Gadget! Hooray!

2012-05-31T18:12:00.001-07:00

So my watch finally died a month ago. The metal strap was broken, it slowed down all the time, and best of all, it turned my skin green around my wrist and made my skin very, very, itchy. I called it my "Itchy Watch".

So I decided if I was going to get another watch, why not get one that will last me more than a year? And then I thought, why not get one that can double as a Heart Rate Monitor? And even after that, I thought, not another one of those crap-ass Timex HRMs. I had 2 in the past few years, they both broke down, and were impossible to fix. Now I have a data collection thingy for watches they no longer make. Suck.

So I decided that I was going to splurge. I was going to splurge on a watch that I have had my eye on for a while. I placed the order on Amazon.ca, after price checking and comparing all over the interwebs. I really wanted to buy mine from Mountain Equipment Co-op, because they are awesomesauce, but they were easily a hundred dollars more than I paid for the online order, including shipping, taxes and duties. Sorry MEC.

ANYWAY. I placed my order on Friday, they shipped it Monday, and I got it Wednesday. Hooray for gadgets with a quick shipping time! It wasn't a terribly heavy box, and this is what greeted me when I opened the package. Another box! So then I opened the second box, hoping perhaps, for a third box?

No third box, but a neato warning that said any problems I have with the HRM watch should be directed back at Polar. And if any problems come up, you can rest assured I will cheerfully bitch into the phone. But I kinda hope I just don't have any problems. Anyhoodles...

It's a pretty easy little watch to set up. The monitor detaches from the chest strap so that a) you can wipe down the chest strap post-workout, and b) save some battery life by not having it connected. So I put it on, followed the setup directions, and followed the "Fit Test" which is basically you lying down and not moving for 5 minutes. Although I dreaded that it would come up "dreadfully unfit", that was all in my head. I am simply at the bottom range for "Average".

The watch then computed a training program based on my goal of improving my fitness score, and presto - I have a plan which involves a gadget. Those are ALWAYS my favourite. Now I put on the chest strap, press one button on the watch, workout, do THIS:

And then I get to see how long I worked out for, how many minutes I spent in 1 of 3 zones, and how many minutes in each zone I left left for my weekly goal. We'll see how this goes, won't we kids?